Ukulele Joy!

Meddling with the Magic and the Mechanics of Making Music on the Ukulele

Welcome to the first installment of Ukulele Joy!

My intent here is to create a place for ukulele learners of all levels and backgrounds to discover the boundless possibilities that the diminutive ukulele holds. Beginners will find some actionable ways to grow their skills and gain confidence in making music. Intermediate players can get some much needed plates-busting tips to add definition, depth and feeling to their playing. Advanced players will get to try their hand at some tricky arrangements that are sure to both challenge and reward. Whether you are a high-G strummer, Low-G finger style player, you play to accompany singing or if you play in an instrumental ensemble, I promise that you will find some gold in the posts that will be coming.

Among my many sonic interests in the ukulele realm are: Jazz, Blues, Classical, Ambient, Rock, Folk, Celtic, African, solo & ensemble approaches to music. Look for all of these and more to be discussed here. I’ve written 3 Ukulele Ensemble Books and a Celtic Ukulele Book. There is a book of ukulele duets coming in late 2024.

It is my primary mission to disperse the maximum amount of musical inspiration to the most people possible.

I’ve been a musician for over 5 decades and have been teaching ukulele as my sole profession for 13 years.

The aim on my Substack is to post a couple of times per month, perhaps more. As I find my way here, I’d imagine things will evolve. Please be patient as I learn and grow as a Substacker.

Feel free to follow along on these sites:

kevincarroll.net

education.com

My IG account

Thanks for being here and be ready for your one-way ticket to Ukulele Joy!

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Here’s my complete bio if you want more details.

Kevin Carroll Bio Kevin Carroll, the founder of edUKEcation.com, is a world-class performing and Grammy-nominatedrecording artist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has toured the globe with Americana artists including the Flatlanders (Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock), Jimmy LaFave, Alejandro Escovedo, Robyn Ludwick, Charlie and Bruce Robison, and more. His chosen instrument is the ukulele.

Certified by—and soon hired on as an instructor within—the esteemed James Hill Ukulele Initiative Teacher Certification Program, he’s also a protégé of Hill himself.

Kevin’s love of stringed instruments had long been a calling and a career when a chronic shoulder injury sent him into a physical therapy office in 2011 and the therapist offered a trade of PT services in exchange for ukulele lessons for his daughter. That marked a serendipitous turning point in Kevin’s appreciation for the diminutive instrument and the people who play it: as quoted in a 2014 Austin American-Statesman profile penned by Michael Barnes, he says, “I learned more in three years from uke players than I did in 30 years from guitar players.”

The Statesman-coined “Pied Piper of the Ukulele” grew up in Boise, Idaho, extending his Midwestern roots down to Texas when he moved to the Live Music Capital of the World in the 1990s with bandmates hoping to pursue a career in song. Thirty years, multiple world tours and several acclaimed recording projects later, Kevin’s musical camaraderie lends itself to edUKEcation.com, where the world’s top ukulele composers and arrangers offer a broad but exclusive collection of thoughtfully-arranged sheet music for ukulele players at every level.

Based in Austin, Kevin also teaches group and individual uke lessons, specializing in Celtic, blues, improvisation, chord melody, jazz, arranging, and instruction; in conjunction with his classes, he leads a local “ukestra” ensemble. He has taught at ukulele festivals and workshops around the world, authored four books of ukulele arrangements, and continues to expand his offerings through edUKEcation.com.