Customer Reviews

Play Loud Ukulele

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

 

 

Jake Shimabukuro is an unbelievable ukulele player and a fantastic guy. This DVD is definitley for advanced players. He demonstrates some very difficult techniques that would take most people years to master. He shows you the techniques one time and then plays them at full speed! Beginners & intermediates might find this a bit frustrating but the DVD will definitely show you the unlimited possibilities and potential of the ukulele

While I am not necessarily a fan of so-called "shred" playing, which to me is playing lightning fast just because you can, I think the right and left hand playing techniques Jake demonstrates in this video are really helpful, even if one does not plan to play them as fast as he does. He does a good job explaining what he's doing and how he does it, and you can tell he just loves playing music and teaching. The video quality did not bother me as it did some others.

This is a great video for intermediate players who want to kick up their strumming proficiency in a dramatic way. These are good techniques that anyone can use to illustrate various songs, even if theyre not played as fast as Jake plays.

The bonus to me was the performance footage. While this is not the ukulele style that I most prefer, I can definitely respect what he's doing and how hard it is to do. This video is a terrific value and highly recommended.

While this is the best DVD showing Jake in concert and even a face-on demonstration of ukulele technique and stylings, there is a tendency for the camera work to become a distraction. In one segment of Jake playing in a small cafe type environment, why does the cameraman try to get fancy (or maybe trying to show photo techniques) by filming Jake with a post in the way, or focusing on his back?. I found myself trying to get the camera back to Jake playing his ukulele and watching his amazing hands and fingers fly across the strings. To me, the focus should be on the amazing talent of Jake Shimabukuro, not the embellishment of the producer's attempt to show how creative he can be to sell this DVD. Sometimes simple is more important than being avant garde. Let Jake sell the product by his playing......and let the producers humbly get out of the way.

Quality is good. You get to watch his CrossCurrent Concert, interviews, three videos,and a learning section. He teaches you his strumming techniques...and they are advanced. This isn't traditional Hawaiian music; this guy jams and shreds on the ukulele.

Songs:

Toastman's Dilemma,
Equator,
Sunday Morning,
Skyline, Europa,
Toastmaker's Revenge,
Spain,
Crazy G.

Music Videos:

Crosscurrent,
Toastmaker's
Dilemma,
Wish upon my Star


Why can't the publisher provide the song listings? Or for that matter, if you see in the description the songs are missing and you've bought this and are already writing a review, how about giving us the song listings?

Excellent video and wonderfull lesson by Jake. He gives plenty of techniques to practice. If you want to learn how to play the tenor Uke like Jake Shimabukuro (the Edward Van Halen of the Ukulele) then this is the DVD for you. Forget all that macho s#*t and learn how to play Uke.

Although the camera work is a bit amateurish and mis-directed, as others have stated, this is a wonderful DVD and the first I saw of this incredibly talented artist. The parts that DO show his fingering and technique are amazing. I just watched the A & E Biography of Hendrix (for the eleventeenth time!) and was amazed at the technique he used was and still is unparallelled. Same with Jake. All I could think of throughout the whole dvd was, "Wow! I'd love to hear him with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones or June Yamagishi and Papa Grows Funk." Two other bands that like Jake, are known to a very small segment. Hey! College DJ's! Play some Jake Shimabukuro and get the national recognition going! Overall, this is an enjoyable dvd especially if you've never seen him before. And it's great to put on and queue to the playing portion---then just listen. Fantabulous!

I recently was fortunate to see Jake play live for the first time (I also met him and he is a super nice and humble guy).

I became a fan after I started playing 'Ukulele and got this DVD despite the reviews that the video quality is junky and the teaching is for advanced players only but actually found this to be misleading.

One thing I need to be clear on is that this video is about one hour of concert footage and short interviews in Japan from his Crosscurrent tour, 2002 I think and the video quality of the concert footage is good, the audio is very good so well worth it. DVD DOES Jake justice. The reason I brought up seeing him play LIVE recently for the first time is because his albums while great (and I have them all) do not do him justice, you have to see him live to really see him shine and here is your chance even if it is older footage.

There are also 3 or 4 music videos that I enjoyed as well.

The teaching part is fun, helpful and quite short but packed full of Jake style playing that is useful for a player of ANY level who is willing to take the time to go through it step by step and not rush it. He teaches several of his strumming techniques that are pretty unique to his play but really simple when slowed down, with little exception.

He then teaches you how to play "Yesterday" the Beatles classic in his interpretation and while I would rather learn this on paper with the music and tableture even I at my advanced-beginner level could learn to play this proficiently if I wanted to devote the time...everyone has different learning styles but you might find it easy to pick up watching him.

IN ANY CASE, if you play or not if you are a fan GET THIS DVD for the Live Footage and Videos. The Audio is great and I didn't really see any video problems and I am a Professional still photographer but in any case if the video quality is not hi-def it is more than tolerable, CHECK IT OUT!

This is a good dvd for learning about Jake's style. It isn't for the total beginner (e.g. no explanation about fingering for chords), yet his explanations of strumming techniques are simple and effective. The performances are also very good, though since the DVD is a bit old (2004) it doesn't feature some of the songs that really show off his maturing talent (e.g. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Ehime Maru, are not on this DVD).
All in all, I would recommend this, as Jake's style is unique and very cool.

I first heard this gentleman play on a flight to Hawaii. He came up on the screen and I was in awe of the way this cat made that Uke talk, walk, and sing. Anyone who is a music fan and loves a great musician will love Jake Shimabukuro.