Monday 18 May 2020

Why Kala Brand Ukuleles Rock.


Kala Brand ukulele Beginner ukulele and professional ukulele


I'm really happy to be a Kala Brand Ukulele Dealer here in OZ, simple because I think they offer an astounding 'bang for your dollar'.  They have an instrument for a beginner and an instrument for professionals playing gigs and recording.  

I find Kala Brand ukuleles play and sound great straight outta the box, and that makes my life as a retailer so much easier.

Our Setups of ukuleles go faster and our customers are happy they are getting a quality instrument, not a toy. It's a Win-Win.

Since Mike Upton started Kala Brand in 2005 the quality of their instruments has been setting the industry standard.

Such is the demand for Kala Brand ukulele that it's hard to keep up. Luckily Shipments of ukulele arrive in Australia regularly and the Importer is also located in our hometown of Adelaide South Australia. So if I don't have a particular model (and there are 100's) on my shelves then I can order it in ASAP.

CLICK HERE to check out the huge range of Kala ukuleles.

Check out their welcome video.

 

#kalabrandukulele #ukuleletradingcoaustralia #learntoplayukulele #kalaukulele #kala #ukulele #music #musician.

Tuesday 5 May 2020

Learn Ukulele Tips; Ukulele Practise to relax your mind.


Practise Ukulele to relax and take the Zen approach to Learning Ukulele during COVID19 Lockdown.  


"I’ve taken up the ukulele.
 You can’t come out the other end of this period 
without having developed at least one new skill."  Tom Gleisner 
 

Dont stress learning ukuleleDon't get your self in knots learning ukulele.
In  these times of stress take time to ENJOY the learning of ukulele.

We live in an age of hustle bustle and hyper-productivity; now with the COVD19 lockdown and isolation maybe it is your time to embrace learning for learning's sake.  

Society is giving you time and permission to stay home on the couch, but rather than binge on Netflix and TV put that time to good use.  Pick up that little box of joy that is a ukulele, indulge in the Zen of some mind to muscle connection and learn a skill that’s great for your mental health as well as your cognitive brain health.

Listening to music is well known to alter our moods, lift our spirits and call forth memories and help lay down new memories.  But it is immensely pleasurable to make music with your own mind and hands; to take an inanimate object and make it sing is akin to magic. 


Zen and the art of ukulele.
I am a fan of approaching practise as if one was to meditate on the physical act of making music.
Practise is by definition a repetitive process, but if you get into “the zone’ it can take on a Zen like quality that has wonderful benefits for your mental and physical well-being.  Feel the strings under your fingers, listen to the sounds you make, feel the vibration of the body of your ukulele, lose yourself in the rhythm of the repetitive task.

The creative process is essential to our mental health.  In learning to make music on this little box of joy you can find a space inside where you can allow yourself to emerge.  You can calm yourselves in the repetitive nature of developing the mind muscle connection.

Learning to coax music out of your ukulele is learning for its own sake, ukulele is most defiantly not a competitive sport.  Learning Ukulele Skills is unlike learning work skills.  Ukulele doesn't have to have an achievement-based focus, or a competitive capitalistic outcome to be valuable.

Music is a science-backed way to boost mental health during stressful times.  
Many psychological music therapy studies have shown that taking part in a fun activity helps improve your mood and allows you to function better on a day-to-day basis.   Ukulele will give you a positive boost in cognitive stimulation, mental health, and enjoyment.

Approach your lockdown ukulele as a fun hobby, be kind on yourself and it will become your mental health haven.  A little bit of joyous fun time from the uncertainty of life right now.  Expressing your artistic musical self has positive impacts on your mental health and wellbeing during times of stress.

Need a ukulele, want lessons,  need some advice, we are here to help you on your ukulele adventure.
CLICK HERE Ukulele Trading Co Australia


mentalhealth hashtagukulele hashtagmusic hashtagisolation hashtagzen hashtaglearnnewskills hashtagmusicteacher hashtagukuleletradingcoaustralia hashtagmusiceducation

Wednesday 29 April 2020

Learning Ukulele Tricks & Tips to Learn with Less Stress & More Enjoyment.



A simple mental mindset trick will help you learn ukulele
with less stress and more enjoyment.  
Don't try and be perfect.
Just try to be better than you were yesterd
ay. 


  
Giving yourself permission to be a beginner ukulele player is liberating. 
You don’t have to be the best uke player, just enjoy being a better uke player than you were yesterday. Enjoy the journey of becoming better.

TIP - If you change your mindset, your stress levels will be lower and learning will be faster. It is a physiological and psychological fact.

Stress inhibits learning.
Learning the ukulele is about getting your fingers and brain talking, brain, and fingers linked by neurons.  The more stressed about making mistakes you are, the slower your brain and fingers will connect. 

Why Stress inhibits learning?  
Well, stress causes cortisol to be released into your body, and cortisol inhibits neuron growth and cortisol also inhibit muscle growth.

You never stop being a beginner at something new.
Every time I come across a new ukulele chord or new ukulele technique I am a uke beginner again. I don't know how to do it today, but if I play it daily I realize that eventually, I will know it.  Learning to play ukulele isn't like a school with year classes, a school with exams to be passed or failed.  

Don't Box yourself in.
Unfortunately, somehow we box ourselves into groups e.g. Beginner ukulele or Intermediate Ukulele or good or bad players, etc.  Our perceptions limit us, too often people beat themselves up about what they cannot do, and never seem to enjoy what they can do. 

Change your mindset - Maximize your 'cans' and Minimize your 'cannots'.
We maximize our stress over what we cannot do, we increase the release of cortisol and we inhibit our neuron and muscle growth.

Excellence in playing music on your ukulele is what happens when you play over and over again. Through consistency, your “best” will inevitably evolve. Your Brain and your fingers will form better neurological connections in small daily increments.

Embrace failure - Minimise stress - Learn faster
Becoming a musician is not about being without faults or failure, but how you learn and keep going anyway, and that way of learning leaves a positive impact on you, and on the world around you.

Success is about perception. 
If you celebrate the small wins, the small micro improvements you make daily, then that is a success!  Don’t let your perception of success be some far off distant notion of perfection. Enjoy what you can do today, and enjoy knowing that tomorrow you will be better.



Sunday 19 April 2020

Learning Ukulele Tips. Practise ukulele as Playtime

Learning To Play Ukulele Tips. Practise the ukulele like it is Playtime, not hard work.


If you approach your practise time on your ukulele with the mindset that 'this is hard work' then it will be hard work.


Take a lesson from the children. Observe children with a new game on an iPad. They just go for it, they dive in, at first they suck, then they get better.

They approach the task as play, not work. Learning through play is a term used in educational psychology to describe how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play, children can develop motor and cognitive skills required to engage in new tasks and experiences.

So pick up your Ukulele often and just have fun, just play!

Sure you will hit some bum notes, play a bit out of time, so what, no biggie.

Make some mistakes, but don't stress on them, play your ukulele and then play some more.
Enjoy the process of getting better on your Ukulele. Approach your ukulele practise time as playtime, as fun time.

Cheers CC
Now go Practise Uke err I meant go have fun.

https://ukuleletradingcoaustralia.com.au/

#ukuleletradingcoaustralia #zen #practiseasplay #explore #educationalpsychology #ukulele #kalabrand #alanwatts #musiclessons #musiceducation #musicteacher




Sunday 17 November 2019

6 String Ukulele a Guide to Fitting and Tuning your 6 String ukulele

how to tune a Tuning 6 String ukulele

A Guide to Worth C-6 Tenor Ukulele Strings. 


 Ukulele Trading Co Australia

 Strings are numbered 1 to 6;
 From the A string to the G string.
 From your feet to your head,
 Just like the floors of a building 1st floor to 6th floor.

 The G and the E Strings are single strings. The C Strings is a double course of 2 different strings (Tuned and Octave apart). The A strings is a double course of 2 different strings (Tuned in Unison). 


We recommend Worth Brand Premium Ukulele Strings

Lower Tension - Easy Playing  - Great Tone - Happy Fingers and Ears
Available in Clear for a Bright Bell like tone or
Brown for a fuller Big Bass Jazz and Rock tone

how to tune a Tuning 6 String ukuleleFitting your strings – What goes Where. 

The Guide below shows what gauge goes where, each string envelope has the size and number on it. Start with the G string and find the envelope with the 0.0224 (6) string in it, put it on your uke. Find the C String envelope with the 0.0205 (5), fit you your uke, then find the envelope marked 0.0319 (4) and fit that, etc etc etc.

Thus all the strings get put on your uke like 6 floors of a building, start at the top with the (6) G string and work your way down though the sizes till the last A string 0.0185 (1) is fitted.
how to tune a Tuning 6 String ukulele
G String 0.0224 (6)
C Strings 0.0205 (5) High C, tuned 1 octave above the regular C
C String  0.0319 (4) Regular C String, it’s the middle C note of a piano.
E String 0.0260 (3)
A Strings 0.0291 (2) Regular A tuning 440 Hertz
A String  0.0185 (1) Regular A tuning 440 Hertz

how to tune a Tuning 6 String ukulele

How do you tune a six-string ukulele? 

Standard tuning for ukulele is GCEA, whereas a six-string ukulele is tuned in GCCEAA. The G is tuned the same as a regular 4 string ukulele.

The two Cs are tuned an octave apart, the thicker string is Regular C tuning and the thinner string is 1 octave above.

The E is tuned the same as a regular 4 string ukulele.

Whilst the two As are in unison, or same Pitch, the standard ukes 440 HERTZ. 

https://UkuleleTradingCoAustralia.com.au

Monday 11 February 2019

Friday 1st March Ukulele Russ (Alaska) plays at the Hahndorf Inn S.A.

One Man - One Ukulele - One Destiny! 
To create a Rock Comedy Show
to end all Rock Shows.  

The Alaskan Madman of Ukulele is back for Adelaide Fringe Festival 2019.

Like Rocky Balboa in Rocky (I,II,II,IV,V,VI,VII) the kid will keep on punching above his weight.

Ukulele Russ creates his One Man Frontier Band on the fly with Looping pedals, Ukulele, Keyboard, Bass Ukulele and Beat-boxing.

Supported By Adelaide's own fabulous "Step In Time"

BRING YOUR UKULELES and play in the All-In Numbers.

Friday 1st March

Hahndorf Inn Brauhaus
Hahndorf South Australia.
Ukulele Russ + Step In Time + All In Numbers. 


BOOKING LINK


Concession is being a Member of ANY Adelaide Ukulele Group, Child, Student, Unemployed, Pensioner

















Sunday 13 January 2019

Monday Night 7pm - 9pm Ukulele Lesson and Jam Session The REZZ HOTEL Newton, South Australia


Monday Night 14th session will be INSIDE in the Front Bar of the REZZ under the Chilly Chilly Air-conditioning ...

You may have noticed it is all of a sudden SUMMER.

It will be back on the Deck when the weather returns to slightly less than "Hot As Hell" mode. 

Ukulele Lesson and Jam Monday evenings 7pm - 9pm.

Friday Mornings 10:30am -12 noon.

The Rezz Hotel Newton, 20 Hamilton Tce, Newton, South Australia (off Gorge Road)

Everyone welcome and I always bring loaner Ukes so bring a friend. 
Cheers CC