Folk troubadours Kate Power and Steve Einhorn have created a magical introduction to the wonderful world of ukulele playing with their book and CD project Ukalaliens Songbook: A Beginner’s Guide to Ukulele Fun. And that’s just what this delightful little book and CD are, fun! From the whimsical original illustrations by Steve to the diverse collection of simple folk tunes the book will immediately have the aspiring ukuleleist strumming and singing right from the get-go.

For the more adventurous players the book also includes a number of beginning finger-picking patterns and left hand techniques. Another feature unique to the book is handy “flip-flap chord charts” that pop up from the book to demonstrate how to play the tunes in a variety of keys.

Steve’s pleasant voice guides you patiently through uke playing basics and the 19 tunes contained on the CD, which include folk classics Careless Love, Crawdad Hole and Shady Grove, in addition to, the lovely original tunes Annebelle, Under The Moon and Pretty Little Girl. As an added bonus, the CD contains the beautiful harmony singing of Kate and Steve which have made them Pacific Northwest folk icons. Kate and Steve project a nurturing spirit that warmly welcomes all to the experience of playing and singing with others. Their relaxed, no hurry, presentation is the perfect welcome to beginning musicians of all ages. I would recommend the Ukalaliens Songbook to anyone wishing a thoroughly enjoyable musical introduction to playing the sweetest of stringed instruments, the ukulele.

For more about Kate and Steve visit their Quality Folk website.