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339 posts
Testing a mini amplifier
Tamás GállI assume many of you have found yourselves wanting to play with other musicians, only for the ukulele to get a little lost in the mix because you had no amplifier. Obviously we can solve that by plugging into an available amplifier with a cable—or even wirelessly—or by positioning the ukulele in fro…
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Thank you for Instagramming
Tamás GállAt the end of February I received an email from one of the organizers of Ki Mit Tube, who wrote, “I came across your videos on YouTube and I really like what you do,” and invited me to take part in this year's competition. After a few emails and phone calls we discussed the details, and in the secon…
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The 8,000-forint Chinese ukulele
Tamás GállA few months ago an interesting email arrived in my ukulele inbox. It was written by none other than mrgergoke, who runs an extremely interesting blog called the “RendeljKínait Blog”. The message surprised me because that blog normally deals with electronic gadgets. Yet this particular email was abo…
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The baritone ukulele I.
Tamás GállThe baritone ukulele has probably been the most neglected ukulele category on the blog so far. I can finally fill that gap because I recently had yet another birthday (I stopped counting some time ago), when my family surprised me with a wonderful, custom-made ukulele. A baritone, no less. I had tri…
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The baritone ukulele II.
Tamás GállI warmly recommend the first postabout the baritone ukulele. If you have not read it, it may be worth starting there. Now I will continue the thoughts begun in that post, share a few more details about this wonderful instrument, and I have also made a ten-minute video. The instrument's specification…
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The Beatles — Here Comes the Sun
Tamás GállI would like to teach you the intro to a wonderful Beatles song. Here Comes the Sun was released on the Abbey Road album in 1969, so it belongs to the Beatles' later period. And, for anyone who may not know, this one is unusually not a Lennon–McCartney composition: it was written by George Harrison,…
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The Beatles – In My Life
Tamás GállLong-time readers of the blog may know that I am a Beatles fan, and quite a few posts have dealt with their songs – more precisely, ukulele “arrangements” that were often really chord accompaniments. Those are excellent exercises for anyone getting acquainted with chords. My Beatles posts are fairly…
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The Beatles – Let It Be, reloaded
Tamás GállI do not think there is a person on Earth who has never heard this song at least once. Perhaps the indigenous people who shot arrows at a helicopter have not, but anyone who has ever had anything to do with twentieth-century Western popular music certainly knows The Beatles' Let It Be. It was no acc…
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The Beatles – Michelle
Tamás GállMichelle appeared on The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul. I conducted a very unscientific little opinion poll among people I know and got an interesting result: relatively few recognised the song from its title. Several thought first of Pfeiffer, while others had even wilder ideas. But when I played…
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The Beatles — Nowhere Man
Tamás GállI make no secret of the fact that the Beatles are my favourite band. They composed such colourful, imaginative music that I never tire of their songs. In this post we are working on a song from 1965. It is often mentioned among the first Beatles songs to contain, under Lennon's influence, a certain…
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The Benefits of Playing a Musical Instrument
Tamás GállI found an excellent video about the effect playing a musical instrument has on the human brain. In short: it is good. In more detail: it is quite amazing. According to the narrator, when a musician starts playing an instrument, a real fireworks display unfolds in the brain, even though from the out…
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The Case for a Case
Tamás GállOnce we have settled the case question, we can say we have never had it so good. (With apologies to Illés.) I receive emails not only asking what kind of ukulele to buy (and where), but also quite often asking what sort of case is worth getting. My answer is unequivocal: a hard case. If we store and…
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