Ring Your Little Bell - Formby

Ambient Doughnut

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2011
Messages
1,049
Reaction score
5
Location
Southern England


One of the less frequently covered George Formby songs but one of my favourites. It's a simple little song but one that I almost always fluff at least one of the chord changes on. I don't know why! :eek:
This is about the best take I managed after a several attempts.

It's played on a Tenor uke tuned to B which I think is how he played it.
 
Last edited:
Loved it. You can't miss with a George Fromby song and you played and sang it very well.
 
some super sweet strumming there Gav...nice record collection too mate. Did George proud! Like to see you do it on your pocket uke, that sounds awesome with Dirk's southcoast strings...gotta get me some of them
 
Thanks Jon! I love this uke with the Southcoast mediums on it. Only thing is it's pretty loud, I have to work a bit to be heard over it. :)

edit : Oops! And thanks Roxhum - somehow missed your post first time!
 
Last edited:
fair play Gav you nailed it man, where do ya buy those south coast strings sounds awesome!!
 
well done that was awesome :) while i am here is it ok if i ask you a pocket uke question ? do you use soprano strings to use on the pocket uke and any recommendations on brand of strings for the pocket uke ?
 
Thanks Davey!

Yep, generally speaking normal soprano strings but you do need to tune it a bit higher than normal or the strings have no tension. If you check out my YouTube channel there's a clip where i've tuned it to normal C tuning using some of the south coast 'heavy' strings. That works pretty well but even with those i've found I prefer it tuned up to D.

They come with aquilas anyway which sound good on it. Best tuned up to at least F though IME (cfad)
 
Last edited:
thanks for that, i have tried a few tunnings cant quite decide which one i like, im not sure if my strings need replacing as the issue i have is the 3rd or 2nd string sounds terrible when i press down on a fret sounds really out of tune, so i am not sure if it is the friction pegs or the strings or something else, but it is very noticable when i play it, so thought i might try some new strings to see if that solves it, or maybe i have the peg screws to tight, anyway dont mean to hijack your thread with pocket uke chat, just that i know your very knowledgable on the subject i am grovelling now lol, did you go to the james hill gig at southern ukulele store last week ?. anyway many thanks for your help :)
 
Cool song, Gav & great rendition! Very nice sounding uke, too!!

Roberta
 
Thanks Roberta and TCK, appreciate it! :)

Davey, well if it is tuning up ok and staying in tune the it's unlikely to be a problem with the tuners. Is the action a bit high? That would cause the notes to go Sharp, especially on the first few frets. Mine was bought from MGM and was very well set up indeed. Maybe yours could benefit from a good setup.
If you're ever over Sussex way give me a shout and I'd be happy to compare and contrast with my one.
:)
 
...oh, and no didn't make it to Bournemouth[SUB][/SUB] but I did see James in Brighton the night before. Brilliant and a lovely chap too!
 
Belting song and love the sound of that uke. :)

It's always nice to hear a Formby song NOT played on a uke banjo... of course George played many a tune on a 'normal' uke in his films, but is universally seen to have the uke banjo.

And yep - you've def. nailed it there. A belter. :)
 
Thanks very much Myrna and Ukelad!

I love pretty much all the Formby songs but i've got a bit of a soft spot for the songs he played on his wooden Ukes. Especially this one and his medley (the one with I like bananas in it). They're quite different to most of his stuff with very little use of the split stroke but a kind of continuous thumb roll thing. I shall probably have a go at the medley too! :)
 
Top Bottom