TL;DR ʻUkulele chords often leave out notes — especially the root — to make room for more important color tones. The harmonic function stays intact even when the chord is incomplete, which is why a voicing like the “Hawaiian” D7…
Huge congratulations to Kyler Harrington for winning the Kris Fuchigami ʻUkulele Contest this year! Kyler has been studying with me for a few years now, and his quest has always been to take first in a contest. His passion, persistence,…
If you’ve ever heard someone say “Always tune up to pitch,” you might have wondered why it matters. Is it really a big deal whether you tighten or loosen the string to reach the correct note? Actually, yes. It makes…
If you’re a fingerstyle player, you already know how much tone lives in your nails. I’ve tried ʻem all—cheap buffers, drugstore glass files, and even some creative DIY attempts. But nothing comes close to The SoundFile, especially the Scott Tennant Signature Nano-Glass…
With the 48th Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards happening tomorrow night, I’ve been thinking about how far the ʻukulele community has come. While looking through some old photos, I came across one of me standing next to Jake Shimabukuro, both of…
I hope to see you tomorrow at the Kanileʻa Music Store in the Windward Mall in Kāneʻohe. Iʻll be teaching there for Make Music Day Hawaiʻi. I’ll start at 2:30pm but the fun starts at 10:30 am when Nālani Jenkins…
Aloha and welcome. My intention with this blog is to provide information in a more dynamic way than the website. I needed something thats easy to edit and something I can do daily if I wanted to. I intend to…
