Understanding Ukulele Chords - Mel Bay

Here's a promising-sounding new ukulele book:

"This book is intended for ukulele players who had some experience with their instruments, but would like to increase their musical ability, as well as for guitarists who like to improve their accompaniment skills on the treble strings of the guitar. There exist many excellent introductory ukulele methods, as well as extensive chord dictionaries. Instead, this book is intended for those players who wish to be able to sight read from a fake book, figure out the chords to a song without a chart, create accompaniments to their own songs, create chord solos, extend their chord vocabulary, or further their understanding of harmony."

The book's author, Robbert van Renesse, sounds like a swell guy and kindred spirit:

"Robbert van Renesse does not play ukulele for a living. He is a research faculty member of the Cornell University Computer Science Department in Ithaca, NY. Born and raised in Amsterdam, he moved to the United States in 1989 where, among many other activities, he began to play swing guitar. Soon thereafter, he joined the Ageless Jazz Band, a 20-piece big band.

Because Robbert frequently travels for his academic work, he wanted a smaller instrument to bring along and amuse himself on trips, and he discovered the joy of the ukulele. Now Robbert can be seen playing the ukulele almost everywhere, even while riding a unicycle at the Ithaca Festival. (Sorry, no tips on playing the uke on a unicycle are offered in this book.)"

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