Blog entries

Upcoming Performances in July

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:18:41 +0100

Aloha to the Ukulele faithful!

Now that the summer is in full swing, I wanted to share my upcoming performance schedule with you. I hope to see you there!

7/24 – Book ‘em Danno in Concert at Loveland Cherry Pie Days, Loveland Museum, FREE to the public! 5 – 6:30 pm
7/28 – Book ‘em DanRead More...

The Claw vs. The Muppet

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:30:00 +0100

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 Read More...

Whatever Happened to Ukulele Practice Tip #1?

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:22:32 +0100

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 TipRead More...

It's All About The Songs

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:48:52 +0100

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 featureRead More...

May Day in Hawaii

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0100

If you're lucky enough to be in Hawaii on May 1st, you'll get to experience "May Day" in Hawaii. It's a celebration of the "Lei" culture that is at the core of what it means to be a kama'aina. You get to see lots of beautiful hand-crafted leis that are temporal works of art. They are made of all types of fresh flowers and plants woven into the signature circle or open configuration leisRead More...

Schedule Your Lesson Online

Stuart Yoshida — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:13:32 +0100

Here's an easy and convenient way to schedule a lesson online. It's as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 (click on each step):

Create an account
Login to your account
Schedule a lesson

If you have any questions or problems, contact us or call: (970) 231-3235.

Jake at Chautauqua Auditorium

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0100

The Big News for ukulele fans: Jake Shimabukuro is coming to Boulder on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at the Chautauqua Auditorium (big Mahalo to Debbie Turner for alerting me to this event!).

If you're interested in getting tickets as a group, let me know. There's a 25% discount for a group of 10.

Chord Transitions

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0100

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 frRead More...

Winners picked for March Madness Give-away!

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:26:57 +0100

The winners have been picked for the March Madness Give-away. You can check to see if you've won on Random.org.

Mahalo to the Denver Folklore Center for co-sponsoring this month's drawing!

To enter the drawing for April, just come in for a lesson or email me.

Keep on playing that ukulele!

March Madness: Book 'em Danno CD & Aquila Ukulele Strings Give-away!

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:19:56 +0100

Last month's give-away got plenty of positive feedback, so I'm kicking it up a notch by having TWO give-aways in ONE month!

I played with Book 'em Danno this past weekend (August 16) at the New West Fest. The music was sponsored by the Bohemian Foundation, and they did an outstanding job. Props go out to Courtney and Carson and the sound guys at the Old Town Square stage.

Tune your Ukulele with an iPhone

Stuart Yoshida — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:27:37 +0100

Here's where I try to make the hard-core Peterson Strobe Tuner fans jealous. The picture on the right shows me tuning my ukulele with the iStroboSoft app on an iPhone 3G. I have the Peterson TP-2 clip on contact mic and the Peterson audio jack adapter for the iPhone. I ordered the adapter on the PeterRead More...

Summer gig at Lundeen House

Stuart Yoshida — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:05:06 +0100

Book 'em Danno played a fun gig this past weekend at the Lundeen House (famous bronze sculture artists and foundry owners in Loveland, Colorado). What a gorgeous property right off the Big Thompson river! It was a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club of Larimer County. Kathi Wright, executive director of theRead More...

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Stuart Yoshida — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:05:56 +0100

Well, my first attempt at recording student lessons had limited success, to say the least. I think I successfully recorded only one "full" session with a student. The other times I tried recording the lesson I would only get about half of it before the recording program went south. Grrrr.

So this time, for sure! Riiiiiight.

Seriously, this new App I got really seems prRead More...

Ukulele is Making a "Mighty" Comeback

Stuart Yoshida — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:26:28 +0100

Check out this cool trailer for a documentary on how the "Mighty Uke" is making a comeback. Thanks to Judi Strahota for sending me the link.

Now You Can Uke in Boulder

Stuart Yoshida — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:58:10 +0100

It's official. Now you can uke in Boulder. I'm giving lessons at HB Woodsongs in Boulder. The kind folks at this seminal acoustic music instruments store have welcomed me to the Flatirons and I'm already feeling the good vibes.

Give me a call at 970.231.3235 if you want more information, or head on over to HB Woodsongs to take a look at their ukes Read More...

Ukulele tuning - yeah, there's an app for that

Stuart Yoshida — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:00:00 +0100

This isn't an Apple commercial, but if you don't own an iPhone you might want to skip this article. There's something coming that I think is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we'll see in the future.

I got turned on to this iPhone app while recording our next Danno CD (okay, now THIRead More...