As the great Carl Verheyen puts it, even the best of us are only “truly” improvising about 5% of the time. The rest of the time we’re playing through worked out ideas and patterns. Here are some worked out ideas and patterns to help build that “lick vault”!

Here’s a fun one. Playing a blues scale over a major progression can lend a bit of a Country vibe to a song. Word to the wise... use sparingly, as for some, it may cause a bit of discombobulation. Lol!

Here’s a fun one. I’ve always liked games, and music games are my favorite! Pick a familiar melody and try it out with different modes... sure to get you thinking of new interesting ideas!

Here’s a Christmas Song that is sure to get you into the Holiday spirit! Joy to the World has one of those timeless melodies that gets stuck in your head for days! Enjoy this easy to play classic!

Aloha Folks! This week's lesson is on a subject that I constantly get questions on. Slack key for ukulele... this is the first Ki Hoalu (Slack Key) piece that my Uncle taught me. The trick is to get your thumb to go on auto-pilot!

Aloha, Friends! This week's lesson is what I’m calling the “Mock song” lesson. The idea here is to take a chord progression and learn it in 2 positions. The difference is that like a song, we’re going to play parts rather than just a progression. It’s a great practicing tool and will help you get...

The #1 question I get asked about scales is “Where do I start?”. While I want to emphasize that picture based learning doesn’t really apply to all instruments, it does work out pretty good for the Ukulele. Here’s a good place to get started with scales. Remember, repetition is the mother of skill!

Being able to navigate your way through chord changes requires knowing what notes build said chords. A shortcut that us stringed instrument players like to use is arpeggio patterns on the fretboard. Here are some patterns for the key of G.

Arpeggio studies help to build a solid foundation of the “basics” of music... chords! Here we find different exercises to help us break them apart or “arpeggiate” them for the high-G ukulele. Check out the "Resources" section for PDFs to practice with.

I’ve always been a fan of small victories. They say that “Mastering” anything simply means to be ultra-proficient at the very basics. Arpeggio studies help to build a solid foundation of the “basics” of music... chords! Here we find different exercises to help us break them apart or “arpeggiate” ...

There are many ways to Harmonize the Major Scale. Here we take the bare-bones approach and just go by the I-IV-V chords. It makes for a great finger exercise, as well as good ear training!

Aloha Friends! This is our second installment of our Triads series. In this lesson we go over the different types of triads and how to find them across the fretboard. Once you've gotten used to the shapes you'll find that these little buggers are pretty useful!

I often get questions on "Rhythm". I find that by training your picking/strumming hand to proficiency, it naturally corrects a lot of the "rhythm" issues that seem to plague the beginning ukuleleist. Here are a few exercises to help you gain that proficiency.

In this video we continue building chord connections with connecting V-Is(five-ones).

An intermediate version of the song, using the strum/pick method. Ka'aahi Kahului is a song about the first train in Hawaii. It speaks of King David Kalakaua signing his name to the act that allowed the railroad to be constructed. Penned by the legendary Palani Vaughan, this song has a special si...

An intermediate version of the song, using the strum/pick method. Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai is a very popular song here in Hawaii. It is also a favorite for ukulele clubs world wide. It is heavily laden with Hawaiian Kaona though, and the hidden meaning is probably not something that you want to teach ...

The triplet pick strum is to help you get out a melody while continuing to accompany yourself. Players like Kimo Hussey, Kalei Gamiao and Imua Garza each use this technique to build their signature sound. Notice that none of these players sound alike. That's because the technique helps to frame Y...

Travis picking, as it is known, has a lot in common with the alternating bass for Hawaiian Ki Ho'alu. On the ukulele it works pretty well! The trick is to keep the time with your thumb.

In this lesson, Aaron teaches Hilo Ē tailored towards the intermediate ukulele player. Written by Aunty Mary Heanu, Hilo E speaks of the beauty of Hilo, as well as gives an invitation for malihini (visitors). The song only has 2 chords so this is a great opportunity to perfect the strumming/picki...

In this lesson we introduce you to four types of musical triads using the ukulele: major, minor, augmented, and diminished.

Don’t let the word triad intimidate you. It is simply a set of three notes played together. Building on our knowledge from the “Chord Connections” lessons, we will be abl...

In this lesson we introduce you to four types of musical triads using the ukulele: major, minor, augmented, and diminished.

Don’t let the word triad intimidate you. It is simply a set of three notes played together. Building on our knowledge from the “Chord Connections” lessons, we will be abl...

In this video, we take what we learned in Groove and Rhythm Fundamentals a step further. Accenting helps to put emphasis on the important chords/notes that we want to bring to the front. So important, but so subtle when done right that most people don't even notice, accenting is an often used too...

In this video, we take what we learned in Groove and Rhythm Fundamentals a step further. Accenting helps to put emphasis on the important chords/notes that we want to bring to the front. So important, but so subtle when done right that most people don't even notice, accenting is an often used too...