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Ukulele Clubs
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Doug Chadwick Date: 23 Dec 11 - 03:24 PM HUG Hull Ukulele Group, HULL just had to have one didn't we!! Anyone know of anything similar on t'other side of the Humber? DC |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 23 Dec 11 - 07:47 AM I feel sorry for the poor seals. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Mr Happy Date: 22 Dec 11 - 10:19 AM Didn't know they could be used as clubs? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 22 Dec 11 - 02:56 AM Quick retrospective on the BURP year: having started up as a monthly thrash about twenty months ago, Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players (BURP) have gone from strength to strenght and regularly get in the mid 20s at the monthly sessions. Some of the more accomplished players have done some gigs: three ukulele festivals and a folk festival. We also intersperse a few other pubs either as extra thrashes or sometimes as gigs. On Sunday just gone we played three Christmas gigs at local care homes. And it's all huge fun. We have our last thrash of the year on Wednesday the 28th at The King's Arms, King Street, Tring, Herts UK to which all uke players are hugely welcome. And we'll continue on the third Thursday of each month at The Three Horseshoes, Winkwell, Bourne End, Herts throughout 2012. But a highlight of 2012 will surely be the all day ukulele festival we're hosting on 3rd March which is going to be fantaby-dooby. See the specific thread : Ukes for UNICEF festival thread or the web-site Ukes for UNICEF. Cheers! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 06 Jan 11 - 02:04 AM Well, on Mighty Ukulele there are two clubs in Birmingham and one in Kidderminster if that's close enough for you. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST Date: 05 Jan 11 - 05:58 AM does anyone know of any ukulele clubs in the leamington spa ares? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 22 Dec 10 - 02:38 AM Oh, hello, Valmai! Sounds like a great workshop. Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players have a special one-off UkeThrash! (all welcome: beginners, improvers, and beyond) during the Christmas holidays on Wednesday the 29th at The King's Arms, King Street, Tring, Herts, HP23 6BE, UK from 8pm |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:50 PM Just a note to say that booking is now open for this: Lewes Saturday Folk Club Workshop No 140 CLIVE HARVEY UKULELE WORKSHOP Places £28 Saturday 19th. February 2011 10.45 a.m.- 4.45 p.m. Elephant & Castle, White Hill Lewes BN7 2DJ Formerly with the rib-tickling Roaring Jelly, then R. Cajun & The Zydeco Brothers & more recently The Omega 3, Clive is a witty & inventive professional musician, singer, songwriter & artist. He has played for & with Paul McCartney & supported Van Morrison & Lonnie Donegan. His playing was a major inspiration to the magnificent Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. He is a fine teacher of this delightful instrument, now rated the world's most popular folk instrument. The workshop will cover left- and right-hand techniques for soprano, concert & tenor ukulele from basics up. Beginners & improvers welcome. Some spare ukes available for loan/sale (first come, first served). IN THE EVENING CLIVE HARVEY PERFORMS AT THE ELEPHANT & CASTLE Admission £7. Advance tickets from address at end of this form. CLIVE HARVEY UKULELE WORKSHOP Saturday 19th. February 2011 Provisional Timetable 10.45 Registration & coffee; please order lunch at the bar (refreshments not included) 11.00 Tuning, holding, basic chords & inversions (if applicable) 12.30 Lunch 13.30 Chord changing, strumming, fingerpicking (if applicable) & tab 15.00 Tea/coffee break 15.15 Putting it all together, arrangement, performance 16.45 Finish N.B. Booking is recommended as numbers are limited. Music will be sent in advance & maps & accommodation lists on request. CLIVE HARVEY UKULELE WORKSHOP Saturday 19th. February 2011 BOOKING FORM I would like to attend the workshop. I enclose a cheque for £28.00 (refreshments not included). Name: Address: Telephone: E-mail address: Tick for map: Tick for accommodation list: No. of tickets @ £7 for evening performance (include SAE for these): Please make cheques payable to Lewes Arms Folk Club (that's right) and send with this booking form to: Valmai Goodyear, 20, St. John's Terrace, LEWES, East Sussex BN7 2DL |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: autoharpbob Date: 20 Oct 10 - 06:38 AM I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this, so I will plug it anyway. Mansfield Ukulele Group - MUGs all - meet on a Tuesday night at the Brown Cow, Mansfield, Notts, 7.30, before the Folk Club starts at 8.30. And a fine body of pluckers they are, as their six song set at the Folk Club last night proved. Google Brown Cow for more details. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 20 Oct 10 - 02:41 AM Two sessions in West Herts this week: see my posting three above... They'll be storming!!! And that's a promise. I have a pint with your name on it that says so... |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Ritchie Date: 06 Oct 10 - 03:34 PM Ukuleles .... it'll never take off. http://www.thebeatlescompleteonukulele.com/ http://beatlesite.info/ regards Ritchie (formerly of The Ukulele Allstars) member of ... "The Tune Army" & "The Stockton to Darlington Ukulele Expresss" |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 06 Oct 10 - 07:53 AM Er, hullo? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 03 Oct 10 - 04:44 AM Here are a few forthcoming events that I'm involved in: Workshop at Banbury Folk Festival on Saturday 9th October at 12.00 at The Mill Arts Centre Regular third Thursday of the month Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players UkeThrash at The Three Horseshoes between Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted Hertfordshire HP1 2RZ. Thursday 21st October from 8.15pm. More information at BURP!. Free. Special one-off BURP! on tour at The King's Arms, Tring on Saturday 23rd October from 8pm as part of the Apple Festival. Free. The King's Arms is at King St, Tring, Hertfordshire HP23 6BE Yes, since starting this thread not so long ago, it's become something of an obsession! Come and find out why... (Hint: it's huge fun!) |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 14 Jun 10 - 03:50 AM I'm glad you brought that up. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 14 Jun 10 - 02:18 AM BURP* III this coming Thursday, the 17th. ~8^) *Berkhamsted Ukulele Right Palaver. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 04 Jun 10 - 02:24 PM We have an all-day ukulele workshop at the Lewes Saturday Folk Club in Sussex on Saturday 19th. February 2011 with Clive Harvey (Roaring Jelly, The Omega Three). Workshop hours are 10.45 - 16.45 and a place will cost £25. Clive performs at the club in the evening. To go on the Interested list, PM me or email me on valmaigoodyear[at]aol[dot]com. Valmai (Lewes) |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 04 Jun 10 - 01:41 PM Ah, yes... BURP* is going well. We have our third session on Thursday 17th June. The first two have been fantastic. I've also done a couple of festival one-offs at Holmfirth and Bude which have also been great fun: we had 17 pluckers at Bude. Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players We're still only about halfway through the initial songlist on the club web site - although we do tend to do the favorites again. Still a while until I feel like I've got to source some new stuff. All ukesters welcome!! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Rob Naylor Date: 04 Jun 10 - 01:22 PM One's started on alternate Mondays at the High Brooms Tavern in Tun Wells (same venue as the 4th Thursday in the month singarounds). I went to the second one last Monday for a laugh...and we played EXACTLY the same song list as Hamish noted in his OP above. They'll need to broaden that out a bit as some of the people who'd been to both sessions were a bit fed up that they'd played the same stuff as last time. Sounds as if there's a "Standard Uke Songbook" going around. I agree that one individual uke (unless a good one, played by an expert) sounds crap, but 40 of them, even mostly played by complete novices, sound quite OK...and the singing was good, too. More popular than the Thursday singarounds in numbers participating. We're trying to "migrate" a few though! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Mr Red Date: 04 Jun 10 - 12:59 PM Pitchcombe village hall (nr Stroud Gloucs UK) alt Wednesdays. PM me here & I can give you contact names/numbers. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Desert Dancer Date: 04 Jun 10 - 12:28 PM NPR had a nice spot this morning on the revival (click) and a documentary out about it called, "The Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog". There are clips on the NPR page (and as always, the NPR audio of the story is slightly richer than the transcript). The bottom line of the story was that a big part of the uke revival is the social aspect of the playing, as well as people getting back to making music themselves. ~ Becky in Tucson |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Goose Gander Date: 16 Apr 10 - 10:46 PM Maybe Richard Bridge needs a better uke. Or maybe he needs to learn how to play the instrument. Any instrument sounds bad if you don't know what you're doing. But then he doesn't like banjos, and here he proves himself to be an idiot - some of the greatest folk music ever recorded was played on banjos. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 16 Apr 10 - 12:51 PM Well, phew! That was in a word awesome. A real blast. Such fun. We had a nice alcove in the public bar and the "normal" people in the main part of the bar had a ball, too. Lots of positive feedback and people were even dancing and joining in on some of the numbers like Dance the Night Away and YMCA... With an age span from 16 to 60 and a wide range of backgrounds it was a great mix. And with lots of good voices we were onto a winner. I think it's fair to say some of the "hardly ever had the uke out of the box before" folks struggled a little on the faster or more complex numbers, but there were plenty of two-chord songs to keep them onside. And many of those are just plain great songs anyway: like the aforementioned Dance the Night Away; and Iko Iko. What was particularly nice was that there was a decent range of songs in the book and we could do requests to an extent - and it was the 16-year-old who chose some of the classics like Bye Bye Love; Hello, Mary Lou; Every Day... We had about half who were folkies, a quarter who were established ukesters and a quarter who were neither. And when we got onto the big pop/uke numbers like Sloop John B and Bad Moon Rising, we were fabulous: some great harmonies. Can't wait for the next one... Thursday 20th May, just in case you were about to ask... Hamish, for Berko Uke Random Pluckers (BURP!) |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 07 Apr 10 - 03:14 PM Brilliant, Jane: it's good to know which fliers are scoring hits, so's to speak! Hamish |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BusyBee Paul Date: 07 Apr 10 - 02:08 PM You'll enjoy it Jane. If Hamish canters off too fast, just rein him back a little!. Deirdre |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,Jane Date: 07 Apr 10 - 11:22 AM Saw your advertising in the Amersham record shop and now printing out the music - hope absolute beginners standard is OK.... |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 07 Apr 10 - 03:48 AM Way hey!!! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 15 Mar 10 - 05:35 AM Just a wee nudge up the list cos i've been in mild publicity mode oiver the weekend. I don't plan to start a dedicated thread, cos the UkeThrash (see my 26 February post, above) isn't going to be "a folk singaround with ukes", and I'm expecting the majority of punters to be at best only dimly aware that there's such a thing as a folk scene*. So you're reading this post because you're interested in ukes, right? See you on 15th April! :-) -- Hamish *and, that being the case, we can always tell them, can't we? In a helpful and sensitive way. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Guernsey Pete Date: 04 Mar 10 - 05:08 PM Sorry to read earlier in this thread about the teacher who spent ten minutes setting up her instrument, and the other who walked away from someone who said he played standing up. Also the OFSTED report, but it was from The Sunday Express, wasn't it, so we can take that with it's usual pinch of prejudice? Having now taken part in the 851 ukes World Record Attempt at London Uke Fest last year I feel privilidged to be part of such a great community ( even if my wife was trying to 'out' me as a guitar-player ). Also the UOGB for their great Prom at Albert Hall - that was an honour to have been in. What do a crowd of uke players do at the end of a performance ? They wave them in the air, that's what. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,Songbob Date: 04 Mar 10 - 04:37 PM Ukulele clubs? Why? I mean, you can break one in your bare hands, or, at need, over someone's head. Who needs a club? Dang! They make specialized tools for just about everything these days, don't they? What? You meant clubs for uke players? Well, yeah, but only as a last resort! Bob (actually the proud owner of four or more of the things) |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 04 Mar 10 - 03:14 AM Hic! (That's Latin) |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 26 Feb 10 - 05:53 AM Yay! I've booked the first few sessions of Kooky Ukes - Berkhamsted Ukulele Random Players (BURP) - at The Three Horseshoes, Winkwell (betwixt Berko and Hemel, Herts, UK). Inaugural session will be on Thursday 15th April and thereafter 3rd Thursdays of the month. More information and sign up at Kooky Ukes -- Hamish |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 24 Feb 10 - 04:28 AM Ukulele Hunt is a grand site. Just watch out when you use the shortened version of the name. The logo gives the game away rather. We do love our puns, don't we? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BlueJay Date: 24 Feb 10 - 12:58 AM Oh, and Flashmeister, thanks for the links. I've added "ukulele hunts" to my favorites, looks interesting. Thanks, BlueJay |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BlueJay Date: 24 Feb 10 - 12:52 AM I am a proud member of the La Veta, (Colorado) Ukulele Orchestra, which boasts over a hundred members, (though we can seldom collect more than twenty or thirty at a time). My daughter and son-in-law Annie and David, started the LVUO a couple of years ago, and we've marched twice now in the local Fourth of July Parade. What fun. More interestingly, a few months ago David and Annie were contacted by the school in Crestone, CO. (Tiny school, probably <50 students). They requested an intro level class presentation with the option of purchasing ukes if any were interested. I wasn't able to go, but it was a grand success, with many of the kids and staff purchasing ukes. The kids have been practicing. In fact, they start each school day with 15 minutes of ukulele practice! What a cool thing! Well, somebody up in Denver got wind of it, and now the kids are scheduled to perform in Denver at two or three functions involving the Governor, legislators, and the Arts Council. Maybe I can get Annie to post some more details. Long Live The Ukulele!!! Thanks, BlueJay |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Flashmeister Date: 23 Feb 10 - 09:47 AM We have two regular ukes at my session (myself as one) and visiting ones too - they are fantastic little instruments and are about as addictive as crack once you get going on them - I have been twittering away on several uke projects this week and was up until 2 last night hunched over my tiny fret board in a fervent uke frenzy! A good site for interesting chords and tab is here - ukulele hunt and also on a tab site www.chordie.com you can change the tab diagrams down the right had side to Uke C or D tuning. I think that if a school can give a child a glockenspiel or two wooden blocks to hit as a musical instrument then a uke is by far more rewarding and could lay the foundations for young people and kids to get into playing other members of the stringed family. Form uke to lute in 5 easy steps! Hamish - I would love to support a Berko uke night - as long as I could get there and it sounds a bloody good idea to me :-) Sooner or later you're gonna have to come and see us at the Globe, Dunstable brandishing that uke of yours!! .....Now to see if i can sneak a tenor uke in without the other half spotting it! :-D |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 23 Feb 10 - 08:38 AM I'll be going to Ukulele Wednesdays again tomorrow, the 24th. Starts about 7pm, downstairs in The Royal George, Goslett Yard just off Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EA - near Tottenham Court Road tube station. Mental but brilliant! Come and see what I've been raving about: you know you want to... |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Fidjit Date: 23 Feb 10 - 04:32 AM Nice one Piers. I have two hanging on the wall." Serves 'em right! Yellow one = Chineese Chas |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 22 Feb 10 - 10:57 AM ...and at Bude! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 22 Feb 10 - 04:36 AM Well, the Ukethrash at Kirkby Fleetham yesterday was fab. Only four combatants, but I was well pleased with it. Looks like I'll be doing a repeat of it at Holmfirth in May. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Piers Plowman Date: 22 Feb 10 - 02:58 AM Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Fidjit - PM Date: 20 Feb 10 - 07:24 AM "150 people turned up. I have two hanging on the wall." Serves 'em right! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Fidjit Date: 20 Feb 10 - 07:24 AM Infectious beasts are here too in Sweden. We just had our fourth annual Ukulele Festival. 150 people turned up. I have two hanging on the wall. The Yellow one is very decorative, but useless as it won't stay in tune. The slim line Eagle is great fun to play. Sadly I only take it off the wall once a year though. Chas |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,BBP at work before KFFC! Date: 19 Feb 10 - 07:35 AM How's that? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 13 Feb 10 - 07:07 AM yah! Jennie the multi-intrumentalist. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: JennieG Date: 13 Feb 10 - 02:53 AM Yesterday I bought a uke for medicinal purposes - not as silly as it sounds! I'm having some trouble playing guitar again since I broke my left arm late last year, can now play chords in D and A but anything in the key of C is not yet possible because of the finger stretch and pain involved. So I bought myself a uke, and will use it as therapy to help me get back to playing more guitar again. Last night at my folk club I even performed a song accompanied by the three chords I have learnt so far. Then, even when I can play guitar, I will keep playing uke. Cheers JennieG |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 09 Feb 10 - 11:44 AM ...thought I'd just give this a wee tickle... |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 02 Feb 10 - 06:37 AM Ukuleles are big here, too - UkeOz ! Australia Wide Ukulele Gatherings I hadn't realised it until a few uke players wandered into my folkie life in recent years. Cameron Murray, the son of one of my friends is the only Australian member of the Hawaiian Ukulele Guild & the first time I saw him & uke in action his hand moved across the strings in a blur. Mick Conway of the legendary National Junk Band is another legendary player, multi-instrumentalist & magician (sword swallowing & card trick & stuff, not a typo for bloke who makes music!) Singer, multi-instrumentalist & children's entertainer Mike Jackson includes a tutorial for children on his site. Ukuleles are apparently addictive & great fun. sandra |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 02 Feb 10 - 05:02 AM Uh oh! Moth to the flame time. It now seems I'll be leading a UkeThrash at the KFFC Winter Warmer!! Feb 19th-21st 2010 (UK). Should be great!!! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,BBP at work Date: 01 Feb 10 - 09:18 AM Pity Berkhamsted isn't a mile or hundred closer to me! I think the respirational wotsit says it all! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 01 Feb 10 - 06:14 AM And... having just read the tip on using filtering to get around the fault with the Mudcat search facility, here are a couple of recent ukulele threads which I'd previously failed to find: Help: Buying a Ukulele ukulele to replace recorder The Ukulele Project ...enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 01 Feb 10 - 05:44 AM And here's the draft mission statement or terms of reference or aspirational whatsit for the Berko Ukes: YOU!kelele I kelele, you kelele, he, she or it keleles We kelele, you kelele, they kelele. Everybody keleles! This is the home of the Berkhamsted ukulele club. A highly participative club for beginners and improvers who just want to have some musical fun in an uninhibited, supportive, ever-so-slightly daft atmosphere. From 8pm until 9pm there will be a beginners' session – although more experienced players are welcome – where we'll keep to more simple songs where the chords are easy and the changes don't come too thick and fast. From 9pm we'll include some slightly more tricky numbers – and the beginners are strongly encouraged to stay on for that. The repertoire will evolve as regulars and random participants introduce personal favourites, but for starters it's likely to include stuff by Bon Jovi, The Monkees, Rainbow, Jungle Book, Beachboys, Creedence Clearwater, Johnny Cash, Manfred Mann, Zutons... YOU!kelele The name says it all: come along and take part. Ukuleles are cheap, easy to play and lots of fun. What do you need to do? Just turn up with your uke and your enthusiasm. I'll supply song sheets with chords. If you've got a particular song or songs that you want us to try, then bring at least half a dozen song sheets with chords – in a clear font, at least 12-point – and we'll give it a go. And I'm in negotiations over the venue... Your thoughts, observations and suggestions greatly and gratefully appreciated. Especially relevant and/or constructive and/or humorous. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 29 Jan 10 - 07:15 AM Well I've got a co-conspirator for my dream of setting up a West Herts (that's in the UK) ukulele club. And I've got a really clever, punning name for it. After all, that seems to be the most important thing. And I've got a target venue or two. It will be a couple of months before I'm ready, but I feel that it's my destiny. So, come on, who else within range of Berkhamsted is up for it? By the way, did I mention I used my uke on two numbers in my set on Wednesday. It's going to be a staple part of any set from now on, I reckon. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Bainbo Date: 28 Jan 10 - 06:01 PM No sooner said ... The Ukelear Meltdown site's been updated to include details of this year's festival. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Bainbo Date: 27 Jan 10 - 01:32 PM This looks like fun. Ukelear Meltdown, the national festival of extreme ukelele, at the Star And Shadow cinema in Newcastle, North East England. Performers, films and workshops. At the moment, when you click the link through from the cinema's site to the festival's, it still appears to be giving details of last year's event. Here's a great little film about last year's festival. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: M.Ted Date: 27 Jan 10 - 11:59 AM It is a sad fact that you can make "adequate" progress in the music programs that may schools offer without actually learning to either play an instrument or to sing. At the same time, it is possible to play, sing, and write songs, and even make a career of of those things, without knowing much about any of the things taught in these programs. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: PHJim Date: 27 Jan 10 - 11:44 AM Toronto uke players should check out the Corktown Ukulele Jam every Wednesday night - http://torontoukes.com/ If you live closer to Port Hope, The Noprthumberland Ukulele Orchestra holds its eetings at The Beamish House on John Street every third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 in the upstairs room. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,padgett on lap top Date: 27 Jan 10 - 03:49 AM I would have loved to have been playing any instrument as a kid with others ~ such as Ukeleles or reoorders ~ anything other than the bl***y castinets and triangles available, at primary school Schools need, to my mind to encourage the playing of instruments, such as sringed Ukeleles to build confidence I believe that these can be bought quite cheaply, altho you can play a lot Agreed pick the thing up and play it, by repetition I still havent tried guitar, altho I do now play 'tina by ear after 40 years Pity I never accomplished a thing on a guitar Ray I have heard in the past few months Ukelele type instruments played by Goerge Formby type guys (elderly) and by youngsters such as Rosie Doonan ~ there is a Uke club started not long ago too, near me These initiatives should be aplauded I believe |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Piers Plowman Date: 27 Jan 10 - 02:53 AM I think playing technique in the sense of hitting the keys or plucking the strings, posture, breathing, etc., was emphasized too much in music teaching when I was a child taking music lessons and it seems that things haven't changed much for the better. As an adult, I took a couple of guitar lessons from someone (after having been playing for about 15 years) and he only taught that sort of thing. It has it's place, but I think the way he went about it would have done more harm than good if I'd stuck with it. I'm pretty sure it was what he was taught where he studied guitar. I call this teaching the "How" rather than the "What". The problem is, I think teachers emphasize the "How" so much that the students never get to the "What". This is one reason why I post here (and not some other places): People here realize that you don't have to make three loop-the-loops and imagine you're floating on a cloud before you pluck a string. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Sttaw Legend Date: 26 Jan 10 - 05:43 PM HUG Hull Ukulele Group, HULL just had to have one didn't we!! And they have found a new home at The New Clarence HUG ~ Hull Ukulele Group |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: MikeL2 Date: 26 Jan 10 - 02:52 PM Hi hamish Ha ha ha I agree with you. I have found the same attitudes with teachers of musical instruments. I used to play rugby and we had a number of teachers who played for us. Two of them had wives who were teachers also. One of them played guitar and taught it to the kids in formal classes at school. I used to take my guitar down to games and afterwards we would have a singalong. I found it almost impossible to play with her ( !!! music )as she was so fussy and organised about looking right and all that. It used to take us ten minutes to decide what to play how to stand etc etc. We used to lose half the audience before she was ready to play. She couldn't understand why & how I played standing up, sitting down, kneeling and much later on lying down lol I suppose teaching kids in a group is as much about discipline as it is about music. cheers Mike |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Will Fly Date: 26 Jan 10 - 02:52 PM "OFSTED" - not "OFFSTED". Apologies for the pedantry. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 26 Jan 10 - 02:37 PM Yes, Piers. It reminds me of the time I was talking to the guitar teacher at my daughter's school. I was fascinated by the way they'd take many times as long setting up the foot stool and getting their posture right as playing, but avoided mentioning that directly. I'd said I played a bit: "I usually play standing up" at which point he just cut me dead and walked off!! I could almost hear him mutter "What? And have fun??? Shocking!!!" |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Piers Plowman Date: 26 Jan 10 - 12:11 PM Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: MikeL2 - PM Date: 26 Jan 10 - 11:13 AM 'I quote..."ukulele sessions are not adequate musical achievement...... ......Music lessons and the curriculum do not provide sufficient challenge and as a result pupils do not make adequate progress. Achievement in music is inadequate............".' [...] 'What does the team think ???' For primary schools?! The term "po-faced" springs to mind. My honest opinion is that _anything_ that gets people playing music themselves instead of just consuming recorded music has got to be good. If ukeleles are "in" now (after having been "out" for a long time), great! I wouldn't even mind if they brought back bongos, black turtlenecks and Galoises (plural?) hanging out the corners of mouths. Which way to the Happening? |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 26 Jan 10 - 11:25 AM And the Halifax Courier also has an article. The article doesn't "blame" the instrument for any of the shortcomings in the lessons. The Express article is almost identical. It's a typical "Offsted are at it again" type article. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: MikeL2 Date: 26 Jan 10 - 11:13 AM hi I was on the point on creating a thread when I saw this one. Headline in this weeks Sunday Express " BY 'ECK A UKULELE isn't "musical" says OFFSTED. This reports the view of OFFSTED inspectors who werer asked to judge the merits and suitability of playing the ukulele for gaining music qualifications in a Primary School. I quote..."ukulele sessions are not adequate musical achievement...... ......Music lessons and the curriculum do not provide sufficient challenge and as a result pupils do not make adequate progress. Achievement in music is inadequate............". I kid you not.....see Sundat Express page 37 Sunday 24th January 2010. What does the team think ??? Cheers Mike |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: GUEST,DonMeixner Date: 26 Jan 10 - 09:57 AM You have to use a deft hand. A fairway wood will just splinter it and an Iron, say a "7, will get hung up in the box. For distance I prefer and wooden # 2. And for putting I like the really long two handed club that Glenn Campbell uses. Don |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BusyBee Paul Date: 26 Jan 10 - 09:56 AM Hamish, I think Chris has a uke - you could ask him tomorrow! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 26 Jan 10 - 09:53 AM Took my ukulele to The Wilsons gig at Walthamstow on Sunday. Sang one song: John Malcolm's mv Amazing Grace. They, The Wilsons, liked it so much they're talking about adopting the song. Good song though it is, I reckon the ukulele arrangement helped ;-) I will confess, I'm very tempted to try and start up a uke club in or near Berkhamsted, Herts, UK. Anyone else up for it? If you want to keep your interest low key, then PM me. There are some around but not very close: Enfield seems to be the closest. I will check out the few clubs in range if only to get some hints and tips. It's not imminent, but I can't help feeling a certain inevitability about it: I'm a moth being drawn by that flame... |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: VirginiaTam Date: 22 Jan 10 - 02:56 AM People like ukes because they are fun, easy to play, and cheap. That's a welcome change in some parts of the world of "folk and traditional" music-- And they are being introduced in loads of primary schools. Some parents are catching the bug. I like this idea of cheap and cheerful self made music. It could lead to bigger and better things for the individual. "Mom - I want a guiatr now." And schools might start pulling out old folk songs to teach. Yeah could be good. Very good. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Piers Plowman Date: 22 Jan 10 - 02:55 AM Besides, if you hit something hard enough with it, it might go into tune. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Piers Plowman Date: 22 Jan 10 - 02:51 AM I don't think ukeleles are suitable for clubs. A whack with a solid-body electric guitar is much more effective. If you're really serious, use a contrabass. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: M.Ted Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:53 PM People like ukes because they are fun, easy to play, and cheap. That's a welcome change in some parts of the world of "folk and traditional" music-- |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Richard Bridge Date: 21 Jan 10 - 05:10 PM I have played one. It sounds horrid. Much horrider than my guitar and mandolin playing and they are bad enough. I think I'd rather hear one than a piano (on a folk song, Hughie Graeme excepted) but not by much. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 21 Jan 10 - 04:40 PM Well, Richard, I have to tell you that thirty or forty all playing at the same time and (mostly) playing the same chords can be pretty loud. I find it interesting - not surprising, because I expected it to divide opinion - but interesting how polarised opinion is on the (de-)merits of the instrument. All I'll say at this moment is this: don't knock it until you've tried it. Suspend your cynicism and just surrender to having some fun. Go on... you know you want to. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Richard Bridge Date: 21 Jan 10 - 02:32 PM Little as I like banjos and bodhrans, ukes do have the advantage that they cannot be heard over either. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Bert Date: 21 Jan 10 - 02:27 PM Ukulele Clubs! best use for a uke. Here's a song though Ukulele D A7 I took myself a trip to Honolulu in the moonlight those ukuleles played I'm gonna have to buy a ukulele to serenade my Honolulu maid. Chorus. Oh how I love my ukulele it really is the apple of my my eye I set it on the chair, guess I shouldn't have left it there do ukuleles go to heaven when they die? Now I'm back in Oklahoma riding on those old Panhandle plains My girl she stayed in Honolulu and I play my ukulele and it rains. Chorus... At home alone I play my ukulele I scare the dog and raise hairs on the cat I left it on the sofa and my brother my big loafer came sat on it and squashed that sucker flat. Copyright Bert Hansell, 2004 |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: foggers Date: 21 Jan 10 - 02:14 PM I too am taking my first footling steps with a uke but have yet to try a club. I keep mine on my desk at work in order to ensure I don't lose my sense of perspective. |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Will Fly Date: 21 Jan 10 - 02:05 PM Hamish - the Dambusters' March is my all-time Ukulele Orch favourite. I saw them in Dorking last year and they were wonderful. An evening up at the Club seounds very tempting! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Mr Red Date: 21 Jan 10 - 12:56 PM There is a Jumping Flea Club in Cheltenham. Gloucestershire Ukulele Club Wigan Newton Abbot sixth attempt! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: open mike Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:52 AM The UKE is experiencing a revival in the U.S. (and I hear the schools in UK are using this instrument as a student instrument) There are several festivals centered around this instrument. http://www.pica-org.org/ukulele/index.htm http://winecountryukefest.wordpress.com/ http://www.myspace.com/milwaukeeukulelefestival http://www.portlandukefest.org/ http://www.ukulelefestivalhawaii.org/en/waikoloa.htm A couple of years ago, i had a 2 hour special on mhy radio show featuring Ukulele music, with a couple of live musicians in the studio sharing a variety of styles. this site has info about how to start a UKE group http://ukulelehunt.com/2009/02/25/ukulele-group/ this is our local Ukulele lady (her car liscence says so!) http://ukuleletonya.com/blog/ there are many such groups cropping up |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:35 AM Oddly enough, Will, somebody suggested we should try The Ukulele Orchestra's version of The Dam Busters' March for the Austrian TV crew :-/ |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Will Fly Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:25 AM Hamish - you obviously had a great night - excellent! I've got a tenor uke and it's a great little instrument (Hawaiian, Koa wood). The set you all played sounds like something from a concert by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Enjoy! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Dave Hanson Date: 21 Jan 10 - 11:15 AM Best played with a 4lb lump hammer. Dave H |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BusyBee Paul Date: 21 Jan 10 - 10:58 AM And you are just impatient! |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: BusyBee Paul Date: 21 Jan 10 - 10:57 AM Gerry McNeice set a fire alarm off with his blisteringly hot uke playing ;-). |
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Subject: RE: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 21 Jan 10 - 10:33 AM How odd. Maybe I'm being impatient but I'm surprised that no-one's said anything like "Yes ukes are fun" or "Yikes! Far too populist." Especially as ukuleles seem to be making inroads to folk events. Lots of big name acts incorporate them and quite a few festivals have ukulele workshops. Broadstairs Folk Week had The March of the 100 Ukuleles. Plus the public service aspect of bringing a fun and dynamic participative live music outlet to your attention at least deserves a "Thank you", I'd thought ;-) p.s. oh, and Ring of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues |
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Subject: Ukulele Clubs From: Hamish Date: 21 Jan 10 - 04:19 AM Wow! Went along to Ukulele Wednesday last night, full of trepidation. Well, it was a new environment for me and I didn't know what to expect. And my ukulele skills are pretty rudimentary. But... In a word: fantasmorgasmic. Starting fairly slowly from about 7 o'clock and through many phases of anarchy and mayhem, by 9 o'clock there were upwards of thirty, probably towards fifty ukes all thrashing away through "modern folk" classics and everyone shouting out the songs with such unrestrained, uninhibited enthusiasm, it was easy to understand why I managed to miss a couple of trains and had to reluctantly drag myself away. There were a couple of people who sort of ran it in that they'd shout out the name of the next song and start off, but at in between times it was complete havoc. Totally brilliant. And cos ukes are so small you don't all need the half acre of space that a similar gathering of guitarists would need, so everybody's jammed up close. In no particular order here are just some of the songs that were done. Some you'd expect, some surprises: In the Midnight Hour (Madonna) Valerie (Zutons) Hit the Road Jack City of New Orleans I Want to be Like You (Jungle Book) Delilah Bad Moon Rising I'm a Believer Creep (Radiohead) Sloop John B Oh, and there was a TV crew form Austria there. Apparently they often have TV crews filming the goings on. I'll definitely go again. Mental but brilliant. Ukulele Wednesday is in the Royal George, near Centrepoint (Tottenham Court Road tube) every Wednesday from 7 o'clock. Try The Mighty Ukulele for listings of clubs near you (in the UK). Or this link to Ukulele Wednesday's MySpace site Such fun!! |
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