Dominator Ukulele Tabs

I got a last minute gig at Dono dal Cielo for Saturday, April 27 from 2-5pm. I recently played at their 11th Year Anniversary party with Steve Skidgel. Here is a little bit of Daniel Ho's "Pineapple Mango".

The closeout of 2012 included completion of two long awaited tenor ukuleles. I have a couple more in the works and I need to build one for myself, hopefully in time for the Reno Ukulele Festival in April. If not, for sure in time for UWC in June. I’m not sure if I want to build an all Koa uke or maybe a figured maple body with a spruce or maybe a sinker redwood top. Decisions, decisions.

Here’s a Koa tenor #009 for, Ukulele Underground member, JTY.

Some specs on the Ukulele:

Grade AAAA koa top, back and sides
Spanish Cedar Bolt on neck w/standard headstock
17” tenor scale
Fret board – Rosewood - 14 frets clear – 19 frets total
Bridge – Rosewood – Through Body
Rosette – Paua Abalone w/bwb inner and outer rings
Rosewood top binding with bwb perfling
Rosewood back binding
Rosewood end graft
Rosewood fingerboard with paua abalone combo side and fingerboard markers - 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th frets
Curly Koa peghead overlay with paua abalone logo
Width at nut – 1 ½”
Finish – Hand rubbed lacquer
Tuners – Peghed 4:1 geared
Nut material – Bone
Saddle material – Bone
Strings – Worth Clear – High G

Here is Mahogany tenor #011 for, Ukulele Underground member, Chris Coleman.

Here are some specs on the Ukulele:

Mahogany top, back and sides
Spanish Cedar Bolt on neck w/slotted headstock
17” tenor scale
Fret board – Ebony - 14 frets clear – 19 frets total
Bridge – Ebony – Through Body
Rosette – Paua Abalone w/bwb inner and outer rings
Rosewood top binding with bwb perfling
Rosewood back binding
Rosewood end graft
Ebony fingerboard with paua abalone combo side and fingerboard markers - 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th frets
Ebony peghead overlay with paua abalone logo
Width at nut – 1 ½”
Finish – Hand rubbed lacquer
Tuners – Nickel Grover Sta-Tite
Nut material – Bone
Saddle material – Bone
Strings – Aquila Nylgut – High G

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year. I hope 2013 brings an abundance of ukulele joy into your lives.

I closed out the end of 2012 with a carpal tunnel release procedure on my left hand. I’m 9 weeks post-op as of today and am looking forward to being able to play again on a regular basis. I’m making good progress and have been easing into play over the last 3 weeks or so. Hopefully, I will be good to go in another month or so.

I hope to be able to work on some new tabs and tutorial videos as time permits. I know it’s been a while since my last offering.

I did manage to complete a couple of new tenors for some very patient customers. I plan to shoot some photos this afternoon and will post an update later this evening.

All the best,
Dominator

Congratulations to lolouke for winning the Dominator Tenor Ukulele. There were 459 entries. Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter the drawing.

My wife and I, celebrating our 30th Wedding Anniversary, have just returned from Kauai`i where we returned the #010 Koa Tenor back "Home" to Kalaheo (where the wood was purchased back in 2007).

During the trip the instrument touched the hands of a host of local musicians including Mike Young, Dane Pabo and Kirby Keough just to name a few.

I have opened a new thread at Ukulele Underground in the "UU Contests" section of the Forums where you can enter the drawing. To have a chance to win the ukulele you will need to become a memeber of the Ukulele Underground Forums. Once you are registered, look for the thread titled "Official Dominator Tenor Ukulele Giveaway" and simply respond requesting to have your username added to the cookie jar.

I will videotape the winning name being drawn from the jar and will make contact with the winner to arrange for shipping.

Good luck to you everybody.

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/forum.php

Here's a video of the travels the uke made on our trip.

Hosted by our good friends from the Reno Ukulele Festival, this coming Saturday I will be teaching a mini workshop and performing in the historic town of Genoa, Nevada. Here's a link to Google Maps for directions. You can’t miss the park next to the big fort at the main intersection of town, opposite the museum.

In addition to your uke bring something to throw on the barbeque for a great lunch before the afternoon workshop and concert. Play Uke is supplying charcoal for the BBQ, bottled water, paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins, ketchup, mustard, relish, park rental, performer/instructor fees etc. Attendees need to bring your own food and drink and anything else you’d want at a picnic. Please help Play Uke offset some of their costs by donating $20 or whatever you can afford using the button on their website. If you can’t afford it, no biggie, please come anyway!

My workshop, Soloing 101, will be an extension of my Stress Free Soloing workshop that I presented at this years Reno Ukulele Festival. We will analyze the chord inversions and solo to the popular Hawaiian tune, Henehene Kou `Aka, made popular by the great Israel Kamakawiwo`ole. Then we will look at creating a different solo by using notes from within and around the different chord inversions. Here is a HANDOUT of the chord inversions. Please print this and bring it with you.

I will be joining forces on a few tunes with Sacramento’s own Ukulele Rob so we hope to see some of you there.

A number of years ago I promised to donate one of my handmade tenors to Ukulele Underground to giveaway in a raffle contest. I started this instrument a couple of years back but finally was able to complete it just in time for the trip to Ukulele World Congress in Needmore, Indiana.

My wife helped pick out this particular billet of Koa on a trip several years ago to Kauai. This was before the 50lb weight restriction per bag and she packed it nice and snug in our suitcase for the trip home. Originally, I had planned to give it away right after returning home from UWC. However, Joanne has become somewhat attached to this particular ukulele from the minute I strung it up. Additionally, while at UWC she discovered that the serial number is D16-T010-UU1. Since our 30th wedding anniversary is coming up and we will be spending it on Kauai and the fact that we were married on 10/16 she feels strongly that the uke must make a return trip to the land of paradise as a completed instrument.

Once we return from our trip the contest would be conducted shortly thereafter. Actually, I don’t want to refer to it as a contest but would rather call it a “raffle”. I want everyone to have an equal chance to win the ukulele regardless of playing ability etc. Most likely this will be accomplished by opening a thread here at UU for a specific time period (say one week or 7 calendar days) where each person who replies to the thread saying “please put my name in the hat” will get the chance to win the ukulele.

Here are some specs on the Ukulele:

Figured Koa top and back, Koa sides
Spanish Cedar Bolt on neck w/slotted headstock
17” tenor scale
Fret board – Ebony - 14 frets clear – 19 frets total
Bridge – Ebony – Through Body
Rosette – Paua Abalone w/bwb inner and outer rings
Curly Koa top binding with bwb perfling
Curly Koa back binding
Ebony fingerboard with paua abalone combo side and fingerboard markers - 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th and 15th frets
Ebony peghead overlay with paua abalone logo
Width at nut – 1 ½”
Finish – Hand rubbed lacquer
Tuners – Gold Grover Sta-Tite
Nut material – Corian
Saddle material – Bone
Strings – Worth CT
Mi Si Acoustic Trio batter free pickup system

Well, 2012 produced another Fantastic Ukulele World Congress event in Needmore Indiana. We were there Friday and Saturday nights but I heard it was non stop music and fun from early on in the week through Sunday evening. Sponsored by Mike and Tookta of Mainland Ukuleles, UWC is the best ukulele related event out there.

Here are some pics from the event. I had a blast sharing the stage with a number of people including Zoe Jansen, Lil6ster, Nick Kim, Russbuss, Ryrod, Deg and more including a set with Thom Pallozola and David Henry Spangler of the fabulous Flea Bitten Dawgs. I hear there is some video footage of part of our set that I will post up once I get my paws on it.

Looking forward to next year already.

This May, a new television series will debut on PBS stations nationwide. The
series, Pacific Heartbeat, comes to Public Television in partnership with
PBS Hawaii and Pacific Islanders in Communication. It is an unprecedented
collection of critically acclaimed documentaries centered on the Pacific
Islander experience -- including one film "Waimea 'Ukulele & Slack Key
Guitar" about the annual 'Ukulele and Slack Key Guitar Institute event held
in Hawaii's cowboy country. From revealing exposés to rousing musical
performances, the five-part series features a diverse array of programs
intended to draw viewers into the heart and soul of Pacific Island culture.

Pacific Heartbeat includes the following critically acclaimed and
award-winning documentaries: "Keola Beamer: Mālama Ko Aloha" (Keep Your
Love), in which a legendary Hawaiian composer, inspired by the ancient
battle cry of his royal ancestor, collaborates with a brilliant ensemble of
musicians to create a multicultural concert masterpiece; "Papa Mau: The
Wayfinder", which recounts the fundamental role that master navigator Mau
Piailug played in reawakening Polynesian pride by teaching Hawaiians the
dying art of traditional voyaging without the aid of instruments; "There
Once was an Island: Te Henua e Nnoho", which tells the story of a Pacific
Island community that must make the heart-wrenching decision of whether to
stay on their beloved island home or move to a new and unfamiliar land, as
their home is destroyed by climate change; "Under a Jarvis Moon", which
reveals the untold stories of teenage Hawaiian boys who were sent on a
clandestine mission to occupy deserted islands in the middle of the Pacific
prior to World War II; and "Waimea ‘Ukulele & Slack Key Guitar", which
showcases rousing performances and rare interviews with ‘ukulele and slack
key guitar masters abound at the Waimea ‘Ukulele and Slack Key Guitar
Institute, held annually in Hawaii’s cowboy country. Check-in with your
local PBS station this May for local air date and time. For more information about the series visit Pacificheartbeat.

Next weekend starting on Friday March 30 begins the 4th Annual Reno/Tahoe Ukulele Festival where I will be teaching as well as performing.

WORKSHOP
On Friday and Saturday, at 3:00pm, I will be teaching my “Stress Free Soloing” Workshop which is a must see for those who have wanted to venture into the world of soloing but have no idea of where to start. In this workshop I won’t bore you with technical details regarding scales and modes which typically come to mind when thinking about soloing. What I will do is present and demonstrate some techniques, and more importantly, a “process” you can employ to create simple yet melodically pleasing solos by using the notes within the rhythm chords being played. If you are familiar with “chord inversions”, which are simply different places on the neck to play the same chord, then you will achieve success in implementing this process very quickly. However, for those that know the first position chords but are not yet familiar with playing inversions up higher on the neck, fear not as our first order of business (after tuning of course) will be to learn the chord inversions for the two examples that will be demonstrated during the workshop. So regardless of whether you are a beginner or a seasoned strummer, if you would like to break out of your comfort zone and attempt to create a simple solo for your next uke club jam then this workshop is for you.

The workshop handout has been prepared as a stand-alone document that you can take with you and refer to over and over as necessary as you work through the process to create your own solos. Additionally, all but one of the examples in the handout have been recorded and are available for download from my Dominator Ukulele Tabs website. After attending the workshop if you are interested in practicing the solo examples presented in the handout then I recommend downloading the files and looping the rhythm section files, practicing the examples presented as well as improvising other solos that you come up with as you work through the techniques presented in the handout.

Alternatively, you can loop sections from your own music library of mp3s or record your own rhythm backing tracks, map out your solos, and begin experimenting with applying these techniques to the new chord progressions.

None of us are going to be shredding like Eddie Van Halen after studying the material in this workshop. But hopefully, the information provided will help you look at the chords you are playing and see the possibilities for creating your own simple yet melodically pleasing solos.

PERFORMANCES
On Saturday at 2:00pm I will be performing on the Festival Stage. A wristband is required to access this area.

On Saturday evening I will be performing with the Ukulele All-Stars in the Celebrity Ballroom. Doors open at 8:00pm. Kris Fuchigami is headlining the evening and if you haven’t had the opportunity to see him perform you don’t want to miss it. He is a phenomenal player, musician and composer as well as one heck of a nice guy.

UKULELE RAFFLE
This year there are over $6000 worth of ukuleles being raffled off including a Dominator soprano that I just completed refurbishing. I built this soprano a number of years ago and the top became damaged. I thought it would be a good lesson in top replacement and a good candidate for a raffle prize for the festival. I removed the damaged top and replaced it with western red cedar and decided to add a black MOP rosette around the sound hole. Originally, the uke had a hand rubbed oil finish but the reincarnated instrument has a hand rubbed gloss lacquer finish. Here are the specs and a couple photos. Don't forget to buy loads of raffle tickets at the festival.

13.5” scale length soprano
Cherry back and sides
Western Red Cedar top
Width at nut – 1 1/2”
Mahogany neck w/carbon fiber reinforcement rod
Ebony finger board – 12 frets clear
Ebony peg head overlay with White MOP logo
White MOP Pearl combination side and FB markers at 5th, 7th, and 10th
Black MOP Rosette
Ebony through Bridge
Corian nut
Compensated bone saddle
Planetary geared peg tuners
Hand rubbed gloss lacquer finish
Worth Brown strings