Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Protest the Ukulele BAN !!!! at Take Me Out to the Ball Game Anniversary

Protest the Ukulele BAN !!!! at Take Me Out to the Ball Game Anniversary:


I am mounting a protest to right the wrong of the ukulele NOT being allow at the celebration of the 100th birthday of “Take me out to the Ball Game” Twin brothers won the Baby Ruth song competition with a great rendition with a ukulele/tuba combo. The reward was they could sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” at the Major League All-Star Game. The ukulele was not allowed as part of the performance. I don’t understand the decision. I don’t what I am going to do, just yet. But I will not let our collective ukulele voices be unheard. Below are some the gory details of this injustice from Al Wood of Ukulele Hunt.


Terry Truhart


Baby Ruth held a contest to celebrate the 100th birthday of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Entrants sent in their rendition of the song and the winner was decided by public vote. Obviously, the winner was a ukulelist, Adam Wilber. The prize was to sing at the MLB All Star Game. But, as Gary pointed out, the ukulele was banned and he had to sing along with a belching organ. Shame on you MLB. Give the public what it wants: ukes by the barrel-load.


I suggest your protest by grabbing these chords and playing it outside the offices of the MLB in protest. If it helps you to get as drunk as Eddie Vedder when you do it, I have no objections.




(Via Ukeaholics's Weblog.)

The Value of Formal Music Study

The Value of Formal Music Study:
Should you study music with a teacher or should you "wing" it on your own? This question always comes up in this type of discussion about music.

An objective assessment of the two alternative approaches leads me invariably towards the formal route. Why? Because without guidance, there is a tendency to go in circles, What do you practice, when do you move to the next topic? When are you doing something wrong? How do you practice what doesn't exist to you?

Many complain about time as a factor leading to the decision not to study. I would suggest that exactly the opposite is true. Those with less time need the efficiency of study. Without it, there's a tendency to "practice" what you're already good at. Study ensures that you will be working on your weaknesses. The results of self teaching are obvious. A player may get good at one thing but have blatant weaknesses in another.

If you use famous players in the past as your justification for not studying, you'd be wrong! Wes Montgomery was self taught - there's your justification. But is it? Wes was self taught because there were no teachers at that time. I don't mean no qualified teachers. I mean no teachers. Wes told me "Make sure you study. Don't do what I did."

All this, of course is premised on the presumption that you study with a qualified teacher. What makes a teacher qualified and how do find such a teacher? We'll save that one for the next installment.



(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)

Guitar Players' Issues

Guitar Players' Issues:

It's unbelievable to me how weak guitar players are on knowing the notes on their own instrument!

No other instrument suffers from this same fate. Imagine a piano player not knowing the note names of the keys...or a trumpet player not knowing what notes come out if they push specific valve combinations. An amazingly high percentage of guitar players don't know the notes on the neck. Is it more difficult than other instruments? No doubt. But that's the price you pay for playing the guitar.

This problem has certainly been created by the guitar world's penchant for tablature and chord picture diagrams. Despite this, there is no excuse for the failure on the part of guitar players to learn what is absolutely rudimentary on any other instrument.

If you need help overcoming this particular problem, check out my handbook Unlocking the Guitar - Notes on the Neck. It gives different approaches to learning the notes as well as several drills to master the topic. It's available at www.ChuckAndersonGuitar.com



(Via ChuckAndersonGuitar.)