High or Low G?! The eternal ukulele question (let's be honest that the only right answer is we need both!) . In this quick lesson we look at some techniques that make high G tuning special to me.

While reentrant tuning can seem limiting it also opens you up to a host of musical techniques that are not available on other instruments. From strumming patterns to picking to chords, let's look at five techniques that this ukulele tuning can do that Low G can not.

A few lessons on these techniques to get you started:

Campanella (Sam Muir Lesson)

Clawhammer

Split Stroke

All of the Chords

You can always explore all of these topics more in depth on the Magic Ukulele Club

Join the band as we dive into Irving Berlin’s ‘Blue Skies’! This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we’ll be taking apart this arrangement piece by piece in a series of five lessons:

-History/Harmony/Analysis

-Playing the Melody with Chords

-Three Note Chords

-Building a Bass Line

-Applying Swing Rhythms

In addition to this we have two livestreams focusing on learning the melody by ear as well as crafting a solo using the melody as a guide. If you feel stuck in your playing join the community to learn a song front to back each month from beginner to advanced.

Join on in with the band this week as we strum through the classic jazz standard ‘Deed I Do. The basic chords are suitable for beginners while the chord melody solo will challenge the intermediate and advanced players.

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we'll be diving deep into this tune with five lessons teaching the Harmony, 6 Turnarounds and chord substitutions, melody, Chord melody solo, u bass lesson and more. Join us for access to over 200 ukulele lessons, a new tune each month, PDFs, livestreams and more.

Have you ever wondered how you could take a simple song and breathe new life into it? In this free lesson we’re looking at exactly that! We’ll start with a basic two chord version of the classic ‘Singing’ in the Rain’ and slowly build up the harmony piece by piece through five levels of harmony. In this building block approach you’ll be able to not just play the chords but begin to understand why these chord substitutions work so that you can apply them to other songs.

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we’ll be using this song as a vehicle to learn all about chords, substitutions, and moving harmony. You can view as 20 minute extended version of this lesson along with three other lessons throughout the month focusing on Melody, Soloing, and How we can use 6th chords in multiple ways up and down the neck. In addition you can download a 12 page PDF, backing track, and join or two live-streams to practice together.

Whether you know this classic Frank Loesser tune from Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon Levitt's duet or the incredible Ella Fitzgerald it has become a seasonal staple. In this quick tutorial I"ll walk you through the chords for both sections of the tune in the key of F and then we'll do a play-along with a full band to back you up. This is a great tune for the advanced beginner or intermediate player but can be tackled by anyone who puts in the effort!

Join the Magic Ukulele Club for $7.50 a month for an extended video of this lesson as well as three additional lessons teaching melody, harmony, and soloing throughout the month in addition to access to over 200 ukulele lessons, PDFs, livestreams, Backing Tracks, members only slack channel, and more:

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we've been studying the jazz standard 'Autumn Leaves'. Here is a solo ukulele take for you to give a try complete with campanella sections and chords that can even challenge the advanced player. You can download both High and Low G tabs for free here.

Join us over on the Magic Ukulele Club for a soundslice file to practice along with as well as over 50 other solo ukulele arrangements

In this quick and easy ukulele tutorial, you'll learn how to play the timeless jazz standard, "Autumn Leaves". This song is one of the first standards people learn as it is built upon two essential chord progressions: the Major and minor ii V I. First we'll learn these two chord progressions in the key of G and Em and then put the puzzle pieces together while playing along with the full band.

Want to dive deeper into ukulele jazz? Join the Tin Man's Ukulele club where we'll be using this song as a learning vehicle throughout the month playing the melody, the chord voicings I play in the video as well as how to solo, chord melody, and ii V I voicings up and down the neck. All this with a 9 page PDF and backing track to practice with plus two livestreams so we can practice together. Join the largest jazz ukulele community on the world:

What is a turnaround? A turnaround is that last little harmonic bit at the end of a song, or section of a song, that gets us back to the top of the tune. Usually this means getting us from one chord back to the same exact chord. In this lesson we look at 14 different options to get us where we need to go. These options keep the chords in their most simple form without any voice leading so that we can truly hear all of the sonic possibilities.

Want to dive deeper into ukulele jazz? Join the Tin Man's Ukulele Club where we'll be putting these turnarounds to use on the tune 'The Nearness of You' all with a 9 page PDF and backing track to practice with plus two livestreams so we can practice together, and new lessons each week.

Let's learn the 1940 jazz standard by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington: 'The Nearness of You' on ukulele. Strum along with me as we practice the chords together and then play-along with the full band. This song has been a hit for everyone from Louis Armstrong to Glenn Miller To Norah Jones to Laufey and even Keith Richards. Don't let the amount of chords in here scare you away. With a few modifications it can be an approachable tune for any skill level.

Want to dive deeper into ukulele jazz? Join the Tin Man's Ukulele club where we'll be using this song as a learning vehicle throughout the month playing the melody, the chord voicings I play in the video as well as how to solo, and learn 12turnarounds to replace chords all with a 9 page PDF and backing track to practice with plus two livestreams so we can practice together.

Playing swing music on ukulele doesn't take much more than simple down strums but is much easier said than done. Let's put strumming patterns aside and focus on the feel of the music. In this lesson we look at building our swing strum using three essential tools - quarter notes, left hand muting, and syncopation.

Watch the extended version of this lesson with an exclusive section on double time swing over on the Magic Ukulele Club where we're putting this to use over the standard 'After You've Gone'. Join us for $7.50 a month for access to over 200 ukulele lessons, a new tune each month, PDFs, livestreams and more

Whether you know the 1918 classic 'After You've Gone' from Marion Harris, Hugh Laurie, Bioshock Infinite, or Salvador Sobral it's no doubt that this beautiful song is still beautiful after more than 100 years. In this tutorial we'll quickly learn the chords that you'll need to play this jazz standard and then try a play-along with chords and lyrics along with the full band.

This month in the Magic Ukulele Club we have over an hour of lessons on this song going through the harmony, original verses, playing the melody, soloing, double time swing strumming, soloing, and more. Join us for only $7.50 a month to learn one jazz standard per month.

Memorizing a million chord voicings is one thing but putting them to use is another!

Grab the Free PDF to Accompany this lesson

In this lesson we use the majority of the moveable chord positions that you will use up and down the neck in one exercise through all 12 keys encompassing 51 different chords. This exercise will put your fingers to the test and help you more easily conquer these chord shapes when you see them in a tune.

Can you get through all four levels ?

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we’re putting these chords to use over the classic tune Smile

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we’re diving deep into the Nat King Cole version of’ Smile. This classic melody comes from Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times and is inspired by a Puccini opera! In this free lesson we learn the basic chords to the song and give it a try along with the band.

Over the coming week’s members will learn this tune over the course of an hour of videos outlining the harmony, melody, soloing concepts and more; including two live-streamed lessons. Join us for in depth lessons, PDFs and backing tracks to practice along with these great old standards.

Whether you are playing jazz chord melody on ukulele or accompanying a band the diminished chord has a host of uses across the fingerboard. The best part is that the chord itself utilizes only one chord shape.

Download the Free PDF

In this lesson we look at how you can use the diminished chord to resolve to any other chord, why it works and then put it to use over the song 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'. If you want to take it up to the next level stick around until the end to learn Barry Harris' 6th Diminished scale and how we can use it to make harmony move smoothly over the fingerboard.

Join the Magic Ukulele Club for more lessons like this, to learn one song each month along with 200+ other lessons, a music theory section, members slack channel, and access to all of my books and courses.

This month in the Magic Ukulele Club we're looking at the way that the great George Harrison played the 1931 Harold Arlen classic 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea'. While there are a lot of chords in this tune they are familiar to most players and most of the tune is simply one chord progression with a consistent strumming pattern. Let's learn the tune real quickly and then try it along with the band.

We'll be taking a deep drive into this song with 4 full lessons and 3 livestreams, addressing the historical recordings, as well as understanding harmony, learning the melody, chord voicings up and down the neck, as well as learning the guitar solo from the Harrison recording. All of this along with a backing track and 7 page PDF to accompany all of the lessons.

Join the club and learn one song each month along with 200+ other lessons, a music theory section, members slack channel, and access to all of my books and courses.

This week the Magic Ukulele Club is taking a short sidestep from our studies in Bye Bye Blackbird to look at a solo arrangement of Moon River. The tabs are free for anyone that would like to play this beautiful Henry Mancini composition. This is a rather simple arrangment but simple arrangements always carry their own challenges. No hard rhythms, fairly basic chords, but getting the melody to sing is the true challenge.

This month in the Magic Ukulele Club we’re taking a deep dive into the 1926 standard Bye Bye Blackbird. Throughout the month we’ll be covering the basic chord changes, melody and then using that knowledge to see what the Miles Davis Quintet played over the tune including Red Garland’s Piano introduction as well as a transcription of Paul Chamber’s bass line for u bass players.

Join us for over an hour of instruction, backing track, downloadable educational resources and to learn a new jazz standard each month.

A classic from 1928 introduced by Al Bowlly ‘If I Had You’ would quickly become a staple for singers and instrumentalists alike form Benny Goodman to Frank Sinatra. It also just happens to fit beautifully on ukulele!

Follow along with the tabs or print there here:

https://thetinman.co/if-i-had-you

It's not often that you find a jazz solo that fits the limited range of ukulele but When You're Smiling Gives us a unique opportunity to learn one from the master himself: Louis Armstrong. In this lesson we cover how to play this iconic solo from his 1929 recording. The best part is that three chords shapes are all you need to play most of it!

Free PDF tabs/notation: https://www.thetinman.co/smilingsolo

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we'll be learning this Louis Armstrong Classic 1929 solo, chord substitutions and more using this fabulous standard as a vehicle. Join us today to learn a new jazz standard each month, along with 200+ other jazz ukulele lessons, livestreams, backing tracks, and more for only $7.50 a month

Written in 1928 'When You're Smiling was an instant hit for Louis Armstrong and subsequently became a jazz standard recorded hundreds of times by artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Louis Prima To Fats Domino over the years. In this ukulele lesson we look at the basic chord structure which uses two common chord progressions: I VI ii V and the Honeysuckle Rose Bridge and then try the tune along with the backing track.

This month on the Magic Ukulele Club we'll be learning Louis Armstrong's Classic 1929 solo, chord substitutions and more using this fabulous standard as a vehicle. Join us today to learn a new jazz standard each month, along with 200+ other jazz ukulele lessons, livestreams, backing tracks, and more for only $7.50 a month