My newest book, Ukulele Gems, which is published by Mel Bay Ltd is now available to purchase as a physical book from my website www.paulmansell.co.uk
The book features 20 classical pieces, all arranged for ukulele. They can all be played on either high G or low G ukulele. There are pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Sor, Carulli, Tarrega and many others.
The book is great for students and teachers alike. I have been using the book to teach ukulele quite a lot recently and I have found the early pieces especially useful. The early pieces in the book are roughly around the grade one level. I have often found that when teaching the ukulele, there are not enough interesting pieces at the beginners level. It is always quite a challenge to give ukulele students pieces that are easy enough to be playable, yet challenging enough to push them - whilst still be fun to play and listen to.
The first piece in the book is a relatively easy ukulele arrangement of a piece by Carulli. Waltz in F is in 3/8 time and, as expected, is mainly based around an F chord. It teaches students to hold chords down whilst playing, and to ensure that notes ring out. There are no really tricky bits in the piece, but once mastered on the ukulele, it sounds beautiful. The book costs £18 including international delivery. It can be ordered directly from www.paulmansell.co.uk/shop
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