Is this kid even singing words? Does it even matter?. It's I'm Yours by Jason Meraz sung by a cute kid playing the ukulele. (via)
posted by The Devil Tesla on Dec 10, 2009 - 32 comments

Usagino U (ukulele, lead vocal) and Kumano 900 (ukulele, pianica, theremin, bongos) play American surf rock in Japan -- Isogabamaware ll Diamond Head ll Crazy G
posted by vronsky on Sep 19, 2009 - 11 comments

Sure, every band geek has heard of the mythic contrabass sax. But I bet you didn't know there were contrabass clarinets and french horns or subcontrabass recorders, flutes, and... uh... this thing. On the other end of the spectrum you've got the sopranino recorder, saxaphone, clarinet, and ukulele.
posted by phrontist on Aug 22, 2009 - 40 comments

Regular mefites will know that The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain are renowned for having their wicked way with any piece of music that takes their fancy: from Smells Like Teen Spirit to the theme from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly nothing is sacred. On 18 August they played the 45th Prom of 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall: 6000 people were in the audience, of whom 1000 brought their own ukuleles — lessons provided by the BBC online for novice players — for a massed rendition of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. [more inside]
posted by pharm on Aug 22, 2009 - 17 comments

Have Love, Will Travel is a song with an instantly recognisable opening that was originally recorded by Richard Berry in 1959 and subsequently covered by The Sonics, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Crazyhead, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Belushi & Dan Akroyd, The Black Keys and at least two ukulele duos to name a few. (single song, MLYTP)
posted by slimepuppy on Jul 4, 2009 - 22 comments

Julia Nunes can sing. And she plays ukulele. But what won me over: her charming, silly demeanor. She videoed herself playing Queen, Kanye, Destiny's Child, Bright Eyes and others and posted it to YouTube. Now she's got an album (eMusic) and is playing Bonnaroo.
posted by eustacescrubb on Jun 7, 2009 - 46 comments

John King, likely the world’s only classical ukulele virtuoso, died last month at the age of 55. Here he is performing a Bach prelude, playing more Bach, and playing Chopsticks.
posted by ornate insect on May 2, 2009 - 20 comments

How to Build: A simple washtub bass. Some variations (on a crazily made webpage). A cookie tin banjo. (Previously) A cigar box guitar, and a cigar box ukulele. A fancy cigar box uke. (Kathy Marsushita's whole amateur luthier projects page is worth checking out, as is this gallery of cool cigar box ukes.)
posted by OmieWise on Apr 22, 2009 - 22 comments

Dear Deer by Kate Micucci [more inside]
posted by Del Far on Jan 29, 2009 - 12 comments

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain travels south of the border
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Nov 2, 2008 - 20 comments

KazooKeylele. Europe's "The Final Countdown" played on a combination kazoo, baby keyboard, and ukulele. Single link YouTube awesomeness. (Via)
posted by Astro Zombie on Oct 16, 2008 - 20 comments

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performs the theme to "Shaft" (SYTL). Really, is any description needed? [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Oct 4, 2008 - 46 comments

The UkeCast The Ukulele Podcast
posted by Del Far on Jun 3, 2008 - 16 comments

What do you call two (or more) songs with overlapping verses? I don't know. But here's a great example. (Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Single link youtube post. Enjoyment not guaranteed. Your mileage may vary.)
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Mar 2, 2008 - 27 comments

The band Beirut released the Flying Club Cup on October 9th, and La Blogothèque has filmed unique, one take, on the spot, mostly public 'music videos' of each track. [more inside]
posted by Corduroy on Feb 2, 2008 - 28 comments

"Tained Love" on ukulele. [more inside]
posted by jbickers on Jan 31, 2008 - 62 comments

Is it a banjo? Is it a ukulele? No, it's a banjolele! [more inside]
posted by MaryDellamorte on Jan 17, 2008 - 36 comments

Catchy bitter ukulele break-up song by Duncan Pflaster. Video with song. Simple and excellent. Found via Cat and Girl.
posted by LobsterMitten on Mar 30, 2007 - 27 comments

You really shouldn't miss the snazzy ukulele stylings of the great Roy Smeck, strummer and showman extraordinaire, who was not only fast as greased lightning, but for whom the ukulele also occasionally functioned as a wind or percussion instrument. The man was indeed a wizard of the strings: just give him a slide and watch him lay down that Hawaiian sound. And as you'll see here, he was still going strong in his later years. [most links to YouTube]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 23, 2007 - 15 comments

Here we are now, entertain us. An all-ukulele cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. From their Web site, "Sugar Plum Fairy" [mp3]. But can UOGB hold a candle to "While My Ukulele Gently Weeps," discussed previously?
posted by BackwardsCity on May 24, 2006 - 33 comments

Ukulele Ike. We know his quavering, tentative, high tenor voice from his voice work as Jiminy Cricket, but Cliff Edwards -- aka Ukulele Ike -- was much more than that. Wikipedia offers a brief introduction to the man, his life, his works, and his lonely death. But, to my tastes, the best introduction to this once hugely popular singer is the man's own voice (mp3 links).
posted by Astro Zombie on Feb 24, 2006 - 5 comments

While My Ukulele Gently Weeps Kick off the weekend with some crazy uke playing from Jake Shimabukuro.
posted by Robot Johnny on Jul 22, 2005 - 24 comments

Brudda Bu's Ukulele Heaven has excellent info on ukulele creation and history. If you want to play, you can learn all of your chords at Ukulele Strummers. If you are looking for some easy songs, try Ukulele Boogaloo for an eclectic songbook with tablature right on the page. Ukulele Beatles Fun provides strum-along Beatles tunes in a flash app. Finally, for the more advanced, Dominator provides beautiful transcriptions of songs (scroll down) by artists like Herb Ohta and Jake Shimabukuro.
posted by Roger Dodger on May 31, 2005 - 5 comments

Jake Shimabukuro plays the ukulele. Hoo boy, does he play the ukulele.
posted by gottabefunky on Jun 21, 2004 - 8 comments

All songs sound better when performed on a ukulele.
posted by Katemonkey on Mar 8, 2004 - 17 comments

From Berkeley to Wai'anae, Bruddah Iz is home. (via Ukulelia)
posted by xowie on Oct 1, 2003 - 2 comments

Whether you call it the "Jumping Flea" or "that Hideous Portugese Instrument," I'm sure we all have come to know, if not love, the ukulele. Of course, the best known uke player of recent times was Tiny Tim, though you may also remember performances in certain films. This last contains a very famous song. Converted? Then why not learn to play? Don't have an instrument? Build one for $12.
posted by kaibutsu on Apr 15, 2003 - 32 comments