Band Practice

Band Practice, a photo by ilovememphis on Flickr.

Flickr photo find.

1960's Comedy || The Andy Griffith Show

I watched this "Andy & Opie Bachelors" on video last night. These were good wholesome shows and many of them had guitar playing scenes like this one with "Down in the Valley."

Pa, "Can we light the candles?"

Todd Baio (Doogey9) || Twelve Gates to the City

Here's Todd singing and playing a Tenor Banjo (tuned DoGBonE style.) I have been listening to Todd's Odd Hill Music CD and this song has been stuck in my ear. It's an old spiritual tune and Todd notes that his favorite versions of the song were done by the Reverend Gary Davis and Pete Seeger.

Suzy Boguss || American Folk Songbook

I heard Suzy Boguss talk about her new book while listening to Prairie Home Companion on the radio yesterday. Here's a link to a "The Boot" article.

Emma & Laura (Lovely Broken Doll) || Creep

XaverHB || Jimmie Brown, The News Boy

Do you hear a bit of Burl Ives in this pick & strum version of this old-timey tune?

Todd Baio (Doogey9) || There But for Fortune

Todd also has created some homemade "albums" to go with his wonderful homemade music. I have "Odd Hill Music" and "The Super Smooth Sounds of Brother Sonny" and "Suburban Fool." You can hear Todd's smooth  singing and playing on various instruments. Old-Timey tunes that will touch your heart, make you laugh and at times make you feel like a child again with a goofy Hillbilly tune. It's all good music to put on your iPod, iPad or iPud.

Todd is the person that I posted first on my companion blog for the prolific baritone ukulele players where I have a single post devoted to a specific player or band. Take a look at Todd's page on the Barried DoGBonE.

I have been trying to collect photos of baritone ukulele players with their bari's to post on Humble Baritonics and the Barried DoGBonE. If you have one of yourself that you'd like to share please forward a jpg to Humble Uker. Been tryin' to get that elusive photo of LaurieLeeC and her magic bari. I would also enjoy photos of the youngsters, Nigella and Emma. Everyone is welcome.

Jeff / Humble Uker / Humble Baritonics / The Barried DoGBonE

Lil' Rev & Brian Hefferan || How Long Blues

I have known Lil' Rev for about four or five years and have a great respect for him and his numerous musical talents. I had the pleasure of conversing with him on a regular basis as I was getting his blog started for him for about a year. As you can see her Rev is no stranger to the baritone ukulele. He's playing a custom starburst baritone uke made by the Santa Cruz luthier Tony Graziano whom I also count as a friend that I see regularly at the ukulele club of Santa Cruz meetings.

So Lil' Rev's blog is called Fountain of Uke and is a source for Folk, Traditional, Old-Timey, and Blues music. He performs and teaches workshops all around the country. I have taken about 5 different classes from him during his annual winter visits to California as he avoids the challenges of the Wisconsin winters. 

He has prepared another book designed specifically for beginning baritone ukulele players and he told me that Hal Leonard is expected to release the book in late June or July. I make it a point to purchase all of his books and find that Hal Leonard's pricing structure is very reasonable. He told me that "Humble Baritonics" is getting  a "plug" in the bari-uke book. Rev is currently working on a new "Fiddle Tunes for Ukulele" project. 

He also is a true music historian and great storyteller. Be sure to explore his blog.

Jeff / Humble Uker / Humble Baritonics

Elly Lou (Buggin' Word) || Break My Stride

A natural talent and kook!

Heidi Talbot || Time (Again)

Heidi has a voice that is so sweet to listen to.

Heidi Talbot || Start It All Over Again

Such a rich sound...

Heidi Talbot || Time

I'm suspicious that this is a Martin tenor ukulele but what a beautiful song.

Ruby & the Rib Cage || The Station Sessions

amazing vocals, nice beat, and you can dance to it...

Ruby & the Rib Cage || Dandelion (Balcony TV)

Copied from the YT comments:

London-based Ruby and the Rib Cage may have only formed late last year but their overall sound is way beyond the band's age.

Led by Ruby, her incredible vocal range filled the entire courtyard and alongside her full band, they performed an amazing session.

The band are preparing for a very busy summer with dozens of gigs and festivals across the UK. 'Horror' is available to download for free on The Mahogany Blog via this link http://bit.ly/y19b93

https://www.facebook.com/RubyandtheRibCage
@RubyRibCage

For much more check out The Mahogany Blog http://bit.ly/aO5mk6
Follow us on Facebook http://bit.ly/ccU1vF
Follow us on Twitter http://bit.ly/woVVM9

Ruby & the Rib Cage || Horror (Mahogany Sessions)

The deep dark research man, Ron Hale, came up with another superior find and sent us a link. It's another fantastic band that has a baritone ukulele player in the mix with guitar, stand-up bass, fiddle and cajon. I hope to find more videos of the band.

"Led by Ruby, her incredible vocal range filled the entire courtyard and alongside her full band, they performed an amazing session."

Uke Uncle || Flying (Peter Moon Band) Slack Key Ukulele

I have Uke Uncle's Slack Key Ukulele Book in my library but haven't explored that way yet...

Ken Middleton || This Land is Your Land

Well I have only met Ken once while he was at the Ohana booth at the Wine Country Ukulele Festival in Napa, California but every time I see him hear on YouTube him I think of him as on old friend. Thanks Ken for all of your generosity and good music.

Laurie Lee C || Blows My Mind with more Groovy Vibes

Yep, Laurie with her talent boiling over the top again. A new song called Young & Foolish. Where the heck does that DADF# tuning come from? [Open D Tuning] Sounds like something you'd put on a Dulcimer!

LLC sez, "the UKE, is pure therapy, simple ditties sorta spring forth from it."

 

Thomas O'Conner || When I Grow Up

This Is Vidya || The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot

Uke4U2 || The Man Who Sold the World

Sm113091 || First Day of My Life

Mexchica514 || I Know Places (Lykke Li cover)

Mexchica514 || Born to Die (Lana Del Rey cover)

Unchained Melody with Baritone Ukulele

Dr. Bekken || Wade in the Water

Doc's testament... "In memory of those children murdered in Norway on July 22, 2011."

Tara Linda || Recession Stomp

See bari, but no hear bari...

Friends of Old Puppy || Waves of the Danube

Electric Baritone Ukulele...

Only Uke That Matters || God's Promise

As I listened to this calmly played song, I thought to myself, one of the blessings of doing a blog and posting a wide variety of songs and genres is that I get to hear much more music than I would normally come across. This is one of the best "inspirational" songs that I've ever heard. It is from Woody Guthrie -- just amazing. 

Only Uke That Matters || Career Opportunities

Good stuff and a new sound...

She & Her Sister || Normal

Myrna Ukulele || Bei Mir Bist du Schoen

The Sophisticated Ladies perform at the Alaska Folk Festival. April 14, 2012
Myrna Ukelele (baritone ukulele)

Gladys Gottacello (baritone ukulele)

Daphne Drummond (snare drum).

Richie Williams (UOGB) || Born This Way (Lady Gaga Cover)

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is the penultimate ukulele band. No doubt about it. The group abounds with talent and expert playfulness. George Hinchliffe is shown predominantly in this video as he sings and plays the piano brilliantly. But for us bari-ukers Richie takes the top billing...

Technicolor Gazette || (Don't) Tickle Me & Throw Me in the Water

Richie Williams (UOGB) || Hot Tamales (Bari part explained)

Pilfered information from UkuleleOrchestra;s YT comments...

Here's Richie (in his garden) with his chords for Hot Tamales. (Find the rest of the tutorial here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL33DCDA9E50C0A6A1&feature=view_all )

And here's something about Richie:

Richie Williams is perhaps the most over-qualified member of the Ukulele Orchestra, having actually been to music college. Born in Liverpool, he has played guitar since he was 6 years old, and in his youth he roadied for, among others, Frank Zappa and Status Quo. His first concert, with his band Dragonfly, was supporting Ralph McTell at Liverpool University, quickly followed by the support slot for Thin Lizzy at the world famous Cavern Club.

Richie went on to play guitar with a host of Motown stars, such as Martha and the Vandellas, Mary "My Guy" Wells, Edwin "War, what is it good for" Starr, and Ben E."Stand By Me" King. On the Northern Soul circuit he also backed artists such as Gene "Duke of Earl" Chandler and Richard "Popcorn"Wiley. Karl Terry and the Cruisers took him on after this, and his Granada television appearance in 1979 has been immortalised on YouTube. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YhIFmb1Vak ...That's Richie in the shades and the red suit.]

It was in the early 1980s in Leeds that he met Kitty and George, while he was playing with Snake Davis and the Alligator Shoes (playing Northern Soul and Motown at venues all over the UK including Scooter Rallies and yer actual northern soul dances), and he joined the Ukes in 1985, on baritone ukulele. After a break from ukuleles when he moved to Yorkshire, he returned to the Ukes full-time in 2003. 

He now lives in Dorset. Richie plays, ukulele, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. He's also pretty good on arrangements, compositions, vocals and backing vocals.

Just Me & My Twin || Mind of a Child

ROGER RUTHEN MONDAY || Beautiful Dreamer

I am going to have to make myself scarce. My work load is becoming ridiculous and everything is needed sooner that I can possibly get it done. Here's a nice arrangement by Roger, Beautiful Dreamer.

Ukulele Dav & Arnaud D || Bolero TAB

http://ukuleledav.web.officelive.com/Documents/Ravel%27s%20Bolero%20%28ukulele%29.pdf

Ukulele Larry || Unchained Melody

Adrian Toro || Quatro [ Another Bari-Cousin ]

Adrian makes that Quatro roar...

He has an English language link to his blog here and Spanish here.

Wiki says, "The cuatro of Venezuela has four single nylon strings, tuned (A4,D5,F#5,B4). It is similar in shape and tuning to the ukulele, but their character and playing technique are vastly different. It is tuned in a similar fashion to the traditional D tuning of the ukulele, but the A and B are an octave lower. Consequently, the same fingering can be used to shape the chords, but it produces a different inversion of each chord."

"The cuatro is the national instrument of Puerto Rico. It belongs to the lute family of chordophones (or string instruments). However, very little is known about the exact origin of the Puerto Rican cuatro. Most experts believe that the cuatro has existed on the island in one form or another for about 400 years.

The Spanish instrument that it is most closely related to is the vihuela poblana (also known as the Medieval/Renaissance guitar), which had 4 courses, 2 strings each for 8 strings in total as well as the Spanish Medieval/Renaissance 4 course and the Spanish Laúd, the last of which is still found in the Canary Islands".

What a beautiful latin sound. Those high inner strings really ring.

KiddDeckard || Take Me to the River

Doogey9 (Todd Baio) || Chicken Picker Improv!!!

Seems so effortless, sounds so good...

Lucas Biespiel || I Hope You Know

Lucas rocks the vocals, baritone ukulele, violin, and baritone ukulele again. Hot stuff!



Live on stage playing fiddle...

Lucas Biespiel || House of the Rising Sun

Dandysaur || Ignitioon (Remix) (R. Kelly cover)

She just liked the clarity and sincerity of the lyrics...

Nigella || iMovie & Meet Me In Montgomery (John Prine cover)

Nigella is back with a new production!

Katharine Whalen || Playing Tenor Guitar

Katharine plays bari and tenor guitar. This is just a 44 second clip.

Music Makers Ukuleles || Build Your Own Ukulele

Dirk (Mugambis Monkey) || Aloha 'Oe

Beautiful... Be sure to read Dirk's YouTube comments about the song history too.

Darol Anger, Scott Law & Crooked Still || Salt Creek - Salt River

Aoife sings and strums her bari-uke. Does she have a sweeeeet voice?

Mudgie || Adele Cover Tutorials

Make You Feel My Love (Dylan cover)

Just E Rose || One Day (Matisyahu cover)

This tune has been popular with bari-uke players...



I will post it in DGBE songs but it is quite a simple I-V-vi-IV (1-5-6m-4) pattern.

One Day (Matisyahu) In the Key of C.

Blake Kunkel || Wondering / Wandering

Ruby Too || Cold, Cold Heart

If you wish to play along with Ruby Too, here's a Chordie Chart in C

Alison Self (Beauty of Silence) || He Floated Down

Alison has a new original tune that I found to be so hauntingly good. I have listened to it several times and it could be a classic someday! Thanks Alison. Jeff / HU / HB

Buskin' Brett Marynn Wulfson's || "Braver Than I"

Reprise...


Here's the "Screw You" song from the American TV show, "Scrubs."

Dr Bekken || Singing in the Rain

Wow Doc can Scat & Play!

Radiant Beams || The Rocking Carol

Cheryl Rockettedog & ??? || One Day (Matisyahu cover)

Leah Loves Roses || Somebody that I Used to Know

Hopeful889 || Paradise (Coldplay cover)

Here's a new face to the YouTube baritone ukulele player world. I like this version of Paradise, sung so sweetly and with a sweet deep bari-uke sound.

Arms -- By Christina Perry

On this song YT comments, she has requested comments on how she can become better. I like what she's doing naturally already and I think, "just keep playing -- and you'll just keep blossoming into a fantastic musician." I think what she's doing already is "Paradise."

I like the wailing intro...

Tory Elena || My History

Here's a softly sung original with a glowing video...

Doris Day & Arthur Godfrey || The Glass Bottom Boat

A few days ago I heard Terry Gross interviewing Doris Day on her 88th Birthday. My wife Wendy and I like watching old movies and have enjoyed several of Doris' movies. There are ukulele scenes in a few of the early movies. The one below actually features a Baritone Ukulele.

Doris Day Fresh Air Interview

Here's my Ukuleles In Movies Page from Humble Uker.

Treble7Notes || Summertime

Michael Keith at Home || This 3-String "Bari" Makes Some Foreign Sounds

G-off || Ruminate, Me (Original)

G-off has returned,

David Lindley || Power Baritonics at the 2012 Reno Ukulele Festival

Do Not Miss This One, WOW! What a treat. The second half of the video he gets nasty with a slide!

Roisin Connelly || Bring It On Home (Sam Cooke cover)

Jonathon Mann || Song #1189 -- One of These Days

Jonathan Mann || Health Box Accelerator

Theme Song...

Sarah Donner || The Making of... GOING UNDER

She's got the flashiest bari-uke that I've ever seen. Thanks Sarah!

PinkCouchSessions Saintseneca || Missing Dogs

The Folk UK || When It Rains

Here's a talented group of young ladies...

KDUS Bertrand || Guaglione (Soprano Accompaniment)

Oh, Bertrand where have you gone with your Bari-Uke?

KDUS & Samaya || Scary Ukulele Zombie Music

From 2009 and just saw this one,

Very cool sound...

(One Re-entrant the other standard low-D DoGBonE tuning.)

Emma Dryden || You Are Loved By Me (Original on Bari-Uke)

Jake Wildwood || Ferryboat (Played DoGBone on an old Harmony Tenor Guitar)

If you're new to my blog and personal definition, DoGBonE tuning means DGBE, low D, to me.

I have been getting into the Old-Timey, Bluesy music for a while now. Jake has another original tune that he plays on guitar that is well worth listening to...

(I usually make non-bari videos smaller)

3 Ukes & a Bass || Makin' Whopee!

Sweet Afton || Perhaps the Funniest Baritone Ukulele I've Ever Seen

Happy Halloween! - "California Gurls / Tik Tok et. al" mashup costume party.

ROGER RUTHEN MONDAY || Mrs. Winter's Jump (John Dowland)

I must admit that I chose this arrangement based on it's unusual title. I will give you the link and then a few versions found on YouTube which I hope convey the feel of the melody.

pdf-Minstrel - Mrs. Winter's Jump

Lute & Orpharian


GCEA Ukulele

Dana Carly Andrews || Book of Love (cover)

Sweet, where are those awesome harmonies coming from???

Dana Carly Andrews || Bright Eyes (Messenger Birds cover)

What a beautiful voice...



Dana -- now I've subscribed to you I shouldn't miss out any more!

Dr. Bekken || St. James Infirmary (with some wild Scattin')

Air Soft C || Seven Friends (Original Instrumental)

Air Soft C || Darkness Warms (Original on Multiple Instruments)