Tuesday, June 02, 2009

My Dog Has Fleas

I attended a ukulele workshop by Michelle Kiba in Berkeley recently. There were about ten of us at the workshop and we strummed along as she taught us several songs. I specifically liked the song "Island Style". Since I didn't have time to tune my ukulele because I was late, I tried to tune the ukulele in between songs. I also just tried strumming the chords during the song to see if it sounded in tune. It didn't. So I kept fiddling with the ukulele's strings throughout the workshop. I noticed that the guy in front of me slightly turned his head in my direction every once in a while. He probably knew I was trying to tune my ukulele using the "My dog has fleas" tuning technique one too often. hehe. After several songs of an out-of-tune ukulele close to his ear and with about ten minutes left in the workshop, he finally turned around, handed me his electric ukulele tuner and said, "You wanna tune your ukulele real quick?" hehe

Technorati tags: Michelle Kiba

17 comments:

witsandnuts said...

Now I know the 'my dog has fleas' style. =) It must be fun playing ukulele. I remember Lilo and Stitch for that matter.

Wil said...

witsandnuts, yes, its loads of fun and its easy to learn. :)

Anonymous said...

A guitar then and now a ukelele? You're just really using your free time wisely:)

Are violins in the near future or perhaps woodwind instruments instead?

Gypsy said...

Parang ma-imagine ko ata ang may kutong aso technique ako. Hehe. Happy ukulele-ing. I dont think I can say the word "ukulele" without snickering, dunno why. :P

PS. balik blogging na ako-finally!

Wil said...

LOL, Joanne. I think that's all the instruments I'm going to learn. Although, the Chinese erhu does seem fascinating. hehe

ey, welcome back, Gypsy!

Now why would the word "ukulele" sound funny? hehe

onyxx said...

i wish i could've heard you doing that :). it must be years since i last strummed a ukelele

Anonymous said...

That's a funny name for a tuning technique. Here I thought that you went out and got a dog. :)

Wil said...

onyx, I only strum so I'm not special when it comes to playing it. But there's loads of great ukulele players on youtube (e.g. seeso). =)

niceheart, it is a bit of a strange name for a tuning technique. maybe they gave that name b/c it sticks out and easier to remember. :D

backpacking philippines said...

aan out-of-tune instrument is really distracting. i imagine your frustration on that

bing said...

and i thought ewwww! i hate fleas, you know.

sabi nila, mahirap daw pag-aralan ang ukulele

Wil said...

tutubi, probably more distracting to the guy in front of me. hehe

bing, its easier than guitar b/c it only has 4 strings. ;-)

bw said...

i have an guitar tuner - didn't know that ukeleles also have tuners :)

The Beatles were known to jam with ukeleles everytime they invite each other for dinner at their houses :)

Wil said...

Would've loved to hear those jam sessions, bw. ;-)

haze said...

You are so talented :D ! I wish to play an instrument, kahit isa man lang :D ! Kaso talaga hopeless ata lol !

Wil said...

You can do it, Haze! ;-)

Anonymous said...

I'd love to hear you play ukelele. Even if it's just tuning your ukelele... My Dog Has Fleas style.

Wil said...

You're too kind, Tani. hehe