Dominator Ukulele Tabs

Hi folks. I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. Lot's of things going on keeping me quite busy.

Tonight I'm posting a short tab of an interpretation of a traditional gospel song. Pete Howlett, a very well known and talented luthier, from the UK plays this piece as background music to his many instructional videos posted on his Youtube account.

Pete had some folks asking for the tab over at Ukulele Underground. I saw the thread and Pete asked if I was reading the thread if I could take a look and help him out with it. I had him send me an mp3 of him playing it and the result is this really fun little ditty.

Tab can be found on the Tabs page using the link above at the top of this page.

Aldrine Guerrero performed a wonderful version of Imagine at this year's Tahoe Ukulele Festival in Reno. I didn't realize it until yesterday that he had posted a video back in 2009 of his arrangement. I thought the Tahoe video was the only one available. The two versions are slightly different but the structure is most definitely the same.

My tab is a hybrid of the two videos with some of my own chord voicings thrown in as well.

Hit the Tab link at the top of this page to navigate to the tabs page.
Enjoy!

Here is the video from Tahoe Fest:

Here is his 2009 video:

Well folks, the 2010 Tahoe Uke Fest is in the books. The good people at PlayUke.net did a fantastic job putting on such a great event. The Nugget venue was perfect for the event and will only get better in future years to come.

I’m going to try to keep this short and just summarize some highlights. Upon our arrival I snuck into Matt Dahlberg’s strumming workshop and was joined shortly after by the one and only Aldrine Guerrero from Ukulele Underground. At the end of the day we ended up back in Matt’s room for a little jamming and brainstorming about what songs we might play for the All-star concert on Saturday night. Since Jake was not able to be there a variety of musicians were assembled to perform on the Celebrity Showroom stage on Saturday night.

Saturday afternoon I took the stage for my set and invited Ali Lexa to join me on the great George Benson tune, Breezin. After that I summoned Matt Dahlberg to the stage to play one of my original tunes, Rise and Shine, and a duet on George Harrison’s "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". After communicating with Matt for a number of years over the Internet it was a pleasure to finally meet him in person and play together for the first time. I look forward to the opportunity to share the stage with him again soon.

The Saturday night concert was incredible. Ukulele Bartt opened the show with a couple of tunes and then called Matt and I to join him on a Flamenco inspired version of Del Shannon’s “Runaway”. It was so much fun to play with Bartt and John Gold and Matt worked the crowd into a frenzy with his 10 finger strumming technique that he mastered after purchasing Jake’s Play Loud Ukulele DVD.

Next, Michael Powers took the stage and blew everybody away with his technique and unique approach to the ukulele which he labels as “Urban Ukulele”. Next up was the fabulous Brittni Paiva who mesmerized us with her beautiful versions of “Europa” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. Brittni was followed by an incredibly energizing performance by Aldrine Guerrero. Aldrine played flawless versions of “Something”, “Imagine” and Schizophrenic Snowflakes, to name a few, and then called Brittni, Michael Powers and James Hill to join him for an awe-inspiring rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing”. This was capped off with a performance by James Hill who then called all of us to the stage to play a version of Mick Jagger’s “Miss You” in honor of Jake.

This wonderful night came to a conclusion as we met in Aldrine’s suite for lots of food and laughter. Below are some videos and pictures from the weekend. I’m already looking forward to next year. See you there.

Hey everyone, here is the initial copy of the poster for the Tahoe Area Ukulele festival to be held at the John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Nevada. This is going to be an incredible weekend with the best two solo ukulele players alive, in Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill. Click the poster and it will take you to the PlayUke website where you can print off a hi-res copy. We need everyone's help in getting the word out so please place some of the posters on your blogs or in locations that will allow you to do so.
Thanks in advance for the help.

I just want to wish everyone all the best for 2010. It was great to meet many of you last year and I hope I have the opportunity to meet many more of you in 2010.

Happy New Year!

Tis the season once again. The holidays are upon us and before you know it Christmas will be hear and gone. Last season Aldrine Guerrero released a downloadable EP titled “Four Strings of Christmas” consisting of 6 tracks.

1. Sleigh Ride
2. Winter Wonderland
3. The Christmas Song
4. Up on the Housetop
5. Carol of the Bells
6. Schizophrenic Snowflakes

I had intended to transcribe "The Christmas Song" and post a tab but never got around to it. I got an earlier start on it this year but ran into some challenges while entering it into the Powertab editor. I was afraid it would take too long to get the tab completed so I opted for putting together a quick tutorial. Turns out it wasn’t as quick as I had hoped for and extended into a second video. I will continue to work the tab but for now here are Parts 1 and 2 for Aldrine Guerrero’s arrangement of “The Christmas Song”.

The EP is available for download for a mere $6 US at the following LINK:

In the tutorial I don't actually play the song all the way through so I will be uploading a video of me playing it start to finish probably later today. That should help tie it all together.

I hope you enjoy the videos and are able to play this one for friends and family during the upcoming holidays. Merry Christmas to all.

EDIT: 11/29/09
And here is a video I recorded of the song start to finish to help tie the tutorials all together.

Though we had more than our share of rain this year the trip to Kauai` was wonderful. We got to spend some time with Aldrine Guerrero and the rest of the gang from Ukulele Underground as well as our good friend Kirby Keough. Here's a few pics from our music adventures.

Guess who the one is that doesn't live in the tropical sunshine?
The UU gang, Aldrine, Aaron and Ryan

Dinner with our good friend Kirby Keough at Keoki's Paradise

We did manage one nice sunset. This is the view directly accross the road from our place

Dom & Kirby laying down a few tunes at Joe's on the Green

Domintor jamming with Kahalau Leoiki and Keala Kauanui at the Lihue Airport on the way out of town

Here are a couple of videos from the trip.

It's that time of year again. Heading to Kauai` in the morning for a week of relaxation and, of course, loads of ukulele fun. I will be meeting up with my buddy Kirby Keough and hopefully will meet up with Aldrine and the Ukulele Underground crew as well.

I've been working on transcribing Aldrine's version of "The Christmas Song" but it has been very slow due to the work schedule. If I can't get the tab completed then I may do a quick video tutorial when I get back so folks can have time to learn it before the Holidays are firmly upon us.

See you soon.

Tonight I'm posting one from the Ka`au Crater Boys that features some killer licks from the master, Troy Fernandez. I hade completed this tab a number of weeks ago but was waiting to get Troy's approval to post it. He contacted me a couple of weeks ago and gave me the go ahead but with the Southern CA Ukulele Festival and the Wine Country Festival activities going on I haven't had time to get it posted until now.

This is a fun 3 chord jam that you can play with a friend and it's even better if you can sing it. I've provided my interpretation of the rhythm but feel free to chunk away with something that works for you.

Tab is located on the tabs page via the link at the top of the page.

The 2nd Annual Wine Country Ukulele Festival was wonderful experience and great success this year. The festival kicked off on Friday night at the Judd's Hill Hula Party which essentially was a meet and great with great food, outstanding musicians and of course, wine and great music.

Saturday was the big festival day at the Beringer Vineyards that was loaded with ukulele vendors, continuous performances on the Promenade stage and excellent workshops, food and of course, more wine.

The festival couldn't have ended on a better note for us. We participated in the Brunch at Miner Family Vineyards which was such a unique experience. A table for 22 inside the caves with incredible food and wine pairings and the music of James Hill and Kimo Hussey. This was a priceless experience to spend this time enjoying the wine, food and music. You just would have had to be there to get the full impact.

A HUGE Mahalo to Elaine de Man for all her efforts in pulling this amazing event together.

Here are some pictures from the weekend and some videos of my performance on Saturday at Beringer Vineyards on the Promenade stage.