Several years ago, in a bookstore that no longer exists, I found a wonderful book.  “The Ukulele as a Solo Instrument, C Notation: A Collection of Ukulele Solos” by N.B. Bailey and Keoki E. Awai with its 1916 copyright was an expensive purchase.  But 99 years ago, the book was only $1.00 US. I scanned a few songs from the book and periodically placed them on one of my other blogs, Ukulele Perspective .  I scanned exercises like “Pick Waltz” so you could enjoy an exercise that would increase your playing flexibility tremendously.  Or when I read about “Muffled Playing” (an odd term to say the least) I scanned “My Bonnie” for you to try.

Now, I have scanned the entire book for you.  I have updated the cover and added a few color photos throughout the book.  The yellow crumbling pages — which made it tricky to scan — have been turned white through the magic of our technology. The book is full of exercises and songs you will recognize.  You will not recognize them all, since the book is 99 years old, but you will increase your abilities in the arena of solo ukulele playing. This is a book for people who want to increase their recognition of notes and play solo lines. There are no chord formations in this book.  I have given you samples of the way the  music is written in the book by giving you “Pick Waltz” and “My Bonnie”. The book is available for you to download now.  I hope to recoup the cost of its purchase and scanning (no less than several days work to get a clean copy.)  It is no small book, but rather 70 pages. For those of you who would like extras for “Pick Waltz”, below you can hear it  and download a Guitar Pro version if you own the software.

  • Download this zipped .gp5 (Guitar Pro) version of Pick waltz.

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