Ukulele Tutorials

Posted on: March 19th, 2019 by Jim D'Ville

UKULELE TUTORIALS & PRODUCTS

RECOMMENDED VIDEO LESSON!

The Emotional Value of Chords DVD

There is a chord associated with each of the seven notes of a major scale. When played in context, each chord evokes a certain emotional response from the listener. Learning these chordal relationships will open your ears to the chord progressions of millions of songs. This lesson by Ukulele Magazine Contributing Editor Jim D’Ville is the first step to playing by ear.

Circle of 5ths: Roadmap to the Musical Universe

43-minute lesson

Digital Download Only $20 (No DVD)

The Circle of 5ths is an invaluable tool in uncovering the structure of music. The Circle not only shows you how Major and minor scales are constructed it also reveals the organic nature of all chord progressions! In the step-by-step, easy to understand lesson, you’ll learn how to use the Circle of 5ths as a musical roadmap to anything you want to play.

Picking Ukulele By Ear DVD

55-minute lesson

Strumming Ukulele By Ear DVD

42-minute lesson

Digital Download $10

Again, NO TAB, NO HANDOUTS, just an organic approach to training the strumming hand to play what you hear in your head. This lesson is designed for the person who is just getting started on the uke, those who are afflicted with ISS (Incessant Strum Syndrome), and anyone who wants to spice up their strumming and improve their musicality on the instrument. Chapters include the Basic Index Finger Strum, Triplets, Flourish, Tremolo, Chunky Chop, Rhythm & Timing Exercises and and more!

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 1: Learning To Listen

52-minute lesson

Volume 1 is for anyone just getting started on the ukulele as well as anyone wanting to know the structure of music, and how to hear what’s going on in songs. It’s designed to teach you to hear what is going on in songs instead of always relying on printed music. Playing music is a whole lot more fun when you are not staring at a piece of sheet music, but instead listening to what is happening and playing along. In less than an hour, Jim will have you and your ukulele ready to drive into thousands of songs, and play them by ear! Topics include Tuning By Ear, The C Major Scale, Intervals, Chord Progressions and more. Chapters: The C Tone Tuning By Ear C: The Home Key F: The IV Chord Chord Progressions IntervalsDiatonic Chords “I am VERY impressed with this DVD. It covers how to play the way you really want to when playing for fun, without written music, just by listening. It also covers basics lacking in many how-to musical DVDs including strumming and tuning without always relying on electronic tuners. It’s fun, funny and I can play a couple of songs after two days of steady practice.” Amazon.com Customer

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 1 .5: Playing By The Numbers

45-minute lesson

Digital Download Only $10

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 1.5: Playing By The Numbers is designed for the beginning to intermediate ukulele student wanting to learn how basic song structure works using the Number System, as opposed to using letter names to identify the chords in a progression. Vol. 1.5 bridges the gap between Vol. 1: Learning to Listen which is a play-along beginning lesson and Vol. 2: Chord Progressions & The Circle of 5ths, an intermediate lesson which teaches using the Circle of 5ths to map popular chord progressions.CHAPTERS Welcome C Tuning Notes C Major Scale C Chromatic Scale Intervals Building Major Chords I-V-I Chord Progression I-V7-I Chord Progression I-IV-V7-I Chord Progression 12 Bar Blues I-vi-IV-V7-I Chord Progression I-vi-ii-V7-I Chord Progression I-V-vi-IV Chord Progression C Major Diatonic Chords Non-Diatonic Chords Circle of 5ths Close

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 2: Chord Progressions & The Circle of 5ths DVD

55-minute lesson

Digital Download $10

Volume 2 is for the intermediate to the advanced player wanting to learn how all songs work by studying the patterns of chord progressions. Learn songs in advance by training your ears to tune by ear, hear chords, chord progressions and musical intervals. Jim will also demystify the Circle of 5ths, the roadmap to the musical universe! Chapters: Tuning By Ear Tension & Resolution 5th Interval FinderThe Tri-tone Interval Circle of 5ths Perpetual 5ths Exercise Dominant 7th Chord Progressions 7th Chord Inversions Major Scale Intervals Diatonic Chords Diatonic Chord Progressions The 12 Bar Blues Jazz Chord Progression Indie Songwriter Chord Progression Learning a Song From Sheet Music Transposing “I learned more an hour from you than I have in a year trying to learn by myself. Just got done playing your DVD 2. The mystery of the circle of fifths is no more.” California Student

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 3 Soloing with Brian Oberlin

54-minute lesson

Digital Download Only $10

Internationally recognized music educators Jim D’Ville and Brian Oberlin have created a systematic approach to learning the art of soloing on the ukulele. This groundbreaking fifty-four minute DVD will give you all the tools you’ll need to progress from playing a simple scale and arpeggio exercises to begin creating your own solos. The Play Ukulele By Ear series has helped thousands of ukulele players worldwide “get off the paper” and experience the fun of playing music by ear. Now the same “by ear” approach will help you learn the art of soloing.

Soloing DVD Table of Contents:

1-Welcome 2-C Tuning Notes 3 -The Musical Alphabet: Chromatic & Major Scales 4-Hearing Scales Over Chords: F-C-C7 5- Playing The Changes 6-Telling A Story With Your Solo 7-Creating A Solo: Building A Path To The Target Notes 8-Tell Your Story From The V 9-Soloing On The Blues: C Blues Scale 10-Building Blues Licks 11-Hammers-Pull Offs-Rips-Slides 12 -I-V-I Backing Track In F 13-12 Bar Blues Backing Track In C 14 -Final Thoughts

Caravan Gogh Recordings

The 3 Faces of Steve EP/CD

Caravan Gogh’s long-awaited follow up to their 2007 CD is here, with original members: Gideon Freudmann (cello), Jim D’Ville (ukulele) and Brian Oberlin (mandolin) joined by Brad Price (guitar). “The 3 Faces of Steve” covers a lot of musical ground in the course of 7 acoustic tunes (5 originals), including a lilting waltz, a rootsy blues, an uptempo swing tune, an old (re-imagined) Spanish classical guitar tune and the decidedly schizophrenic title tune which alludes to a book about a woman with a most peculiar personality disorder. But be assured, this recording is very sane, coherent and above all good fun! Download the EP now at CD Baby by clicking HERE.

The debut recording by Portland, Oregon acoustic quartet Caravan Gogh. Jim D’Ville-ukulele, Gideon Freudmann-cello, Brian Oberlin-Mandolin, and Calin Uhlig-bass. Sneakers, the single from the CD was featured in Sing Out magazine! Purchase from iTunes or CD Baby.

Ukulele Workshops

Schedule | 2024