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Ukulele reviews

Bass! That's Heavy!

Tamás Gáll

I did not expect a bass ukulele to be the next instrument I would try, but today I got the chance. A call came through on the secret line from Ethnosound: now or never. Despite the enormous snowfall I rushed over after work and finally got my hands on the ukulele I had previously only admired in vid…

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Songs and arrangements

Cee Lo Green — Forget You

Tamás Gáll

He is not exactly a performer brought up on health food, but then those notes coming from the kissable lips of Mr Green — born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway — do need a certain amount of weight behind them. I do not usually attach much importance to a song's music video, but this one turned out particular…

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Stories and interviews

Ukulele Wars

Tamás Gáll

Public service announcement: we would like to reassure everyone about the lack of seriousness in the previous post involving a violin and a ukulele. It becomes much easier to understand if you take a careful look at the date. We are staying a ukulele blog! :) A long time ago, on a ukulele far, far a…

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Songs and arrangements

Mendelssohn - Wedding March

Tamás Gáll

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born in Hamburg in 1809. Despite his short life - he lived for only 38 years - he explored many musical genres and gave humanity a number of unforgettable melodies. Perhaps the best known is the Wedding March, composed as part of the incidental music for Shakespeare's…

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Songs and arrangements

Twist and Shout

Tamás Gáll

Almost everyone identifies this song with the Beatles: aaaaah, aaaaaah, aaaaaaaaaah, head shaaaaking, shake it up, baby!!! It is a fantastic song bursting with endless energy. It drove girls wild in the 1960s, and I do not think there is anyone today who cannot enjoy the song written by Phil Medley…

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Learn to play ukulele

Latin Tunes in the Forest

Tamás Gáll

I 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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Songs and arrangements

How to Put a Lion to Sleep

Tamás Gáll

Armed 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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Stories and interviews

Lanikai UkeSB

Tamás Gáll

At first I did not know what to make of this name when I saw it on the Lanikai website. Since "uke" is the common English abbreviation and nickname for ukulele, I assumed it must be some soprano, baritone or perhaps sub-bass :) device. Looking at the UkeSB logo makes the guessing a little easier: uk…

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Ukulele reviews

Kala U-BASS

Tamás Gáll

Not long ago I published a post called "Bass! That's Heavy!" about Kala's bass ukulele. Now I have had this interesting instrument for a few days so that I could try it myself. The U-BASS is essentially a bass guitar transplanted into a baritone-size ukulele body. It arrives in a very sturdy hard ca…

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Songs and arrangements

Most múlik pontosan

Tamás Gáll

Quimby's unusually atmospheric song "Most múlik pontosan" was released in 2005 on the band's album Kilégzés. Many theories have been proposed about the circumstances in which the song was written, but I do not want to go into those here. I think the lyrics should mean whatever each listener wants to…

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