On a musical note

I love learning to play a new instrument. My newest musical conquest has been the baritone ukulele. The instrument is small and intimate, rather like holding a teddy bear with strings attached.

The baritone ukulele is the granddaddy of all the ukes, measuring a full thirty inches in length. The sound is deeper, approaching the sound of a nylon string guitar. In fact, it uses guitar tuning (DGBE), which accommodates guitarists who would like to pick up a ukulele for a novelty number--or to serenade their sweetheart in a canoe (while the sweetheart paddles).

I decided to create a little five-minute video to highlight the sound of the baritone. And I offered a twelve-bar blues progression as an introduction to the instrument.

Here's hoping that you have a little music in your life--if not as a performer, at least as an avid listener who is moved by the swell of chords vibrating in your chest. You can listen and watch my little performance by clicking on the YouTube video above. And if any reader is a baritone ukulele player, the chords I'm using are noted below: