My website has been going since November 2014, but a Microsoft warning has put paid to it. I don't want to be associated with sites that can gain financial or personal information. I've added my last 'Stop Press' today, and here it is...

It is the last few days of this website, thanks to Microsoft. They put up a warning that this site has unsafe content. It doesn't. I have spent hours and hours trying to resolve this and it's still there - I am told it's just my computer now, but others have told me it's on theirs too. Microsoft said it was a Wix problem (Wix have been very supportive and helpful throughout) Wix said it was a Microsoft problem. It was.

There have been exactly seven years of songs of the week and it's been great to share them with you. I hope you've enjoyed them too.

The site expires on 1st December 2021. 

North Tyneside Ukulele Festival

Is it really ten months since my last blog! I have been keeping up with my song of the week at Lancashire Ukulele and you can see the songbooks that I've written for the Garstang Group on their Garstang Ukulele Group Resources Page 

In the last couple of days a songbook has been added to this page. It only has twenty songs in it and it's not really for Garstang but I will be taking it to The North Tyneside Ukulele Festival which starts on the 9th November at the Spanish City Dome in Whitley Bay. I'll be taking this songbook just in case I can find a quiet corner, which may not be possible. If you can't get there don't worry - ukulele festivals are everywhere 😃

Lancashire Ukulele

I don't tend to write many blogs now, but if you have reached this site and want some wonderful ukulele information, then you could do worse than have a look at my website, Lancashire Ukulele

You will find that a 'song a week' page is updated each week, usually on Mondays but I might be a day early or a day late next week as it is Christmas Day.

Aloha.

The Garstang Ukulele Group were invited to the Britain's Got Talent auditions in Blackpool on Sunday 1st October. We were there to add background music and I think everyone appreciated us playing as there must have been a few people waiting nervously for their auditions.

Four of us went off on a tram where we were filmed singing I Wanna Be Like You and it looked to me like all the young dancers who were sat near us knew all the words. We were asked to exit the tram as we were filmed (just four or five takes) and while we were stood at the tram stop waiting to get back on the tram we were asked to play Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside. It's not in our repertoire but we played the basic chords. Since then I've added a couple of chords and the instrumental version.You can find the instrumental version as my song of the week at https://www.mikegradwell.com/beside-the-seaside

Aloha

There's Always The Website

Is it really so long since I posted on Ukulele for Novices!

I do update my website on a weekly basis at https://www.mikegradwell.com/

I've nearly completed my recovery from Garfest 2017. I might just blog about it :-)

Testimonials

I teach ukulele and guitar in primary schools, I teach on a one-to-one basis and I also lead two adult groups. I've also taught adults in four-week courses, sometimes for beginners and sometimes they are more advanced. Yesterday I began a four-week course for a mixed-ability group. I didn't ask for any feedback, I've never asked for feedback, but I have received some today and had to share them as my head isn't big enough already :-)

The class was amazing and he is an amazing teacher!!  I learned a lot and now have to change the way I have been doing everything as I can see I have a lot of bad habits that will be difficult to break!  Although he is very open and accepting of whatever and says there is nothing he would consider the wrong way!  It's just if you do it 'right' I think you might play better in the long run!

He also has incredible energy and he taught a lot in an hour.  Maybe  abit too much as I couldn't take it all on board but mostly I got it. Certainly more than I thought it would be and much much better. I will move heaven and earth to do the next 4 weeks!

 It was great and I think that was the general sentiment. I take back the earlier concern it might be too basic. Also I was thinking it would be good to continue to the next level after the 4 weeks.

Last night's lesson was very good. We covered quite a lot of the basics and came away with some exercises to do. 

Although I can do a basic strum ok I already feel I learned a bit more about the different ways to play and how they affect the end result on the sound of the tune. 

The lesson was quite fast moving but I think both of the absolute beginners managed ok, I hope so. I certainly came away feeling I had learned several new things........now to get practicing those exercises. 

I know I am going to benefit from them and will probably be interested in continuing them later.

Aloha

Weird and Wonderful Memory Techniques

I teach a couple of adult ukulele groups as well as going into schools and teaching on a one-to-one basis. A couple of weeks ago I set one person the task of learning the chord sequence for Pachelbel's Canon. One week later they had learned it. Unfortunately he couldn't remember the first chord.

You can see the chord sequence and the tab for a few ukulele variation at http://www.mikegradwell.com/#!pachelbels-canon/tt3oq
It isn't too difficult to learn eight chords but it takes some effort and even when you know it you might forget  the first chord. So it was then that I set about using memory techniques for chord sequences. We spent five minutes talking about a weird and wonderful story, so bear with me.

You are lying in the sea, the sun is blazing down and the there is a calmness to the waters, but you are in the sea. Your first chord is C. A giraffe is walking on the water towards you and a giraffe begins with g so the next chord is G. There is a jockey on the giraffe but it is a actually a miner, and you can tell because they are dressed like a miner complete with miner's lamp. The next chord is Am. The miner doesn't need to hold on to reins but can eat a full English breakfast, in particular he is eating one egg which is a minor part of the breakfast. Egg minor means the next chord is Em. He is thinking about his favourite football club (FC) and their ground (FG).

The chord sequence is C G Am Em F C F G and in the space of five minutes I have had classes of primary school children playing the chord sequence for Pachelbel's Canon, and you can hear lots of other tunes there including Streets of London. There is a nice riff to Marguerita Time by Status Quo and you can transfer a lot of your new-found memory skills to play this riff. I'll put this music on my website in the near future and you'll see the pattern.

The best moments for me in the last couple of weeks have been when someone has come in and not heard any of the story but they see someone playing the chord sequence that they couldn't play five minutes earlier.

Aloha

A Typical Ukulele Week

So much is going on with ukuleles and I have posted so little! Today (and every Sunday) the Garstang Ukulele Group met. Yesterday I played with the Morecambe Ukulele Club in the morning and in the afternoon we played at the Kirkby Lonsdale Music Festival. I wish I'd taken a photo of the programme because we were top or the bill. In fact we were performing first. Morecambe Ukulele Club is the Status Quo (Live Aid) of Kirkby Lonsdale!

Thursday evening, as usual was spent with the Arnside Ukulele Group and there are a smaller number from this group who stay after nine, called, unsurprisingly, the After Nine Group and the music we play here is quite a high standard.

The ukulele took it's place on Monday and Tuesday too, and there were lots of other reasons to play ukulele in the rest of the week but I'll just mention Wednesday. It was on Wednesday that I went with another two-fifths of Ukulele Jukebox to play at Garstang Unplugged at the Kenlis Arms. It was my first time at this event but I'm sure I'll be there again because of their very warm welcome, and we were photographed so I do some evidence that I play the ukulele...

Aloha


Photo courtesy of Garstang Unplugged

Croydon Ukulele Festival

I know I don't post regularly on this blog but I do have a weekly Song of the Week on Facebook. However as I have just visited the Croydon Ukulele Festival I thought you might like a summary...

Croydon Ukulele Festival

I was initially interested in coming to the festival because of the headline acts. I have seen Phil Doleman as he is probably the UK’s top ukulele attraction. However my main reason for booking was because I hadn’t seen Jo Stephenson or Elliot Mason. Both were great. It was worth coming down from Morecambe for the three headline acts and this was helped by the intimate atmosphere of the Oval Tavern.

I had not seen the programme until a couple of weeks prior to the festival. I had guessed there would be opportunities for playing the ukulele and there were plenty. I thought I knew most songs that are sung by ukulele groups but it was good to find quite a few that I didn’t. Again it was the intimate atmosphere (of the Green Dragon) and Carol’s friendly strumalong leadership that brought out the best in ukulele playing – not to mention Neil’s professional sound engineering and computer skills.

The cost was a big factor for me. The hotel was not expensive and neither were food prices. I had a central location and walking between venues was easy. Workshops were mostly free and one was £3.50 which is on the low side even if a club is organising it. At major festivals you would be more likely to pay £15 or £20 for a similar workshop.

I was pleased to see Paul Redfern’s first solo gig. He has a great act and has an extensive knowledge of the ukulele.  I was also really impressed by the performances by the local clubs. The three groups were superb. I have seen the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and noticed many similarities particularly with the Brockley Group.

The weekend’s schedule was quite full but I did manage to visit Croydon’s museum and got to know the town because of the two main venues and the mass busk in the main shopping centre.
I can only think of one negative and that was the price of parking. I usually park for free wherever I go but parking for two days in Croydon cost me £26. Maybe this isn’t much for many people but it’s £26 more than nothing.

I met some really nice people and I’m sure paths will cross again and I will look forward to it when they do. Thanks must go to the efforts of those who organised the event. Well done. I probably got as much out of the Croydon ukulele festival as any other festival I’ve ever been to, and the the savings I made in the costs of the hotel and festival allowed me to buy a Noah ukulele!

P.S. If you book Merry Hell or Ukulele Jukebox I will definitely be there in 2017.

Ukulele Inspiration

I remember learning the guitar at school and anyone who had learned a new riff would share it with their guitar playing friends. I picked up many tunes like this and it is a great way to learn. Well I meet many ukulele players but I read about many more on the internet and there are so many players willing to give their advice. If you can find a song or even just a short instrumental section of a song then this may inspire you to learn more.

I have a website and each week I write  a 'song of the week'. It may not be a whole song (and it usually isn't) but it may inspire you to play more ukulele. This week's song of the week is the first theme from Chariots of fire. Take a look - you may be inspired.

http://www.mikegradwell.com/#!chariots-of-fire/hfac9

Ukulele Group Strumming

I was recently asked in an email if I had any advice about strumming patterns for groups of people who are learning to play the ukulele. I thought I'd share those thoughts here...

I would take any tune and if there are two or three people out of twenty who can't get the chord changes then live with it and they could just play one chord whenever it comes up. (we have one or two people in one of my groups who just play one or two chords at times and they are happy just to participate). If there are more than 50% who struggle with the chord changes then you need to simplify the lesson. You can pick a tune with chords that are held for longer or you can amend the chord structure of that particular tune.

Let's say it has two bars of each chord C Am F and G. Get them to play four bars of each and see if they can manage to get to all the new chords before they have to move on to the next chord. Then see if they can manage two bars of each chord but at a slower tempo. Individual confidence will grow when they are able to take part with the whole group either with slower changes of chord or a slower tempo. Try increasing the tempo with four bars of each chord. Then slow the tempo down for two-bar changes. Then work to one-bar and then to two beat-changes.

I feel that group strumming is about taking the majority with you and finding the tunes that they can play but using stuff like changing the number of bars and the tempo as an exercise will let them know they can play to their limit and then they can extend their limit.

I was going through strumming patterns yesterday with one primary school who are doing a war medley. I got them emphasising the first beat in the bar, then the second and fourth beats and a few other variations. With Run Rabbit Run, when we got to 'bang bang bang, goes the farmer's gun' they emphasised beats 1,2 and 3. I've never really found strumming patterns  to be a problem but if there is anything fancy then they may have to be taught.

As for the more advanced players, they can be playing an intro or an outro or an instrumental verse. That will keep them busy and happy. You will always have some players that are better than others but isn't it great that ukulele clubs  are all inclusive :-)

Aloha

Dim or Dim7 and Why It Matters

I recently joined in a conversation on a Facebook site called 'Learn Ukulele Free' when a great songbook was added by Jim Carey. There are hundreds of songs and he has produced a number of updates. This time (and probably previously) he asked for any problems to be mentioned to him so he could add errata. I wasn't going to get into detail because every song is open to interpretation, but I have noticed a common practice of naming dim7 chords dim. Here is the comment I made after Jim requested opinions...

Thanks for opening up the conversation Jim. I think music theory helps and I hope this explanation helps too. Major chords take the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the scale, e.g. C E G.

Minor chords take the 1st, flattened (or minor) 3rd and 5th notes of the scale, e.g. C Eb G

Diminished chords take the 1st, flattened 3rd and flattened 5th, e.g. C Eb Gb

Diminished 7th chords take the 1st, flattened 3rd, flattened 5th, and add dim7th e.g. C Eb Gb A. The differences between each of these intervals is three semitones i.e the dim 7th of each of the notes within the chord always has the other notes in it. You can start on any of the notes and you end up playing the same four notes. So learn one and you are playing four chords.

There are 12 different notes, five of which have two different names. There are only three different chord positions which are all the same shape,so with one chord shape and three different positions you have 17 different chords.

I was thinking about the importance of knowing the difference between dim and dim7 chords and whether it matters if the wrong label was on a chord chart as there were a few comments that it didn't matter.

I spent 26 years as a physio and the first year is spent learning anatomical names. Does it matter as long as I was treating the right bit? Well yes. It matters because it shows that I have learned a discipline and others can have confidence in my knowledge. It matters because I have communicated what I have done to others. It matters for many other reasons but I'll stick there and say it also applies to any other discipline, particularly when another muscle has a similar name but hasn't been injured. 

All of these reasons apply to other areas of learning including music. However my main reason is that the dim and dim7 chords are different. The dim7 pattern is the one everyone knows and that's great, but what do you do if a composer just wants a dim chord? Nobody would know.

Aloha

Latest News

There is so much I could have posted on this blog in the last few months. I have been to the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival, where my favourite instrumentalist happened to be the violin player with the Toots (but I also saw lots of great ukulele players). I've been to the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain in Cheltenham and I've played on the main stage at the Hoylake Ukulele Festival.

I thought I'd better write something to let you know I am still here, and if you want more evidence then take a look at my website where I write a song a week. They are mainly simple instrumentals for the ukulele. This week's is the theme tune to Robinson Crusoe, the TV series from the '70s.

Aloha

Camberwick Green

If you normally strum chords on a ukulele then the theme to Camberwick Green is the tune to get you playing instrumentals. It helps if you know the tune and it helps if it brings back childhood memories. Even if it doesn't it is a very simple tune that sounds like the original - and it's short and sweet.

------3-0-3---------------2-3---

--0-3---1---3---1-3-0-3-----0---

0---0---0---0---0---0---2---0---

0---0---2---0---2---0---0---0---

Aloha

Ukulele Logos

 In the summer I had a go at adding a photo of one of my ukuleles to a photo of Eric Morecambe's statue. It became the logo for the Morecambe Ukulele Club and was the motif on the front of the 2014 'tour' shirt. The back of the shirt, as is usual, had our tour dates.

The logo, on the right shows Eric holding the ukulele. In reality his fingers are outstretched and I had to remove the ends of the fingers to make it look like he was holding it. The easiest part of the image to add is probably the text as all I had to do was choose a font and get the size of font to fit the length of the image.

Today I had a go at a logo for Ukulele Jukebox - see https://www.facebook.com/ukulelejukebox

Strangely, or maybe not if you know about these things, it was easier to make Eric into a silhouette and add a ukulele than it was to draw straight lines and circles to make a jukebox. I haven't had a lesson in using a computer but maybe I need a lesson or two.



And if you want to see where Morecambe Ukulele Club go on tour, here is the back of the shirt. The trouble with a tour shirt is it can't get printed until we know where we are going. We have had dates that aren't on the tour shirt e.g. last weekend we played Morecambe Library.

I believe we have been invited back to Morecambe Library next year and we should be alright in 2015 for the Paris Olympia, the Albert Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall.

Aloha

The importance of dynamics

A couple of days ago I posted my first two videos on an Ohana TKG 70 guitalele. The first is Aguado's study in Am which is fairly simple and I played it slowly but I played it as it is written. Then, in take two, with a shift in accent, I recorded it with an emphasis on the melody. It became a different tune which just goes to show the importance of dynamics.

A few weeks ago I won the guitalele from Omega Music. Yes, won. How lucky is that, so thanks to Omega Music I now have a welcome addition to my ukuleles. This one plays like a guitar at the fifth fret and is the size of a tenor ukulele. Four of the six strings are exactly like a tenor (G,C,E and A) with an additional fifth and sixth strings (A and D) which makes it relative tuning exactly like a guitar - hence the name.

I now need to learn a whole new set of chord names. However it is easy to play classical pieces on the guitalele as long as you don't want them to be in their original key. This isn't a problem because most classical music is for solo guitar. Those extra two strings make me think I am playing guitar but all the notes have changed. I can play all my classical guitar music but the sound that is produced is five semitones higher.

I like ukuleles, in fact I prefer them to the classical guitar because they are easy to carry, easier to play, much cheaper than guitars, and mostly I prefer ukuleles because they are a social instrument. There are groups of like-minded ukulele players everywhere. In fact I am off later today to play in Sainsbury's in Lancaster. I don't think you'll find many guitar groups playing for charity this Christmas in your local supermarket.

Aloha

The Best Size for a Ukulele

I have just been asked for advice on buying a ukulele and specifically which size is best. This person already plays guitar and they had already heard about the different tuning of the baritone which may be helpful to her. Here is a copy of the advice...

I have a guitalele which is the size of a tenor ukulele but has six strings tuned like a guitar at the fifth fret. When I play a G chord on the guitalele I am actually playing a C chord and this makes me feel like a beginner as I have to think in a totally different way from when I am playing the guitar. Even if you decide on a baritone, I would treat your ukulele Christmas present like a new instrument and forget that you play guitar. You will have new chord shapes to learn but at least they are all the same regardless of the size of ukulele (apart from baritone). I have Brunswick soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles which aren't very expensive but I bought them to help me decide which size is best for me. I am still deciding.

Sopranos are good for stretching for higher notes but there is more space to move around in first position with the tenor. All of them have chords in the same shape and all I have to do is remember how far to stretch for the notes that aren't in first position... I also have an eight-string tenor which is my first choice playing solo.

I like my soprano as I can carry it in a small bag and it's probably best to start with a soprano and they tend to be cheaper too. It's probably best not to spend too much on your first ukulele. Octopus are cheap and good. Slightly better and slightly more expensive are Mahalo Dolphin ukuleles. For a little more money you get a huge choice including Brunswick. Don't forget looks. If you like the look of a ukulele then you are more likely to play it too. I hope that helps.

So Many Ukulele Opportunities

We are very lucky in Morecambe to have so many opportunities for playing the ukulele. On Thursday a couple who were staying in Lancaster for a couple of nights sent a message on Facebook to ask about joining us at our regular Saturday morning session at the Morecambe Ukulele Club. From that message they managed to get to Arnside on Thursday evening, Lancaster on Friday and Morecambe on Saturday. I did mention that the Snug Ukulele  group from Carnforth were playing at the beer festival at Carnforth Station on Saturday (yesterday) evening but they were making their way north to Carlisle and to Omega Music.

Here is the evidence for one of those events, the Beer Festival at Carnforth. Thanks to Glenn Bennett - https://picasaweb.google.com/103639…/SnugBeerFestival221114…"

Aloha

P.S. Take a look at the Lancashire Ukulele website.

Lancashire Ukulele

I have a website which went live a few hours ago and here is the link for 'Lancashire Ukulele'.

There are plenty of photos and videos as well as an advert for lessons in classical guitar and ukulele.

Aloha

GNUF and my most inspirational ukulele player 'award'

This time last week I was in Huddersfield at the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival (GNUF) - and what a festival! There were ample opportunities to play the ukulele, there were workshops galore and there were the top ukulele players from around the world. The photo on the right shows one of the groups, the Mother Ukers.

GNUF is the type of festival where everyone seems to know everyone else. This may be because a large proportion of the audience attended last year or it may be because of social media throughout the year. It may be because ukulele players are free to go and play with other ukulele groups - and there are plenty around, or it may be something to do with the tours organised by GNUF. It may also be something to do with the mini-festivals that are arranged by many clubs. I have written about Lancaster's Malarkey but I also got chance to play at Chester back in July and there are plenty of others including the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain. However mostly the ukulele ambience is mostly due to the friendly nature of ukulele players and performers.

There were many performers in a great variety of styles and the Mother Ukers were among my favourites. They played on the Saturday and the following day I spoke to the three of them. I told them that I had enjoyed their music and my 'award' for most inspirational ukulele player goes to their bass player, Barnaby Wild (his photo is on the left and the right just in case you don't recognise a ukulele bass). I was asked if that's because he sweats a lot - and if you look closely you can see that his shirt is wet through. The answer is partly yes because of the energy that he puts into his performance. I don't use flash which means that the performers have to be fairly still when I take the photo otherwise the image is blurred. You can see the effect of movement on the left with the movement of Barnaby's right arm. I did manage, after a few more attempts, to get two or three photos of him without blurring. There's one of them on the right.

The other two told me I shouldn't have mentioned my award to Barnaby because they won't hear the last of it. Fortunately they told me, he doesn't understand the word inspirational and they will tell him it means something different.  I did see a few more performers after this conversation including the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who were excellent,  but my inspirational 'award' still goes to Barnaby.

Aloha