Fun Finds: One of a Kind Ukuleles for the Wallace & Gromit Fan

Wallace & Gromit Biscuits Tin Ukulele
Wallace & Gromit TV Tin Ukulele

Say cheese! 🙂

Ukulele Sidekicks: Ocarina

What goes good with ukulele? Almost everything really, but in this Ukulele Sidekicks series I’ll be exploring some logical ukulele companions that you can get going on easily if you have multi-instrumentalist aspirations and want to bring a different sound to your ukulele group, whether it be an informal jam session, a regularly rehearsing ukulele orchestra or just a small duo.

My experience with ocarinas.

I was first exposed to the ocarina as a child. My oldest brother was a missionary in Chile for two years and brought home two beautiful clay ocarinas in different sizes. I thought it was sooooo cool and really wanted to learn how to play it. Unfortunately, no one in my family knew the fingering system and the internet was still a long ways away from providing easy reference for info on almost any subject.

Fast forward forty years. I decided it was time to fulfill my childhood longing and I bought a Focalink Osawa Soprano C Ocarina. It is an awesome instrument and was under 20 bucks. Having played other wind instruments since I was a youth (my father was a band director), it didn’t take me long to pick up the basics with a fingering chart in hand. I featured this instrument in my cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, as a replacement for the background operatic soprano in the original recording. I think it worked nicely there. I also purchased a soprano G and an alto C, but haven’t made as much use of those, mostly because I love the bright and cheery range of the soprano in C.

Stepping Up to Purple Clay

I’m planning a performance at the Renaissance Faire next Summer and am planning to include the ocarina in my instrument line-up (as vessel-flutes have been around since ancient times, even though the modern ocarina is only a couple hundred years old). The bright plastic yellow of my first soprano ocarina feels like it would be a little out of place among all the leather and homespun cloth. So …

After doing some research, I ordered a new purple clay soprano ocarina in C marketed as one of the pro-level instruments by STL Ocarinas. It happened to be on sale for eighty dollars (you gotta love that a pro-level ocarina costs about the same as a beginner-level ukulele). It finally came after some shipping delays (darn pandemic) and …

I am in LOVE with this thing (recording coming soon!). It offers a pure, piercing sound that is going to carry well in an outdoor setting. It also is easier to play and stay in tune with itself (though my yellow ocarina was no slouch).

Ocarina Acquisition Syndrome?

Like ukuleles, ocarinas are relatively inexpensive instruments, and it is easy to start collecting. There is also a practical reason to own several ocarinas, as they come in a variety of keys and ranges.

What key should I get?

Common keys for the ocarina are C, G & F. While 12 hole ocarinas are chromatic, meaning they can play in any key, they are easiest to play in their ‘home’ key as well as a key one fifth up and another one fifth down (the closest keys on the circle of fifths). Therefore, an ocarina in the key of C will most easily cover the keys of C, F and G, while the G ocarina models are most practical in G, D & C. Finally, the F ocarina models are easiest in F, C & Bb. So if you have 3 ocarinas in C, G & F then you can easily cover songs in Bb, F, C, G & D. With a little practice you can add Eb & A to that lineup of keys. Other keyed instruments may be available if you search around, but these cover the most common ukulele keys anyway.

What range should I get?

Ocarinas come in Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass ranges. While a lot depends on the model, ocarinas are generally louder in the soprano models and very quiet in the bass models (the higher the louder, the lower the softer). Caveat: the material the ocarina is made out of and the quality of construction also effect volume (read reviews before buying). For live performance, without amplification, soprano and alto models are probably the best. If you’re willing to mic or are planning to record in a studio, any model can be made to work as long as it is a quality instrument.

How do I play the ocarina?

I like method books, so I purchased the Hal Leonard Ocarina Method which is just under fifteen dollars. It really is an excellent book and I plan to record some of the melodies it covers in the future.

Getting started though is as easy as referring to an ocarina fingering chart and blowing (less air for lower notes, more air for higher ones). One of the cool things about ocarinas is that they are a transposing instrument, so you only need to learn one set of fingerings to play any 12-hole instrument, and you will read music in C. However, this can be a problem when playing with others if you don’t know how to transpose music. Because of this I would definitely suggest getting a C instrument if you’re not familiar with a lot of theory and transposing seems daunting. Later on you can branch out when you feel comfortable with the concept that a G instrument will play a G when you finger a C, and an F instrument will play an F when you finger a C. On a C instrument, a C is a C is a C, of course.

What should I play on ocarina with ukulele?

Here are some ideas for incorporating your new ocarina skills in your ukulele group:

  • Instrumental riffs integral to a song can be covered on ocarina. Imagine the opening guitar riff on Layla, or the flute part on Down Under … these would be awesome on ocarina.
  • Just play the melody for a verse.
  • If you have arranging or improv skills, play a new countermelody of your own.
  • Many older songs like Blue Skies, or Over the Rainbow follow an AABA song form. This makes for very short songs by today’s standards. Often times in the original recordings of these songs they would extend the song by doing a second instrumental B-section and then doing one last chorus of the A-section, making the song AABABA in form. This second B-section is an ideal place to cover the melody, simply or jazzed up, on ocarina.

Of course any of these ideas and more will work if your a multi-tracker in your own studio as well.

Transposing from Standard to Baritone Ukulele

If you’d like to try your hand at baritone ukulele, but find the idea of learning a whole new set of chords daunting, try thinking of transposing from standard (GCEA) to baritone (DGBE) this way:

  • There are only 7 note names: A B C D E F G … A B C etc.
  • All of these can be sharped # or flatted b, but E#, B#, Cb & Fb almost never seen as they are the same as F, C, B & E respectively.
  • The C chord shape is the G chord shape on a baritone.
  • This means any chord on standard will be three steps down … C (skip B & A) becomes G.

Thus:

D shape becomes A.
E shape becomes B.
F shape becomes C … etc.

If you add a sharp or flat …
Db becomes Ab.
F# becomes C#.

Hope that helps!

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand (aka My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand : Also known as My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. Lead sheet and chord indications. If you need to look any of these chords up, my favorite tool is UkeBuddy.

If you’re unfamiliar with the tune, here is a separate version of this song I produced (different keys than the version above):

Got an Amazon Gift Card for Christmas? Gift ideas for Ukulele players.

One of the fun things I got from my wife this year was an Amazon gift card in my stocking. I already spent it towards a Shaman Drum (frame drum) to use in some upcoming videos I’m planning. Here are some other ideas from things I’ve personally tried out …

A New Tuner

Tired of your painfully inaccurate cheap headstock tuner? I was. I recently upgraded to the Fishman FT2, which boasts 1 cent accuracy for only fifteen dollars. I have NOT been disappointed. It is amazing and will be my official tuner going forward with my students and ensembles (when we can finally start meeting together again). Review to come in 2021.

A Travel Uke

I did a review of the Enya Nova carbon fiber composite ukulele (concert-size) earlier this year. I’ve liked the instrument enough that I recently completed doing demo videos for all 34 songs in one of my books with this ukulele in hand. If you need a great first ukulele, or something you can leave in the car without worrying about it, this is an awesome choice and now comes in six colors:

I just found out they now offer a soprano-sized edition in black or blue!

Percussion

If you play in a group, percussion is always a nice thing to add to a number or two when performing. Some percussion can also be added to solo performances or to multi-track videos you’re producing at home. Take advantage of the away time most of us are experiencing due to gathering restrictions by adding some percussive skills to your lineup. Some small percussion instruments in my collection include:

Something still on my wish list is a Stomp Box.

Keep that Uke Handy

I have about a dozen String Swings installed about the house to hang my ukuleles within easy reach.

ALL 34 Tutorials for Christmas on 34th Street Now Complete

The playlist is complete! Tutorials & Sing-alongs for ALL 34 songs and carols from the book Christmas on 34th Street. Each song has 3-4 chords and many are presented in multiple keys, so you can choose the key that’s best for your voice, or modulate from key to key.

Hope you find these helpful and enjoyable!

What Child is This? : Complete Ukulele Tutorial & Sing-along

The lyrics of this beloved carol hail from 1865, paired to the gorgeous tune of ‘Greensleeves’ from the late renaissance, first published in 1580. I have never cared much for it as a melancholy love song, but adore the song as a Christmas carol. It reminds me a little of the transformation that more modernly the tune ‘Stewball’ was morphed into John Lennon’s Happy Xmas Was is Over … another vast improvement over the original lyrics.

The Wexford Carol : Complete Ukulele Tutorial & Sing-along

Perhaps my favorite carol of all-time hails from Wexford Ireland and is thought to date back to renaissance. I first heard this beautiful carol on one of the King’s Singers Christmas albums and absolutely fell in love with it. Being a reflective, lyrical tune, it may never get played on ‘Christmas’ radio stations and thus enter the canon of well-known carols … it is a favorite to program on classical concerts and is still sung by artists that appreciate a great tune … Julie Andrews, Loreena McKennitt, Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krauss, Celtic Women, Trace Adkins, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and more.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Perhaps the only song known to celebrate ‘figgy pudding’ – it is always a great choice to close a caroling set or Christmas concert.

Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

The first time I heard this carol was learning it in choir in high school … the wonderful arrangement by Vaughen Williams. I LOVE this one! It is just a ton of fun to sing. Also known as the Gloucestershire Wassail, Vaughan Williams collected a version of the carol in 1909 and merged it with a version collected by Cecil Sharp to produce what is commonly sung today.

Up on the Housetop : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

The oldest popular ‘Santa’ carol (from 1864) still gets covered by artists across the spectrum … Lawrence Welk, The King Sisters, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Jackson 5, Jimmy Buffett, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Pentatonix, Straight No Chaser and many more. This is a fun one for ukulele and great for beginners as it uses the all four of the first chords that students often learn C, F, G7 & C7 … I do it almost every year with my new ukulele youth students.

The Twelve Days of Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This carol used to be a bit of a mental tongue twister for me, but I’ve gotten a lot of practice on this carol as I have this wonderful illustrated book version by Laurel Long that I’ve sung/read to my son over the past few years (gorgeous illustrations!).

The Sussex Carol (On Christmas Night all Christians Sing) : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This popular British carol has been a favorite among composers to arrange and is featured in Vaughan Williams beautiful Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Being in 6/8, it is a great one to throw in a variety of triplet techniques.

Sing We Now of Christmas : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Once again we return to France for another beautiful renaissance-age carol, Noël Nouvelet, or Sing we Now of Christmas.

Silent Night : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Silent Night is the quintessential Germanic carol and quite possibly the most well-known Christmas song in the world. “On Christmas Eve 1818, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for that night’s mass, after river flooding had possibly damaged the church organ. The church was eventually destroyed by repeated flooding and replaced with the Silent-Night-Chapel.” [Wikipedia]

Shepherd! Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Yet another delightful tune of French origin, I grew to love this carol from a recording by Julianne Baird & the Aulos Ensemble performing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There’s not a lot of information out there on the origin of this carol, but I adore the fanciful imagery of flowers bursting through the snow as if it were summer dew in celebration of the miraculous birth.

Rocking Carol : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Rocking Carol was first published in an anthology in 1920 in Czechoslovakia, where it was described as a traditional Czech carol and was loosely translated into English by Percy Dearmer. In the 60s Julie Andrews did a tender rendition of it on the 4th Firestone Christmas Album. It has no relation to a certain song by Queen.

Once in Royal David’s City : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

Whenever I think of this Christmas hymn, I think of the longstanding tradition of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College in Cambridge. Each year since 1918 (amidst the hardships of World War I) on Christmas Eve the program opens with this beautiful tune, which is used as a processional.

O Come, Little Children : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

The sweet and simple carol “O Come, Little Children” is based on the nineteenth-century German song, “Ihr Kindelein, kommet” by Christoph Von Schmid, a German Roman Catholic priest and schoolmaster, who authored this carol approximately 1850. The verses were set to an existing melody by Johann Abraham Peter Schultz who lived a half century earlier.

The March of the Three Kings : Complete Ukulele Sing-along & Tutorial

This Christmas carol dates from 13th century France during the time of the crusades. My own translation of the text is loosely based on the original French. I undertook this endeavor because though I LOVE the tune, I’ve never found a translation that really matched its rhythm and meter well.

More on the history of this great song can be found in Reader’s Digest Merry Christmas Songbook (1981): “The Crusades … created an enormous interest in both faith and fighting in the Middle Ages. French peasants from Provence in the 13th century, when the tune for this “March of the Kings” was being sung and danced to, must have endowed the Three Kings of the Christmas story with all the virtues and appearance of their own folk heroes nearer at hand. These were the French dukes, clad in gleaming armor, carrying brilliant banners and bejeweled shields, who fought for the Pope far more willingly than they would have for the lives of their own serfs. Hence the martial references in this text, sung to a tune that is perhaps even older than the verses. Georges Bizet, composer of the opera Carmen, used the same tune as a farandole, or stately dance, in his incidental music for Alphonse Daudet’s play L’Arlesienne (The Woman from Aries).

Masters in this Hall : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

I love this carol, but I think it is hilarious that the melody is an old 18th century French dance tune once known as “The Female Saylor.”

Joy to the World : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Joy to the World holds the distinction of being the most published Christmas hymn in North America.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas … Another bit of 19th-century Santa nostalgia to keep company with Up on the Housetop and A Visit from St. Nicholas (‘Twas the Night Before Christmas). This song is credited as helping the Ray Conniff Singers’ Christmas album “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” achieve platinum status in 1962.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly … It is believed that this beautiful, traditional Polish carol may date back to Medieval times. There are number of English translations (at least three). I chose to cover two verses from separate versions.

Jingle Bells : Complete Sing-along & Ukulele Tutorial

Who would have thought that an 1857 song about a “one horse open sleigh” (the original title) would have had such legs? This song has been all over the world and is a perpetual favorite among the young and young-hearted. The first recording of Jingle Bells was in 1889 on an Edison cylinder – believed to have been the very first Christmas record. Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Les Paul have all charted with Jingle Bells recordings, but it wasn’t until 2006 that Kimberley Locke brought the song to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.