Hi there fellow ukers,

I'm back with another update, in case you missed any of the stuff that I've put out on YouTube. You'll be glad to learn that every video I made this month includes a tutorial, so plenty of stuff to keep you busy!

The Irish Washerwoman. Dave and I have made a lesson on how to play this famous jig - it's arranged in the campanella style (of course). Great fun to play and not too difficult, intermediate fingerpickers shouldn't have too many problems with it. This one is our monthly, patron-only lesson. Get the lesson and tabs here: https://patreon.com/ukulelego

Vincent, by Don McLean. An amazing, heart-wrenching song about the torments of Vincent Van Gogh - Don McLean created a masterpiece himself when he wrote this song. I was quite pleased with how the arrangement worked out for ukulele. Listen to it and watch the tutorial on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uZeID13FUnY

Wild Mountain Thyme. Sometimes known as Will Ye Go Lassie, Go? Great singalong number from Scotland. I perform it and show you how to play it here: https://youtu.be/hdrme9JH4tM

Yesterday. I haven't done too many Beatles' songs up till now as there are already a gadzillion versions out there. But I didn't find that many fingerstyle arrangements of this one and the ones I did find - well... Here in the ukulele community we're all about being kind to each other in a warm fuzzy kind of way. But if I could just point out that "fingerstyle arrangement" doesn't really mean smashing a chord, then playing a bit of melody then hitting another chord and so on. I do hope you like my offering and I hope too that by playing through it you'll see that it really isn't that hard to come up with an arrangement based on the chords. The fact that McCartney wrote one of the most beautiful songs ever certainly helps - a strong melody makes it a lot easier to come up with a nice arrangement. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/UPEIWEr1FGg

Tourdion I've made the tutorial available to everyone. A renaissance dance, it sounds great on ukulele. I teach you the two parts which you can play as a duet or one after the other to make the piece a bit longer. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/Av0DAzhfB6c

Turkey in the Straw I did this old-time tune to coincide with the presidential elections in the States in November last year, but have decided to make the tutorial available to all. https://youtu.be/wE-XcidGzvw

Coming up soon

In April, Dave and I will be teaching The Wellerman arranged for fingerstyle ukulele. This old sea shanty became a massive viral hit on Tik Tok a couple of months ago so we just had to have a go at it. I've also done a baritone bassline to go along with it. I'll have to get a baritone one of these days...

Well that's all from me. Yesterday and Vincent in the same month, that's pretty good going even if I say so myself. You can show your appreciation for my "work" by getting the tabs for these tunes on Patreon. And you'll feel really good about helping out a kindred (ukulele) spirit.

Stay safe and thanks being part of my little community, any questions/comments/suggestions, I'm always here to help.

Jon

Tabs and Lessons

Jon's Ukulele: End of Gumroad Free Downloads (and where to get them from now on)

Same Name, Two Different Tunes - which one do you prefer? - Jon's Ukulele

Jon's Ukulele: Summer Morris Dance Tunes and More!

Jon's Ukulele: New Medieval Tune! Plus loads more tunes to learn!

Jon's Ukulele: New Irish Jig! Plus loads more tunes to learn!

See all posts from Jonathan Lewis