The Ukulele

[garygnu]

On my recent trip to Maui, I bought a Ukulele. I went out of my way to get an actual playable one from Bounty Music in Kahului. I have a spread of chords, but no songs to play.
Who plays? What are some good resources? Any good collections of songs in a single book?

[NAF1138]

No, but I am jealous and look forward to seeing answers. I was talked out of getting one for myself the last time I was in Hawaii and I regret it. You can't seem to find a playable one on the mainland other than by mail order.

Good luck.

[Capybara]

I have one, too-- I was forced to learn to play in a rudimentary way (7th grade in HI) and then later on had a sort of nostalgia for it. It's a lot easier to find mainland tunes written for uke (like old pop and jazz kinds of songs from the 40s and 50s) than it is to find Hawaii-style tunes, in my experience. A guy named Mel Bay put out some short collections of tab music-- I have one of the Hawaiian classics books.
Also check out
http://ukulelia.com/
Lots of information there, and a cute page.

[sistercoyote]

Oh, man, where's Ukulele Ike when you need him?

[longPath]

I sort of play the uke. There are many good online resources.

Two good ones:

ukulelehunt.com/

www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/

Can't help much except to say if you ever get the chance to see the live, do, they're a hoot (don't know how far afield they tour)

Ukes-up everything from the Beach Boys to Kanye West

[Zenster]

If you want your mind blown, buy a CD by Jake Shimabukuro. A Paganini capriccioso? No problem. The Beatles? No problem. Jazz, blues, rock? No problem. Can he carry it off live on stage? No problem.

[garygnu]

Thanks for all the suggestions, everybody.