Taimane plays Eleanor Rigby on ukulele

Here's Taimane Gardner (she's been playing the ukulele since she was five) warming up for a show by playing "Eleanor Rigby."

• [timquinn]

  undecorated singing . . .

  How refreshing.

• [ShadowDancer]

  dang, i just found her playing a mix she calls “led zeppelin meets beethoven.”

  it is awesome. especially at around the 2:30 mark when the energy gets high as her fingers fly on the strings.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov5mA7j-CJg

• [Gloria]

  All buck-toothed girls who excel at the hurdy-gurdy … your day will come!

• [artbot]

  Cute girl + uke = the new Steampunk!

• [Mark Frauenfelder]

  Gadgets123: “Like being stuck at a party…”

  I enjoy listening to my talented and semi-talented friends and neighbors sing and play instruments. You would *hate* coming to my house, because I have drums, ukes, guitars, strumsticks, kazoos and other instruments in the living room, and whenever people come over we have impromptu jam sessions.

• [rosc0bobo]

  Ukulele aficionados will also like:
  Jake Shimabukuro >> http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/

  Ohta San >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FpLkguY_bg
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFPAR2F5N6c

  Peter Moon >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWWAdo9JZMY
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Moon_(musician)

• [Hank]

  So all you have to do to get on BB these days is be a cute girl under 30 and play the ukulele?

  You say that like it’s a bad thing.

• [allen]

  I think living in Hawaii robbed the ukulele of whatever mystique that makes it so fascinating for people here.

  We need more cute girls playing irish music on concertinas IMO.

• [EH]

  Ukeleles: The Steampunk of 2009!

• [chezzo]

  Nice, even if she did overuse those triplets a bit.

• [jimh]

  I think it was good, too!
  And never mind samsam@#2- more cute girls with ukeleles pls.

• [ab5tract]

  oOinstathoughtbubbblesOo

  Uke is my only physical instrument of any competence. This is because it is awesome, portable, and can bring tears to the eyes of strangers.

  She has a really nice uke.

  This song asks a question still awaiting a suitable answer.

  I think it was good Taimane. Next time you should rock bb with a solo performance though.

  Or am I still tripping, thinking the off camera guy was playing as well?

• [ab5tract]

  Sorry to second post but I really meant to have already said this so,

  oOoinstaOthoughtsOcont’dOo

  Thank you Mark for all the ukelele coverage. It’s a sweet sweet bonus to hit reload and get a uke lesson for free. As well as some validation for what sometimes seems like a relatively silly endeavor.

  One day you will all cry to my electric uke ballads. And I will cry also.

  I must be tripping. I mean, did you see the news about the majority actually getting to elect their choice as president this year?

• [technogeek]

  Nice bit of informal jamming… though I really want to put the audio through a scrubber and take out at least some of the background noise, and maybe tweak equalization a bit.

  The uke is definitely a serious instrument, no less so than its bigger cousins.

  If you dismiss someone because they play an instrument you haven’t heard played well (or have never actually seriously listened to), you’re going to miss one heck of a lot of good music.

• [All Jelly No Toast]

  This is some dude on youtube playing the amazingly refreshing rendition of ‘Que Sera’ from Katamari Damacy on his uke.

  It is slightly out of tune, but all the more charming for it.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-uJXL_ca-k

  No singing, not the version of the song you know (unless you are familiar with Katamari, which is perhaps the best video game ever and a bb favourite.)

  Enjoy!

• [stoocur]

  The more I watch ukulele performers the more I’m amazed. I love it. The instrument has less “stuff” between the artist and the listener and seems more pure.

  Check out this clip of the same girl doing a song called LED ZEPPELIN MEETS BEETHOVEN. I think it’s incredible.

  http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=VhDwTFAoqmY

• [Secret_Life_of_Plants]

  I like how her hands move — not conventionally graceful but more interesting to watch, and I love when I see people getting so much music out of such a tiny instrument.

• [winkybb]

  Sound Quality. Fail.

• [Anonymous]

  To the one main guy who’s been in love with this girl for years prior: Right now, you might be having a well-founded anxiety attack because every man who sees this video is going to love her too; I salute your having been there first and loving her with more depth than the rest of us. But hey man, “all is fair…”.

• [Anonymous]

  Nice, @_@ but oddly happy (it was good)

• [SamSam]

  So all you have to do to get on BB these days is be a cute girl under 30 and play the ukulele?

• [eclectro]

  Freakish. Using an ukulele as a serious instrument and being successful.