How to Play Bottleneck Blues with Slide on Ukulele

By Fred Sokolow Using a bottleneck or slide is one of the most soulful, bluesy things a guitarist can do—when it’s done right. Slide sounds great when you’r... Read More...

4 Ways To Keep Your Ukulele In Tune

Here's why some ukuleles have a harder time staying in tune, and what you can do to try and keep your ukulele as in tune.... Read More...

Beginner Ukulele Lesson: Getting Off the Page Will Instantly Improve Your Playing

The first step in learning a song is to listen to a recording until you can hum the basic melody and feel the rhythm.... Read More...

Baritone Ukulele Basics: Expand Your Sound

From the Summer 2017 issue of Ukulele | BY JUMPIN’ JIM BELOFF The bari is back! Based on scant scientific data, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that inter... Read More...

How to Play 3 Essential Hawaiian Ukulele Strums

By Steven Espaniola A well-strummed ukulele is the heartbeat of traditional Hawaiian music. For every melodious steel-guitar part, beautiful three-part vocal h... Read More...

How To Determine What Chord Comes Next

What if I told you that after hearing the first two chords of a song, you could reasonably guesstimate the remainder of the chord progression?... Read More...

Song Intros: They Either Go Up or Go Down (A Short Lesson from Jim D’Ville)

By Jim D’Ville Music travels in one of two directions—it either goes up or goes down. The same is true for song introductions. Our ears like to follow logi... Read More...

Why Does Crocodile Rock? Inside Elton’s John’s Hit

By Jim D'Ville When I was growing up, I wanted to be on the radio. My first break came in high school when I was on the staff of Fort Bragg High’s Timberwol... Read More...

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 m... Read More...

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 incorporatin... Read More...