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339 posts
Summer Ukulele Meetup 2020
Tamás GállDear (Future) Ukulele Players! In my previous blog post I wrote that we were planning a ukulele meetup for August. Fortunately, everything was coordinated quickly, and thanks to Ethnosound's efficient help, on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, we will be able to get together for some group strumming at Fonó…
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Ukulele Meetup and Course in August
Tamás GállUPDATE: jump to the Summer Ukulele Meetup 2020 blog post UPDATE: jump to the Ukulele Courses in August blog post We would like to organize both a ukulele meetup and a ukulele course in August. We hope the pandemic situation does not interfere with our plans. Ukulele meetup: The meetup is expected to…
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Chords 14: C7
Tamás GállC7 is one of the easiest chords in the world. In terms of simplicity, it rivals C major. I did make one mistake in the video: I forgot to show the alternative fingering. C7 can be played not only as shown on the left — and in the video — but also as you can see in the picture on the right: barre the…
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Trying a Baritone Ukulele
Tamás GállWhenever I write a blog post about a ukulele I have tested, I usually use the brand and model designation as the title. That would have been difficult this time, because a fantastically beautiful custom-built baritone ukulele stayed with me for a few days. Apart from its unusual body shape, one of i…
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How to Restring a Ukulele
Tamás GállThis restringing video arrived very late compared with the launch of the blog — you only had to wait about nine and a half years for it. One reason is that, slightly embarrassingly, I do not have a huge amount of experience restringing ukuleles. The other is that I am one of those people who do not…
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Cifra Palota
Tamás GállFrom time to time, a kind acquaintance of mine, Orsi, posts pictures on Facebook of stones she has painted. The pictures on the stones are inspired by Hungarian folk songs or children's songs, and the game is to guess which song each picture represents. I really enjoy this game — not because I know…
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Virtual Meetups
Tamás GállIn these difficult times, I think all of us miss making music together. We are trying to ease that feeling a little with Facebook Live sessions , where we play one or two songs together. There is no visual or audio feedback from you, because I cannot see or hear anyone (apart from a few refreshing e…
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Chords 13: C minor
Tamás GállC minor is the second chord in our series where barre technique is effectively required. We touched on the subject with D major, but here it becomes much more important. We will learn two C-minor fingerings, 0333 and 5333. In the first we use a small barre covering only the three lower strings. In t…
Read moreFacebook Live Sessions — When the Saints
Tamás GállAccording to our plans, we should already have held both a ukulele course and a meetup this year, but unfortunately the current public-health situation forced us to postpone these programs. I hope you are all well and managing to get through this more difficult period. Make plenty of music and sing…
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Rhythm and Strumming 1
Tamás GállDear Ukulele Players! Before I turn to the subject in the title, please allow me a brief announcement. As you may have noticed, we removed the blog posts about the Spring Ukulele Meetup planned for March 24, and we also posted on Facebook that — because of circumstances I think everyone is familiar…
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Chords 12: D minor
Tamás GállI often say that anyone who knows F major also knows D minor. That is a slight exaggeration, of course, but it is true in the sense that F major provides an excellent starting point. We simply add a ring finger capable of flattening neatly and squeeze it onto the second fret of the second string, be…
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Lanikai ZR-C
Tamás GállI would like to introduce you to a very elegant Lanikai ukulele. This concert-size instrument made from ziricote is like a small, tasteful jewelry box — except that instead of putting treasures into it, we take them out, conjuring one beautiful sound after another. Every ZR-C ukulele is unique becau…
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