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Featured Ukulele Lessons
Learning Ukulele Strums - A Recipe for Success
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A strum is the execution of a rhythmic pattern - in a specific style at tempo.
Learning Strums, A Receipe for Success covers how to go about learning the various rhythmic patterns that are strums.
Strumming requires a specific set of skills. They are: 1) Memorization of chords 2) The ability to switch chords smoothly and 3) The ability to choose and execute a suitable rhythmic strum.
This series of lesson's focus is on the execution.
Six Essential Scales for Ukulele
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The six essential scale are: Blues, Major Pentatonic, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, and Ionian.
There are two scales that can be the memorized and all other essential scales referenced from these two. These two scales are the Major and Natural Minor scales. The Major and Natural Minor scales are traditional scales and common scales in all forms of contemporary music. This lesson explores the Major and Natural Minor scales and their derivations.
From these two scales the Blues, Major Pentatonic, Mixolydiand and Dorian scale can be created.
Core Chords - Creating the Big Six from F7, 1st Voicing
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Taking a movable F7 chord, you can derive each of the 'big six' essential chords. 7, maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7, and aug7.
Featured Books 
Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning
Beyond knowing the names of the open strings most ukulele players find it hard to learn the whole fingerboard.
If your goal is to finally learn the names of the notes on the ukulele fingerboard. Then "Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard" is your answer. "Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning" has a step by step approach to finally mastering the ukulele fingerboard. FREE download.
The Blues Scale
Learn to play the Blues scale on ukulele. Available in "C" Tuning. Scale diagrams in the QuickStart format and chords chart for all keys. This book is a FREE download.
Ukulele Chords
NEW This small (1/2 size) chord book is a great little book to carry with you. Ukulele Chords covers basic open position and basic movable form chords. From these two chord categories a variety of songs and styles can be played.
A Guide to Ukulele Chords
This book is designed as a guide to ukulele (pronounced “oo-koo-lele”) chords. Covering basic ukulele chords that ALL uke players MUST know, movable chord forms, rock uke chords, how to transpose chords, learning the ukulele fingerboard and an introduction to 4-part “jazz” chords and more...
Ukulele For Guitar Players
Ukulele for Guitar Players is a guide to transferring the accumulated experience and knowledge gained as a guitar played to the ukulele.
A Guide to Blues Chord Progressions for Ukulele A to Z
Covers the key of C major and C minor, including a detailed accompanying text explaining the principles behind each progression and the chord substutitions.
Exploring "Jazz" Chords on Ukulele
Exploring "Jazz" Chords takes the core chords from A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele and shows their use over a variety of common chord progressions based on songs from the standard jazz repertoire.
A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele
If your goal is to expand your chord vocabulary, The Advanced Guide to Ukelele Chords Series is your answer. Commonly referred to as "jazz" chords. A Guide to Advanced Ukulele Chords Volume I provides detailed information on voicing 4-part chords.
The Advanced Guide to Guitar Chords
Commonly referred to as "jazz" chords this provides detailed information on voicing 4-part chords.
Harmonic Analysis For Scale Selection And Chord Substitution
Harmonic Analysis is the understanding of the functional sequence of chords. It is the process used to analyze the harmonic structure of a progression, song or composition. This analysis is then used to make scale selections for improvisation and chord substitution.
Ukulele - Reading Music Series
Reading Music in Open Position, Single Note Studies- Primer. Reading music is not as hard as one might think. It may be new and unfamiliar to you but is not hard when you have a proper plan of attack.
Featured Song/TAB
Blue Bossa
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Blue Bossa is an instrumental jazz composition by Kenny Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972). It was introduced on Joe Henderson's 1963 album Page One. A blend of hard bop and bossa nova, the tune was possibly influenced by Dorham's visit to the Rio de Janeiro Jazz Festival in 1961. The tune has since been recorded numerous times by different artists, making it a jazz standard.
Includes: Play-along Lead Sheet, Ukulele TAB of Melody, Melody and Chord Ukulele rrangement, example chords and scales for accompanment and improv.
Over 1800 pages of
ukulele, guitar and music content. And 146 lessons for FREE or any donations.
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Curt Sheller • curt@curtsheller.com • 610 326 7295
Welcome to the main site of Curt Sheller and Curt Sheller Publications. A small (me, myself and I) independent, by choice, publishing company catering to the needs of musicians, guitar players and ukulele players worldwide with the resources and information needed to develop as a musician. Curt Sheller Publications was created by Curt Sheller (me) in 1995 and has been on the web since. I have over 40 years of playing experience and I have been involved in private music education for the past 20 years.
With my re-introduction to the ukulele after a 20 year break and taking advantage of my jazz guitar skills, I began pursuing the potential of the ukulele. Researching the field I saw very little material organized at a level that really worked. I have developed an international reputation as a ukulele expert having written over 30 books on the subject of ukulele and over 10 books on guitar.
You can checkout my Music, Art, Publishing and Programming bios at: Bios. Have work a lot of different hats over my adult working career - music and art has always been a big part of it.
Updates and new information posted just about everyday.
If I'm not teaching or gigging I'm working on the web site.
New Student and Site Membership Options
Two ways to get the greatest benefit from the Curt Sheller Publications site and Curt Sheller.
Monthly One-on-One Lesson Plans
Monthly One-on-One Lesson Plans with my Study with Curt! program. Details below of the two possible monthly on main page of the student section.
A second way is taking advantage of a Curt Sheller Publications Site Membership using an annual subscription plan.
Annual Site Membership - $99
With the Curt Sheller Publications Site Membership plan you'll get full access to my FREE books, the Premium Play-along tracks and a future student/site forum as well as the new premium lesson series downloads. The first of these premium lessons series are:
New Premium Lessons Series for Ukulele and General Music
Fingerpicking on Ukulele - Alternating Thumb Style - This series will explore fingerpicking styles on ukulele starting with a through look at the Alternating Thumb style. This style was made famous,on guitar by musicians like Merle Travis and Chet Atkins.- Harmonic Analysis - Harmonic Analysis (HA) is the process used to determine the harmonic function of chords within a chord progression. A chord progression is defined as a sequence of chords, each chord has a root and has a particular chord type. The relationship of a chord's root to a scale determines its function within that scale's tonality.
QuickStart Chord Progressions - The QUICKSTART Rhythm Section Play-along Tracks are 24 unique styles designed for learning to solo in variety of contemporary styles. Each track is devoted to a scale covered in the QUICKSTART Scale Fingerings for Lead Guitar (suitable for ANY instrument). There are four background tracks for each scale featuring the chords of the scale. These tracks give you the opportunity to explore the sound of each scale in a lead setting.- Core Chords for Ukulele, The Big Six - From four F7 chord voicings or shapes, your can build your massive 4-part, a.k.a., “jazz” chord vocabulary. Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize. Learning the principles of how chords are constructed and the ukulele fingerboard are the way to go. Then you can create more advanced chords like 9#11, 7#5-9, 13b5, 7+9 on the fly as needed.
New Releases, Updates and Changes
Checkout and bookmark the Updates and Changes pages for all the latest books, lessons, songs, listings and site goodies.
Visit the changes pages for the latest. With over TOTAL_PAGE pages of content on this site, it can get a little hard to track just what I have available, new, or updated. It's even hard for me to keep up. I have to search before I add new material.
Here is what Peter Rhee said about my (Curt Sheller) books.
"Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books!" - Peter Rhee
Thanks for visiting and checking the site!
Content is always being added and updated. So check-in often. Thanks, Curt
P.S. You may think from the look of it that Curt Sheller Publications is a slick, profitable business, but it's actually not (maybe a car payment a month, cheap car). I spend a lot and time money creating the content, lessons and books for this site (a labor of love), so if you dig my content and want to see more of it. I could use your help by spreading the word and maybe buying a book or two if you haven't already, to help defray the cost of running the site. Thanks in advance for your help. This is a labor of love and I'd do it even if I didn't make a lot of money, hey I don't!
You can also make a donation to the lesson-site fund. Button in the sidebar of the site.
If I'm not teaching, I'm working on this site and new lessons, books and goodies.
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