Ukulele Tunes & Techniques
Multi-instrumentalist Bob Brozman jumps right into this fascinating lesson with a potpourri of strums, rolls, triplets and syncopated fingerpicking patterns for the ukulele. You'll combine all these techniques on the traditional Hawaiian piece "Hi'ilawe," and segue into a medley of other traditional songs, "Tomi Tomi" and "Meleana'E." A Tin Pan Alley era "Hawaiian" song, "The Beach at Waikiki" will add to your repertoire of chord shapes, progressions and parallel harmony lines. The blues is not normally associated with the uke, but in Bob's hands the instrument can play funky chord progressions, turnarounds and down-and-dirty blues licks. Bob shows how chord inversions and extensions can create a full-blown blues instrumental. You'll then go on to arrangements of early jazz standards "Sweet Georgia Brown" and" I'll See You In My Dreams," complete with hot chord solos and fingerpicking melody. As a special feature of this lesson, Bob introduces the Hawaiian ukulele master Ledward Kaapana, one of the world's greatest players, as his "special guest." Led breaks down his version of "Blue Spanish Eyes," demonstrating double stops, right- hand damping, tremolo, and a terrific right-hand exercise rolling on pairs of strings. Ledward then performs a spectacular solo of his show-stopper, "L and D Slack Key," complete with amazing fingerboard acrobatics. This video will give you an excellent overview of the ukulele's potential for a variety of musical styles, and a renewed enthusiasm for what Bob Brozman calls "this noble little instrument."