Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cheap and Simple Hawaii Vacation Ideas

!±8± Cheap and Simple Hawaii Vacation Ideas

Low Cost Hawaii Beach Resorts

Hawaii has some of the most excellent free beaches in the world, a few of which are accessible only by helicopter or landing watercraft. The Waialae stream flows through Waialae Beach Park and into the ocean, where its waters have created a wide canal through the reef. Considered by locals to be the top swimming beach in Hawaii, Lanikai's lucid waters, bright shore, and swaying coconut palms make it a photographer's dream. Hanauma Bay is one of the finest and most popular snorkeling and swimming areas in the world. Swimming and boogie boarding conditions are excellent at the Hapuna Beach State Park Big Island, which also features an abundance of fish and corals that make for superb snorkeling. Regardless of what you are looking for, Hawaii has an island and a beach that is just right for you.

Bargain Shopping in Hawaii

At the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, you will not only find bargain wares but also some great and useful freebies. They offer free lessons in hula dancing, playing ukulele, and lessons on how to make a lei. On Saturdays, there is a Farmer's Market at the Kapiolani Community College, which is a great way to soak up local culture and find some local produce and crafts, as well as spectacular deals. Don't forget to set aside a bit of time to take pleasure in the laid-back surfing town of Haleiwa, a place where you can go on a few cheap shopping sprees and discover inexpensive restaurants. Kukui Grove Shopping Center, one of the island's largest shopping centers, presents an open courtyard and provides weekly Polynesian entertainment with live music on weekends. Don't leave Maui without visiting the ABC Store at Whaler's Village, where cheap souvenirs abound and you can even pick up food on-the-go to save you some precious dining dollars. Find impressive savings at Waikele Premium Outlets for brand names like Armani Exchange, Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, and Tommy Hilfiger.

Inexpensive Hawaiian Vacation with the Family

You can expect higher rates in Hawaii during holidays like Thanksgiving, so it would be a better idea to put off your Hawaiian vacation with your family until the off-peak season to save on expenses. Even if you do not want to bring your tent, there are literally thousands of cheap vacation rentals in Hawaii that can accommodate your plans of a bargain family travel to the island paradise. Hawaii vacation homes are fully equipped with complete kitchens, which can save you tons of money on all your meals. Most vacation rental hosts also offer great amenities, such as free high speed internet access, snorkel gear, and boogie boards. The earlier you make your car rental reservation, the better your chances are for a decent deal. Discover favorite beach snorkel spots at reduced rates where tropical fish and marine life are abundant.

Cut Price Hawaii Vacation Island Hopping

All of the islands in Hawaii hold different experiences with their own geology, sites, traditions, and activities, and many visitors want to island hop and make the most of their vacation time. The ocean surrounding the islands offers great swimming, diving, and fishing experiences, as well as transportation options, which make this part of your trip planing very easy and reliable. You can relax by walking over the beaches or by lounging on the sand. For the ultimate vacation seeker, a single island home-away-from-home can be chosen as a hub from which to launch mini-vacations to the other islands. If you venture into a cheap island hopping trip through Hawaiian Airlines or Go Airlines, you can leave first thing in the morning and come back as late as 8 or 9 in the evening. Best rates are usually found on the official websites of Hawaiian Airlines and Go Airlines, or possibly via your mainland carrier when you book your flight to Hawaii.


Cheap and Simple Hawaii Vacation Ideas

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Improve Your Ukulele Strumming and Figure Out Songs FAST!

!±8± Improve Your Ukulele Strumming and Figure Out Songs FAST!

If you can't count "them", how can you keep "it"? Whether you're playing solo, or in a group, a strong sense of timing and rhythm is of the utmost importance.

COUNTING BEATS Start with the C chord. Stick out the index finger on your strumming hand like a record player stylus. Strum across the strings down toward the ground and count "ONE". Do this three more times counting "TWO", "THREE" AND "FOUR". Strumming down toward the ground is called a downstroke and always falls on a number. A number is a beat. Strumming down four times = strumming four beats = one full measure (phrase) of 4/4 time. We call the numbers "Beat One", "Beat Two", "Beat Three" and "Beat Four". Can you think of any songs that consist of nothing but downstrokes on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4? Play the Am chord, strum down on each beat, then listen to "Sandman" by America. Now play the G chord in the same manner and listen to the intro to "Bennie and the Jets" by Elton John.

ACCENTING BEATS The first step toward emulating certain songs or the feel of different music genres like country, reggae, etc, is understanding accents. Starting with those same 4 downstrokes, strum softly on beats 1 and 3, and strum beats 2 and 4 with a heavier hand. You should aim for hitting only the bottom one or two strings (G and C strings) on beats 1 and 3 by strumming slightly away from the ukulele, thereby avoiding the other strings.

Accenting beats 2 and 4 (one TWO three FOUR) emulates a drummer hitting a snare drum and at a medium to fast tempo sounds a lot like a Country or Bluegrass song. Use this pattern for songs like "This Land Is Your Land", "You Are My Sunshine", and "Keep On The Sunny Side". It also works great for "When The Saints Go Marching In".

Obviously, to strum on beats 1, 2, 3, and 4, your finger has to come up in between each number. We call these in-between beats "AND". Strum the C chord down toward the ground and count "ONE". Now move your finger across the strings toward the ceiling and say "AND". On the next downward strum count "TWO", followed by an "AND" on the way back up. Repeat with "THREE AND FOUR AND" for one full measure (phrase) of 4/4 time, this time with both upstrokes and downstrokes. Be sure to give equal volume to both up and downstrokes.

Accenting different beats produces familiar grooves to songs. Examples:

one and TWO and three and FOUR and ("Banana Pancakes" by Jack Johnson)

ONE and two AND three and FOUR and one and TWO and THREE and four and ("Faith" by George Michael)

GHOST STROKES A term originally used by drummers, I find Ghost Strokes to be a perfect way to describe what one needs to do to emulate any strum while maintaining a strong sense of rhythm and pulse regardless of whether the tempo is slow or fast. A ghost stroke can fall on either a downbeat or an upbeat and a variation/combination of both will produce very familiar sounding grooves.

Start with a repeating robotic pattern of strumming all beats: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Now replace all the "&"'s with a ghost stroke, meaning you strum OVER the strings, not actually hitting them but moving your hand as if you were. If you had a volume control and it was turned off, people watching your strumming hand would not know that you were not producing a sound on those upstrokes but if you turned the volume back up, listeners would hear just 1, 2, 3, 4, like the previous example of "Bennie and the Jets" and "Sandman".

Use ghost strokes to mimic the familiar sounds of these well- known tunes (x = ghost stroke) Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan) 1 x 2 x 3 & 4 & Leather and Lace (Stevie Nicks) 1 x 2 x x & 4 & Best Of My Love (Eagles) 1 & 2 & x & x x Angel Mine (Cowboy Junkies) 1 x 2 & x & 4 &

As with accents, the fun part comes from creating your own patterns as you practice omitting different beats at random and replacing them with ghost strokes. Sit down with your ukulele and play whatever comes to mind - you're bound to stumble across a strumming pattern for that favorite song of yours that you'd been trying to figure out for the longest time. Combining different strum patterns with different chord progressions such as C-G7-C, G-C- D7-G, F-Dm-Gm-C7-F, etc. will help keep things interesting and make it even easier to "discover" songs.

Now dust off those old favorites, revisit them with an open ear and HAVE FUN!


Improve Your Ukulele Strumming and Figure Out Songs FAST!

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