Week 13 - Follow Victoria Vox on her 52 weeks of cover songs personal challenge!

Victoria Vox just posted week 13 of her 52 weeks of cover songs personal challenge! Super excited about this! I'm loving all of the songs that shes making covers of! This time its a cover of F*** and Run, but shes calling it Uke and Run lol. Originally done by Liz Phair All of you check it out, and continue to follow her! Here it is! 

Her Mya Moe is so beautiful! 

Til next time! Peace!

Nico

Follow Victoria Vox on her 52 weeks of cover songs personal challenge!

Victoria Vox is making a cover of a song every week, and this week (week 12) she played Kids by MGMT. It was absolutely amazing! I encourage all of you to watch her videos on YouTube.

Here is her week 12 cover!

On a side note, the Mya Moe Ukulele she is using is an absolute beauty. I juve love the slotted headstock! So yeah, make sure to follow her on her 52 week journey!

Til next time! Peace!
Nico

What is the brand of the Ukulele that Sungha Jung plays?

Sungha Jung, primarilly know for his amazing guitar playing skills, has now started to play the ukulele. As of writing this post, he has 2 videos up of him playing the ukulele. His first video is of him playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles, arranged by Jake Shimabukuro, and his second video is his own arrangment of Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"

The Ukulele that he currently plays with is a Anuenue Custom Ohua Koa III Tenor Ukulele!You can find a similar model here.

Here is Sungha Jung playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"! Enjoy!

Til next time! Peace!
Nico

Sungha Jung is now rocking the ukulele!

Sungha Jung is know for his amazing guitar playing. At only 14 years of age, his talent surpasses that of people that are much older than he is. He has already written his own guitar music to several famous songs like I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and several Michael Jackson songs. I thought his guitar playing alone was incredible, but he has now expanded to playing the piano and the ukulele as well!

Sungha Jung just released his second video of him playing the ukulele, and the first song that he has arranged himself. The first video was of him playing Jake Shimabukuro's While My Guitar Gently Weeps and this second one is his own arrangement of Jason Mraz's I'm Yours. I assure you, you will be an awe after watching this video.

The crazy thing is that we all know that this kid is only going to get better!


Til next time! Peace!
Nico

Why you shouldn't start out with a really cheap "toy" Ukulele

When I was looking to buy my first ukulele, I found several ukuleles that cost less than 30$ online. Now, when I say 30 dollar ukuleles, I'm talking about the ones that look like toy. I'm not talking about the cheaper Lanikai and Makala ukuleles that cost around 60 dollar.

I almost instantly pulled the trigger on one of these "toy" ukuleles, but decided to read up on them a little bit more. I found mixed reviews, but what do you expect from a sub 30 dollar ukulele, right? I had several options at this point. I could have bought a cheap ukulele and try it out before investing on a more expensive ukulele, or I could spend a little bit more for a better sounding and feeling ukulele.

I decided to take my second option and go for a more expensive ukulele. I ended up buying a Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele instead of a cheap 30 dollar ukulele, and I'm going to tell you why. Some people feel that you need to start off with something really cheap to see if you will like the instrument or not. Why spend more on something you might not like, right? I thought the exact same thing.

My logic for getting the more expensive ukulele is that if I spend 30 dollars on a ukulele that doesn't sound too good, that would put me off playing hte instrument overall. I'd be more motivated to learn if I played something that really fells good in my hards. I felt that the Fender was right for me, and so I bought it.

Now, this way of thinking doesn't apply to everyone. Some of you might understand all of the limitations of getting a 30 dollar ukulele, and will not judge the instrument based on the particular one that you are using. A lot of you like me, however, will feel much more comfortable with an Ukulele with a nice sound and feel. To be honest, if I had bought a 30$ toy ukulele, I might not be playing as much as I do today.

I hope this blog post really gets you thinking, and helps you out with your purchasing decisions. What are your thoughts on my logic about buying your first ukulele? I'd really like to know!


Til next time! Peace!
Nico

Ukulele Journey is looking for contributers to the site!

I've been trying to push out content on a regular basis now, but I need some help from you guys! If you have any ukulele reviews or tutorials, I'd love to publish them on the site! If you're interested, email your posts to ukulelejourney@gmail.com, then leave a comment saying you've sent an email. Thanks!

Til next time! Peace!
Nico of Ukulele Journey

Kamoa Ukulele - A great beginners ukulele!

Kamoa emerged as an ukulele company, and they make very good ukuleles for the price that you pay for them. They are an ukulele manufacturing company that are based in Hawaii, so you know you're getting quality. They have an amazing E series, or economy series lineup that will only put you back less than 200 dollars, and closer to 100 dollars for the soprano and the pineapple model.

Aldrine of Ukulele Underground has a video with his first impressions of the new 2011 Kamoa E series lineup.

Players such as Victor Kim use a Kamoa ukulele. You can see a video of this in my previous post of "What is the brand of the ukulele that Victor Kim uses?".

If you're interested in Kamoa ukuleles, you can get them through ukuleleunderground.com and ukuleleuprising.com!

The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars Ukulele Tutorial

For all off you that are looking for a tutorial to play The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars on Ukulele, here is it! I found this guy on YouTube, and he makes some really good ukulele tutorials. He explains every step very well, and plays the whole song at the end of most of his tutorials! Go check out his channel for mor tutorials!

What strings do the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele come with?

Before purchasing the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele, I read a lot of different reviews, and they all did not mention having the same strings. Some reviews of the Fender Nohea said that thay came with GHS strings, and other said it came with Aquila strings. For all of you that are thinking about buying this ukulele, they are now all shipping with Aquila strings. If you get one with anything else, it's probably older stock. They hadn't updates the specifications on the Fender website, but I believe that it now says that the ukulele does in fact come with Aquila strings. I hope this helps all of you that are interested in buying this ukulele!

If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll do my best to answer it. Til next time! Peace!


Related Posts:
Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele Review!

Is the Fender Nohea a good beginners ukulele?

So after seeing that some of the people that found  my Review of the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele by searching "Is the Fender Nohea a good beginners ukulele?", I decided to make a post dedicated to answering this question.

As you may know, the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele was my choice as a first ukulele. Being a beginner, I read up a lot on ukuleles before making my decision to by the Fender. I read about Kala, Lanikai, Mainland and a buch more ukulele brands before choosing the Fender. There are many alternatives out there that costs less than the Fender, with the same sound quality. Like I stated in the review, you're paying extra for the brand name. I bought the Fender because it felt right with me. If it didn't, I would defiantly have chosen something else.

If you are like me, and feel that the Fender is right for you, then it is a wonderful beginners ukulele! I haven't put it down since the day I got it. I play it almost everyday til my fingers get tired! It sounds great, and feels great. It's just a blast to use overall and I'm really happy I went for the Fender. My friend bought a Makala ukulele, and although it sounds great, I much prefer the feel of the Fender.

I really hope this helps all of you that are thinking of buying the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele.



Here's my full review of the Fender Nohea Tenor Ukulele

Spring Break!

I only have 2 more school days til I go for 2 weeks of break and I couldn't be more excited! These last few days have been killing me in terms of school work. Within the next few weeks, I'm going to be able to play they ukulele a lot more! I'll hopefully have a While My Guitar Gently Weeps video for all of you during this time. I'm getting really close to getting the whole song down. I'm just finding the strumming part a little bit difficult. I also might start doing a few tutorials on some basic songs that I enjoy playing.

Til next time! Peace!
Nico

This blog will be my new site!

Instead of creating a whole new site, I decided to just turn this blog into my site. I figured that I really didn't hat that much information yet to make a good static site, so I'm going to stick to a blog for now. I'm going to try to post something everyday. I'm always looking for interesting ukulele related stuff to share with you guys! So yeah, that's really all i wanted to share.

Til next time! Happy playing!
-Nico

Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp - A great resource for people starting out with the Ukulele

Here is a link to the Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp. Uncle Rod is an active member of the Ukulele Underground forums and it is so great the Uncle Rod has made this freely available for anyone to download. It really is a great way to start learning how to play the ukulele. Go download it and start learning!

Download Link: Uncle Rod's Ukulele Boot Camp

What is the brand of the Ukulele that Gabe Bondoc uses?

Gabe Bondoc is a famous Youtube partner that does covers of famous songs, as well as his own original songs. Most of his songs are played on guitar, but once in a while, he plays the ukulele. Some of you might be wondering what the brand of the ukulele that Gabe Bondoc uses is. Gabe Bondoc uses a Mele Tenor Ukulele. Surprisingly, Mele Ukuleles are not so known in the mainstream ukulele world. Although relatively unknown, Mele ukuleles have a very good sound.

You can see Gabe Bondoc using his Mele Tenor Ukulele In this video. Hope This helps!

Related Posts:
What is the brand of the Ukulele that Victor Kim uses?

What is the brand of the Ukulele that Victor Kim uses?

I have long wondered what brand the Ukulele that Victor Kim used was, and I think i finally found the answer. I'm one of his earlier Youtube videos, I saw that he was using a Lanikai Tenor Ukulele. In his most recent video on Youtube of a cover of Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song, he seems to be using a Kamoa Tenor Ukulele. He may have purchased it in his trip to Hawaii, or had one of his friends purchase for him. As you may know, Ryan Higa is half Hawaiian and goes there regularly.

I looked at the site and couldn't find the exact model that I saw in the video, so it might be one of the newer ones that was released in 2011. Bellow is a video of Victor Kim playing his Kamoa Tenor ukulele. If you want to purchase a Kamoa ukulele, visit www.ukuleleunderground.com or www.ukulele uprising.com! Hope This helps!

Update: It seems that Victor Kim had a red coating over his Kamoa Ukulele that you can have done as a special option.


Related Posts:
What is the brand of the Ukulele that Gabe Bondoc uses?

The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars by Victor Kim

As some of you might know, Victor Kim of Quest Crew plays the ukulele. He just released a video a day or two ago of his cover of The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars. It's a really catchy song, and the cover is great! Here it is!

Problems with the New Site.

So after having some difficulty setting up the site, and he lack of content for it, I think I may just stay here for a while. I'm going to try to build up some solid content to put on the site before realeasing it. Its still up, but it looks messy and stuff. I'm hoping to get some goot content writen down in the coming weeks.

If any of you guys have content that you think would be useful to people starting out with the ukulele, please let me know by posting a comment bellow! Thanks!

New site! www.ukulelejourney.com

The development of the new site is making (slow) progress! I already have a homepage for the site, but there are still changes to be made. Its only the basic design so none of the links work as of yet. Check it out, and please give suggestions! Thanks!

The New Site!

You and I - Ingrid Michaelson - Ukulele

You and I by Ingrid Michaelson is one of the very first songs i learned how to play on the ukulele. It's such a beautiful song, and I think that everyone should learn to play it and sing along to it. You can easily find the chords/tabs of the song online. There aren't too many chords, and the strumming pattern is a basic down, down, up, up, down, up. Here is videos of the song!

Some Exciting News!

Alright, I may be saying this too soon but I'm really excited about this so I think I'll share it with all of you. I'm currently working on a Ukulele site dedicated specifically to us that are just starting off with this instrument. It'll be a source for information to help us all grow as ukulele players. I'm not trying to compete with ukuleleunderground, or any other big sites. In fact, I'm already sure that the site I'm creating will be small. It'll be a place were people can post videos of them playing, or write about their experiences playing, and the community will be able to comment, critique, and just enjoy what everyone else is doing.

That's all I'm going to share for now! The development of the site really hasn't begun yet. I'm going ot be doing it all on my own, and being I'm a college student, It won't be done for another few weeks. I'm hoping to get it out as soon as possible so that I can get some feedback on it from all of you!

Aquila Ukulele Strings

I have been told by many that Aquila strings are able to boost the sound of beginner ukuleles substantially. My Fender Nohea came with Aquila strings, and this could be the reason for its large sound. I'm looking to buy a set for my friends new Makala Concert ukulele to test and see if makes as big of a difference as people say it's supposed to. I'm hoping it does!

Makala Concert Ukulele - First Impressions

 Makala Concert Ukulele

My friend Elisa got her Makala Concert Ukulele in the mail today and she's loving it. I got to play with it for a while earlier today, and I thought that the ukulele was pretty good considering the price that she paid for it. The build quality is decent, and the finish looks good. Intonations is good as well. There was very little buzzing in the frets. I also like the strings that came with it. I'm not sure what the brand is, but they are black. They are much thinner than Aquila strings, and also feel sightly tighter.

Hopefully she'll let me play with it enough to write a good review. I also might post some photos of it in the next few days!

Til next time! Peace!
Nico

UAS - Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome

It has hit me. This is one thing I feared most about buying my first ukulele; the urge to buy more. It is known as Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome, or UAS for short.

I've read a lot about this, and wondered if it's really true. A lot of people say that one you buy your first ukulele, you'll want to keep buying more. Thankfully, I do not have the money to buy any more ukuleles, but the thought of my next purchase still remains in my mind. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing. In fact, I think the ukulele is a nice item that can be collected. I'm just worried about potentially spending a lot of money. I'm also hoping UAS does not take over wanting to learn how to play the instrument itself!

I've been reading a lot about ukuleles, and I've been seeing all of the different kinds there are out there. All of the different woods and size combination. I want to eventually own a ukulele of every size (well, maybe not a baritone), and as many different kinds of wood as I can. I also want to eventually own a ukulele with a built in pickup. I'd really like to be able to play plugged into an amp.

There are also a bunch of beautiful custom made ukuleles, one of which I wish to own in the future. The one kind of ukulele I'm very intrigued about at the moment is the pineapple ukulele. When choosing my first ukulele, I didn't even consider buying a pineapple, but I'm finding them to be so beautiful now. I hope to own a Kamaka pineapple in the, hopefully near, future!

 Isn't it just so beautiful!

So this is a warning to all of you that are looking to purchase your first ukulele. Beware of UAS!

Makala Concert Ukulele

My good friend is receiving her Kala Makala concert tomorrow, and I really cant wait to try it out. I really want to see how it compares to my Fender in terms of sound and build quality. I've also never played a concert size, so trying it will be very interesting. I'm planning to write a review on it after a week or two of playing it, so watch out for that. Anyways, that all I wanted to share. The excitement is killing me, and it's not even my ukulele!

Til next time! Peace!
Nico