Show Notes
Welcome to Uketropolis, a podcast with real ukulele answers to real ukulele questions. I'm your host, James Hill. I'm a lifelong ukulele player, teacher and believer in the power of ukulele to make positive change in the world. I've written and co-written several ukulele methods including Booster Uke, The Ukulele Way and Ukulele in the Classroom. I'm also the co-founder of the JHUI Teacher Certification Program and in 2019 I brought all of these education projects into one place and called it Uketropolis.com. Thousands of students worldwide have formed a warm, supportive learning community around these resources and what I do every week in this podcast is I choose a few real student questions from Uketropolis.com and offer my suggestions and thoughts on those questions.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge that I'm a third-generation Canadian ukulele player and that many players and teachers have paved the way for the work I've done as a teacher, player and author. First, thank you to the Godfather of Canadian ukulele, my friend and mentor, J. Chalmers Doane, my childhood teachers Jamie Thomas and Peter Luongo and many others along the way who kept the ukulele flame alive long before the third wave. Thank you Bonnie Smith, Bill Wallace, Warren Dobson, Cam Trowsdale, Lorna MacPhee, Marven Shields, Jody Wood, Vince and Charlene Sequeira, Tina Horwood and so many other devoted ukulele educators. A special thank you to my teachers and friends in Hawaii who inspired me and, long ago, embraced this young Canadian ukulele player and welcomed "Kimo Pu'u" into their musical 'ohana: Ohta-san, Herb Ohta Jr., Kimo Hussey, Byron Yasui, Benny Chong, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, Roy and Kathy Sakuma. Everything I know about ukulele has been shaped by what you've shown me and I'm very grateful to pass on some of that knowledge and aloha in this podcast.
Thank you for listening and I'll see you in Episode 1!