Not long ago, the ukulele, no more than a comic prop to accompany your lei and grass skirt, was an endangered species. Now in its third heyday, the ukulele’s powerfully cheerful sound is permeating the pop charts, serenading us during TV commercial breaks and showing up in YouTube videos by the thousands. The uke can even be heard in jam sessions on Barcelona beaches and has infiltrated some of the city’s Meetup groups.
A Brief History
Based on several small members of the guitar family, the ukulele was first developed in Hawaii during the 1880s by Portuguese immigrants. Roughly translated as “jumping flea”, the ukulele’s popularity spread to the United States in the 1920s. Thanks to the production of millions of inexpensive plastic ukuleles, their presence in popular music surged from the 1940s to the 1960s, but interest began to decline after that.
Don’t worry. There’s a comeback in our story. The ukulele reclaimed centre stage due to the enthusiasm for Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Over the Rainbow”. Since its release on the album Facing Future in 1993, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” has been heard so often on TV and in movies, young generations may not realise Israel actually redefined the beloved classic originally sung by Judy Garland.
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” tops our list of the 12 most fitting, yet unconventional songs for the ukulele. Check out the other songs on the list here.
The Ukulele Movement Today
According to the New York Times article “Ukulele Crazy” from 2011, “The trend, building for a decade and now reaching a saturation point, is being fueled by a mix of Hollywood directors, corporate advertisers, professional musicians looking for a new sound and amateurs who have discovered how easy the uke is to use”. Each group’s interest may be driven by different motivations, but they are all united in their belief that the ukulele, with its folksy sound, invokes joy and sincerity in an electronic guitar and auto-tune-obsessed age.
And why shouldn’t the ukulele be this year’s trending topic? Its dainty size makes it a great instrument to travel with. It’s easy for kids and adults alike to play. It provides players with instant satisfaction—being defined in some music circles as “idiot-proof”, anyone can learn to play in a short period of time. No matter how off tune you go, it never sounds awful because of the uke’s sweet-natured sound. Playing the uke will enlarge your circle of friends. And it makes you and those listening around you happy.
Even George Harrison was a ukulele lover, quoted as saying, “I love them—the more the merrier…So get yourself a few and enjoy yourselves”.
More recently, stars like Eddie Vedder and Jack Johnson have taken up the ukulele, and its featured prominently on the TV show Glee. It’s become a habit for Zooey Deschanel to strum one while crooning sweetly with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Tony Blair disrupts Labour Party conventions with one. The ukulele creates intimacy to scenes in Her and How I Met Your Mother. There’s even an eight-member Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain—originally formed as a bit of fun—that has given thousands of sold-out concerts across the world. We’ve come a long way from mocking the uke after Tiny Tim used it in his 1968 novelty song “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”.
Despite its higher profile, the ukulele still plays its role as an everyman instrument quite convincingly. “The ukulele has always fascinated me because it doesn’t intimidate other people,” said Hawaiian artist Jake Shimabukuro, whose career skyrocketed when his elaborate, introspective variation of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on a ukulele went viral on YouTube with more than 13 million views.
There’s no right or wrong way to play the ukulele, only your way. So get out there and start strumming!
Even if you’ve never picked up an instrument before, getting started on the ukulele is fun, easy and, if you want, inexpensive. Once you’re acquainted, don’t think you have to stick to playing typical uke songs, though.
What Makes a Good Ukulele Song?
There’s no rulebook that says only certain songs can be played on a ukulele. In general, what makes a good ukulele song is a distinct and consistent rhythm maintained throughout the song. That being said, anything can sound good on the uke – it’s how you play it that counts.
This brings us to the first song we suggest for beginning ukulele players.
#1 SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW/WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole’s beautiful melody brings out the joyfulness in the ukulele. Movies like Meet Joe Black, 50 First Dates and Finding Forrester, and popular TV shows like Scrubs and So You Think You Can Dance have helped draw attention to this song in the past. Today, it’s a must-know for ukulele players.
#2 I’M YOURS
This mellow favourite by Jason Mraz has just 4 chords—C, G, Am and F. Get familiar with this chord progression early on in your ukulele endeavour because you will use it to play tons of songs in the future.
Shine School of Music teachers Gaspar Muller (ukulele) and Sebastian Pan (acoustic guitar, vocals) play a mash-up of our top 2 songs.
#3 HEY SOUL SISTER
This Train single is another example of how pop music has been drawing attention to the ukulele over the past few years.
#4 STAND BY ME
Ben E. King changed the world with “Stand By Me”, which the Library of Congress inducted into the National Recording Registry in early 2015. It has a very distinct rhythm, and to make the song recognisable you really need to imitate that as closely as you can.
Remember when learning a new song, take it one step at a time. Break down a song by chords, strum and vocals. Don’t try to do everything at once.
If you want to get a bit more creative with your uke, the second part of our list has some songs you might not have thought to play.
#5 NO WOMAN NO CRY
Bob Marley & The Wailers’ reggae song is a super easy solo for the uke that will prompt a favourable reaction from any audience.
#6 HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN
The Animals’ take on “House of the Rising Sun” was arguably the first folk-rock tune, as if they took the ancient ditty from some obscure folk-inspired corner of the United States and connected it to a live wire.
#7 RIPTIDE
Written by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy, this song has all the metaphors and pop culture references to partner with the latest ukulele fashion.
#8 SOMETHING
“Something” was written by George Harrison and released on the Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road. The song drew high praise from the other band members, with Lennon declaring it the best song on Abbey Road and McCartney considering it the best song Harrison had ever written.
#9 SPEAK SOFTLY, LOVE
The main theme music for The Godfather, with its intensity and distinction, is not your average ukulele song. Playing it will certainly set you apart from the crowd and earn you some street cred, if nothing else.
#10 IS THIS LOVE
When Bob Marley & the Wailers’ roots reggae album Kaya came out in 1978, several reviewers said they had gone soft. But the songs on the album simply reflect how Marley was feeling at the time, which was great, and the summery, carefree feel specific to “Is This Love” works well with the uke’s similar sound.
#11 AMÉLIE
“Amélie” is the soundtrack to the 2001 French film Amélie, set in Paris, about a young woman aspiring to help and improve the lives of those around her. Just like you, as a ukulele player, can add merriment to the lives of those listening around you.
#12 YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONES YOU LOVE
Even the heartthrob Ryan Gosling, whose smouldering gaze and perfect torso have recently inspired a plethora of playful memes on social media sites, has taken up the ukulele. In Blue Valentine (2010), Gosling gives an impromptu performance of “You Always Hurt the Ones You Love”, while his onscreen counterpart Michelle Williams dances. This lovely old tune is very well suited for the uke.
The most important thing is to start playing. Now! So pick one of our cool ukulele song suggestions or find one of your own, and serenade us.
For information on what type of ukulele best suits you and your style, as well as where to buy a uke in Barcelona, click here.
Here at The Shine School of Music, we offer specialized guitar lessons of many different styles. One particular guitar is very important to us – the flamenco guitar. Learning the flamenco guitar and about its tradition is a whole world in itself. In order to truly understand and appreciate the depth of this art form, one has to know many different aspects of flamenco including the songs (cante) and dances (baile). Lucky for us, located in Spain, we are at the heart of flamenco culture. For our students here at Estudio Shine and our readers passing by our blog, we would like to introduce you to one of the most influential flamenco guitarist- the great Ramon Montoya.
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Ramon Montoya
Ramon Montoya Flamenco Guitar
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Ramon Montoya made a huge impact on the world of flamenco guitar during the 1900´s. Many of the first commercial recordings ever of this type of music are under his name. He is responsible for many firsts with respect to the technique of the instrument, development of palos, and the solo flamenco guitar concert. He was born in Madrid in 1880 into a Romani family. Not much is said about his parents with regards to if they were musically involved, but the fact that they were Romani would imply that the gypsy roots of flamenco rhythm, song, and dance were deeply imbedded into his childhood. Montoya purchased his first guitar using money he had earned on his family farm in Madrid and developed so rapidly that he was playing in the old café cantantes by the time he was just a teenager.
When he was just fourteen years old, he started accompanying the famous flamenco singer, Antonio Chacón. One his biggest accomplishments was the development of the many palos (or traditional flamenco styles of songs) that we know today such as the Guajiras and Rondeña. Chacón was especially known for his interpretation of the cante jondo, or deep song which is a more profound and free style of flamenco. This style leaves a lot of space open for the accompanying guitarist to improvise and decorate the melodies in the background. One of Montoya´s signature sounds was introducing us to the world of altered tunings. For example, he started tuning his low 6th string down to the note D instead of E and would also occasionally change the pitch of his third string G to the note F#.
Up until the time of Montoya, the flamenco guitar was really only played in an accompanying role. That is to say that the flamenco guitarist would really only be involved to support a dancer, a singer, or both. This type of style (specialized by players such as Diego del Gastor) is characterized by prominent rhythmic playing in an effort to maintain the rhythm or compás, and energy. This style usually had minimal falsetas or melodic interludes. However, due to Montoya´s amazing facility on the instrument, he often got in the way of the cantaores with his technique when they were trying to sing. With that in mind, Montoya started to play solo concerts with his guitar. With these concerts he also brought with him a whole new range of techniques that had not previously been seen on the level of a concert guitarist. He introduced us to arpeggio falsetas which showed audiences facility across the strings with all of his finers of the right hand in combination with rasgueados. Another technique he introduced us to was the five note tremolo technique. Tremolo is a technique used by classical guitarists to imitate a note that is sustained by the bow on a stringed instrument such as a violin or cello. Classical guitarists use a tremolo with four notes in rapid succession to accomplish this and Ramon Montoya added a 5th note for a more elusive sound within the flamenco aire. To hear an example of tremolo you could listen to Francisco Tarrega´s famous piece, Recuerdos de la Ahlambra and a 5-note in Bronce Gitano by Sabicas (influenced by Montoya).
It was Ramon Montoya who brought the flamenco guitar to the concert stage. He was the Andrés Segovia of the flamenco guitar world. Many of his falsetas are still played by the best flamenco guitarists today. If you are interested in taking flamenco guitar lessons at Estudio Shine in Barcelona, César Munera and Miloš Šajin, our flamenco guitar teachers can get you started on your flamenco journey. If you are not based in Barcelona, we offer live online flamenco lessons via skype. Thanks for reading!
Matt Kaplan finds a host of useful Guitar Apps to help you learn and play. Read on to discover the best free Guitar and Music apps for your mobile phone!
Guitarists!
Today I had a great time searching for a few must have apps that are completely free in the iOS App Store and Google Play for Android devices. I would like to introduce to you all to: Yousician, Chromatic Guitar Tuner by Gismart, and Flamenco Móvil. Each of these apps would certainly be a great addition to your music app library!
Yousician
Yousician is a fantastic app that teaches you how to play the guitar through a series of games and challenges. Imagine a “Guitar Hero” format with a much more productive side. As much as I enjoyed the games trying to get the highest scores on the challenges, as a guitar educator I really appreciated the breakdown of techniques and crystal clear demonstration videos. I think this is a great way to mix up your practice sessions and spend some extra free time learning the guitar in an extremely creative way. This app definitely serves beginners a little bit more than advanced players, but it is developed for every level of progress (the challenges can be extremely difficult).
I love that when you open the app you are guided through the interface with a step-by-step guided tutorial that asks you personalized questions to access where you can begin within the app. Once you arrive at the level that Yousician thinks that you belong, you can begin working through the progressive challenges.
The games themselves are simple but they do take a few tries to get used to; especially when it comes to the timing of everything. The challenge itself involves watching guitar TAB fly by in real time while trying to play the correct notes at the correct time. I would suggest making sure that you are seated comfortably with the phone or tablet placed at a comfortable level so you do not strain your neck. It can sometimes get difficult to keep your eye on the screen the entire time while you’re playing the exercise (especially if you are not used to sight-reading).
To pass between the various challenges and advance your level of playing, you have to watch instruction demonstrations (mini guitar lessons!). This is an aspect of the app that I really enjoy because it separates the game aspect from the actual facility required to play the instrument.
Want to keep using Yousician but perhaps you are stuck on a difficult challenge? Yousician offers a song library for you to try out and play along with offering a few familiar songs. You can also stop by the challenge mode to find a few daily and weekly challenges. One of the exciting things about this app is that once you join, you will be part of a community of learners where you can interact amongst each other and share your progress!
With this app it is important to keep in mind a few things for its use if you decide to download it. As I have been playing with it for a while I would highly advise that you be in a quiet location to not have any interference with the guitar-to-device communication. The sound recognition within the app is very sensitive for the game, which can of course be a double-edged sword. For that same reason I would suggest wearing headphones if you have the option. If you don’t have any handy, it’s not a big deal but you would not be able to turn the volume up on your phone all the way without it interfering with the mic. Lastly, as this is a free app, you can only play a limited time a day. If you choose to purchase the premium version you are invited to play as long as you like with added features!
This app is a must have tool for any guitarist. Free through the iOS App Store and Google Play, this app has completely surprised me with the amount that it can do. It is definitely essential for guitarists but, as it has a very accurate chromatic tuning feature, it can also be used to tune your bass guitar, ukulele, and much more.
On the home screen we find the main tuner that is collaborated to the six strings of the guitar. Beginners will find this useful if they are used to tuning up with their teachers’ in- tune guitar. The interface is easy to navigate and advanced musicians will appreciate the accuracy of the chromatic tuner option (top right corner) and the tuning fork component. The tuning fork can even be calibrated to whatever frequency you’d like.
One key feature to this app that other tuning apps do not have is that you can experiment with a great amount of preset tuning modes. On the main screen of the app we are presented with a standard tuning scheme that is clearly indicated right above the app fretboard. Hit the standard tuning option button and you are transported to a menu of many more tuning options. Want to tune your guitar down and jam to your favorite Jimi Hendrix song? Hit the Eb mode and retune to the preset strings with ease. There are many more options to choose from between guitar and ukulele so you can use the opportunity to play around in unfamiliar tunings and see what you can come up with!
One word of advice for players that are not used to playing in drop or open tunings: retuning an entire guitar or just a string or two takes a little bit of time. That is to say, the strings will quickly be knocked out of what they are used to from the standard tuning and the guitar will seem completely out of tune. I would tune the guitar to your desired tuning, play around with it for a bit, and keep tuning up. After about a half hour or so (depending on how much you play it of course) your guitar should remain in the new tuning without jumping out of tune too much!
Flamenco Móvil is an amazing app for the flamenco guitarist and aficionado. This is not necessarily an app aimed to develop your skills as a guitar player; rather, it is an app that completely brings you into the holistic world of flamenco music. As most lovers of the art of flamenco know, it is much more than simply learning a few toques and falsetas. To understand the complexity and depth of the art, it is essential that one knows as much as possible about the history, players, and different types of styles within the art. That’s where Flamenco Móvil comes in.
As you can see from the menu options above, you can spend a lot of time with Flamenco Móvil learning a ton about many different topics. In the Actualidad option, there are many news articles about flamenco happenings going on and a handful of interviews with flamenco artists (I personally enjoyed the multi-part interview with Manolo Sanlúcar). The cultura section is an amazing resource you have to check out. In that section you can read, watch, and hear about the history of the art and visit the Flamenco Móvil dictionary. My personal favorite tab of the cultura section is the Estilos sections where you can find everything you’d want to know about each individual toque. Not only is there an explanation but sometimes you can even find audio and video examples as well.
The last thing worth mentioning about this app is the local services offered. Using the Club option (if you give Flamenco Móvil permission to know your location), you can do a real time search of venues known to Flamenco Movíl that present concerts and shows. This is great for musicians that love to travel! However, just to note: the Agenda option is set up to show you concert options within a specific time and location. However, I have no had any success in getting any results which to me is just a minor setback to an incredibly useful app.
Where can you find an open mic in Barcelona? Matt Kaplan scours Barcelona for the best places to find an underground jam session and explains why it’s a rare and often impromptu phenomenon in the Catalan Capital.
Spain has an unbelievably rich culture of music and with it, comes a deep appreciation for its affect. From flamenco tablaos, to classical guitar concerts in the Palau de la Música Catalana, or even jazz combos in the Harlem Jazz Club, the streets are filled with music around every corner. With that being the case, why is so hard to find venues to play live music as an amateur musician? These events usually happen on a weekly or monthly basis in a bar or café and are called open mic nights (micros abiertos) or live jam sessions.
(Alfa Bar)
The reason for the difficulty in finding a suitable location is due to the strict noise pollution laws and regulations in Barcelona. Another factor has to do with the amount of space a venue has to offer. As most people from Barcelona would know, space is a precious commodity and for bars and cafés, there are many safety regulations involved. According to Azucena Milcó, project manager at Sound Diplomacy, the legislation that permits live music was considering smaller music in the same light as the more famous clubs. Here we have a problem. It gives the venues extra taxes, occupancy limitations, and restrictions that are not relative; that is to say for example that a smaller venue would have to pay for the same amount of soundproofing that a larger club would. Even with some monetary grants from the city council, these types of restrictions have pushed a lot of very popular “underground” venues out of the live music industry.
The good news is that with all of this in mind, I have been able to find a handful of venues that still offer you the opportunity to get out for a night to show off your developing talent. Two that I would recommend are the open mics at Alfa Bar or Freedonia. If you are interested in any of these options, I have placed the information below. Alfa Bar requires that you sign up ahead of time and both events are free to participate. Keep in mind that if you attend, these events are sometimes not just for music! It is very common for open mics to be open to all types of artistry including poetry and spoken word, comedy, and more. Enjoy these opportunities to get out there and play!
EDIT – our Instrument Rental Website has updated the list, here are a few more places that offer jam sessions and open mic nights for those of you interested in playing your instrument! Don’t forget to jump over to the Shine Instrument Rental blog, to see other interesting events and happenings in Barcelona for Musicians.
