Campanella/John King style exercises

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Anybody have any good recommendations for exercises or simple songs that will improve your campanella technique?

I am an intermediate or maybe "experienced beginner" player and I bought the John King classical ukulele book. I expected to find exercises or scales in it, but did not, and feel a bit overwhelmed by diving into the pieces.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to begin playing that style as a novice? Any books/instructional videos/lessons of your own to sell?
 
I've been playing from the John King classical book since I first started playing uke 5 years ago - just jumped right into it. So my recommendation is, don't wait - just do it :)

This blog has a number of campanella tutorials you might find useful. Personally I can't learn from video tutorials so I've never worked through any of them, so no direct experience.
 
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janeray1940 said:
I've been playing from the John King classical book since I first started playing uke 5 years ago - just jumped right into it. So my recommendation is, don't wait - just do it :)

This blog has a number of campanella tutorials you might find useful. Personally I can't learn from video tutorials so I've never worked through any of them, so no direct experience.
Click to expand...

Janeray:

Thanks for the tip on this book. I just ordered it yesterday.

Tony
 
tbeltrans said:
Janeray:

Thanks for the tip on this book. I just ordered it yesterday.

Tony
Click to expand...

Excellent! You'll love it, and if you have perfectionist tendencies as I do, it will keep you busy for years :)
 
I really like what I heard.
is there a way to do that sound using a linear-tuned ukulele? I can't see and so just listened to what he was doing on the videos. It sounds to me like he has a reentrant-tuned ukulele. I know that is standard.
For my own oddball reasons I guess, I haven't been able to get used to that top string being a higher pitch and so have reverted to a linear tuning on my tenor.
But that sound is really amazing!
 
PortlandLeo said:
I really like what I heard.
is there a way to do that sound using a linear-tuned ukulele? I can't see and so just listened to what he was doing on the videos. It sounds to me like he has a reentrant-tuned ukulele. I know that is standard.
For my own oddball reasons I guess, I haven't been able to get used to that top string being a higher pitch and so have reverted to a linear tuning on my tenor.
But that sound is really amazing!
Click to expand...

Wow - that is a great question! I've played campanella style uke for years now and have not even once encountered an arrangement for linear tuning, and never even thought about if it was possible. Since it's a technique borrowed from classical guitar, it seems possible. I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on this.
 
There is only so much you can do without the reentrant tuning but you can do it.

And thanks for the plug janeray1940. John King's Classical book has the only tunes I've worked through, besides my own arrangements, but I learned a lot from it. I hope my tutorials are clear enough to explain my learnings.

Campanella patterns

Campanella arpeggios

And there are numerous tunes I've arranged for campanella on the site, too.
 
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I've been looking for this for months! I remember coming across Campanella style scales a while back but I forgot the name along the way. Thanks for sharing this!
 
PortlandLeo said:
I really like what I heard.
is there a way to do that sound using a linear-tuned ukulele? I can't see and so just listened to what he was doing on the videos. It sounds to me like he has a reentrant-tuned ukulele. I know that is standard.
For my own oddball reasons I guess, I haven't been able to get used to that top string being a higher pitch and so have reverted to a linear tuning on my tenor.
But that sound is really amazing!
Click to expand...

One thing that makes Campanella work so very well for guitar is having six strings. The factor that makes it work for ukulele is the G and A strings being tuned so close together. With only four strings tuned linear, the technique is not as easy to arrange. So, the arrangers using linear and the arrangers using Campanella are generally different people. You'll have trouble finding arrangements (I've never found any). You're sort of on your own. Here's one of mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpgxYJgQOgE
You can see some of the passages don't use Campanella, because it doesn't work as well.
 
Thanks. But you can tell that the Campanella stuff works for a while, then doesn't. It goes back and forth like that more with low G than with re-entrant. So, it's up to the performer to make phrase choices that might be different than the composer intended. But, it does work.
 
Just take any sequence and avoid consecutive notes being played on the same string as much as possible.
 
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