It’s not easy to leave your mark in the growing world of affordable ukes, where most instruments use the same familiar designs. And yet, companies continue to introduce instruments that make you say, “I haven’t seen that before.” In the…
One of the reasons the ukulele has had a resurgence in recent years is that this diminutive instrument can be incredibly affordable. What other instrument is inexpensive enough to be an impulse buy, yet stand a good chance that it’ll…
By Marcy Marxer I hope you enjoy my arrangement of “Stars and Stripes Forever” (page 26, Ukulele Fall 2013), which was inspired by Jesse Kalima. Thank you to Jesse Kalima Jr. for his time and generosity of information as well…
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After a ukulele is built, the biggest impact on its tone (besides the player) is the choice of strings. There are a variety of different string types from which to choose, but there is no “best” string for everybody and…
Kala offers a huge range of ukuleles, and this year, the company has added a line it calls “All Solid Mahogany Lite.” Built using plantation-grown African okoume wood, the line includes several models and sizes of ukes. We had a…
Boulder Creek is known for its distinctive line of guitars featuring a “dual port” sound- hole system, and the company’s Riptide line of ukuleles will doubtlessly be recognized by anyone familiar with those instruments. We had a chance to check…
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I was just experimenting with playing some basic shapes and found “Old Folks at Home.” It’s a beautiful tune. I hadn’t really thought much about it, but the melody is really gorgeous. It uses really simple chord shapes but the…
A dexterous Grammy-winning guitarist fluent in swing and traditional folk lead and accompaniment flatpicking styles, Marcy Marxer has played the ukulele almost as long as she has the guitar, having studied with legendary uke master Roy Smeck in the 1980s.…