Customer Reviews

Jumpin' Jim's Camp Ukulele

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wondering where to go after you've mastered a few chords on your uke? This is a great second book for the aspiring ukulele player. Many of the tunes are familiar (On Top of Old Smokey/Spaghetti -- your choice, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Waltzing Matilda, Kumbahyah, and more), and are relatively easy to play. Like Jim Beloff's other uke books, it is filled with humor, solid tips, and trivia.

Good array of songs and novel anecdotes about camping.
Would have been nice if it were offered as spiral bound so that the book would lay flat, especially since it was used around the camp fire without music stands.
Doesn't give strumming recommendations. However, Jumpin' Jim's books don't tend to give this info.

All of Jumpin' Jim's arrangements sound great and are accessible for an intermediate player. This is a good selection of songs that are fun to sing by the campfire. I like that the book includes a fairly comprehensive list of ukelele chords at the beginning of the book. If I need to transpose a song, any unfamiliar chords are right there to look up. He does a particularly good job of choosing keys that are in a normal singing range with chords that aren't overly complicated.

I've been playing the ukulele for a few months now, and I just ordered a couple of these small-sized "Jumpin' Jim's" song books, the other being "60's Uke-in". This is by far the easier of the two, and I could just sight-read my way through it with only a couple of unfamiliar chords. These are songs I learned as a child; not sure if kids now adays still learn them, but they would be great to learn for camp-outs or family activities. The songs are written in simple keys that are accessable to most singers. Personally, I prefer to sing a bit higher, in the soprano range. There are interesting graphics/drawings throughout the book that add interest. There is a chord chart at the beginning including Major chords, minor chords, dominant sevenths, minor sevenths, dim sevenths and augmented fifths. I don't by any means know all of these chords, but I can play nearly all of the songs. I think it is also good practice to run through the chords as arranged sometimes, too. There are a couple of pages of ukulele tips following the chords, but no information about strum patterns. This is not a lesson book, but it is playable by beginner/intermediate learners. It does not, for instance teach you how to read notes, so if you don't know how the song is supposed to sound or how to find notes on your ukulele, you'll have to get someone to sing it for you or play the melody. A few of the songs are originals by Jim Beloff. The guy really knows his ukes, and you can't go wrong with this purchase.

My 7 year old daughter started playing ukulele on her own a couple of months ago. We bought a couple of books for her. She has learned a few basic chords. We were looking for a book with songs we can sing together when we are camping. This book is fun, and she loves it! Her favorite is the variation of Old Smokey but with words about spaghetti and meatballs. The size of text, chords and notes is just right. The book is small enough to fit in the ukulele case so it's easy to take along. She wanted me to write a review for this book to tell people how much she enjoys this book.

This is a wonderful group of songs for those just starting the Ukulele. I bought it as a gift for someone. Now I have to go back and buy one for myself.

As a beginner Ukulele player his series of books are perfect for me. They are clear and fun.I bought 4 of them. I love 'em!

I have used Mr. Beloffs books before and adore them! AAAA++++++++!!