Okinawan Sanshin

One of the instruments I've been keeping my eye on is the okinawan Sanshin. It's an interesting instrument with a great history. It traveled to Okinawa from mainland China where it started out as the Sanxian, and then eventually made it's way to mainland Japan. You may be familiar with it's younger cousin, the Shamisen.

The sanshin is an instrument with a distinct sound and playing style, and it's really cool to see companies like Asoviva start to encourage more and more contemporary playing styles. Some good examples of popular songs on the sanshin are here and here.

I think it's really great to live in a time when so much knowledge is available so quickly and easily. This is no more apparent than in the resurgence of certain instruments, as well as how many people are teaching themselves music without the use of a tutor. There's so many cool sounds out there to experiment with and thanks to the internet, those sounds are usually just a click away. Still, there are some sounds that would be hard to find a proper place for, but that's all part of the fun of music.

In any case, the sanshin is one of those instruments that are slowly making their way into pop culture, and it's exciting to see what direction it will go in.

If you are interested in learning more or purchasing a sanshin, click here, here, or here. (the last one may require Google translate)

Another great resource for sanshin information and playing techniques in the Simple Sanshin.

For a more rustic version of the sanshin, check out the Kankara Sanshin

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Kamoa's new beauty

I'm very excited for the Evolve steel string semi-hollow from Kamoa that is just now beginning to be sold in the ukulele community. I know there are plenty of players who don't see the point in steel strung, electric ukuleles, seeing it as "ape-ing" electric guitars and therefor redundant, but I think having the option available is exciting. I greatly look forward to seeing these beautiful ukes put to use in creative ways, and the number of people that are planning to buy them means we should have plenty of excellent examples.

The steel string electric ukulele is not necessarily a brand new idea. Risa has been doing it for a while, and Eleuke is well known for their solid-body electrics. I'm a little sad to hear that the long-anticipated steel-string Eleuke ukuele has been recalled at the last minute, but these things do happen.

The coolest steel-string ukulele in my opinion? This one.

So which steel-string do you like best? Let me know below.

I'm Back

Wow. Two years it's been. The heat in Dallas is terrible and it caused me to remember I used to keep a blog that I stopped posting to. Maybe it's time to restart this little look into my life and interests. A bit has happened since last we met. My brother got married. I went to my first open mic night, and got offered my first gig. Sadly it did not go through. I've also been working on an album, hopefully to have out later this year. I hope to update this blog better than I did last time, so stick around.

 See ya soon.

P.S. Better leave some music. It's only proper. Here's one of my few recorded originals.

Enjoying playing for others more

I've been playing a lot out in public lately. It's a lot of fun playing in front of an audience now that the performance jitters are going away. The other day I even had an impromptu jam at a wedding! I've considered going out and finding gigs, but I just don't know if I'm good enough for that. In any case, its nice to stop worrying about playing out and about now. :D

Met a fellow uke player

I was with my friends at Bass Pro shop in Grapevine the other day. Like always I was carrying one of my ukes around and an employee named Larry commented on it. It turns out he himself was a ukulele aficionado. He even had a Kala Pocket Uke! I was so jealous! I always find it cool when I bump into another uke-player. it doesn't happen very often though. The last time (excluding Bass Pro shop of course) was a few months ago at Gamestop when I ran into a fellow Ukulele Underground member. still, it's good to know there are so many ukulele players in the Dallas area. Now if only I could find some local ones to jam with.

Hot N' Cold on Ukulele

This video is a cover of Katy Perry's Hot N' Cold. I decided to wear my goofiest hat for this cover, I think I made the right choice.

Enjoy!

Ukulele Genres

One thing I often have trouble with is recreating the feel of certain genres using the ukulele. I can play a song, no problem, but I often want to do more than just strums chords. This is probably the main reason why I take so long in between videos. I love all kinds of music, and I REALLY love to PLAY all kinds of music, so I struggle alot with more complicated things like Metal and especially Pop Techno. So I often watch people cover different genre's and try to mimic their techniques. So here I've compiled a list of my favorite examples of ukulele being used well in different genre's. I hope this helps anyone who finds themselves in the same boat I am. :D

(Classic Rock) Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing

(Classical) Bach's Bouree in E Minor

(Metal) Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train

(Pop) Michael Jackson's Billie Jean

(Techno Pop) Lady Gaga's Telephone

(Modern Rock) White Stripes' Fell In Love With A Girl

I hope you are inspired by these great uses of ukulele! :D