How do you discover new tunes?

BigJackBrass · Dec 17, 2019

The obvious ways of finding new songs you want to try are probably buying a book with an assortment of tunes and giving the unfamiliar ones a go, or hearing something on an album or the radio and tracking down the music (or copying by ear if you have that skill). When I was part of the Levy Uke-Up group I was usually the person compiling the songbooks, so I would often be given a list of requests which I then had to find.

Do you have a particular method, or are you more piecemeal and random in the way you find things to play? Most often for me these days I start with a song I particularly like on an album (Cliff Edwards and Leon Redbone being especially fruitful in that regard) and go from there.

John Colter · Dec 17, 2019

Piecemeal and random - that's me. I don't look for tunes, they just turn up. One good example was the song "Sugar (That Sugar Baby of Mine)". I was watching an episode of "Poirot" on TV. There was a scene in a nightclub with a singer performing in the background. I'd never heard the song before, but it struck a chord with me (SWIDT?). It is now part of what I laughingly call my repertoire.

Similarly, "Orange Colored Sky" has been around since I was a youngster, but I heard Lady Gaga's version a couple of years ago and knew I had to do it.

John Colter

Col50 · Dec 17, 2019

A Fb Uke page had this song posted and I had to learn it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NlggsJGv5p4

It was one of my favourites that for me at least has stood the test of time.

BigJackBrass · Dec 17, 2019

ukantor said:
I was watching an episode of "Poirot" on TV. There was a scene in a nightclub with a singer performing in the background. I'd never heard the song before, but it struck a chord with me…

I noticed this working the other way with me only yesterday, when my partner was watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and I realised that the instrumental track in the background was That's My Weakness Now, a song I learned after hearing Cliff Edwards play it.

ripock · Dec 17, 2019

I just stumble upon things. For example I have been toying around with harmonic minor scales. Then I figured out the modes to that scale. Then, once I had the modes mapped out, I harmonized them to get chord progressions. Now I'm playing I IV V progressions that look like A minor, D## dim, E minor when I'm playing in A Dorian #11 (in the key of E). Maybe there's a book that has that in it, but I just happened upon it as a natural outcropping of my curiosity.

RafterGirl · Dec 17, 2019

I'm also random. I hear something that strikes my fancy, then go searching for the music. I use a number of references. For general searches I start with Ultimate Guitar, Chordify, Musicnotes, and You Tube. I also use a bunch of ukulele specific websites .......Uke Fever, Doctor Uke, Bytown Uke Group, Ukulele Wednesdays, San Jose Uke Club, Uke Education, Jim's Ukulele songbook, The Daily Ukulele, Ukesterbrown, Morristown Uke jam are some of my favorites.

Ukecaster · Dec 17, 2019

If watching TV or listening to radio, and hear something new I want to try, I'll grab an audio clip on my phone, then try to find it from a lyrics search on Google. If I already know what it is, I'll note the song name on my phone's To-Do list, and go back and figure it out, usually searching with the song name + ukulele, on YouTube. If in the car, will need to pull over and take a screenshot of my car's display showing the name of the song & artist. Have also gotten lots of great song ideas by listening to all the fine performances by fellow UUers on the Seasons of the Ukulele here.

RafterGirl · Dec 17, 2019

One thing I've noticed, is that a lot of TV commercials have great backing tracks. Short nip-its of a beautiful tune. I can usually find the song name with a Google search. One that really caught my attention a few months ago was an American Express commercial with a gorgeous instrumental backing track. I knew that it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place it as an orchestral arrangement. Then it hit me......Brandi Carlile's "The Joke." Another one that grabbed my attention is the commercial for the drug Taltz.....the backing song is called Anchor by Novo Amor.

Random stuff that just catches my ear.

Rllink · Dec 17, 2019

Ukecaster said:
If watching TV or listening to radio, and hear something new I want to try, I'll grab an audio clip on my phone, then try to find it from a lyrics search on Google. If I already know what it is, I'll note the song name on my phone's To-Do list, and go back and figure it out, usually searching with the song name + ukulele, on YouTube. If in the car, will need to pull over and take a screenshot of my car's display showing the name of the song & artist. Have also gotten lots of great song ideas by listening to all the fine performances by fellow UUers on the Seasons of the Ukulele here.

This is how I do it too. I listen to a lot of music. I stream a lot of Google play music, especially at the gym. If something comes along that grabs me I put the title and artist in my notepad. Then I go looking for it on YouTube later. I like to try to figure it out myself to start with, but if I just can't come up with it I'll search it. I'm probably twenty songs behind in my list right now, so I'm not lacking in new stuff to challenge me. Also I belong to two ukulele groups and once in a while someone brings something that is different.

Martinlover · Dec 17, 2019

I get playlist suggestions based on my likes from my music app. If I like and can sing a song, I’ll look it up. I’ve discovered and rediscovered groups and singers that way.

LoraMoser · Dec 18, 2019

I usually look on reddit or other articles with niche forums, for example this one https://www.mitoolbuy.com/ukulele-forum/

bird's eye view of my ukelele · Dec 18, 2019

i have discovered so much new-to-me music through the seasons here on ukulele underground. sometimes the new theme goes up and i think of songs i remember from back in the day that fit, other times when i go looking for other songs, i'll find lots that are totally new to me. also listening to the songs other people bring, is a similar education.

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/forumdisplay.php?47-Seasons-of-the-Ukulele

Paul.Hurst · Dec 18, 2019

Have discovered some great new tunes by meeting up with other musicians and working out a joint set using a mix of our personal favourites. Found another muso one village along who plays in different styles, realised I had played for his wedding in 1996!

A spin off is that we each want to learn instruments that the other plays, so can engage in swapsies.

First pub gig together just booked for Friday 27th December...

Another Ukulele · Dec 18, 2019

I play with a 12 Bar Blues Jam - Free form, just play chords and improvise.
If I like a song, I research lyrics and chords.
I’m also listen to a Blues Station on the radio, and jam and improvise.
If I like a song, I research lyrics and chords.
If it’s good enough, I bring it back to the group.
One that we particularly like is:
You Bring Out The Boogie In Me
By Brownie McGhee

UkingViking · Dec 18, 2019

I assume that I am not the only one who listens to the radio, playlists on Spotify and YouTube Chanels such as NPR Tiny desk, audiotree live etc.

When listening there I occasionally find songs I really like, and occasionally some of those I believe that I can learn to play on ukulele.
Compared to when I was a teenager and YouTube and Spotify didn't exist, and there were fewer radio stations in Denmark offering the kind of music I like, I get less inspiration from friends actually putting on a cd or record to introduce me to music.

PetalumaRescuke · Dec 18, 2019

There is a wealth of martial out there, My favorites come from some memory that take to the first time I heard it (VOLARE Domenico Modugno) or a special situation. Some times it is a single line from a song that grabs you "They say my heart is an open book and every page a song". This one also has a catchy title. Another obscure one is the theme song to the movie Rancho Deluxe. Yup an early Jimmy Buffet that was never released as a single.

Jerryc41 · Dec 18, 2019

When I go to group sessions, people often bring in sheets of music to play. That's how I find new songs.

Jerryc41 · Dec 18, 2019

LoraMoser said:
I usually look on reddit or other articles with niche forums, for example this one https://www.mitoolbuy.com/ukulele-forum/

Thanks for the link.

RafterGirl · Dec 18, 2019

I listen to Pandora radio on the way home from work a lot. I have my favorite station that always has something new. If I like it, I glance at the name and research it when I get home.

bunnyf · Dec 18, 2019

#1 is jams
#2 Pandora
#3 random stuff I hear in movies or tv that I'm watching

How do you discover new tunes?

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