That’s how I discovered the link above. I Googled “frailing uke” and went to YouTube and from there to a related vidoe called The Clarinet Polka.
I know about five or six tunes on the uke–all a mixture of frailing and chording. Not as clean of a sound, but you get to change chords about as often as the melody changes. Last week, I traded my Martin (my dad gave me when I was 10 yrs old) for one of these…which my sister found at a yard sale. It sounds better than the Martin for some reason. It has a spruce top which helps with the volume, and the neck is easier to reach up high cause of the body shape.
My wife and I were lucky enough to see Jake this summer at a FREE outdoor concert. He was totally amazing and also totally approachable and appreciative of his fans. He seemed to be having a ball up on the stage. Go see him live, even if YOU have to pay for the privilege .
My cousin went to one of Jake’s concerts in Hawaii last year and has bent ranting and raving about it ever since.
There’s a tune playing in the background on this website. It’s called Pearly Shells. The guy plays clean and simple. It’s a fun little song on the uke. http://www.besthawaiianukulele.com/
I’ve seen him live also. Amazing! To me, his technique resembles that of a Flamenco guitarist more than anything else. He does play some Flamenco stuff, as well as jazz, pop, traditional Hawaiian, etc… Just one guy – no band, and he held the audience spellbound! That was among the top five or ten live shows I’ve attended in my life.
From what I’ve seen on U2b, Jake also use a technique of strumming that I’ve only seen used on the charango–a uke type instrument from Bolivia, only with 5 strings (double-stringed like a mando). Jake’s uke has a longer neck and body on it, like a baritone almost, but it’s still tuned up like a regular pitched soprano uke.
I know what you mean! Jake gives a little description of his ukulele on his [u]web site[/u].
Shimabukuro plays a Kamaka tenor in a standard C6 tuning, although his use of the familiar “my dog has fleas” tuning runs contrary to the way most tenor players tune. Shimabukuro prefers the high G on the top, like a soprano, “Because it keeps that traditional, unique sound. And because I have that high G, I’m able to create voicings you wouldn’t be able to get on other stringed instruments because you have that high string on top.”
He says [see story] Jimmy Buffet got his career going at a surf shop in Hawaii. He toured with Buffet and Bela Fleck this summer.
