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Ukulele Tips

The Claw vs. The Muppet

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Sunday, 20 June 2010 11:30 Last Updated on Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:12 Written by Stuart Yoshida

Ukulele Practice Tip #4: The Claw vs. The Muppet

If you’ve ever played a chord and wanted it to sound cleaner and clearer, this Ukulele Tip is for you.  It’s all about “The Claw” versus “The Muppet.”

The Claw is what will get you that crisp, clean sound from the uke.  It means your fingers are perpendicular to the fretboard, pushing firmly next to the frets.  The strings are straight, not bent.  Your thumb is comfortably positioned behind the neck of the ukulele, giving you the best possible leverage to keep your fingers planted.

When you strum a chord with the claw, you’ll hear each note ring out clearly.  That’s the hallmark of the Claw!

Here’s what the Claw looks like:

If you find your thumb sneaking around the edge trying to wrap itself around the neck of the ukulele like a well-worn tire, that’s when you know you’re being visited by the Muppet.  You’ll see your fingers start to curl over and bend closer to the fretboard, and when you strum the strings they sound dull and indistinct.

Avoid the Muppet!  Here’s what the Muppet looks like:

So keep it crisp and clean: use the Claw!

Keep on playing your uke.

Whatever Happened to Ukulele Practice Tip #1?

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Sunday, 25 April 2010 12:22 Last Updated on Saturday, 19 June 2010 07:19 Written by Stuart Yoshida

Ok, here's an embarrassing question I've been asking myself: Whatever happened to Ukulele Practice Tip #1?  And the answer is: It's MIA because, well, I hadn't written it yet.

I thought I had published a newsletter with an Ukulele Practice Tip #1, but it turns out I've only written TWO practice tips.  So I'm retroactively going back to publish Tip #1.  (This is one of my downfalls: my memory isn't what it used to be.  Or maybe it never was -- I can't remember.)

So here it is:

Ukulele Practice Tip #1: Tune that Ukulele!

Yup.  The best way to begin practice is with a tuned up ukulele.  Like I always said: You can tune an Ukulele, but you can't Tuna fish. Thanks folks, I'll be playing here all night...

All kidding aside, it really does make a difference when you practice with your ukulele in tune.  Even if you've tuned it recently, your instrument is likely to need a tune up.

I recommend using a clip-on tuner.  They cost around $35, and they are worth every penny.  I have at least three or four of them around my studio.  (You can never have too many.)  The clip-on tuners are great because they are immune to ambient noise like crowds, TV, music, etc.

It's also very convenient to have your tuner clipped onto the headstock of your ukulele rather than trying to balance it on your lap or table.  The tuner is more stable and you can angle it just right to clearly see the face of the tuner.

Most ukuleles are tuned in 'C'.  The notes of the strings from top to bottom are:

G (first G above middle C)

C (middle C)

E (first E above middle C)

A (first A above middle C)

The classic ukulele tuning has what is known as a "re-entrant" tuning: that is, the top string ('G') is tuned higher than the next string ('C').  In contrast, I tune my performance ukulele with low 'G' so that I can have a slightly broader range of notes.

So tune up that ukulele and keep on playing!

It's All About The Songs

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Sunday, 25 April 2010 11:48 Last Updated on Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:12 Written by Stuart Yoshida


Ukulele Practice Tip #3: It's All About The Songs

A great way of improving your ukulele skills is to find songs that you love and learn them on the ukulele.  That way you get LOTS of motivation to play the song just like you hear it on your iPod or YouTube.  It'll make all the difference.  Nowadays there is a growing number of songs that feature the ukulele.  The most famous one (other than "Tip Toe Through the Tulips") is probably the version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Bruddah Iz.  It features a reggae strum in the key of C.

Other recent songs featuring the ukulele are: White Sandy Beach (Bruddah Iz), I'm Yours (Jason Mraz), While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Jake Shimabukuro), Hey Soul Sister (Train), and many more that I'm sure I've missed.  Send or bring me your favorite ukulele songs!  I've already learned "I'm Yours" and "Hey Soul Sister" is a work in progress.

Keep on playing your uke!

Chord Transitions

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Sunday, 18 April 2010 00:00 Last Updated on Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:13 Written by Stuart Yoshida

Ukulele Practice Tip #2: Chord transitions

One of the best things you can do to take your playing to the next level when you're starting out on ukulele, or even if you have some decent chops under your belt, is to practice chord transitions.  I like to emphasize economy of movement (minimizing the amount of finger and hand movement you do to get from one chord to the other) and repetition to get that muscle memory burned in so that you can go from one chord to the next on auto-pilot.

So take your favorite song and practice in two ways:

See how smoothly you can play the song so there are no breaks or pauses
See how quickly you can play the song without missing a chord transition

When it comes to chord transitions, it's all about practice, practice, practice.  So keep on playin' that ukulele!

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