Stories

John Denver & The IV Chord

by Jim D’Ville Sure he had those boyish good looks—the impish smile, wire-rim glasses, and floppy hat. But it was his extensive use of the IV chord in his music which commanded us to turn over our hearts to him.…

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The Metronome In Your Head

By Jim D’Ville In the Fall 2019 issue of Ukulele, Grammy award-winning musician Cathy Fink presents a wonderful lesson extolling the virtues of incorporating a metronome into one’s daily practice regimen. She’s right! The metronome is the one true musical…

Ukulele Chord Changers

What’s the Deal with Ukulele Chord Changers?

One of the enduring truths about the ukulele is that it’s an accessible instrument. Its four little strings match up nicely with a player’s four fretting hand fingers and it is relatively easy to play. Even on someone’s first day…

Jim D’Ville Tour Kicks Off September 5

An enabler of the ukulele (and contributing editor to this publication), Jim D’Ville is taking his “Play Ukulele By Ear” workshop on the road for a series of tour dates in across New England and Michigan. September 5 Pioneer Valley…

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This Kanile’a Ukulele Will Help Plant a Forest

By Stephanie Powell It started with a simple idea: Plant a koa tree for every ukulele that Kanile’a built. But thriving forests don’t exist with only one species of tree, and so the dream turned into a challenge: create a…

Their First Instrument! 7 Greats Who Began On Ukulele

By Jim D’Ville Give a kid a ukulele and who knows; that kid may turn out to be the next Jimi Hendrix. I guess you could call the ukulele a gateway instrument as many legendary musicians began their musical journey…