Customer Reviews

Jiminy Kokopo's Ukulele Sing and Strum Fun Book

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been working with a number of books and DVDs on learning the uke. To be perfectly honest, I am a total beginner at playing the ukulele and I thought that I would need a very detailed manual to learn anything. Wrong. It turns out that this book lets you learn picking (one of the prettiest versions of Aloha Oe I've ever heard) and chords in a way that let's you learn without being overwhelmed. Before I knew it, I was actually making some pretty fluid chord changes. Not only that, but the section on introductions, endings and flourishes is very cool. Wanna learn the uke? This is your book!

This is the best beginner book out there (and for all age groups, even us adults!). It presents learning in a very fun, yet thorough manner. The book starts out with the basics including history, ukulele diagram, holding the uke, strumming & picking, tuning. I liked the review on reading music as I have not picked up an instrument in years.

You start off by learning music scales made fun and easy with the notes and where they are on the fingerboard. I like it that they start you with finger picking and you learn fun songs that are rewarding since you're not just strumming the Uke (you learn chord songs later in the book).
You learn basic melody playing
1. Little Brown Jug
2. Funky Little Uke Tune (so fun!!!)
3. Aloha `Oe (harmony playing, my very favorite song in the whole book)
Then you move on to chord playing of Little Brown Jug, She'll Be Comin', and more.

I love all the little tidbits of fun things throughout the book like:
Mystery Tune Puzzle where you finger pick the notes and try to figure out what song you're playing.

The "Introductions, Endings, & Flourishes" is a kick. You learn little tunes that you can add to end of songs (or just get the attention of your friends and family) like "Shave and a Haircut" and more!

Some of the songs are not familiar to me and it would be nice to have a CD included in the book. I would also love more of the harmony playing in the format they use in the book. It's so easy to learn and smile and laugh a lot using this book!

Here's the song included in the book:
Little Brown Jug
Funky Little Uke Tune
Aloha `Oe
She'll Be Comin'
Old Folks at Home
The Alphabet Song
Pet Shop Hoedown
My Love for You Is a Gaga Gugu
The Mongoose Shuffle
Your Momma Wears Army Boots
Old Lunchroom Blues
My Grandfather's Clock
Jackson is a Monkey (aka Tip-Toe Through the Tulips)

There's also a very helpful chord list in the back of the book.

And, finally, check out their web site for more ukulele songs that you can print out at home: alligatorboogaloo dot com

Aloha :o)

This book is an excellent mix of the instructional and the entertaining. I especially like all the great background information on everything from the history of the instrument to tips for young performers. The book has a really creative feel to it which helps make the instructional content really approachable for a young audience. Highly recommended.

This is a great book for youngsters (and adults!) in learning the ukulele. I have found that the ukulele is a wonderful instrument for the young fingers and the easy to learn chords and songs in this book helps bring about a feeling of instant accomplishment to the beginner. A very encouraging book that matches a fun learning experience with a very FUN instrument!!

I bought this book for my 7 year old daughter who wanted to play guitar. Her fingers are too small, so she tried ukulele we borrowed from a friend. We also borrowed Fun with the ukulele by Mel Bay book. She ejoyed Mel Bay's book. It teaches only chord playing and no single string type playing. My dd7 liked it so much, she spent her xmas money on this book and her own uke. However, the book I am reviewing here was a bit disappointing. It is too hard for her to learn from. Print is small, so are notes and chords. It goes really fast into chords and songs given require transitions between several chord much faster than Mel Bay's book...too fast and too much at once for my 7 year old.
The cartoonish pages made me think of this book being for kids.

Aside from the content, this book is poorly made. It fell apart the moment we flipped through the pages. All glue came loose. We just pulled all pages apart, punched holes, and put the book in a binder.

This book is much better suited for older kids and adults. My 10 year old would do just fine with it, but she has 3 years of piano playing experience, and she flew through Mel Bay's book in one sitting. However, the younger ones with less coordination and familiarity with note reading etc, would benefit from book that is slower paced.

I have very mixed feelings about this beginner ukulele method, Jiminy Kokopo's Ukulele Sing & Strum Fun Book, written and illustrated by Jerrold Conners of Alligator Boogaloo. The kid in me says, 'funny stuff' and the teacher in me says, 'meh.' On the one hand you have your CRAZY POTATO COMICS, and on the other hand you have another 'throw 'em to the wolves' type of method (advanced players forget too easily how hard some of the ukulele 'basics' really are to new students). For example, it is unrealistic to think that a student is going to become fluent in 7 keys in under 50 pages of material (especially when quite a few of those pages are introduction, comics, word games, etc.).

The Good to Great

* The introductory section is great, once you get past the actual introduction; we've got to stop calling attention to ukulele stereotypes of the past - no one under 40 even knows who Tiny Tim is.

* There is a wonderful 'About the Ukulele' page that revealed a couple of bits of information that I didn't know about the instrument (and I've read a lot these type of things). For instance, the name of the ship on which the braguinha (parent instrument of the ukulele) made its way to Hawaii on was named the Ravenscrag. How cool is that?

* The 'Choosing A Ukulele' page points out that the pineapple soprano instrument is going to be a little louder than its guitar-shaped cousins - something I recognized when testing out Lanikai's LU-21 series of ukuleles, the pineapple had the larger sound (and the nicer tone - we bought one for my wife) than the regular soprano.

* I've never seen anyone take quite so much care in diagramming what goes into good downstrum/upstrum.

* The cartoons and illustrations are top-notch and entertaining. The silly-leaning prose will appeal to the young and young at heart.

* Chord diagrams, staff, sharps & flats, time signatures, note values, C scale & Chromatic scale are all covered adequately.

* There is a nice arrangement of Aloha 'Oe that beginners shouldn't find too terribly difficult with a bit of practice.

* The mystery tune puzzle on page 23 is a clever idea; I wish there were more of these in the book.

* I like that the author encourages students to make up their own words for very good old tunes whose words have lost their excitement or are dated. It is a great creative activity which can lead into personal songwriting later on.

* The author's original words in 'Pet Shop Hoedown' (to the tune of Whoa, Mule! Whoa!) should be entertaining to the young set and illustrates the above point perfectly.

* There is an adequate section on transposing - something everyone needs to learn about.

* There are a number of fun activity-book-style sheets that kids will find fun.

* The 'Introductions, Endings & Flourishes' section is a good idea, but there are a number of metrical (notated in 4 instead of 3) and rhythm errors (extra eighth notes in a measure), etc.

* Encourages you to go out and perform at your local rest homes. Great idea!

* Gives some nice tips on showmanship and getting past your nerves.

The 'Meh' Stuff

* The first song, Little Brown Jug, has you plucking a tune on all four strings using all four fingers and even takes you out of first position. Sorry, way too fast for a true beginner.

* The second tune, an original of the author, includes tricky syncopations that are only going to complicate things for a new uker. Again, too fast.

* Our first chords are C, F and G7. As I've stated in other reviews, this may seem like the logical place to start, but G7 is not an easy chord for beginners. I prefer a more gradual approach.

* An inserted errata sheet corrects the key/chord errors on 'She'll Be Comin',' but the corrected key makes the song much to high for the average singer (or too low if you sing it down an octave.

* After just three songs in the key of C, we're on to F and the introduction of the Bb chord, one of the hardest chords to get to ring out clearly without any extra buzzing noises.

* Covers some very basic strums, but doen't explore the potential of teaching and applying different strumming patterns. The Alfred method I reviewed before does a much better job with this topic.

* Three songs in F and we're on to D and another couple of tricky chords.

* The author's song, 'My Love for You is Gaga Gugu,' makes me want to gag. Sorry Jerry.

* ONE SONG in D and then off to G.

* Another original song, 'The Mongoose Shuffe,' is likely only going to appeal to the very young.

* Again, ONE SONG in G and then off to A.

* I think page 35 is in need of another errata sheet, the chords don't seem to lineup or make sense with the melody, which rhythmically should have a pickup beat instead starting on the first beat of the measure. This seems to be in F, not A.

* O.K. Where are the KEY SIGNATURES!!!

* Introduces B major family of chords with no songs to reinforce this key. Immediately moves on to E. Neither of these keys are really beginner keys.

* I've never like 'My Grandfather's Clock." Just personal preference.

* As several Amazon reviews noted, the book is poorly made and the binding cracked open on first use.

As a Fun Book, an Ukulele Comic Book, a Book to Pick up a Few Good Tips and Chuckles . . . I heartily recommend it. As a stand-alone method for beginning students, I heartily suggest you look into something else.

M Ryan Taylor
UkulelePlay.com

I enjoy this book, except for the fact that one of the songs was misprinted, and, instead of printing a revised version of the book, the publisher simply inserted a single sheet with the song ("She'll be coming Round the Mountain", page 20) on it next to incorrect version. It appears to have been shoved in so hard that my book is actually cracked down the center between pages 20 and 21, and the pages are starting to fall out. I'm fairly careful with my music books, but I'm afraid I might have to have this one ring-bound in order to keep the pages together.

The book itself does have many good points, though. Despite the silly-cartoon front of the book and the over-sized illustrations, it is useful for adults from rank beginners to a bit more advanced. I had been playing for a couple of months before I got this book, so most of the chords are familiar to me. This book adds a easy songs to my reprotoir, such as: Ahola 'Oe, Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) and My Grandfather's Clock. (in fact, I would like to take the author up on his suggestion to play for "old folks in homes"!) Another thing I like about the book are the chord changing exercises where you learn to strum chords in "families" (ie, major keys).

This book also touches on basic note reading, but for more practice and mastery of that skill, I recommend "Play Ukulele Today!" by Hal Leonard. Another book that has lots of familiar songs to strum (chords) and sing is Alfred's "Teach Yourself to Play Ukulele".

This book is only 48 pages, giant drawings included, and, while I am happy to have a few new songs, I don't feel like I got my money's worth with the broken book.

... I have learned a lot more about notes, chords and how they are used, by reading this book, then any other book I've purchased. Even as an adult I had a blast doing the kids puzzles!!! It's very easy to read and teaches you everything you would ever want to know about learning how to play the Ukulele.

I bought a ukulele last summer along with a selection of instructional books. This is definitely the one I use most. It starts with the basics and has an excellent selection of exercises and simple songs to practice. I highly recommend it for anyone looking to teach themselves to play the ukulele!

What a great book! I am not naturally very musical so I thought learning the ukulele would be difficult. I borrowed my friends book and was amazed how well it is laid out for beginners like me! The cartoons helped to keep my spirits up while practicing those chords!! There was plenty of information on ukulele history to give the book some depth as well. I had to buy TWO books, one for me and one for someone else to borrow!