Fred Sokolow is one of my fave music book authors and he's done it again with his latest ukulele book which introduces you to playing slide and slack key playing. (you can even play the style with your uke on your lap!)
The book takes you by the hand and gives guidance on different types of slides,and bless him,even takes you thru a couple of easy to do alternate tunings. I received the book a couple of days ago as I've always loved the sound of slide guitar. The book is so easy to learn from that I stayed up way past my usual bedtime playing with the uke laying on my lap and using a glass guitar slide to get the most amazing sounds I've ever heard from my ukuleles! And- I owe him a debt of thanks- while I had heard of slack key guitar,I'd never actually heard any of the tunes. Well,I tried some of those tabs as well,fingerpicking my way thru some delightful tunes I'd never heard of before....and wish I'd heard years earlier.
It also covers improvisation/making your own arrangements,so you're by no means fenced in by the tunes given in the book. For those who have never fingerpicked,he walks you thru this as well as "rolls" which are three finger right hand patterns traditionally used by 5 string banjo players.
Granted,my years of classical guitar study & the fact I can play banjo 3 finger style means I'm probably catching on quicker than the average ukeist with no previous guitar or banjo experience-however he gives very clear & easy to understand directions. Best of all for those of us in middle or past middle age,the TAB is in a very easy to read size.
Barre chords are rampant thru the book,which are a snap to do on uke. There's scale diagrams given for each alternate tuning as well as chord grids.(Also in a very easy to read size!) He thought of everything here,and you get some music history to boot. What more could you ask for? As a last mention,I love the fact that the audio that goes with the book is now done thru a download as opposed to having it on CD as they so often get lost, or fall out of the book. All in all I give it 5 stars. A must have in any ukulele player's library,and once I have a better handle on these styles,I want to start teaching them!
The book takes you by the hand and gives guidance on different types of slides,and bless him,even takes you thru a couple of easy to do alternate tunings. I received the book a couple of days ago as I've always loved the sound of slide guitar. The book is so easy to learn from that I stayed up way past my usual bedtime playing with the uke laying on my lap and using a glass guitar slide to get the most amazing sounds I've ever heard from my ukuleles! And- I owe him a debt of thanks- while I had heard of slack key guitar,I'd never actually heard any of the tunes. Well,I tried some of those tabs as well,fingerpicking my way thru some delightful tunes I'd never heard of before....and wish I'd heard years earlier.
It also covers improvisation/making your own arrangements,so you're by no means fenced in by the tunes given in the book. For those who have never fingerpicked,he walks you thru this as well as "rolls" which are three finger right hand patterns traditionally used by 5 string banjo players.
Granted,my years of classical guitar study & the fact I can play banjo 3 finger style means I'm probably catching on quicker than the average ukeist with no previous guitar or banjo experience-however he gives very clear & easy to understand directions. Best of all for those of us in middle or past middle age,the TAB is in a very easy to read size.
Barre chords are rampant thru the book,which are a snap to do on uke. There's scale diagrams given for each alternate tuning as well as chord grids.(Also in a very easy to read size!) He thought of everything here,and you get some music history to boot. What more could you ask for? As a last mention,I love the fact that the audio that goes with the book is now done thru a download as opposed to having it on CD as they so often get lost, or fall out of the book. All in all I give it 5 stars. A must have in any ukulele player's library,and once I have a better handle on these styles,I want to start teaching them!
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