DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA as performed by GEORGE HARRISON

You just don't expect to hear, on the radio, unannounced and out of the blue, a song accompanied by nothing but a single ukelele - but the other morning that's exactly what I heard... the radio was on as usual, to cheer me through my housework, and it stopped me dead in my tracks with an armful of washing. The sound is unmistakeable and quite arresting.

The song was "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea". I investigated further and found that this 1930's song was sung and played on the uke by George Harrison in the late 1980's. I came across a Youtube clip of George singing it on Jools Holland's late night show, accompanied by Jools on piano and Joe Brown on guitar, among others... watch it here! Fantastic....

Song 1932,music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Ted Koehler.

Here's ukulelemike, Mike Lynch, with his tutorial on it.



My favourite song of the moment... thanks to ukulelemike for a great arrangement. You can also find an arrangement on Al Wood's Uke Hunt.....

Success with Cherry Blossoms instrumental in the Season of Mists...

These autumn mornings, I can't look out of bedroom window without recalling the first few lines of Keats' Ode to Autumn, so painstakingly learned at school all those years ago...

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;"

They are surely fitting lines for this day, this Sunday... we live at the top of a hill - not a big hill, but a hill nonetheless, and on these autumn days the cloud can be so low as to hang just above the ground and obscure the usual view across the roofs and trees. Quite a pleasant view normally, although there are no thatch-eaves to be seen! AT 11.20 this morning the sun was trying hard to burn that mist off - and now, half an hour later it has partially succeeded, revealing the tall trees behind the houses that back onto ours - but beyond that all remains obscured by the mist. And I notice that overnight, the leaves on our flowering cherry tree have finally begun to turn gold.

They are actually very late this year, some trees in neighbouring gardens are glowing red already, but I put the steadfast October greenness of ours down to the heavy rain we have had all summer - the wettest summer in the UK since records began in the 1700s.

The descent into autumn and winter always has the effect of making me feel quite melancholy - a bright, sunny day can be depended upon to lift my mood dramatically, but I adore the spring and look forward to seeing the cherry blossom tree swathed in white once more.

And talking of Cherry Blossom, I spent an evening last week working hard to finish learning Mike Lynch's Cherry Blossoms fingerstyle instrumental solo - and I finally nailed it. One of my short-term targets that I set a while back. Late, but I nailed it. My other targets, sadly, are not going so well, as I remain a butterfly, flitting about from piece to piece, skill to skill, making slow progress across too-wide a path. Ah me. BUT - You know what? I'm still having so much FUN!

(Psst - I'll let you see how I got on with it - on the "Summerhouse Practice List" page there's a link - don't tell anyone I told you though......!)

AUTUMN LEAVES for the ukulele: tutorial by ukulelemike - Mike Lynch

This lovely French song (Les Feuilles Mortes) was written in 1945; music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by the poet Jacques Prevert. It was given lyrics in English by Johnny Mercer in 1947, and has been recorded countless times, becoming a jazz standard.

The autumn is now really setting in here in the UK, and so I feel compelled to add this beautiful song to my current practice list. It's funny, but I only feel like attempting it in the autumn! So I reckon I've got about five weeks to nail it. Hmmm. Unfortunately I won't be practising it in the summerhouse - too chilly now by far, even though the days when the sun shines brightly and the skies are blue, it can look tempting.....

Find lots more information about the song here, including information about the structure and the chord progression.

Thanks to ukulelemike, Mike Lynch for another great tutorial.....

Til There Was You, with ukulelemike, Mike Lynch

I find myself very pressed for time at the moment, with so much I want to tell and post to the blog and no time to do it - but as this is one of my all-time favourite songs, it was a must to share, without delay.

Please enjoy, Til There Was You.... by Meredith Wilson.

Posted for educational purposes, all rights reserved.

"Bye Bye Blues" - Ukulele lesson tutorial by ukulelemike, Mike Lynch

I've been looking at the popular jazz standard "Bye Bye Blues", written by Fred Hamm, Dave Bennett, Bert Lown, and Chauncey Gray and published in 1930. More on the song here.

This lovely version, by ukulelemike, Mike Lynch, has quite a jazzy sound because of the chords chosen... lots of 7ths and minor 7ths. Mike puts the chords up on the video, which is really helpful when you're trying to follow it...

For ease, here they are in order

A - F7 - Em - F#7 - B7 - E7 - A - Cdim7 - Bm7 - E7

Next time .... another great version of Bye Bye Blues, a couple of tutorial videos by Matthew Richards for playing Bye Bye Blues melody-style, using basic chords. You can take your pick!

"GOING HOME" from Dvorak's "NEW WORLD SYMPHONY" - Ukulele solo arranged by Mike Lynch

Another of ukulelemike's (Mike Lynch) wonderful solo ukulele arrangements, this time of the beautiful and rightly popular Largo from the New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak.

Also known as "Going Home", and played by Mike Lynch himself.




I couldn't wait to get my hands on the tab for this. £3.33 in sterling...

I now have enough uke music to keep me amused until 2022...

Enjoy...

Bliss...

Pennies from Heaven for Ukulele - Tutorial by Ukulelemike

I've never known a summer when it has rained so much. The whole of April - the whole of June - and it hasn't stopped so far in July. Well it has - for a few minutes here and there, just while another cloud rolls in off the Atlantic. One minute the sun is actually shining, and you look again and the rain is pouring down. The sky is a patchwork in shades of grey, white and a little blue, but darkest grey predominates. Early this evening the sun was shining while the rain fell really heavily - the edge of a cloud I suppose. But not usual.

There have been some incredible rainbows, really bright, and double ones... a little beauty to behold, while you remind yourself that elsewhere at other times, people actually have lost their homes and their lives in flooding. So it's not so bad, and I must stop moaning.

One of my favourite old songs is Pennies from Heaven, (1936) by John Burke and Arthur Johnston.

I found this great tutorial video from ukulelemike, Mike Lynch, my favourite ukulele teacher! This arrangement has some lovely minor 7th and diminished chords - delicious! Just the thing to chase those rainy blues away.



Every time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven
Don'tcha know each cloud contains pennies from heaven?
(You'll find your fortune fallin' all over town)
(Be sure that your umbrella)
Is upside down

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love, you must have showers
(So when you hear it thunder) Don't run under a tree
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me

(Every time it rains, it rains) Pennies from heaven
(Don'tcha know each cloud contains) Pennies from heaven?
(You'll find you fortune fallin') All over town
(Be sure that your umbrella) Is upside down

Trade them for a package of sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love you must have showers
(So when you hear it thunder) Don't run under a tree
There'll be pennies from heaven for you and for me

I haven't found the link to the chord sheet, but the tutorial is great - I'm hoping to get this under my belt eventually, but a chord sheet would be really useful.

And here's a few more songs about the rain.....

Just Walkin' in the Rain
I'll Do my Cryin' in the Rain
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head
It Might as Well Rain Until September
Pennies from Heaven
April Showers
Drip Drip Drop Little April Shower
Let a Smile be Your Umbrella
Bus Stop (Wet day, she's there....) - The Hollies
Singin' in the Rain
Raining in my Heart
Stormy Weather
Don't Rain on my Parade
Rainy Night in Georgia
Rhythm of the Rain
Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The Summerhouse Practice List

Days like this you want to bottle and keep. The best early summer weather; cloudless blue skies, a suspicion of a breeze, the air soft and warm...

LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) decided to do just that this morning - bottle it - and went off in search on elderflowers to make elderflower cordial. But he returned disappointed; it's just a bit early. In the hedgerows the elder blossoms are only just starting to come out, but the May blossom with its heavy, heady, intoxicating scent is flaunting itself everywhere. In the garden, the cherry blossom has gone but the azaleas, rhododendrons and the few alliums are at their best, and the grass is the greenest and lushest that it will be all year.

We've waited for two miserable months for this - but it's here. It's nearly June, and like in Carousel, it'll be bustin' out all over.

And at last I've opened the doors to my summerhouse.

A gift from LSH, my summerhouse has been my joy for the last two summers. I treated the outside, stained the inside, laid flooring, made curtains and drapes, bought souvenirs from trips to hang on the walls, and bought little tables and easy chairs. It's a haven at the bottom of the garden. I sit out of the heat when it's hot, and out of the wind when it's breezy.

And now - yes, I've been playing my ukulele in there.

Yesterday I promised myself half an hour - but it stretched to over an hour. I went straight through my practice file - then back again in reverse. Today; half an hour's playing... a glass of wine... and a snooze. Oh bliss!

So here's my practice file; the ukulele music I love, that challenges me just enough.

My Practice List

Wildwood Flower - practising to perfect; bluegrass, Ken Middleton's tab.
Finlandia - ukulelemike Mike Lynch's arrangement
Cherry Blossoms - Mike Lynch
Here Comes The Sun - Richard G's Ukulele Songbook
Mister Sandman
Til There Was You - Meredith Wilson
Just the Way You Look - Jerome Kern
Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks
My Canary Has Circles Under His Eyes - Richard G's Ukulele Songbook
I Can't Give You Anything but Love - Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
Where or When - Rodgers & Hart
I'll See You in my Dreams

Summertime, and the Livin' is Easy..... with ukulelemike

At last, summer has arrived in the UK - wall to wall sunshine today, coast to coast, temperatures 24 - 26 degrees everywhere, just about.... and it's gorgeous. I turned to my uke in October last year, to get me happily through the plunge of the sun into winter - I'm just a spring and summer person - and apart from some lovely and unseasonably warm weather in March, it has been downright chilly, damp and miserable. But now - gorgeous. The leaves are all beautifully fresh and green, the birds are chasing each other about, utterly "twitterpated" (Bambi - remember?) and at last this morning I was coaxed away from my ukulele for an hour or so to give the garden some much-needed attention before it actually got too hot!

And - "Porgy and Bess" is coming to Birmingham in a couple of weeks, courtesy of Cape Town Opera. LSH and I are big Gershwin fans, and we've just bought our tickets; can't wait!

The song "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess is such a wonderful song - I looked for a ukulele version - and came up with this from one of my ukulele heroes, Mike Lynch. Click here for much more information on the song and a tutorial with chords.

Mike Lynch - you are wonderful!

"Cherry Blossoms" - Original Instrumental for the Ukulele by Ukulelemike, Mike Lynch

A sunny spring morning, blue skies, cherry blossom - what a lovely day to enjoy this gorgeous video of ukulelemike Mike Lynch's own original ukulele instrumental, "Cherry Blossoms", arranged and performed by him. He's playing his Oscar Schmidt solid mahogany tenor. Cherry Blossoms is actually only one of three pieces of a trilogy that he calls The Dreamscape Trilogy. The other two pieces are called Paris Nocturne and River of Dreams.



You can find the tabs for the whole trilogy as well as many others in Mike's SOLO INSTRUMENTALS FOR THE UKULELE Vol.1. for sale on his website.

I have just bought this "e"book, which comes in pdf form, and I'm looking forward to tackling Cherry Blossoms. I've had a quick look, and the pieces vary in difficulty; some look easier to satisfy the novice finger-picker like me, and they do get harder - so there's plenty to keep you going. I'll have more to say about them when I've got "stuck in".... meanwhile do look on Mike's homepage for more information about them.

Thank you Mike for more inspirational music!

My second Ukulele Hero - Mike - Mike Lynch

When I hear music, one of the things that will always stop me in my tracks is interesting chords. While pootling around on my ukulele, trying to figure out the chords for a particular song, I've discovered that, try as I might, sometimes the right chord just can't be found. And I've realised that when that's the case, it's because the chords are not the straightforward major, minor or 7th chords - they're something else. I'm not going to get technical here - I'm not capable of getting too technical about it - but those elusive interesting chords are often associated with jazz. My appreciation of jazz is rather limited - but I drool over those interesting chords. When you're reading the chords for a song, they're the ones with "aug", (augmented), "dim" (diminished) or "sus"(suspended) after them - or a number like 6, 9 or 13.

Yesterday I showcased Mike Lynch's arrangement of "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin. The jazz chords in it are A aug (A+) and Bbm6. Delicious! There's no doubt in my mind that Mike is one of the best and most inspirational teachers of Ukulele on the net, and I would wholeheartedly recommend his videos on Youtube.

If you like those interesting jazzy chords, just watch ukulelemike's first jazz chords video for the ukulele. I can't fault his MO. His love of the ukulele, of the music, and of teaching it just shine through. A ukulele hero. Hail Mike! I wish you Blue skies.

To watch ukulelemike's first video on jazz chords for the ukulele, click here. He also goes by the name MusicTeacher2010.

JAZZ UKULELE TUTORIALS by “UKULELE MIKE” LYNCH

The Old Songs Are the Best!

Song for the Day Blue Skies, by Irving Berlin

To me, Lennon and McCartney were, as a song-writing duo, the best thing since sliced bread. But the "sliced bread" were the great song-writers who came before.... George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hammerstein, Rogers and Hart... to name the best known - best known to me, anyway! What fabulous songs they all wrote. As I write, the sky is indeed blue this sunny spring morning, pick your uke up and strum along with me!

Here's my song for the day, arranged for the ukulele by ukulelemike, Mike Lynch.

Blue Skies, written in 1926 by Irving Berlin


(Click song for the day to go straight to ukulelemike's website, and download the pdf. If you like the song, you'll be strummin' away in no time! The chords are easy.........