Songs and arrangements
83 posts
How to Put a Lion to Sleep
Tamás GállArmed with a ukulele, we can bravely head out onto the savannah - provided we first learn The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Nothing beats an afternoon nap This charming and simple song - according to Wikipedia - was originally written in Zulu in the 1920s, but it only spread around the world a few decades la…
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Hull a Pelyhes Fehér Hó
Tamás GállI often say and write that a particular song is worth learning because many people know it, which makes it useful "ammunition" in company — if someone says, "Come on, play something!", you can confidently perform it. Hull a Pelyhes is like that too, although it has the disadvantage of being seasonal…
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I Feel Fine — for Three Ukuleles
Tamás GállThe cucumber season is slowly ending, and ukulele season is here again! (Sorry...) I hope you are not tired of the Beatles yet; I never seem able to tire of their songs. I made a special arrangement of I Feel Fine, which was released in 1964. From 12 December 1964 it spent five weeks at the top of t…
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I'm Into Something Good
Tamás GállIt has been a very long time since I made a “play-the-chords-along-with-me” video, but I have now recorded several songs. The first one I would like to show you is the old Herman's Hermits hit, accompanied by ukulele – or, more precisely, banjolele. This is excellent practice for beginners who are w…
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Imagine — let's play together!
Tamás GállHappy New Year — may it be full of health and ukulele playing! Imagine us all strumming together . That line is not actually in John Lennon's evergreen song, but I would love as many of you as possible to feel inspired to take part in the next community ukulele video. If you do not know what I mean,…
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Imagine — our community production
Tamás GállTo celebrate World Ukulele Day, our latest community production is finished. I published the call for participants a little over two weeks ago. World Ukulele Day itself will only be on 2 February, so I am posting the video slightly ahead of the occasion, but I hope you do not mind. I cannot thank my…
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James Bond chords
Tamás GállIt would be an exaggeration to call myself a fan, but I do watch the James Bond films: the latest adventures of agent 007 provide excellent entertainment. There is also always a great deal of attention around the theme song, which is usually performed by a current international star—although, in my…
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Kiskarácsony, nagykarácsony - Hungarian Christmas Song
Tamás GállAlthough it is only early October, I thought I would post this video in good time so that anyone who feels like it has plenty of opportunity to learn and practise this very sweet and popular Hungarian Christmas song. In December 2011, my arrangement of Silent Night was posted on the blog - perhaps a…
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Knockin' on Heaven's Door — Let's Play Together!
Tamás GállI am delighted that we have already been able to make music together in two shared productions, even if only virtually. Last December we played the song beginning "Ó, Gyönyörű Szép" , and for this year's World Ukulele Day we prepared a Brahms arrangement. Many of you asked when the next project woul…
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Knockin' On Heaven's Door — our community performance
Tamás GállTwo weeks ago I posted a call asking you to play 16 lines — 64 bars — of Bob Dylan's well-known song and, if you felt like it, sing along as well. I wanted to put together another big community play-along video. I was eagerly waiting for your recordings, but a few days before the deadline I started…
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Lambada
Tamás GállWho could forget Lambada from the early 1990s? Everybody and their neighbour was shaking to this great little song. It differs from today's supposed “era-defining hits” in one important respect: this was actually music, unlike some of the modern creations that are difficult even to call music – Gang…
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Let It Be
Tamás GállLet us begin learning chords with Let It Be! What is a chord? The shortest answer is: at least three notes sounding at the same time. A ukulele has four strings, so it can produce at most four notes simultaneously. (A piano, by contrast, can produce ten or even twelve if we use all our fingers and o…
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