Abe's Ukulele Podcast: Recent Episodes
Abe Deshotel
This is a podcast for players and teachers of the ukulele to improve their skills at doing those things. I cover all sorts of things that I think are interesting and helpful on my journey to become a better uke teacher/player. Sometimes I'll be interviewing great teachers and players, other times I'll just be sharing insights and tips that can help you become a better musician.
Roy and Kathy Sakuma Note: This episode was recorded before the main event of Ukulele Festival Hawaii held on July 18th, 2021.
Hey there again everyone! I had the incredible honor to hang out virtually with Roy and Kathy Sakuma before the Ukulele Festival Hawaii and talk about the festival and everything that goes into it.
Festival website https://www.ukulelefesthawaii.org
Ukulele Festival Hawaii on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/RoySakumaProductions
Craig and Sarah’s website http://craigandsarah.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Find out more at http://ukepodcast.com
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Karlie G Note: This episode was recorded before the main event of Ukulele Festival Hawaii held on July 18th, 2021.
Hello everyone! I had the great honor of sitting down and talking story with Karlie G before the Ukulele Festival Hawaii.
Karlie’s website https://karliegoya.com
Karlie G on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/Karli3G/featured
Festival website https://www.ukulelefesthawaii.org
Ukulele Festival Hawaii on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/RoySakumaProductions
Craig and Sarah’s website http://craigandsarah.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
You can support the podcast through the tip jar.
Or by Buying Me A Coffee
Find out more at http://ukepodcast.com
Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/abes-ukulele-podcast/43a102a2-2892-486b-a9d3-d63398cdaf72
Joe and Kristen Souza Note: This episode was recorded before the main event of Ukulele Festival Hawaii held on July 18th, 2021.
Aloha friends! Here's a wonderful conversation I had with Joe and Kristen Souza from Kanile'a Ukulele before the Ukulele Festival Hawaii. We talked about ukuleles, of course, but lots of other things, like trees and forest bathing.
Reforest Hawaii https://reforesthawaii.org
Kanilea Ukulele https://www.kanileaukulele.com
Festival website https://www.ukulelefesthawaii.org
Ukulele Festival Hawaii on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/RoySakumaProductions
Craig and Sarah’s website http://craigandsarah.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
You can support the podcast through the tip jar.
Or by Buying Me A Coffee
Find out more at http://ukepodcast.com
Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/abes-ukulele-podcast/db8428b3-279c-4d95-9bb6-847c61ef681b
Jodi and Honoka in Kaimuki Wayyyyyy back in July 2019 I got to sit down with these two fantastic ukulele players at Jodi's school, Ukulele Hale.
We talked about the awesome things their doing with their students, as well as Jodi and Honoka's personal music paths.
Learn more about Ukulele Hale and
Team Hale.
Check out Honoka's music here.
Ukulele Hale on Instagram
Honoka on Instagram
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
You can support the podcast through the tip jar
Or by Buying Me A Coffee
Find out more at http://ukepodcast.com
Send us your feedback online: https://pinecast.com/feedback/abes-ukulele-podcast/e282b98c-6d79-456a-897d-5a987505c71d
Mika Kane Mika is an exceptional player from Maui.
UkeLogic strings
Those strings in action.
Mika and Corey play an incredible arrangement of One Summer's Day and talk about tons of other stuff
Find Mika's site and music here.
The Ukulele Magazine article with Mika.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Chris Kamaka at Kamaka Chris is currently the Production Manager at Kamaka Ukulele.
Kamaka Ukulele
Craig and Sarah's Mini Uke Fest
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Joe Souza I sat down with Joe at one of the busiest events of the year, Ukulele Festival Hawaii. This was from July, 2019.
He's a great player and teacher, but he also makes a great ukulele. We talked about all sorts of things from the beginning of Kanile'a to the different ways ukuleles react to different strings.
Kanile'a Ukulele
The Mini Ukulele Festival on April 11
Me on Twitter
Me on Facebook
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Cynthia Kinnunen It was great to finally sit down and chat with Cynthia. She does a lot in the ukulele world.
Cynthia's website
The Mini Ukulele Festival on April 11
In case you are new here, JHUI
Some of the music Cynthia mentioned
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
James Hill and Anne Janelle
Vampire Weekend
Sufjan Stevens
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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COVID 19 and the ukulele world In this episode I talk with some people in the ukulele world about the impact COVID 19 has had on them.
I hope everyone's staying safe and healthy.
Here are some relevant links.
http://ukulelesoiree.com
https://gaithersburgukefest.com
https://www.kevincarroll.net
https://www.mimsukes.com/pages/onlinelessons
https://www.thetinman.co
Here's the Mini Uke Fest that Craig and Sarah are putting together.
It's gonna be awesome!
http://www.cheemaisel.com/minifest
Let's do what we can to support our friends in need. Mim's page is a great place to start, but don't forget those closest to you.
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Dr. Byron Yasui In July of 2019, I sat down with an uke master to talk about all the things he's been building in the ukulele world. We talk about repertoire and the future of the ukulele.
Here's the article I mention in the episode.
Here is another written by Dr. Yasui about chords, transitions, and notation.
You can reach him at byasui@hawaii.edu
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Kimo Hussey I finally got to meet this ukulele hero of mine. Kimo is a mighty fine player and teacher. We sat down in Manoa in July and talked story about moveable chord shapes, expensive ukes, baritones vs tenors, and plenty more.
A few builders mentioned
Lichty
Devine
Here are some videos of Kimo playing and teaching.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Jake Shimabukuro Caught up with Jake on his tour through Hartford, CT.
We chatted about all sorts of stuff, like songwriting, practice, his favorite artists, and tons of other stuff.
Here are some things/artists that were mentioned
Tube dreamer pedal
Dearling is Dave Preston's other band
Pink Floyd
Jacob Collier
Chris Thile
Bela Fleck
Edgar Myer
Victor Wooten
Paco de Lucia
Al Di Meola
Carlos Montoya
Andres Segovia
Winnipeg Folk Festival is when Jake and James played together
Benny Chong
Abe Lagrimas
Bryan Tolentino
Mika Kane
Byron Yasui
Britni Paiva
Taimane
Honoka
Herb Ohta Jr.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Craig and Sarah in San Diego I caught up with Craig and Sarah after their busy year.
This episode is really dense with ukulele advice, so buckle up.
They just released a holiday album. Check it out at http://www.cheemaisel.com/store/christmas-island
Craig and Sarah teach online here https://artistworks.com/ukulele-lessons-craig-sarah
At the time of posting, there's a 50% off sale on 1 year memberships.
There's a lot of related links today 😁
Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway
Port Townsend Ukulele Festival
Tunes in the Dunes
Berliner Ukulele Festival
GNUF
Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival
Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish is in NYC
Christmas in LA
Lyle Ritz's How Bout Uke
Abe Lagrimas' New Album
One of Bryan Tolentino's albums
Ben Folds
Ekolu
A performance by Hapa
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Paul Okami of KoAloha Paul Okami is the Mini Boss, or Vice President of KoAloha Ukulele.
I got to sit and chat with him back in July when I visited Oahu.
https://www.koaloha.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Brad Bordessa from the Big Island In my first semi-high-tech remote interview, my guest was Brad Bordessa, an ukulele teacher and player located on the Big Island of Hawaii.
We talked about strings, baritones, performing, and more.
We also talked about how to pronounce ukulele. 😱🤔🧐🤙
Here's a great article Brad wrote about it.
Brad's website can be found here
His baritone ukulele site is here.
You can hear/buy Brad's music here.
For those curious about the situation regarding the Thirty Meter Telescope, check out this page. And this Facebook page
The two sites mentioned for strings were Strings by Mail and Just Strings
Ukulele Review Video Podcast with Brad Bordessa
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Jenny Peters Back in July I got to chat with Jenny Peters, teacher and author of many great ukulele books.
We talked about classroom teaching, teaching challenges, pedagogy, and more.
You can find more about Jenny at her site here
Gift for listeners of the show
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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James Hill at Ashokan In May of 2019, I got to catch up with James Hill at the Ashokan Ukulele Festival in New York. We talked about his new album, technology, throat singing, playing without monitors, and plenty of other interesting things.
James Hill's website
James and Anne's new album
Inuit throat singing
not to be confused with
Mongolian throat singing
Radiolab episode on bit flipping
Tip jar subscribers get early access and bonus episodes. You'll also be supporting an independent creator
Link to this show on RadioPublic
Check out Uketropolis if you're looking for more uke learning resources.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Casey MacGill in Ashokan My guest today is Casey MacGill. Casey is from Southern California and I caught up with him at the Ashokan Uke Fest. This is the second episode from my Ashokan series.
Ashokan Uke Fest
Casey's website
Watch Casey play a song with his uke in his [Ukulele Magazine article (https://www.ukulelemag.com/stories/for-casey-macgill-the-swing-is-the-thing).
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
The podcast does cost me time and money to make. If you'd like to chip in, any amount helps.
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Ukulele Underground Crossover part 1 I visited Kauai and hung out with the Ukulele Underground crew for a day. We did two podcast episodes and this is the first one. We talked about playing, performing, chickens, and more.
Note on Kauai: it is the oldest out of the main Hawaiian islands.
Video version is here: https://youtu.be/9VVAlZZwRQ0
Part 2 is here : https://ukuleleunderground.com/2019/07/tll-podcast-68-ukulele-aloha/
Some things we mentioned in the show:
Niihau (mentioned in the show) is the westernmost island of Hawaii, and is not open to the public.
Jim Beloff episode
My short Blackbird cover
Bandito Tyler by Aldrine Guerrero
Ukulele Underground
I can't find the James Hill album online T_T
Dragon by Jake Shimabukuro
Say Anything's first album
Ka'au Crater Boys
We Are One
Rump Shaker
Pure Heart 2
Panic at the Disco
Jim Croce's greatest hits
Kate Rusby
The Wilderness
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Bryan Tolentino at the Magic Fluke Co. Back in May, I travelled up to the Magic Fluke Co. in Sheffield, MA to chat with Bryan Tolentino.
He was doing a little workshop/concert tour through the Northeast USA.
Find Bryan's website here
Live stream with Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel
Here are some of the artists mentioned in the show.
Roy Smeck
Ohta San
Peter Moon
Byron Yasui
Jake Shimabukuro... do you really need a link? 😂 ok here it is
Aunty Genoa
Eddie Kamae Sons of Hawaii
Hoku Zuttermeister - Lāʻieikawai
My personal favorite example of Bryan's "fairy dusting."
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Gerald Ross in Ashokan I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a day at the Ashokan Uke Fest in Olivebridge, NY.
It was a beautiful place filled with lots of wonderful music-making. This episode is one of a few that I will release featuring instructors from the Ashokan Uke Fest.
Every time I attend a festival, I plan to wander and talk to as many people as possible. But every time I get too nervous and want to just relax and go with the flow.
So in these episodes it's just chats with great players/teachers. There's tons of great insight in these here episodes.
Here are the relevant links
Gerald's website
Ashokan Uke Fest
Hive ukuleles
Fremont polished low G
Here's another polished wound string I love to use, but it's for C on tenor.
Planet Waves Ukulele Capo
Personally, I love Sarah Maisel's straps. Hug straps are pretty cool, too. There are a lot to choose from.
Abe's Ukulele Podcast on RadioPublic
Here’s where you can find my music
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
Leave a review on iTunes
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Banjolele or firewood? 😅 just a joke
This is the 2019 Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special number 3.
Learn more about Chris and hear his music at http://www.thetinman.co
Some of the things he has coming up
Pennsylvania Folk College
NJ Uke Fest
LA Ukulele Festival
Some of the artists mentioned in our talk
Michael Daves
Chris Thile
Kate Rusby
Chris Eldridge
Julian Lage
Fats Waller
My music can be heard at ukuleleabe.com
I remembered that the song It's Gonna Rain by Steve Reich is a little more complex than I made it sound. It's a minimalist composition for magnetic tape about the end of the world, particularly with regard to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Steve Reich took a recording of a pentecostal preacher and played it on two tape machines, editing it and looping certain parts to create cool effects like phasing.
I think this was my favorite episode to do.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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The Ukes of Mim Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special number 2.
Mim sells and sets up ukuleles in Floyd, Virginia, USA.
She's also a great entertainer and puts a lot of thought into the way an ukulele feels when you play it.
I think that's the biggest factor in deciding which uke to buy.
Mim's website is here: https://www.mimsukes.com
Learn more about the Soiree and the club that runs it here:
http://alleghenyukes.com
http://ukulelesoiree.com
Leaving a review on iTunes.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Catching up with Mike Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special number 1.
This was a short chat I had with Mike Holzer. It was early Sunday morning, the last day of the festival.
We sat down with my phone between us since we didn't have much time, hence the not-as-great audio.
The Soiree is great festival.
Learn more about the Soiree and the club that runs it here:
http://alleghenyukes.com
http://ukulelesoiree.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Does anyone read these show notes? If yes, blink once.
I'm working on getting transcripts for the show. If that would be helpful to you, blink twice.
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Kiku or Guitarlele with Terry Today's episode is all about ukulele, as usual, but also guitarlele, or the kīkū, not as usual.
Terry Carter was my guest. He's a great teacher and performer from California, USA.
Terry's got a brand new course on the guitarlele. You should definitely check it out if you're interested in this sweet new instrument.
For 20% off any course or membership at Uke Like the Pros, use the coupon SPECIAL20.
He's got a baritone ukulele course coming out soon!
ukelikethepros.com/courses
The paddle boarding ukulele class I mentioned is Paddle and Strum
Terry's 5 common ukulele mistakes video
I hope you enjoyed this show.
Hear more at ukepodcast.com
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Goldilocks Jazz with Paul Hemmings Abe's Ukulele Podcast on RadioPublic
https://ukepodcast.com is the official podcast website.
https://ukuleleabe.com to hear my music.
Paul Hemmings' website is here.
Duke on Uke
Paul's Bach Cello Suite arrangement
The Sgt. Peppers album can be heard here.
Paul's latest album
Play jazz, kids. 😉
Keep an eye out for Bird on Uke, the next book in Paul's ukulele jazz book series.
Acoustic image amps
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Jack and the Vox Note: I'm so sorry if the music is too loud! I'm having too much fun listening to my new intro music.😂🙏
For today’s episode I caught up with Victoria Vox and Jack Maher of Jack and the Vox.
We talked about songwriting, playing solo and as a band, practice tips, songwriting tips, and more.
You can follow Victoria, hear her music, and see where she’s playing next at her website.
Her upcoming shows will be in:
- Maryland, USA
- New York City, USA
- Maine, USA
- Boston, MA, USA
- Vancouver Ukulele Festival, BC, Canada
- Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival, QLD, Australia
And at the end of April, she’ll be back in the US and Canada for more dates.
Head to her site for the full list of shows
You can hear Jack and the Vox play right here.
Thanks so much for listening!
You can leave a review on iTunes here.
Intro and outro music is by Blue Dot Sessions
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Ukulele wishlist This is officially December's episode.
It's more of a personal resolution as well as a challenge to all uke players
Here's my uke wishlist
- More Kanikapila
- Learn songs better so you can teach better
- Try some new (or old) strings
- Be aware of humidity
- Be a good uke friend
I'd love to hear from you! What's on your uke wishlist?
You can leave a review on iTunes here.
Blue Dot Sessions
My youtube channel
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or Facebook or Instagram
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Effects pedals for ukulele With the hope of new gear on the horizon for many ukulele players, I wanted to take this chance to cover some pedals that every player should know about.
I go over what I think are the essential pedals to be aware of.
Do you use any pedals? Let me know which ones are your favorites!
Reverb is my first stop when looking for new gear to buy
Here’s the video of Jake Shimabukuro breaking down his pedalboard
Equipboard is where you can see what famous players are using on their pedalboards.
The LR Baggs preamp pedal is popular with ukulele players because of it’s versatility and functionality.
Fishman also makes a similar pedal.
Just in case you need to see a bunch of tuners, here ya go.
For some extra info on preamps, pickups, and effects loops, check out this blog post
Sweetwater article on compressor pedals
The Ernie Ball MVP is a solid volume pedal.
A few overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedals worth looking at
EHX Soul Food Boss DS-1 ZVEX Fuzz Factory
The Boss DD-3 and TC Electronic Hall of Fame are really solid pedals for reverb and delay.
The Ditto Looper is a great, simple starter looper.
Something like the JamMan Stereo or the RC-300 are more elaborate and give you a lot more power.
Lehle Acouswitch Junior is a preamp and switcher, as well as the Radial Tonebone
The Play Acoustic is a good multi-effects pedal, and includes vocal effects like harmonies. It’s got reverb, delay, chorus, and a looper built-in.
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James Hill and 8-note uke chords I caught up with James Hill again in August. We talked about the new Ukulele Hot Springs he put together and tons of other uke things.
Uncle Zac's chord charts can be found here
James Hill's website for music
and for all of his teaching initiatives.
Ukulele Hot Springs
Here's an Ukulele Magazine article on the Hot Springs.
James Hill playing Jimi Hendrix on the uke
James' newest book "Duets for One"
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Teaching with percussive uke My guest today is Bryan LaPlante.
News
- The uke contest winners were decided. The cutest video of my kids picking out the winners can be found here
- The CT Ukulele Festival is happening on Sept 29th! ctukulelefestival.com
Bryan has a great story of his musical upbringing and how he met the ukulele.
He is a student of the James Hill Ukulele Initiative and uses percussive techniques in his classroom.
You can find Bryan's website here
Some of the musicians Bryan mentioned are Natalie McMaster and the Leahy Family
Hui, according to Mirriam-Webster, means
- partnership, syndicate
- club, association
- community gathering
JHUI is the abbreviation for the James Hill Ukulele Initiative. The new thing is that we call it JaHUI (jahooey). It's nice that it has a deeper meaning other than a silly pronunciation.
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An uke giveaway! and more Thanks for your patience in getting this episode out this month!
I'm doing an ukulele giveaway with Uke Life Co!
Head over to my Instagram page for details.
Listen to the episode for extra chances at winning for podcast listeners!
The First CT Uke Fest is happening on Sept 29th in Norwalk, CT!
I talked about why you should consider practicing songs more slowly from time to time to check your technique.
Craig Chee & Sarah Maisel's music can be found here. There are also digital albums available.
Brad Bordessa's Music
Brad's teaching website is called Live Ukulele.
The Ukulele Underground Podcast is full of great ukulele tips, tricks, and info.
The Habitat by Gimlet Media.
Listening to Abe's Ukulele Podcast on Radio Public earns me money. It's also a pretty decent podcast app, for Apple and Android, that's easy to use and makes reccomendations for you based on your listening.
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My songwriting Today’s episode is a commentary on my first studio album, which came out earlier this year. It’s not a super in-depth breakdown of each song, but a brief discussion in real time on different aspects of the album and the artistic decisions/considerations that went into everything.
My hope is that you can gain some insights and inspirations for your own songwriting. I structured it this way to keep it simple and fun.
This is my first ever real-time album review. How do you like it?
Let me know what you’re doing while listening to the podcast. I’d love to hear what you think of it so far, too. My goal for the podcast is to be a resource to help players and teachers hone their craft, so it helps to know how I’m doing in reaching that.
You can reach me at podcast@ukuleleabe.com
To hear the album alone go to ukuleleabe.com
The new riff rundown series I’m doing can be found on Instagram and Facebook. So far I’ve done In My Life by The Beatles and Is This Love by Bob Marley.
I got a new mic (was borrowing one) and a new podcast host. I’m happy with it so far. 😁
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Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special: Mike Holzer For the final episode in this special series, I sat down and talked to Mike Holzer, the chief ukulele evangelist of the Allegheny Ukulele Kollective and Festival Director of the Allegheny Ukulele Soiree. Make sure you get your tickets soon for next year’s. They’ll go on sale around October.
The Mighty Uke was a movie that they screened at a Soiree in the past.
Fusion Bags is a company who’s cases I’ve been seeing more and more. They are known for holding two ukes.
Mim from Mim’s Ukes was one of the vendors. She brought many ukes and did set ups all weekend.
Some other vendors there this year were Dewdrop Ukuleles, Mainland Ukes, Leis & Things by Debi, The Hug Strap, and the Adaptive Ukulele System.
How to Start and Grow an Ukulele Club is the book I mentioned.
The Quiet American is one of the teacher/performers scheduled for next year’s Soiree.
Is Pono a K-brand? It’s made by Ko’olau.
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Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special: Amber Rozel AUSS no. 4 features a Steel City Ukes native! Amber Rozel is a teacher and performer that you may not have heard of, unless you’re from Pittsburg, PA. She’s also a classmate of mine from the James Hill Ukulele Initiative in Toronto. She may be the least famous guest I’ve had on the show, but it’s definitely one of my favorite conversations!
We talked about teaching tips, playing past the 3rd fret, practice schedules, and so much more. The saddle we were talking about is called a compensated saddle.
You can learn more about the Suzuki method here.
In case you’re curious, you can read more about musical counting systems here.
More information about the James Hill ukulele program is here.
Yes the 8th fret on the 1st string is F, unless you aren’t playing a C6 tuned ukulele.
A great teaching tip is a chart: 2 great things and 1 thing to improve for the next week. Use gold stars, too! It’s called 2 stars and a wish.
There’s only one more episode from the Allegheny Ukulele Soiree after this, and it just might be the best one yet!
As always, you can find me and my music at ukuleleabe.com.
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Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special: Danielle Ate the Sandwich Here’s 3 of 5 from the Allegheny Ukulele Soiree! Today’s episode is with Danielle Ate the Sandwich. More info on the Soiree can be found here. The club that puts it together can be found here.
There are many ways to listen to this podcast and be notified of new episodes. Pocket Casts is my preferred way. You can also listen through Apple Podcasts, the Google Play Store.
There are many other apps and services, like player.fm, podcast fanatic, podcast addict, overcast, and many more. I’d love to hear how you’re listening to this.
You can contact me at podcast@ukuleleabe.com. Don’t forget about the free strings!
I’ve got two sets I’m giving away. They’re not available in stores and they’re a gorgeous blue and red (each one color). All you have to do is leave a review on iTunes and send me and email once you’re done.
You can support me and the at patreon.com/ukuleleabe or ukuleleabe.com.
You can find Danielle’s website at danielleatthesandwich.com and all of her music can be found here.
The documentary “Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson” can be found here. Danielle wrote the sound track for that.
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Allegheny Ukulele Soiree Special This is the second installment of a special uke fest series I’m putting out as quickly as I can. These episodes were all recorded on April 21, 2018 in Altoona, PA. In today’s episode I sat down with Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel.
*audio note: there is a workshop going on in the next room, so the audio quality is not quite perfect, but I think it adds to the overall feeling of the series
Craig and Sarah’s website, as well as all of their music, lesson info, and touring schedule can be found at cheemaisel.com. Here’s the video of Craig and Sarah that I mentioned: Sarah Maisel w/ Craig Chee – “Hawaiian Way”
I know I’ve mentioned it before on the show, but it’s just so good. Another recent great video of them can be found here: “On the Sunny Side of the Street” – Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel. Their online ukulele school can be found here.
The 5-string instrument I mentioned is a Mexican Vihuela.
Campanella is a playing style. A great resource to start can be found at Ukulele Hunt. My album can be heard at ukuleleabe.com. The first song, “Find,” is what I discuss in the episode.
As I’ve mentioned before, Ka’au Crater Boys are a great source of inspiration for playing uke.
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is essential ukulele listening. For more great ukulele songs, check out my Spotify playlist. I regularly update it, so be sure to save songs you love. I try to focus on unique and beautiful representations of the ukulele’s potential.
Benny Chong is another great player to watch.
To win a set a Soprano Crystal Colored strings, leave a review on iTunes (Apple Podcasts) and send me an email at podcast@ukuleleabe.com.
It’s important to email me so that I can connect with you to get your prize to you. Thanks for listening and talk to you soon! Aloha!
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Here is part one of a special series I’m doing on the Allegheny Ukulele Soiree. I was invited to attend and had a wonderful time at this festival in Altoona, PA, USA. It was located in a giant lodge on the side of a mountain in the middle of a forest. With raised walkways through the trees and plenty of ukes to go around, it was a rejuvenating experience.
The Soiree website can be found here: http://ukulelesoiree.com
In this first of the series I had a chance to sit down and chat with Jim D’Ville. He’s a wonderful teacher/performer that put on a bunch of great classes and a wildly entertaining set at the concert on Saturday night.
You can find out more about Jim and everything he does at his website here: playukulelebyear.com
The chord charts mentioned can be found here.
Deering banjo company makes a banjolele: https://www.deeringbanjos.com/products/goodtime-banjo-ukulele
Allegheny Ukulele Kollective (yes that’s how it’s spelled) is a great uke club doing amazing things, like putting on this awesome uke fest.
Thank you to everyone for reaching out and letting me know what you think of the podcast so far!
To enter to win a set of soprano Koaloha crystal colored strings, leave me a review on iTunes.
*I forgot to mention in the recording that you also have to email me at podcast@ukuleleabe.com so that I can contact you if you are the winner. You have until June to enter to win.
iTunes/Apple Podcasts link Stay tuned for the next episode in this series, coming out as soon as possible. Subscribe to the podcast to get updated when it’s released.
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Jake Shimabukuro I’m so excited to share today’s episode with you! I was able to sit down with Jake Shimabukuro for an interview last month when he came through Fairfield, CT for a concert.
Jake’s website can be found here. From there you can read more about him, hear his music, see where he’s playing next, and more. The song at the beginning and end of our conversation is “Missing Three” by Jake Shimabukuro from the album Grand Ukulele.
Nashville Sessions is his most recent album. You can hear it on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon among other shops.
Life on Four Strings is a wonderful movie from 2013 that shows a bit of Jake’s life as a virtuoso and touring musician.
Dave Preston is playing guitar with Jake on tour, and Nolan Verner is playing bass.
We talked a bit about how to practice more and make it easier for you to improve.
Ukulele Hale is a fantastic ukulele school in Honolulu, HI, founded by Jody Kamisato. Yes, Jake’s in the Guitar Player Magazine’s Hall of Fame! To see and find out more about Jake’s signature Kamaka, go here.
When we were discussing it, I said at one point “if you haven’t seen it” while trying to address you, the listeners. I think Jake thought I was talking to him, which is when he pointed out that the uke he’s using now on his tour is that exact model. I thought it was kinda funny. Of course he’s seen the uke being made for him!
I had a chance to play it a little. It’s truly an incredible instrument!
We talked a bit about strings and the pedals he’s using, too. “Blue Roses Falling” can be heard on his albums “Live in Japan” and “Gently Weeps”. Email me at podcast@ukuleleabe.com You can leave a review for the show at Apple Podcasts (iTunes) here.
For the contest, make sure you send me an email so that I know what your username is and so I can get the strings to you if you win. As always, thank you for listening!
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Inspiring people/players This episode I’m sharing a few of my favorite ukulele players to give you some inspiration. They all have a big presence on Instagram and I highly recommend checking them out on that platform.
As you may know, I love hearing and discovering the uke in many different scenarios. All of these players do what I think is a great job at exploring what the uke can do. This is not some ultimate list, just me sharing with you what I think are great sources of learning and inspiration.
First up is Destiny G, from the USA. She’s a music teacher and a fabulous singer. Her featured song is here, and you can find her instagram here.
Next is Natasha Ghosh, from the Netherlands. She covers a lot of really neat arrangements. She does her own as well as arrangements from other people. Her featured cover is here, and you can find her instagram here.
The next artist is Eat My Uke, from the UK. He also does a lot of really awesome arrangements. One I particularly love is here, and you can find his instagram here. He also plays uke in the band Bud Sugar, which you can listen to here.
Lastly, you gotta check out Banjolele Tinman. He specializes in “dance music for the old at heart.” The track featured is from his upcoming album which you can pre-order here. His instagram is here and his website is here.
My own inspiring way to play the uke was a cover of Cherry Wine by Hozier. You can here the full version here. And yes there are tabs here.
Finally, a huge source of inspiration (I’ve mentioned before) for me is The Ukulele Site. My son won an ukulele from them and they have so many amazing sound samples so you can listen to tons of amazing ukes. It’s not just great for hearing different ukes, but lots of great little tunes from the players there. Check out their instagram here for future contests!
I have two sets of KoAloha Crystal Colored Strings to giveaway! As far as I can tell, you can’t buy these anywhere. They’re soprano strings, and one set is red while the other is blue.
To enter the contest, just leave me a review on iTunes and send me an email at podcast(at)ukuleleabe.com once you’re done. If you’ve already left one, you’re already done. You just have to send me an email.
You can check out the strings I’m giving away here. I’ll be picking the winner at random and announcing it on a future episode.
I’m heading to the Allegheny Ukulele Soiree, so if you’re there come say hi. I’d love to meet you!
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Always improving I’m back with another episode about practice and other ways to improve as a musician! I talk about listening to a diverse collection of music.
Here is the Great ukulele songs playlist on Spotify.
Bandcamp!
Oddisee is a Brooklyn-based hip-hop artist. You can hear his music here.
The Lone Bellow isn’t exactly country, but alt-country or Brooklyn country.
Allen Stone is definitely an artist to check out.
NPR Tiny Desk Concerts are here. There’s also a video and audio podcast version.
The Rite of Spring is an essential piece of classical music to know.
I also talk about getting stuck in a rut with your own music practice. It’s important to take a break when you need and not place too much stress on yourself about your progress.
Here‘s a pic the Fmaj7 voicing that I like. As you can see, it’s a tough one. I talk about some things you can do when you’re trying to play or record something perfectly and you can’t quite get it right.
One thing I didn’t mention in the podcast is the power of a teacher. Often if you’re really stuck, get a teacher or just a better player to spend some time with you watching and listening to you play. Many times they’ll be able to pick up one or two things you could change with your playing to make it easier.
When looking at other players, use them as inspiration and learning, not as a measuring stick.
The Ooktown podcast is a must-listen! (But seriously you probably already know about it)
Thank you so much to everyone for listening and sharing the podcast. I’d love to hear what you think! Let me know about your own ukulele journey and what you’re working on.
The best and completely free way to support the show is to share it with your friends and give me a rating on iTunes!
You can check out my music and all other projects I’m working on at ukuleleabe.com Aloha!
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Jim Beloff This month I was honored with a chance to interview Jim Beloff. The background music for this episode is Jim’s own ukulele concerto “Uke Can’t Be Serious.” You can hear the full version of it, including a live version, here.
You can find his music, books, and just plain awesome website for all things ukulele at Flea Market Music.
Here are a few of the artists that were mentioned. We encourage you to check them out!
Uke Mag has a great article on Lyle Ritz here. His album “How About Uke” is on Spotify.
Jim Beloff’s recent album can also be heard on Spotify.
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s album “Facing Future” has lots of incredible songs, including the most famous one Jim mentioned.
You can also hear Herb Ohta’s music on Spotify. You can also see a live recording on Youtube here, although there’s some noise and he starts playing near 40% into the video.
Roy Smeck can be seen here on Youtube. There’s also Joel Eckhaus and Marcy Marxer on Youtube.
Brittni Paiva did a great cover on HiSessions. It’s on Youtube.
Sara Maisel and Craig Chee do some lovely duets. Here’s one of my favorites on YouTube.
James Hill and Jake Shimabukuro…. well I trust you know about these guys if you’re listening to this podcast.
In case you need another instrument to buy here’s the Pono instrument I mentioned being demonstrated in two tunings.
Can you tell I like Spotify? Should I include other links? Let me know!
Great ukulele songs is a Spotify playlist I’m working on. It’ll be regularly updated to included all the greatest songs that I think show off the ukulele’s potential. Be sure to follow it if you can’t get enough uke, but save any songs you love since I can’t promise how long they’ll be on there!
Thanks for listening and aloha!
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Primer on Practice Hey everyone!
It’s been a long time, but I’m back. This time I’m talking about practice, teaching, great new ukes, and some ideas for musicians to check out.
Here‘s an article/video about effective practice by NPR and TED-Ed.
The metronome app I use when I practice is Tempo. The Ukulele App is another nice app for practice/learning ukulele. Yousician is another app for learning uke. It also teaches piano, guitar, and bass. There are so many resources out there for learning!
What are your favorites?
Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps is a book that helps makes sense of knowing the entire fretboard and how to play scales, chords, and melodies everywhere on the fretboard.
Ledward Kaapana and Honoka and Azita are two artists I think you should check out if you haven’t.
Ledward played a concert in July that you can see here. He’s also on Spotify here. Honoka and Azita are on Spotify as well.
A great resource for hearing ukuleles if you can’t actually play them (great for buying too!) is The Ukulele Site. Another great place to hear ukes and read reviews on them as well is Got a Ukulele.
The GHS baritone-tuned Tenor strings can be found here. Living Water Strings can be found here. There’s many more other special sets than I mentioned on the podcast. Thanks for checking it out. Let me know what you think of the podcast so far!
Next month I’ll sit down with the great Jim Beloff to talk about ukulele and orchestras.
Aloha!
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Episode 2 Back in July I got a chance to sit down with James Hill and talk to him about the ukulele.
We talked about teaching our own kids the uke, the future of the ukulele, and how to get started as an ukulele teacher.
You can check out James Hill at https://jameshillmusic.com http://jhui.org and https://www.theukuleleway.com
You can learn more about me, including my recent studio album at ukuleleabe.com
Thanks everyone for listening! Let me know what you think and please keep in mind this is a work in progress. Aloha!
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Episode 1 Here’s the first episode of my ukulele podcast!
It’s mostly just me rambling on about the ukulele. I introduce myself and cover a few topics from new instruments and just starting out as an ukulele teacher.
My goal with this project is to learn more about the ukulele and share that knowledge with you. Of course that means having lot of fun.
As I’ve never done this before and I’ll be learning as I go, it might be a little rough, so I ask for some patience as I perfect my techniques.
I’m really excited to get this started, so check it out and let me know what you think!
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