Phil Doleman, great uke teacher - sends me home buzzing and inspired...

"Life for a Lady with a Ukulele or Two..." (subtitle of this blog) inexplicably just seems to get busier - time is always full. It seems I used to have more of it to fit everything in ... perhaps it's just me getting older, which I certainly am, and can't complain about that, as the alternative is - not acceptable at the moment! But blogging is taking a hit, for sure. It isn't for want of something to write about, there's plenty. I'm playing uke just as much, I think, still flitting around from on song to another, one skill to another, one genre of music to another, one aspect of the uke and music to another ... and I still don't care. I know I'm making progress. And the credit for that goes to my uke teacher, Phil. Phil Doleman.

I've been going to Phil for personal lessons for more than two years now. I don't go every week or even every fortnight; I fit a lesson in every few weeks as is convenient for both of us, and it's just great. A highlight of my week. I always come away having learned lots, often with my brain hurting - I'm always having to say, "hold on, let me write that down, I'll never remember that when I get home..." and I always come away at the end of a lesson inspired and buzzing. He's good, you see. Knows how to teach. He weighs up where you are pretty quickly and can see what you need to improve your playing and widen your musical understanding. And now that I've been going to him for so long I'm totally at ease playing with and for him, no nerves - that's just great too. He's easy to be comfortable with.

I had a lesson today. Having woken a little late after my first really good night's sleep in ages, I was rushing to get everything together for my lesson, only realising when I arrived at Phil's home that I'd forgotten my glasses! What a chump... no problem though. We spent the whole hour doing stuff that didn't need sheets to read, based on chord progressions that Phil knew I knew... playing songs in several different keys, making me work things out just outside my comfort zone... interesting jazzy alternatives for the chords, all over the fretboard... wonderful stuff that sounded just great.

Well, LSH and I will be seeing Phil with Ian Emmerson on Thursday evening, off up to Belper again to see them supporting Del Rey. Looking forward to that. If you haven't got a ticket - well, you're too late. Sold out.

Next day, Phil will be travelling to Dumfries to appear at the Ukulele Festival of Scotland. A lot of my favourite performers will be there, but I'm afraid I will not. It clashes with the summer convention of the George Formby Society in Blackpool, and LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) and I are delighted to be going to that, as we always do. Can't do everything, can't be everywhere! We will both be meeting up with friends we can now call old friends, I'll be helping to organise the Sunday afternoon concert, and might - just might - take a turn on stage.

So it's still all go. I promised to write about something I did in April - and I will. Honestly!

Thanks for dropping in, I really appreciate it - do come again! I'll try not to leave it too long before I write again!

Photo of Phil Doleman by Ed Sprake for GNUF

Little Blue Ukulele on holiday... giving uke lessons!

When I take a break somewhere peaceful for a week or two, I always.... ALWAYS... take the Little Blue Uke. When flying, it goes in a small rucksack these days as hand luggage, and when we're there, I can pick it up and have a strum whenever I want.

Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not a particularly extroverted person, I'm not the life and soul of the party, I'm more comfortable in small groups than large ones, and I don't imagine that everybody around me can't wait to get an earful of ukulele music... so in the main, I disappear to our room and play there, or maybe out on the balcony - as long as there's no-one out on the adjoining ones. And if I think there's a chance that someone CAN hear, I try to "play nicely" so as not to annoy.

Well, when we were chatting to our holiday rep, Leanne, at the beginning of the holiday, the uke did somehow come into the conversation - don't ask me how. And somehow or another, she expressed interest, and I said I'd be happy to give her some lessons. You know, these are the sort of things that usually just float into the ether and disappear - but actually, it didn't... I gave Leanne about three lessons in all, and after the first one she came down with the nails on her fretting hand trimmed right down, good as gold - it was then that I knew she meant business and was really keen to learn! What's more she got the first three chords (C, G7 and F) down really quickly! Oh, I was so proud!

Leanne has come back home to the UK now, here she is and sure enough, she has bought her first uke. I can't wait to hear how she's getting on with it. It's a very nice feeling, to have "got somebody going" with this wonderful little instrument that can bring such joy... I do hope it brings her the pleasure that my ukes have brought me.

Oh, and by the way - LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) and I were in the hotel corridor on our way to the room one day when a chap stopped me and asked if it was me that played ukulele on the balcony - a little warily, I said yes, that's me... and he said he was in the next room and how LOVELY it was to listen to... well, wasn't that nice?

I do hope he meant it!

Thanks for dropping in... I've had another little patch of song-writing inspiration, these last few days. I'll tell you about it soon. Don't go too far away, now! It's lovely to see you on my pages!

So why am I now having ukulele lessons, after all this time?

So why, after owning a uke for nine years and starting to try to seriously get to grips with it for three and a half, have I decided to start taking lessons just now? After all, I’ve been getting on OK on my own, following videos and so on; I can play quite a few chords, do an instrumental or two, play a couple of tricky strums, have fun on my own or with other folks… well. It’s because it was gradually dawning on me that I need guidance… and taking in hand. Some discipline. A route through the maze. I’ve been having lots of fun for more than three years, dipping into this, having a go at that, but I came to think that learning in my own way was rather like herding cats. Because there’s Chord Melody cat, Jazz Standards cat, Blues cat, the George Formby-style cat… and chief cat Myself was actually not doing the most productive and efficient job iof turning me into a half-decent player - which is what I want to be. To make faster progress I needed a proper shepherd. What’s more, I hate Skype, and I realised ages ago that if I were to have uke lessons, they would have to be face-to-face ones...

So the bottom line is, I’m having lessons with the wonderful Phil Doleman, (more about Phil later…. ) Lucky me…. He lives not TOO far away for me to travel. Right now I’ve had three lessons, and already I know it’s paying off…. Phil’s a great teacher, and his love of the music of the 20’s and 30’s and blues suits me down to a T.

This is a piece he gave me a couple of weeks ago. Shine on Harvest Moon. Still a little ragged, but definitely getting there!



This is unlisted... but I'll do another video when I can play it better!

If you watched - thank you! And if you are learning to play the uke, don't stop!

James Hill - The Ukulele Way - Exciting new tuition series from the Master himself!

Now, James Hill is absolutely the Zeus of uke gods as far as I'm concerned, so I could not be more excited that he has just (yesterday) brought to the public a new online ukulele tuition series The Ukulele Way. He explains what it's all about right here...



When you've seen and heard James play his amazing no-loops-or-tricksversion of Billie-Jean, on YouTube, you become a fan... well, you do, don't you? Such creative virtuosity... and then, when you attend one of his workshops, as I did in Cheltenham at the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain last year, you learn what a fantastic teacher he is. And what a really nice fellow. Then, watching him top the bill at the Saturday night concert - you learn just how diverse his ukulele repertoire is.

Like I said, The Master... and now I - and you! - can be a regular pupil and learn at his (virtual) knee! And no, dear reader, I'm not being paid to post this! But, having seen the 6 free video lessons, I hereby declare that I'm signing up my $9/month for the whole programme.

It's stupendous.

Get in there....

How do you go about memorizing songs?

This questions is often asked, and as I've been trying to learn a few songs properly, this is the method I've come up with that works for me.

If you have difficulty learning songs, try this.....

Play and sing the song through a few times with the lyrics/chord sheet, in the usual way.

Then literally split the lyrics from the chords, to learn them separately -

Put the lyrics on one side of a sheet, without the chords cluttering up the page, and then write out the chords in sequence on the other side.

If there's a chorus, make it stand out by typing it in bold. Anything you need to remember about the lyrics, make it stand out - but as I said, leave the chords off.

Then try to sing it from memory, learning a verse at a time, with the sheet in front of you.

The other thing is to fix the chord sequences in your head, and writing them on the back of the sheet helps with that, because it helps to show up patterns - the lyrics are not getting in the way. So with the uke, play the song from the chords, without the words, perhaps humming your melody as you go.

Learn a line of music at a time; play it and repeat it, get used to the sequence of chords, and look for patterns. You'll know when you feel you can go on to the next line. Just build the song up line by line.

I learn the words and the music separately, like this, and as I go, now and then put them together from memory until I can do the whole thing. Then I just keep doing it, with no paper there, until I'm confident. It all takes time and lots of repetition to be properly learned. Eventually you'll know your song, and eventually with lots of playing from memory, you just can't forget it, which is perfect!

Lots of repetition is really important, but the method of getting there that I've just explained is what I find works for me. It may work for you, if you try it! I hope this helps!

Happy strumming - and happy singing! It's great exercise too!

At Last a Great low G - What Now? Fingerstyle Ukulele Instruction Low G Tuning by Aaron Keim

Over the moon at having a good low G string on a uke at last,(new Aquila Red Series)I've found this great video tutorial on fingerstyle with a low G by Aaron Keim.

Find Aaron Keim, "The Quiet American" here. If you vaven't come across him before, do look - and his videos are superb.

In this one he teaches and then combines two fingerstyle techniques; the roll and the pinch.



Stringing the ukulele with a high G at the 4th string, known as re-entrant tuning, is the traditional way to string a uke. It's bright, it gives that traditional uke sound, and most chords and tabs are for a uke strung this way. The high G is great for bluegrass and clawhammer fingerpicking too. But for classical and jazz pieces, people often choose the low G option.

For a fantastic and popular classical piece, see John Moen's arrangement for Prelude for the First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, posted 5th May this year, and for more on jazzy chords with a low G, see Glen Rose Jazzy Ukulele. (Post done here 31st May 2012).

Tip of the Day for Beginners - Play a 3 Chord Song by Ear

And another ukulele hero - Jim D'Ville

The best way to develop your musical skills is to test them, challenge them - and develop your musical "ear".

Check over the list of 3 chord songs on the 3 chord song page here... choose a song that you're familiar with, and have a go at strumming it without a song sheet.

Chances are, the first chord will be C, because when you play a 3 chord song with C, F and G7, you're "in the key of C" and C is the chord you'll start with and end with - it's the "home chord".

You may well hear when the chord should change - and you've only a choice of 2! As you go through it, and it will likely be by trial and error for a while, try to remember the right chords as you find them. Practice changing chords in the right place - it will get easier. It's rather like doing a puzzle, but the right chord will sound right, that's the thing.

Gradually you will learn the song. A boost for your skills, and a big boost for your confidence!

I love this approach and I've always played by ear from childhood, being desperate to play (piano, recorder) and unable to lay my hands on sheet music, I used to work it out. It was and is fun....I still do it - it's only practice, and perseverance. I'm not brilliant at it; (Jools Holland learned to play piano by ear and IS brilliant...)

Of course, 2 and 3 chord songs are only the beginning - as new chords are added to those three in more complex arrangements, the interplay of major and minor chords is an entrancing revelation.

A big ukulele exponent of playing by ear is Jim D'Ville. Check out his website, there's great stuff on there - and a link to his "3 Chord Club" - worth more than a few minutes!

So you're starting to play a ukulele? Three sets of chords to really get you going quickly!

I've seen some pretty good websites with great tips on how to start to learn to play a ukulele. Okay, an ukulele if you like. But having just given one as a gift to a complete beginner, I thought I'd share my views on learning to play with you.

You want to play because you want to play song accompaniments, for starters, yes? Ok.

Set of Chords 1 - C, G7, F

Learn just 2 chords and you'll be started. There are quite a few songs that you can play using just two chords!

I don't have the means to show you how to finger chords on this blog - there are plenty of websites where you can learn that, and one of my favourites is (ukulelemike) Mike Lynch's website, allthingsukulele.com. His first beginners' page with chord shapes is right here.

Another very good one is ukeschool.com. Here's the page for C, G7 and F

The key of C is the easiest key to play in to start off with, because the home chord C needs only one finger on one string on the fingerboard.

So learn the C chord, using your ring finger (3rd finger) in the space just before the third fret, bottom string (A string).

Then learn the chord G7.

Slide that ring finger down to just behind the second fret and put your first finger at the first fret, next string (E string); middle finger to the third fret, the next string (C string).

Practise playing those two chords and changing smoothly between them.
It all feels awkward and tricky at first but that soon goes with a bit of practice and you'll be away!

Now you can play "Dance the Night Away" and "Cockles and Mussels"!

Start with C, and your ear should tell you when C no longer sounds right, and you need to change to G7. And so on.

If you are of a certain age, you'll remember "The Banana Boat Song"; popular on the radio.
"Day-oh, day-oh! Daylight come and I wanna go home!"
Another 2 chord song, easy to sing and play using C and G7.

The next chord to learn is F.

From G7, leave your first finger in place and move your second finger over to the 2nd fret, top string. (G string).

Practise changing between these three chords; they belong together.

There are loads of songs you can do with just three chords! I'll make a list on another page.

So - the key of C, three chords - C (home chord) G7, F

C, G7, F

Set of Chords 2 - Am, Dm, C7

The 2nd set of chords to learn to enrich your playing and greatly increase your repertoire is

Am, Dm, C7

Adding these chords gives you some common chord progressions, which sound just great and are used in many songs.

One such chord progression is C, Am, F, G7 - repeat.

Also C, Am, Dm, G7

Practise changing through these progressions.

Set of Chords 3 - D7, E7, A7

Your 3rd set of chords to learn is D7 (both fingerings), E7, A7.

With these nine chords under your belt, you'll be well on your way.

In my next few posts, I'll list some songs, using 1st set, incorporating 2nd set, then incorporating 3rd sets of chords.