Uketropolis: Ukulele Q&A with James Hill

Latest Episodes:

Pinkie on C? Sep 16, 2020

Show notes

Susan on "My Open Strings: Highlights"
I am starting with my grade 9s tomorrow. I tuned them all Friday afternoon but because of Covid I am not going to touch them right before they do or approach a student. Neither can they pass around the class tuners or tune each others. I sure hope we all tune by ear together.

James answers:
Good luck, Susan! I'm sending good vibes your way. It may be a blessing in the end... tuning one's own uke is a great skill. If you can help them to become more independent in that way, you're doing great!

Cynthia on "Rocky Mountain: Demonstration"
I notice that you play the C chord with your fourth finger. Is this necessary?

James answers:
It's really up to you. I like using the pinky because it means I can use the other fingers for ornaments and extra stuff (e.g. "rocking" to the F chord feels like less of a stretch). But it's up to you!

Dwayne on "The C Scale: Highlights"
Do you have notes you can share on what chords you're using to accompany in this demonstration? Some of them I can see & some of those I know. :)

James answers:
Sure thing, Dwayne. The most common progression to accompany is: C - G7 - C - F - C - F - G7 - C. It's not the only way to do it but it works nicely. Occasionally in this demo I'm using the 5-4-3-3 voicing of the C chord. But it's still C!

You're going too fast! Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

John on "Lesson 3: The Jazzy Twins"
When you're playing Lil Liza jane fast it very hard to follow you specially when your learning those notes.

James answers:
Good point, John. You can slow down both the video and the interactive score. To slow the video, click on the "gear" icon at the bottom of the video, click "speed" and select a slower speed. For the interactive score, use the "speed" buttons (+/-) below the score. Also, if you want to take it *really* slow for practise, you can switch to "synthetic" playback using the "Recordings" menu at the bottom of the sheet music. That will switch to a fake ukulele sound (not ideal) but the advantage is that it will play the melody clearly at any tempo. Give it a whirl!

Pankaj on "Lesson 2: The Gentle Twins"
Hi James!!! You are awesome. Can you please tell me how you are strumming?? It's too fast for me to follow... Not able to recognise that whether it is only up or down or both. Not getting the sound how it is produced. It will be great to know.

James answers:
Thanks, Pankaj! My favourite strum pattern is: down, down, down, down. Seriously. I use it more than any other pattern. Sometimes I accent the 2nd and 4th beats to give a bit of extra oomph: down, DOWN, down, DOWN. And sometimes I even add a little upstroke here and there to give it a little kick: down, DOWN-up, down, DOWN. Honestly, that's 99% of what I'm doing in these lessons. When I'm going fast it can seem more complicated. But it's not! Does that help? Link to James' free YouTube tutorial "How to Strum Really Fast": https://youtu.be/pRFPci9rZrQ

Camille on "Lesson 6: The Minor Twins (Part 2)"
Enjoying my lessons! I found your strumming video on youtube very helpful. My question is-what part of the finger is hitting the strings on the down strum? Is it the nail itself? It sounds kind of "clicky" when I do that? Thanks

James answers:
Glad to hear it Camille! I'm using the nail on the downstrum. But what teachers (including me) often omit in their explanations is that the nail doesn't come *straight* down toward the floor. There's an angle to the way it makes contact with the string. If you're meeting the string head-on then it might explain the "clicky" sound. Try slight changes in the angle of the ukulele neck as you strum (don't change your strumming hand). You might find that a small change in the angle makes a big difference in the sound. Let me know!

How do I know when I know it? Sep 02, 2020

Show notes

In this episode we focus on Book 1 of The Ukulele Way.

JP asks:
Is it recommended to be able to play through at 100% speed repeatedly without mistakes before moving to the next lesson? Excited to learn more but don't want to be sloppy either.

James answers:
Hi JP, great question. The short answer: get it 80% perfect then move on, circling back to review in two lessons' time. Why? 1. Because getting stuck is no fun. 2. Because things that seem difficult now may seem easier after you have a couple more lessons under your belt. Uke on!

Richard L. asks:
Working on the first few measures of Acadian Lullaby (Lesson 6) and I’m confused by the chord diagrams that are labeled as C but aren’t conventional. I can sort of reverse-engineer them and see that they are made up of notes that would make a C chord, but I don’t see how I would know how to come up with them. Should I understand how to make these chords at this point? Maybe this is more advanced and you will explain it in future lessons. If so I can wait, I don’t mean to skip ahead.

James answers:
Great question, Richard. At first, this seems overwhelming, I know. Which is why, at this stage, I usually recommend not thinking too much :) But since you asked, it's the difference between a chord and a voicing. A chord is "what" you're playing (i.e. C or F or G or...) and the voicing is "how" your playing it (the exact arrangement of the chord notes on the fretboard). A chord has many, many voicings but there are some very common ones that happen time and time again. It seems overwhelming but then you realize that the 3 most common voicings of C are 0-0-0-3, 0-0-3-x and 0-0-x-x. You just get used to the fact that C can appear in those three forms depending on the melody note (i.e. you need to be able to highlight any note in the chord. If a chord has three notes, you need at least three voicings for that chord).

Carole C. asks:
Is here an easy way to move between books? As I continue with the lessons I want to be able to pop back to a previous book to review.

James answers:
There's a "quick links" list on the homepage of each book (e.g. Book 1 homepage: https://www.uketropolis.com/products/the-ukulele-way-book-1). If you keep that open in a browser tab you'll be able to move pretty easily between books. Also bookmark the table of contents; that might even be a better way to do it: https://www.uketropolis.com/the-ukulele-way-toc

Welcome to Uketropolis! Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to Uketropolis, a podcast with real ukulele answers to real ukulele questions. I'm your host, James Hill. I'm a lifelong ukulele player, teacher and believer in the power of ukulele to make positive change in the world. I've written and co-written several ukulele methods including Booster Uke, The Ukulele Way and Ukulele in the Classroom. I'm also the co-founder of the JHUI Teacher Certification Program and in 2019 I brought all of these education projects into one place and called it Uketropolis.com. Thousands of students worldwide have formed a warm, supportive learning community around these resources and what I do every week in this podcast is I choose a few real student questions from Uketropolis.com and offer my suggestions and thoughts on those questions.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge that I'm a third-generation Canadian ukulele player and that many players and teachers have paved the way for the work I've done as a teacher, player and author. First, thank you to the Godfather of Canadian ukulele, my friend and mentor, J. Chalmers Doane, my childhood teachers Jamie Thomas and Peter Luongo and many others along the way who kept the ukulele flame alive long before the third wave. Thank you Bonnie Smith, Bill Wallace, Warren Dobson, Cam Trowsdale, Lorna MacPhee, Marven Shields, Jody Wood, Vince and Charlene Sequeira, Tina Horwood and so many other devoted ukulele educators. A special thank you to my teachers and friends in Hawaii who inspired me and, long ago, embraced this young Canadian ukulele player and welcomed "Kimo Pu'u" into their musical 'ohana: Ohta-san, Herb Ohta Jr., Kimo Hussey, Byron Yasui, Benny Chong, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, Roy and Kathy Sakuma. Everything I know about ukulele has been shaped by what you've shown me and I'm very grateful to pass on some of that knowledge and aloha in this podcast.

Thank you for listening and I'll see you in Episode 1!

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