November 7,2014: Happy October Revolution Day

IamNoMan

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Yes today is the 97th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution; which started on October 25,1917 and resulted in the demise of the age of monarchies in the west.
What does this have to do with Ukulele you ask?

I am glad you asked. Russian Folksongs and tunes are eminently suited to the ukulele. Songs like "Moscow Nights'-aka "Those were the Days", Tomany Noct- "Dark Night", "Dona Dona" and "Katyusha" are all great for Ukulele. They are not the most accessible songs in the world because of that pesky Cyrillic Alphabet the Russians and Ukrainians and Bulgarians.... use. It takes some work to dig it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqccaYkr0E8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyaTIXdN5fI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vRYwaJC5FY&list=LPMZMLVTySjv8&index=2&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqzGZ5AaeSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivASIwtHALM


Some time ago Comrade PeteyHoudini shared with us the USSR split stroke:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?74342-USSR-Ukulele-Split-Stroke-of-Russia

The USSR split stroke is an old Balalaika strum re-introduced to the world by Vasily Chapayev, First Hero of the Soviet Union. Chapaev reintroduced this traditional strum as the Ukulele Split Stroke of Russia in an attempt to drum up support for the Revolution in the west. Chapayev had become interested in Ukulele in 1915 when he made a visit to CF Martin Company in Nazareth PA. Some scholars insist he was the first to suggest Martin focus on steel string Guitars.
 
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