Just back from Las Vegas where I went to see Bette Midler at Caesar’s Palace.  (“The Showgirl Must Go On”)  it was a terrific show accentuated by her strumming away on a ukulele!  From where I was sitting it looked like a bejeweled Fluke (by Flea.)  It sounded gorgeous too!   What a great addition to all the showgirls, fancy lighting and fun costumes!

It is helpful to learn the names of the strings so you can  build chords and so you can tune your uke.  Here is how I remember the names of the strings : Good Cats Eat Ants.  It’s silly enough to remember!  The string that is closest to your face while holding the uke as if you are playing, is the G string(top string)- going down toward your feet is the  C string, then the  E string, and lastly, the  A string.

According to the NFL, all kids should play 60 minutes.  I wonder how good I’d be at the uke if  I played 60 minutes per day!  When I first got my little blue ukulele,  I wanted to play that much, but the tips of my fingers were so sore!  Now I have calluses and am ready to go–just need to find that hour!!

Keep in mind if you have your uke re-strung (re-stringed?) it will go out of tune  like crazy because the strings are stretching.  You may want to invest in a tuner- or if you have a good ear you can use a piano.   You may want to try to find an online tuner.

I fell in love and purchased a blue Makala Dolphin Bridge ($30)  ukulele (made by Kala) from a Knoxville  music store (Rik’s Guitar and Sound on Kingston Pike near Walker Springs.)  The salesman, Bo Davis  was super friendly and ran across the store and got me  a “how to” book.  It’s a great store even has a thermos of coffee available (my kind of store!)  I quickly had the instrument re-strung with Aquila strings (Bo did it for me- it cost about $10.)

I  soon decided I needed a “better” one and went to Broadway Sound and purchased a Kala entry level uke ($50) it was already strung with Aquila strings.  Funny how often I choose the Makala over the the other– I just like the sound of the Makala.

I love both of  these music stores- they both have really good customer services that I appreciate.  Plus, the sales man at Broadway Sound came strolling through the store playing a pink uke– I just had to buy a uke from this guy!

I don’t know yet…I just know I’m crazy about my blue ukulele and I want to share that love.  I like everything about them- the sound of course,  the fun shapes and colors, the culture that surrounds retro- Hawaii.  This site will be my landing pad for fun things ukulele style! stay tuned (LOL!)