Learn to play ukulele
45 posts
Music Theory Basics — for the Patient!
Tamás GállI promise this is the longest and most boring tutorial video so far. The video below is about intervals and chords. I spent a long time thinking about the best way to introduce the subject, and it was not an easy task. There is a reason why children study all of this for weeks, months and even years…
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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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The tenor ukulele, baritone ukulele and guitar
Tamás GállThe relationship between the ukulele and the guitar is a frequently recurring question, and the baritone ukulele naturally has a special role as a kind of “bridge” between them. I decided to make a video featuring all three instruments and, while only brushing the outermost layer of music theory , t…
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All Ukulele Chords (for Intermediate Players)
Tamás GállYou probably know the joke: "How many push-ups can Chuck Norris do? All of them." Now we are going to try to be Chuck Norris and put all the chords into a single chart. It may be easier for more advanced players, but I certainly do not want to discourage beginners either: anyone who understands and…
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Latin Tunes in the Forest
Tamás GállI love Latin music. I can listen to - and watch - its magical, emotion-filled songs and dances for hours. There are countless styles within it, and I think everyone can find a branch of Latin music that appeals to them. To whet your appetite, here is a video in which the guitarist plays some "Spanis…
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Transposing — for Beginners Too!
Tamás GállWith another music-theory post that is also highly practical, we would like to help you find your way around keys a little more confidently. You may already have heard the word “transposition” — perhaps in music class or elsewhere, maybe even as a swear word — and found it more frightening than usef…
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Relative Tuning
Tamás GállIt is best to tune a ukulele with an electronic tuner or a tuning app on your phone, but sometimes neither is available and we still want to get reasonably in-tune chords from the instrument. One solution is what I call "relative tuning" - I could not think of a better term - where we compare the pi…
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Why use a capo?
Tamás GállThe main purpose of a capo is to change the ukulele's effective tuning in a single movement. Clip it onto the neck and every string immediately sounds higher. This is useful because if we have learned a particular chord progression or song accompaniment – perhaps one involving complicated finger mov…
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Mastering chord changes!
Tamás GállOver the past few years I have had the good fortune to teach ukulele, among other things, to a number of enthusiastic beginners. Unfortunately I have never had enough time to teach more people, but the experience has been extremely instructive for me as well. Different people find different parts of…
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