To any ukulele players out there in Singapore / Malaysia…

Thank you for visiting www.ukulabu.com!

If you happen to read this, please drop me an email or comment, so that we can keep in contact. For those of you who are new to ukuleles, you may also ask any questions, to which I will answer and help out to the best I can.

Once again, thank you.. Take care, and hope to chat with you all soon~

Cheers,
Alan

After a long break from updating this site, I would like to announce that I am giving ukulele lessons at Ukulele Movement, Singapore!

Do contact Glyn or Simon at Ukulele Movement, or find out more at http://www.ukulelemovement.com/um-ukulele-programme

Cheers!

I’ve been receiving some emails regarding some new ukulele enthusiasts, wanting to purchase ukuleles within Malaysia.

Perhaps this can help~

http://www.manuelukulele.com/ 

The first online ukulele store in Malaysia specializing in all things for ukulele.

From what I can see on the site, prices start at RM220.

So check it out~

In conjunction with visitors of www.ukulabu.com, Ukulele Movement in Singapore will be holding a jam session on Saturday, 28th February 2009 at 7pm.

In addition to a huge group jamming and sing-along session, this is also a great chance to meet up with new ukulele players, meeting an ukulele teacher from Singapore, watching individual player performances, as well as a possibility of buying a new Kala ukulele, which will be sold at the event location.

So grab your ukulele and head down to the event location on the day itself. You may click on the link below to get details on how to get to the event location.

CLICK HERE for details to event location.

Looking forward to see you all there~!

Initially I kept a certain nail length, about 2mm.. And I found that my playing was kinda ‘picky’ sounding. As the nails were hard and they created a more ‘picked’ sound. My nail length was about the same as the picture below:

And my playing sounded like this:

 

So I switched and cut my fingernails, to minimize the chances of any part of my nails from touching the strings. After that, my playing sound changed, and sounded like this..

Basically, playing without fingernails gives a softer sound, which is more suitable for slow and soft sounding songs. So depending on what kind of music / song you’re playing, you should experiment around with having longer or shorter nails, and eventually develop into your own style….

Well, there are a lot of other factors which needs to considered. For example, if you are a female, as females tend to leave longer nails, due to fashion or beauty reasons, you might be reluctant to cut your nails. Also, if you play more strumming of chords, rather than finger picking, nails would help you sound louder.

If you have any questions, pop me a comment, and I’ll try my best to answer your question.

Have fun!

Although I was unable to make it to the meeting session, due to last minute work commitments, I do feel a sense of accomplishment, as I see that Singapore is slowly showing signs of having an ukulele community. And with the help from the friendly folks at ‘The Ukulele Music Co.’, I’m sure the community has a great future ahead, and will continue to grow~!

With that, I will end this blog entry with some pictures of the event. You may view the other pictures on Facebook by clicking here. For videos, click here. Pictures from Glyn and Simon, from ‘The Ukulele Music Co.’

After Chinese New Year, I will be going back to Kuala Lumpur, and probably won’t be able to take part in any meetings in Singapore for quite some time. However, I will try to make time and come back. Hope to see you all soon! Take care everyone!

 - Alan Soo

Well done Glyn & Simon!

They are located in Little India. Their address are as follows:

20A Beatty Road,

Singapore 209947

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the area, I’ve looked up on the address on streetdirectory.com, and here’s the direct link to the place.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_1/travel_site_18652/

For those of you who don’t drive, you can take the bus, after getting off from Bugis MRT. Below is a URL from SBS Transit to get to the nearby bus stop from Bugis’s Victoria Street.

Click here to view bus route

Alternatively, you can also go to www.sbstransit.com.sg and look up on the route for bus service number 130, to see which stop is convenient for you to board from.

Be sure to check out The Ukulele Music Co.’s Ukulele Movement’s newly built website at:

http://www.ukulelemovement.com

I’m planning to check out the place, before Chinese New Year, and before going back to Kuala Lumpur. Anyone wants to join? Drop a comment, and perhaps we can go together!

Cheers!

I’d like to wish everybody a very Happy New Year for 2009~!

May everyone stay happy, healthy and improve on the ukulele~ Do make ‘improve on the ukulele’ as one of your new year’s resolutions, if there’s still space to squeeze into the list!

Just for your info, I’m still in Singapore, all the way until the Chinese New year. So we should be able to meet up for the third jamming session!

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you all with a nice video lesson by Aldrine Guerrero. It’s Alicia Key’s - Ain’t Got You. Very nice song. Hope you guys enjoy learning it, as much as I did. You can also visit his ukulele website at www.ukuleleunderground.com. Have fun~

Ralph has offered to let us jam at his place for the next jamming session. His house is located 5 minutes away from Tanah Merah MRT Station. A total of about 17 minutes from City Hall, where we would originally jam at.

Any objections?

Lets’ discuss on a date to meet up then…

Jake’s an absolute genius!