Musical Instruments

Reviews

my 2.5-yr-old and i love this cd, especially as we're looking forward to a trip to hawaii in a month!

I have about 5 from this collection and we love them. Especially the French and African ones but I have to say this is really bad. This can't possibly be representative of the Hawaiian culture and it's music. Was this honestly the best they could do???

I love the Playground series from Putumayo and this, their newest release, is lots of fun too. Kids may like it but adults will too! Though three of the 10 tracks are more reggae than "hula", Willie K's track has a cool 30s swing arrangement and Joe McDermott (an Austin, Tx singer who's never been to Hawaii!) starts off his track with added surface noise to replicate an old 78rpm record! The Moonlighters (another non-Hawaiian group - they are from New York City) have a doo-wop sound. One highlight - at least for me - is the track by Raiatea, which has a melody that will make you hit the "Repeat" button and a great extended solo on the slack-key guitar. That said, the real disappointment is the CDs length. The 10 tracks fill less than 30 minutes! Surly Putumayo could have licensed tracks for performers like the young uke player Jake Shimabukuro (check him out on You Tube), or added a historic recording by the great Sol Hoopi. It's because of the length that I downgraded my rating. Otherwise it's a fun disc for kids and adults alike. One additional gripe: The liner notes try to teach children how to pronounce unusual words and, in this case it's the word "ukulele". Though SOME Amwerican's pronounce it "YOU-Ke-Leh-lee", the proper Hawaiian pronunciation is "Oo-koh-leh-lee". Someone slipped up here. Steve Ramm "Anything Phonographic"

I purchased this with the hopes of staving off some late winter blahs (influenza with toddlers trapped in the house, anyone?). I can't say it really recalled that serene feeling that I had on our honeymoon. The tracks were authentic but came over as flat and similar with no real upbeat songs. Probably exactly what it was supposed to be, just not the kind of album I will play over and over, unlike Putamayo's "Animal Playground" "Folk Playground" and "Latin Playground." I also recommend They Might Be Giants, Father Goose, and the Hipwaders for kid-music.

Reviews

I have seen and listened to most all of Beamer's instruction and all of it seems way to difficult for me. I am a pretty good learner but it always seems like his teaching takes a lot for granted. Just my two cents.

I never bought the vhs, I have to admit. I borrowed it from my local public library in Honolulu. I'm sure the DVD will be an improvement, allowing one to skip from cut to cut more quickly. The vhs came with a nice booklet with tabalature and tunings. I especially like his version of He Punahele, very moving and not that hard, technically, to learn (but to play in Keola's style of nahenahe is another matter!).

Reviews

Christmas gift for our eighteen month old son who LOVES guitars. He prefers a realistic one to the toy ones. So far this has been remarkably durable. Excellent value for the money. I will definitely purchase another when this one wears out!

We bought this as a toy guitar for my 2 1/2 year old son. He LOVES it! and we are quite happy with the purchase as well. It is standing up to a rambunctious kid and his little sister and it has a pleasant sound as well (mind you I wouldn't think this is much of an instrument for a serious musician but then for this cost - who would?). The downsides from a toy perspective are that the screws on the tuning pegs are rough which means it can scratch surfaces (ie coffee table) if the child isn't careful. Also we bought this for christmas and luckily received it a few weeks ahead of time so were able to put it up in the attic to air out outgas - the paint was particularly stinky when it arrived - makes me worry a little about what it was painted with -- since it isn't marketed as a childs toy they don't have the same regulations on product safety.

I am a professional musician who recently bought this as a gift for a friend's 9 year old son. The boy is musically inclined, but I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of money on a high end instrument. So I tried this one. I didn't expect a high quality tone, but I am shocked at how poor an instrument (toy) it is. It cannot even be tuned to itself. I play a half dozen stringed instruments so I know pretty well how to get around one that's poorly made, but jeez, all I got with this Woodstock Made in China thing was major frustration. I'm taking it back to where bought it & finding a better quality uke elsewhere. At least the old toy pianos were in tune with themselves. You expect the sound quality to be poor, but at least a C chord sounds like a C chord. How are we supposed to encourage kids to be musical if even the $20 "starter" instruments suck?

I bought this for my 3 year old since she loves Taylor Swift so much. I knew before it arrived that it would be poorly made and about the size of a toy, yet somehow I was still displeased when this item arrived. Thankfully, I didn't receive the Pink one that others have, but I felt like one hard days play with this 'guitar' and it would be broken. The fact that the strings were nylon didn't help its cause. You know the saying 'a penny wise and a pound foolish'? That sums up this experience. I immediately returned this item (thanks Amazon) and went to Ebay and bought another that was only $5 more. I have since received that one and not only was it a few inches longer but had real strings, pick, bridge, the works. This one can be tuned and enjoyed for quite some time. (Best part? the new one looks exactly like Taylor's guitar, just mininature)

We purchased this as a toy for our two year-old, who loves guitars. He absolutely loves it! It's the perfect size for him. I don't think the overall appearance is high quality (crooked frets, streaks and smudges in the finish), but it does well as a toy. I don't know how well it would do as an actual instrument; we've tried to tune it, but it doesn't stay very well.

Reviews

This book was clearly written with easy to understand directions. A first time Uke learner could follow along easily.

the title is kind of misleading - I expected more traditional Hawaiian songs & less "see spot run" type instruction -

I am giving this book three stars as a beginner's book, and only one star as being representative of what it's really about. So the average is two stars. This is NOT a book on playing Hawaiian ukulele music, which is what I thought it would be. It's a beginner's book on playing ukulele in general, the only thing Hawaiian about it is the cover and a few pictures of a Hawaiian woman holding a ukulele. I don't consider including Aloha Oe as one of the selections as making this a book on Hawaiian ukulele. As a beginner's book, it's not bad, but there are better ones out there today that include DVDs, as well as a lot of free online instruction that covers these same basics. I am an intermediate player and I'm disappointed that there wasn't enough information about this book in the description because that would help in clarifying that this is a beginner's book that covers just regular folk songs and basic strums. I thought there would be sections on Hawaiian music (other than just Aloha Oe) and on things like Hawaiian turnarounds, etc. I would only buy this if you are brand new to ukulele and have not played an instrument before. And even then, as I said there are better choices out there. It's also hard to use any book to learn an instrument when you're at a rank beginner's level without having some sort of interactive instruction with a real person who can evaluate your technique and give you feedback.

Package received prior to Christmas even thought they couldn't promise early delivery... Outstanding! Package well wrapped to avoid water damage and prompt delivery. Thank you!

Great Book! Really easy to follow with plenty of good pictures of finger positions.

Reviews

this book is TERRIFIC. the songs aren't fiendishly hard, yet they're not insultingly easy; all in all, they sound great! the cd is great; it not only gives the track to let you know how it sounds, but it keola gives you a good explanation for each song as well. the only downside is that i wish there were more songs in the book. 5 is too little for the price, and enjoyment. nonetheless, buy this book! keep slack key alive!

This book is a good introduction to slack key guitar, instruction booklet and cd work very well together. The music is pretty and refreshing and would enhance any guitarist's repertoire.

This is a great book, easy to follow- especially when you pair it along with the CD. Mr. Beamer takes his time and breaks apart each song so that you can actually learn how to play in his style. He gives you seven beautiful songs and plays them all in such an enjoyable way that you are inspired to emulate him through your playing. I am only a beginnner, but I feel fairly confident that this book will get me to where I want to be because of his wonderful teaching style. I ♥ it! He gives you 3 different tunings, and the music he chose is conjures up fun and emotion. If I could rate this more stars, I would. Excellent book, I highly recommend this one over any other. Trust me, I bought the other one and it doesn't even come close to this- Keola Beamer's is the best.

What a great intro to slack key from Keola Beamer. The material presented herein should not present any problems for a lower intermediate fingerstylist. Anyone who has played county blues or other fingerstyle arrangements will be able to work through these tunes without much trouble. However, at some point during the lessson it just might dawn upon you just what great music this is! While the essence of slack key is the tuning and the style of play, in the end it's the beautiful music that is the reward. The notation and tablature is accurate and beautifully rendered and the tune selection showcases several popular tunings for modern Hawaiian slack key music. Add Beamer's DVD "The Art of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" (Homespun Tapes) and you'll be well on your way to the Aloha spirit.

That would describe this book and CD. Mr. Beamer gets right to the point in this one as he talks through the tuning of each song (seven in all!) and then breaks the songs into easy to digest pieces. The presentation of the tab and CD gives you the one to one instruction feeling, like you are jamming with an old friend! if you are wondering at what slack key style is run and get this book! It is a beautiful introduction to the art form taught by one of the masters. there is not much theory that is talked about, just getting to play and feeling the aloha.

Reviews

I have had so much fun with this book. I am a long time guitar player and new uke player. This book made the transition easy and a lot of fun. Having a CD to play along with is great. This is the book I would recommend to anyone wanting to play Hawaiian style uke.

This book and CD was well worth the price. The difficulty ranges from easy to intermediate. I love the songs and the singing on the CD. I highly recomend this book and CD.

IMHO, this is more of a repertoire book than a method book. However, the collection of Hawaiian songs of progressive difficulty (beginner to intermediate) is exactly what many folks are looking for after they fall in love with Hawaiian-style ukulele music. I haven't found anything else out there with this many pieces at the beginners' level. The CD is rather enjoyable as well. Pair this book with a method book (like Hal Leonard's "Play Ukulele Today") or a method DVD (like "Learn to Play the Ukulele with Roy Sakuma") and you should have a very good starter set.

The songs are really beautiful with words to the songs in Hawaiian along with the English translation. The CD is fabulous - very professional and good vocals. This set is perfect if you do not know the Hawaiian songs because after you listen a few times you know the melody and can sing and play along. I'm just so glad I bought this. I am a beginner at ukulele but play a couple of other instruments. I can play a few songs - the slow ones - but I am progressing fast because I just love the music so I play it a lot.