UD#128 The Making of a Harmony Part!
UD#128 The Making of a Harmony Part!
I learned harmony from listening to my grandparents sing together, and it also didn’t hurt that my Dad had many Everly Brothers 45RPM singles.
If you look at two-part harmony singing, you will notice that the vast majority of the notes are a third apart. In the case of the Everly Brothers, Don sang the melody, and Phil sang notes in harmony, mostly a third above. I often use the song “All I Have to Do Is Dream” to introduce this type of harmony to my students…
UD#127 Learn a Song from a Recording!
Once you know the key of a song, the first chords to try, in terms of learning the song by ear, are the diatonic chords in that key.
The diatonic chords are the chords that are formed with each note of a scale as the root…
UD#126 Bluesy Bending!
1. You can bend by pushing the string up towards your face or pulling the string down towards the floor, depending on which string you are on and how much you are going to bend it.
2. It’s best to use more than one finger to bend!
3. We usually bend a note to a semi-tone or a whole-tone up. Play the “target note” before you practice a bend so you have a destination in mind.
UD#125 What’s Below the Musical Iceberg?
When we try to learn to play a piece of music, it’s tempting to go straight to the final act without attending to the steps that will lead us to a successful performance. Why is this? One reason may be that taking the preliminary steps seems like a waste of time. For example, it can be very tempting to push through a passage with whatever fingering comes most habitually to us. This can seem to be more efficient in the short term but, in the long term, maybe not.
UD#124 Secret Ukulele Notes!
One of the wonderful things about a ukulele, or a guitar, is that, unlike on a piano, the same note can be found in multiple places. Here’s a simple exercise to show you how that works in an experiential way. I find it’s a wonderful ear-awakening practice for players of all levels…
UD#123 Choir Music for Ukulele!
In one of my classes, we’ve made a project of taking music for different types of ensembles and transcribing them for ukulele. We’ve used music for recorder (Thanks Mom), brass and choir.
Here are the soprano and alto parts to a public domain choir arrangement of “Away in a Manger” played as a ukulele duet…
UD#122 Let The Pinky Play Too!
When unfamiliar fingerings are called for, it often elicits a conundrum. So, I’ve started using a simple exercise which I developed for myself and my students. It’s a great warm up or break in a practice session…
UD#121 The Power of the Pause!
When we play our ukuleles, or any instrument, we often use more force or exertion than we need to. This can show up in excessive gripping, held breath, tightened and narrow shoulders, tightened jaws, narrowed focus, etc. Today I’d like to share with you an Alexander Technique inspired procedure that I use with students to explore how habits are initiated….
UD#120 Relaxing Chord Melody!
Here is a song that I wrote for a student who worked as a massage therapist. I had plenty of chord melody arrangements that he liked the sound of, but he found them too difficult! We needed to find a balance between playability and musical sophistication. So, I composed “Spa Song”…
UD#119 It’s in the Cards!
Last year, I wrote an article called “The Meridians of the Uke.” In it we focused on four areas of the ukulele neck which I called “Meridians:”
-the open notes, GCEA
-the fifth fret notes, CFAD
-the 7th fret notes, DGBE
-the 12th fret notes, GCEA
As a follow up to the newsletter, I created some quiz cards. Check them out in this lesson…
UD#118 Christmas Waltz for One!
UD#118 Christmas Waltz for One!from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek A quick lesson today! About a year ago, I wrote a little tune called “Christmas Waltz for One.” It’s very simple: just a melody, with an accompanying “bass line.” The melody notes are meant to be plucked with the fingers, and the accompanying notes are meant …Continue Reading
UD#117 Hear the Harmony
UD#117 Hear the Harmony!from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek I like to find musically compelling ways to practice scales with students. Here is an example using a C major scale. Have a listen! The bottom part starts on C and and top part starts on E, a third above. I usually begin with both the …Continue Reading
UD #116 The Meridians of the Uke
UD#116 The Meridians of the Ukefrom Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek A quick question: On a ukulele with GCEA tuning, what note ison the 5th fret of the G string? Sometimes, students feel like they need to memorize the fretboard before they can play anything. I don’t think this is true. However, some knowledge of the notes on the fretboard …Continue Reading
UD#115 I Spy With My Little Eye: a Uke!
UD#115 I Spy With My Little Eye: a Uke!from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek As a music teacher who also teaches the Alexander Technique, I am often looking for simple ways that my students can gain awareness of habits that may be interfering with their best functioning while playing.Looking down at the ukulele? Being able to look down at …Continue Reading
UD#114 Funky Bassline on the Uke!
UD#114 Funky Bassline on the Uke!from Ukulele in the Dark with Guido Heistek I’ve made a little uke ensemble arrangement of Low Rider. There are five parts: bass, strumming, melody, harmony and a solo. Have a listen! Below is the tab which includes the bass, melody and harmony parts. I forgot to include a chord diagram for …Continue Reading