Aloha Friends! This week we’re going to be learning Kaleo ‘O Nalani from Mark Yamanaka. I’m calling this an intermediate level lesson because of the rhythmic assumptions I’m making as well as the paperless format. This is a tune that I feel is one of the prettiest songs of the modern “local music...

Aloha Friends! Here's a fun tune made famous by "Old Blue Eyes", himself, the great, Frank Sinatra. This is, of course, my interpretation of the song and is in no way intended to be a direct copy of the tune. This is one of those lessons that you just follow along and feel free to make your own a...

Hey Folks! Here's a tune that I've been playing on guitar for as long as I can remember. In fact, it's one of the first songs that I learned to play. On and On from Stephen Bishop might not be a song that you associate with the Ukulele, but the groove lends itself nicely with its soothing Island ...

Aloha Friends! This week we explore the concept of using our Major Scale to come up with some of those "Mayfield" inspired R&B licks. The song we're using as our backdrop is Tupelo Honey from Van Morrison. Keep in mind, however that the point is not to teach you the song, but to explore using the...

Aloha Friends! Here's a tune that I've been playing since High School. I'm not teaching you the note for note "transcripted" version, but more like how I play it now. You'll notice that the way you play a song changes over the years that you play it, and that's a good thing. It shows you are comf...

Here's a fun tune on the Eagles classic, "Love will keep us Alive". This is one of those tunes that can really get stuck in your head. I hope you enjoy this Ukulele arrangement of a timeless song

Aloha Friends! This week we're learning to play a Richard Marx tune. "Right here waiting" was one of the first tunes that I learned to play, and over the years I've changed it in so many ways that it is more of an interpretation that a cover. I wanted to give it a little more of an Island Style v...

Ok Guys, this one is a little different. You're going to need to know a few things for this one to take. We're going to go over "Stocking your Vault" of Ukulele licks. Most of us are "really" improvising a minuscule percent of the time. The rest of the time, we're drawing from things that we've p...

Here's a fun one folks! Last time we talked about Rhythmic Phrasing, but I had folks emailing me that they didn't know what notes to play. This week we go over the "number pictures" that we can use as a template for learning note selection. We're calling this one "Intermediate" so you might want ...

Ok folks, here is part 2 of 3 for Mokupuni Nui! This one is an Intermediate level lesson. I'm making the assumption that you watched and learned the Beginner Lesson from last week and know the basics of the tune. We get into some picking with this one, so I hope you folks like this one. Stay tune...

Aloha Friends! Here's one that every Kamehameha Schools Alumni is guaranteed to know. The Doxology is sung in 'Ōlelo all over the Islands and has somewhat become part of our culture... For example, my family is not even Catholic, but we sing it at family gatherings. Here I teach you 2 versions an...

Aloha Friends! It's been a while! My computer had to be repaired and I had to completely reboot and reset all of my video recording and editing software... But alas! We are back and this week we're learning a song that was brought to my attention as a requested lesson. We are learning Guava Tree ...

Aloha Guys! Here's one for the Holidays! This is an Intermediate Level Lesson, so you'll need to know your basic open chords and have a basic grasp of rhythm, but even if you're just starting off feel free to give it a go! Winter Wonderland is one of those tunes that everyone knows and expects to...

Here's a fun one to play around Christmas time! The Classic "Santa Baby" brings a "Naughty list" vibe to the season with its flirty/gold digger-esque lyrics. But to keep things family friendly... sans the thumbnail, of course, we're doing this one in a fingerstyle Chord/Melody that's sure to get ...

Aloha Friends! It's been a while. I took a break over the Holidays, but we're back to our regularly scheduled program! Here we go over a Chord/Melody lesson for the song, After You've Gone. I'm calling this one an intermediate lesson because of the speed at which the lesson moves as well as some ...

Aloha Friends! Here is another one of those tunes that I was certain that I had already taught here, but I guess not... This is a chord/melody of the tune "As the Deer" from Psalm 42. I don't often express my faith, but this tune has gotten me through some tough times and I thought I'd share it w...

Here's one that I've played on guitar for years and never even thought about doing on Ukulele, but as it turns out, works pretty well. Phil Vassar has long been one of my favorite country music songwriters and Rose Bouquet shows off just why that is. His ability to evoke emotions through both the...

Here's a fun one for St. Paddy's day! Learn this tune and lead your friends in a round of singing and consumption to the Galway Girl. The picking part is fun as well as the lyrical melody. Not bad Irish pub feel for a songwriter from the Lone Star State, huh? Lol!