Recommended ‘Ukulele Stuff

Here are some things that you might find helpful on your music journey.

Great Music

Ukulele Instrumental Albums:

Brittni Paiva – Hear… – Review

Herb Ohta Jr. – ‘Ukulele Journey – Review

Herb Ohta Jr. – ‘Ukulele Breeze – Review

Herb Ohta Jr. and Daniel Ho – Step 2: ‘Ukuleles in Paradise 2

Jake Shimabukuro – Walking Down Rainhill

Jake Shimabukuro – Live – Review

James Hill – A Flying Leap

Kimo Hussey – Eminent ‘Ukulele

Troy Fernandez – Hawaiian Style ‘Ukulele – Review

Contemporary Hawaiian Albums:

Bruddah Kuz – Talkin’ Da Kine – Review

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – Facing Future – Review

Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole – E ala E

Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole – In Dis Life

Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole – IZ in Concert

Ka’au Crater Boys – The Best of,

Malino – Always be Mine

Manoa DNA – No Place Like Home

Manoa DNA – Follow Me – Review

The Peter Moon Band – Cane Fire

Rising Tide – Mr. Pole Bendah

Contemporary Hawaiian Songs:

• Justin – One Foot on Sand
• Kalaeloa – Kiss You in the Morning
• Opihi Pickers – Old Fashioned Touch, Our Love is Divine
• Pana’ewa – Pana’ewa Medley, Seven Hawaiian Angels
• Paula Fuga and Jack Johnson – Country Road
• Sunday Manoa – Kawika
• 3 Plus – Honey Baby

Great Hawaiian Artists (not necessarily ‘ukulele artists):

• Barefoot Natives
• Dennis Pavao
• Hapa
• Hui ‘Ohana
• Keoki Kahumoku
• Peter Moon Band
• Raiatea Helm
• Sean Na’auao
• Sunday Manoa
• Walter Keale

Guitarists:

There is plenty to be gained from listening to guitarists. After all, they seem to have pushed the boundaries farther than ‘ukulele artists have yet. Here are some of the best six string wizards I’ve found.

B.B. King – Rock Me Baby, Thrill is Gone

Brad Paisley – Throtleneck, Some Mistakes

Carlos Santana – Black Magic Woman, Samba Pa Ti, Stone Flower, Curación, Europa, Love of my Life

Eric Clapton – Layla, Wonderful Tonight, Crossroads

Eric Johnson – Cliffs of Dover, Trademark, SRV, Bristol Shore, Soulful Terrain

Jimi Hendrix – Red House, Voodoo Child, All Along the Watchtower

Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)  – Stairway to Heaven, No Quarter, Kashmir, Four Sticks

Joe Satriani – One Big Rush, Belly Dancer

Ledward Kaapana – ‘Opihi Moemoe, 12th Street Rag, Mauna Loa Slack Key

Mike Stern – 6th Street, Moroccan Roll

Sonny Landreth – Milky Way Home, Überesso

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Tightrope, Texas Flood, The Sky is Crying, Riviera Paradise

Mainstream Artists:

• The Beatles – 1, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Bela Fleck and the Flecktones – Outbound, Live at the Quick
• Bob Marley – Legend
• The Doobie Brothers – The Captain and Me, Long Train Runnin’ (1970-2000)
• Donavon Frankenreiter – Donavon Frankenreiter
• Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams, Sleep Through the Static
• James Taylor – Best of,
• Jim Croce – Photographs and Memories: Greatest Hits
• Los Lonely Boys – Los Lonely Boys
• Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily
• Phil Colins – Tarzan Soundtrack (as in the Disney movie)
• Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings – Live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery Bigroom
• Sam Bush – Laps in Seven
• Steve Miller Band – Greatest Hits
• Stevie Wonder – Definitive Collection

Books

This book goes first because I believe that it is about the most important part of music – music. It doesn’t cover what notes to play, it covers music as a whole and how it is intertwined with a musician’s life. For those of you who have been playing for a while and would like to learn a lot about music and life in one go, check out Victor Wooten’s:

The Music Lesson

This will change your life if music is what you do. If every musical instrument came with this book, music would be a lot more interesting and wholesome. Read it (really).

The best ukulele instructional books I know of are Herb Ohta Jr. and Daniel Ho’s:

Discovering the Ukulele (for beginning players)

Exploring the Ukulele (for intermediate players)

Some others that are useful are Heeday Kimura’s books. Most are for beginners, but there are two or three that would interest the more advanced. His method of notating music is different, but is fairly easy to learn. Some of his books include:

• How to Pick and Strum the Ukulele vol. 1 and 2
• How to Play Ukulele by Ear Hawaiian Style
• Hints and Tips for Advanced Ukulele Players
• More Ukulele Solos by Ear
• Slack Key Ukulele (advanced)
• (And several songbooks)

I have yet to find an ‘ukulele book that comes close to imparting the amount of knowledge a guitar book can – hence this list. Keep in mind that these books are written for guitar. Some level of transposing or backwards thinking will be necessary to convert the examples to ‘ukulele.

Guitar books:

Click here to read the full reviews

~Brad