Deadline: Sunday, June 3rd – 11:59 and 59 seconds (Hawaiian Time), 2012

Prize: Ukulele Pick variety pack from UKEonomics.com (Awesome Ukulele Picks). Will be mailed to your choice of addresses.

Instructions:

•Post your video on this UU thread AND on in the comments at http://ukuleleplay.com/picking-prowess-contest/ (this page)
•Video should demonstrate fingerpicking or use of an ukulele pick/plectrum.
•Video title should read “UkulelePlay.com Picking Prowess contest : Song Title”

Judging criteria:
1. How awesome is the picking?
2. How does the picking integrate into the song?
3. Overall performance.

Additional info:
•No entry limit.
•Multi-tracking and additional instruments are welcome.

From my ‘work in progress’
entitled The Giant’s Heart:

• March of the Spiders (PDF Tablature)

Back story: I’d been working on a new opera entitled The Giant’s Heart, but when I got to the scene about the giant spiders I knew I wanted the spiders to be represented musically by fretted string instruments, but beyond that I was stuck. I halted work on the opera and the next Winter got into the ukulele. Some time later I was messing around and thought, “That’s the march of the spiders” (when they go up the mountain to chase away the she eagle that is sitting on the giant’s heart).

Its taken me a while to get it down on paper, as I use Finale and it is not really that tablature friendly, but I’ve decided to bite the bullet and just push through the learning curve and the hurdles the program makes you go through.

Hope you enjoy!

We are grateful to Mya-Moe Ukuleles for being the first sponsor for Ukulele Play! 2012 and in general, great supporters of the western ukulele community. They organize their own festival in their home town of Hood River, Oregon, we saw them a couple of months ago at the Reno festival and again, yesterday, at the Denver Ukefest, where I listened to Gordon talk to one of his customers about the ‘lightness’ of their ukes and the carbon fiber reinforcement that gives the ukes strength while allowing them to remain light.

Gordon is on a year-long project of posting weekly video logs on various aspects that go into the construction of an ukulele. This week he talks about how they combine a great amount of experience in building (well over 700 ukes) with their ability to customize various models that they offer.

Be sure to visit and subscribe to the Mya-Moe youtube channel for past and future entries.

Gordon’s partners at Mya-Moe are Aaron Keim, who will be performing this Summer at Ukulele Play! 2012, and his lovely wife Char, whose lovely voice was a highlight of concerts at both the Reno and Denver fests we attended . . . Here’s a sample of Char’s singing in Denver last night: