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=Welcome to our ukulele orchestra wiki=

Why a ukulele orchestra?
Why not?! ;-) It's been unscientifically proven that ukuleles make people smile (let's not worry if they're laughing, lol). After all, it's hard to take things too seriously when you're playing a coloured ukulele. Our main aim is to bring people together and have fun playing and singing some songs while learning new chords and techniques along the way. It's relatively cheap and easy to get started, so come along and give it a go.

Useful links
> ukulele chords and songbooks > everything you need to know about the ukulele and more
 * ukulele chord chart- to download and print. The chord chart works best when it is printed side-by-side on A3 - just follow the chords along the top row and try some of the more complex chords if you're feeling adventurous.
 * Kiwi Ukulele- The New Zealand Ukulele Companion
 * Aligator Boogaloo- free song charts for the ukulele
 * Ukulele Songs- songs, tuning, chord etc
 * [|Big collection of songs]- free ukulele sheet music (lots to choose from)
 * Chordie
 * Ukulele Hunt
 * online ukulele tuner - very handy if you don't have a tuner of your own

=Ukulele tutorial= This file has some excellent advice and tips for beginners and novice ukulele players - everything from tuning, basic chords, strumming techniques and some simple songs to practise.

Here is Ukulele Mike giving an excellent tutorial on strumming in 4/4 time. media type="youtube" key="J_dIPS9R8kU?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

=Where to buy= Don't have a ukulele to play? Ukuleles are relatively inexpensive and for around $50-55 you can buy one of a reasonable standard. For suppliers, check out: The Music Warehouse supplies various diffferent brands of ukuleles: The colourful Makala soprano ukulele (pictured above) with a dolphin bridge is now made from plastic, but if you can manage to find some old stock (made from wood), then this is a good ukulele for beginners and easy to tune. Marbeck's at Queensgate have the original wooden Makala ukuleles for sale.
 * Alistair's Music (formerly Capital Music) - 215 Cuba Street, Wellington. Phone 917-4487.
 * Pete's Acoustic Guitars - 287 Jackson Street, Petone. Phone 589-4559.
 * Markbecks - Westfield Queensgate. Phone 560-2922.
 * The Music Warehouse - 478 Hutt Road, Lower hutt. Phone 939-3660.
 * The Music Warehouse - 199 Main Street, Upper Hutt. Phone 920-4660.

=Ukulele news= Check out this ukulele flash mob that played at a Palmerston North shopping mall recently. Who's keen to give it a try at Queensgate? [] media type="youtube" key="U_PsnZBqq0U" height="349" width="560" =Something to aspire to= Think the ukulele is only about tiptoeing through the tulips? Here is something to aspire to:

//Bohemian Rhapsody//, played by Jack Shimabukuro

media type="custom" key="8206716" width="336" height="336" //While My Guitar Gently Weeps//, played by Jake Shimabukuro

media type="youtube" key="puSkP3uym5k" height="385" width="480"

//Africa//, played by the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

media type="youtube" key="H1sfKtC5Lpc" height="385" width="480"

//Theme from Shaft//, played by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

media type="youtube" key="PfK-UzQ48JE" height="385" width="480"