Daily Ukulele for 1/27/2011

Ukulele JJ

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So I just had this crazy idea. What if we took the title of the book "The Daily Ukulele" literally?

Each day, a song is picked out of the book, and we all take a stab at playing it. We post our thoughts, questions, tips, etc. If anyone wants to link to a video or MP3 of their performance, all the better.

I went over to Random.org and had it pick a page number between 13 and 333. It spit out 21. There are actually two songs on that page, and I went with "Aloha 'Oe". Appropriate way to kick thing off, eh? I mean, it was written by Queen Liliuokalani, fer-cryin-out-loud! ;)

Anyhoo, this was probably the first Hawaiian song I ever became aware of. In fact, I've known the melody for as long as I can remember. But I've never really actually sang the words until just now. Cool!

They have both the (mostly) Hawaiian lyrics and the completely English lyrics. I went with a round of each.

When I played it, I "swung" the strum and melody. (In other words, instead of straight eighth notes, I played with more of a triplet or "shuffle" feel. Think of songs like "Happy Trails" and "Goin' to the Chapel" to get the idea.) Isn't that how it's normally played? Maybe not...

So give "Aloha 'Oe" (page 21) a shot if you want, and see what you think!

Tomorrow, someone else is free to pick a song out of the book. Pick randomly, or choose your favorite. Your choice! (Just be sure to search to see if someone else hasn't already beat you to it. :cool:)

JJ
 
Hello,

Being the beginner that I am, I changed the title of my copy of The Daily Ukulete to THE WEEKLY UKULELE.

However, I have practiced Aloha 'Oe and succesfully played ("straight") it's melody a few times and chords a few times on both the Uke and Banjolele. (I must admit this song sounds much better on the uke!)

Tom
 
I tried 'Aloha 'Oe', too. Enjoyed it very much...simple, but sweet. Fooled around with different strums (my main bugaboo) and, finally, found a down, down, up, down, down worked well.

Someday, the 'rhythm thing' will kick in - I hope!
 
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