Another Thank You

And from the Prairie Rose village, we got this Thank You message

You all got rave reviews at Prairie Rose.  Many people came up to me all day and said how fun the show was. Thanks so much for sharing your talents with my favorite people. Peace, Ellen

From our 15 December 2012 Christmas Program:

I received this email for the Tulsa Ukulele Club and I wanted to share with everyone.
"
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us this past Saturday. Although it was a bit hectic, I have heard nothing but wonderful praises for your performance. We sincerely appreciate you and your group taking the time to bless us with such great sounds for our Christmas party.
We pray God blesses you richly in the upcoming year.
Sincerely,
D
"
 Thank you everyone. It was a fun Christmas performing season. I hope we get to do it next year.
Rex (Jazzbanjorex)

Here is a happy song for Christmas

I like this one.  Do you?

Thinking of a baritone?

Ever wonder if a ukulele could sound more like guitar?  Listen to Bartt do this Beatles song

A nice Touch

Last night was our last scheduled regular club meeting at the Western Country Diner and we all got a nice surprise.  Our regular waitress gave each of us a Christmas card, thanking us for our participation at the restaurant.

So next time you see Shelah, give her a good hug, or at least a hearty Thank You.

Ralph

Tuesday, the 11th

Our club meeting on December the 11th will be our last regularly scheduled on of the year.  The next regularly scheduled date will be Christmas evening, and I know we all have other things to do that evening.

I hope everyone can make this last one a good one.  Be sure and bring your club song book.

Looking for something special to bring to the meeting?  How about getting a head start for next month and look for some good Love themed songs.  Finding love.  In love.  Lost love.  Or, maybe even murder (Banks of the Ohio, Frankie and Johnny).  Your call.

Ralph

January 19 in Dallas

Interested in a workshop and concert in Dallas next month?  Lil Rev is going to give a uke workshop and then a concert that evening.  I have met Lil Rev in the past and can positively tell you that he is a real talent.  Here he is at a uke festival a couple years ago.   You will not be disappointed.  Contact me for further details if you are interested.

Did I hear a suggestion from the audience yesterday?

I must have missed something at the retirement village yesterday, but did I hear a suggestion for a Christmas program for 2013?

Rex does a bit of fingerpickling

Here is Rex testing his tenor with amplification and with a loop.  The fingerpicking does enhance the song, does it not?

January 8th meeting

This will be our first club meeting of the new year.  Lets use our club song book for some songs and since Valentine's Day is coming up soon, lets all select a couple "love" oriented songs to work on too.  This could be from our club book or other resources.  Here are some initial thoughts:

Could be "a new love" with songs like the Beatles "I've just seen a face" or "Little Red Riding Hood".
Could be an  "in love" such as the old standard "Oh Johnny Oh Johnny" and "Everybody loves my baby".
Could be a "love lost" song such as "Faded Love" or "Cab Driver".
Or maybe a novelty number such as "If my nose was running money" or "I met my gal in the porti potty line".

Got something you would like to share?

November 11 meeting

I think that our club meeting on December the 11th will be our last regularly scheduled on of the year.  The next regularly scheduled date will be Christmas evening, and I know we all have other things to do that evening.

I hope everyone can make this last one a good one.  Be sure and bring your club song book.

Wendy will be at the Jazz Depot

Wendy will be the headliner at the Jazz Depot this Thursday evening, with the concert starting at 7PM.

If you like Celtic music, and in particular the mountain dulcimer, you should go.

Ralph

ps -- Wendy was the 2012 Texas State dulcimer champ.

Our first Christmas program

A few of us have been working on our first club gig program -- a Christmas season program and the first performance is this coming Sunday.

Rex has prepared a couple videos so we could practice at home in the key and tempo we will be using.  Here is one example

So come out and give us some support.

Sunday afternoon, Dec 2, Prairie Rose village, 74th and Riverside, at 2 PM

Ralph

A great Christmas song site

Here is a site I just found that has a load of Christmas season music.  So if you are looking for something, it might be here.  All have lyrics with chords and some have midi links too.  A nice site that we can check out for next year if we do a Christmas program for 2013.  Better bookmark it so you can find it again.

Ralph

http://bettylou.zzruss.com/xmas.htm

Time to humidify?

Got a uke with laminate construction -- then you can probably skip this posting.  The cross ply construction minimizes the chance for any cracking.

But if you have a high quality uke with solid wood construction, then this might be of interest to you.

With winter approaching it is probably time to start humidifying your uke.  My office (and uke room) is running about 30-35% humidity, and I have a small home humidifier operating.  So for me this is the time to add some moisture in the case.  I have made up a number of these humidifiers and they do work well.

I have plenty of the moisturizer crystals and if you need any, I'll make some for you.  Just grap a pill case or old 35mm film case and come on over

Ralph

Club calendar update

I've updated the club calendar to include information on all the latest plans for practice and the actual performances of the Christmas program.  See the calendar at the bottom of the blog.

Christmas videos

If you ever was wondering what some folks do to help the Tulsa Ukulele Club grow, just go to the YouTube channel, Tulsa Ukeclub.  

It has been said that if you want something done promptly, go to the person who is really busy.  Rex has been been able to find the time to record a number of the songs we will be presenting in our 2012 Christmas program, and he has done them in the same key and same tempo that we plan to use in the performances.

While these videos are principally aimed at those planning to be in the Christmas performance group, everyone can have a good time with these seasonal songs.

So get out your ukulele and play along with him.

Thanks, Rex, these will be really helpful.

Ralph

My Dog Has Fleas

Richard Hefner, the host of that great site EZ Folk, wrote a simple tune to help him remember how the ukulele was tuned.

It is a cute number and might be good for playing for children.

You can locate the tab on his site (see Handy Links) and I have a song sheet in the key of C if you want it.

Ralph

Ukester Brown

Rex led me to see this fellow's web page.  It has a lot of songs and videos, plus a link to where to find vintage music sheets.  It could be pretty handy if you are looking for some material.

Find the link in the Handy Links section.

13 November 2012

Reminder! Meeting tonight. Last meeting was fun. We went around the table taking turns choosing which songs to do from our club book. Might do that again. Might bring the video camera so we can post more practice videos on our YouTube channel (Tulsa UkeClub). We'll visit 6:30pm to 7:00. Talk some business and then get to playing, singing and laughing. Alway remember that if you have any ukulele or music in general questions we have a veriety of people with a veriety of musical experiences available. So join us and have some fun making some ukulele (and odd other instruments) music.
Rex

December 11

December the 11th will be the last time we have to polish our Christmas program with our current plans to have our final performance on the following Saturday.

But then, how about making this an early Christmas Party too?  How about a Chinese Gift Exchange?  Bring the family and friends too?  What do you say?

Tie A Yellow Ribbon

This tune has some special memories for me.   A few years ago a small group of our Dallas ukulele club were asked to perform at a special recognition dinner for Ebby Halliday, the premier real estate gal in the Dallas area, and one of the major philanthropists for some area charities.  Ebby, now 99 years young, is known to be a uke player, and that evening we played for all the guests coming to the event as they entered and exited the hotel lobby, as well as during one element of the recognition ceremony.  Tie A Yellow Ribbon is one of her favorite songs.

Ukulele Bartt is a regular on the ukulele festival circuit around the world and also has some instructional material at his web site,   http://www.bartt.net/.    Here is Bartt showing how he performs this song.  It is a good tune for ukuleles including the banjo uke as shown here.

Club Plans

One of the things that us old folks have to do is "write it down".  I have a good joke on this subject but it is true -- memory does fade a bit.

So here is what we decided to do with regard to our upcoming performances.  (Please forgive the businesslike listings, but my old habits are kicking in.)

1.  At least initially, we will be meeting every Sunday afternoon at the Prairie Rose from 1 to 3 in the afternoon.   Bring a music stand and your uke.

Note: these might change depending on any other activities at the village.  

2.  I will make up song books and bring them to the first meeting, this Sunday.  You will keep them so you can practice unfamiliar songs at home,  If any changes are made to our set list, you will have to keep your book up to date.  Some of the song sheets in the book are copies of pages from a fake book so I cannot send out the songs electronically.

3.  Some of the songs have the lyrics in "hymnal" format and if this proves to be a problem, I will redo the sheet and send it to you.

4.  I hope to keep the total cost of the ring binder and printing of all the sheets to $5

5.  Can'n, Rex and I will book one weekend day during December for a performance day.  It could be either Saturday or Sunday afternoon, but not both.  Preferably 2 locations in one day, close to each other to reduce transit times between gig locations.  This will give is a total of 6 locations.  We might go to upscale independent living places or nursing homes where some of the audience may be in beds.  All will welcome us.

6.  We have scheduled practices for every Sunday in November.  Since this month includes Thanksgiving, we may have to "tweak" practice days in that part of the month.

7.  Lastly, it takes a bit of work to get an hour's worth of material down.  You may recall Helen mentioning we should be practicing twice a month to get polished.  So please work on the songs at home.  Use a metronome if you have one.

======

As for the future, we mentioned getting on a Tulsa transit bus some afternoon, going to a flea market or farmers market.   Get a good set down and we can be in any of the many festivals around the area w/o much new effort.   

Valentine's Day is coming up in February, but it might be too close to Christmas to get a program for that special day.  But we already have a number of songs in our quiver -- Ain't She Sweet, 5'2, Your Sixteen --  just to mention a few.  And there are some songs with humor -- "If my nose was running money"  and "I met my gal in the porta potti line", to mention a couple  more (but probably not the latter one)

Cap'n mentioned renting the Spotlight Theater for an afternoon and getting some publicity for it via TV and the print media.  Wendy mentioned the Troubadour's Emporium and I think that Bryan (the owner) would be glad for us to do a few songs as an opener for one of his weekend evening shows.

Wendy will be at the Jazz Depot in a couple months, so we will have to get a table there for her show.

So there is some enthusiasm growing for stretching beyond simple club jams.  For now, lets concentrate on the Christmas program.

Remember this is for fun, our enjoyment, and the enjoyment of the listener. 

Four Fingers, Four Strings, For Fun

Ralph

Important - Mark Your Calendars

It is important that you mark your 2013 calendars for April 20.  That's when we will all be making a trip to Overland Park, KS to attend the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain's final concert of their April 2013 tour.

Here is the link to order tickets

http://www.jccc.edu/performing-arts-series/events/2012-2013/ukulele-orchestra.html

Be sure to click on the video in that link.  We must not forget to bring our ukes for the special event that they have as part of the concerts.

There are many of numbers on YouTube -- here is just one.

Sunday, October 28th

Our plans for developing a performance set has changed to one aimed at the Christmas/Holiday season.  We will be meeting in the activity room at the Prairie Rose (74th and Riverside) from 1 to 3 in the afternoons, starting on the 28th.

We are scheduling the room for every Sunday afternoon to early December for practice sessions.  More may be added, or some may be deleted, depending on how our program progresses and on the schedule that we will be developing for visiting retirement villages and nursing homes.

If you have any favorite seasonal songs, be they conventional religious (i.e., Away in a Manger) or secular (i.e., Jingle Bells), send them along to Ralph and Rex.

If you have any suggestions as to villages to visit, send them along too.

Ken Middleton Interview

One of the ukulele web page with a lot of information has just included a long interview with Ken Middleton. Ken has been in a lot of YouTube videos, initially with his extensive reviews of all sixes and brands of ukuleles, and later with clips of some performances.

Ken is highly involved with the Ohana group and is now marketing his own ukulele strings (Living Strings).

You might find this interview interesting, for it covers his extensive background in music, teaching and more recently, the ukulele.

http://www.gotaukulele.com/

Player Profile

Don;'t forget to enter yourself into the FleaMarket Player Profile.   The more folks we show in the greater Tulsa area, the better.  It's free and good promotion.

https://www.fleamarketmusic.com/directory/default.asp

Leap Year Edition will be out in late October

The FleaMarket site says the latest version of Jim and Liz Beloff's book or songs arranged for the uke will be on the shelf in late October.  The site lists the 366 songs in this edition.  And I see that Barnes and Noble will  carry it too, so you can check it out in person.

http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=302

Sunday, 28 October

Greetings

There has been some discussion about having a club meeting on a weekend so as to allow those folks who cannot get to our regular Tuesday evening meeting,  come to a club meeting and join in the fun.  We are lucky to have Ellen get us access to the Prairie Rose Activity Room on Sunday afternoons.

So our first meeting on a Sunday will be October 28th, the last Sunday in the month, from 1 to 3 PM at the Prairie Rose, 74th and Riverside.

Some of us are interested in giving the members a goal to work toward, and gigs at retirement villages are always welcomed by the residents,  So many of the songs that we will work on that Sunday will be ones that we think would be good numbers for those venues.

The 4th Sundays in November and December will have family and church conflicts for many of us, so the Sunday dates for those months will be selected at a later date.  

Hope to see you there.

Ralph

Second Daily Ukulele Book

Jim and Liz Beloff are about to release the second book in the "one song a day" series, this one being called the Leap Year Edition, with 366 songs.

Earlier this year, Jim asked for suggestions for the book contents and I send him a few that I thought would be good numbers.  This version is reported to be targeted more toward clubs and group singing than solo performances.  So it might be good for our purposes.

Some of us have the current issue, the 365 day version, and it has a lot of advantages, principally being that the complete melody line is provided so one can see the timing and the proper inflections to be put into your voice, but not surprisingly it has some disadvantages too, such as a frequent use of the hymnal style of stacking lyrics and having extra lyrics simply printing at the bottom of the page.  Most of us prefer to have each chorus or bridge printed alone -- much easier to follow.

Another advantage -- all the songs are arranged for ease of playing with a uke.  They are somewhat simplified compared to some very complex guitar arrangements, but some songs do require you to work a bit harder than a lot of simple three chord songs.

The big disadvantage to using it as a club book is that we will all have some songs that we like to play and these would end up being in a ring binder -- so we would have two books.

I'll bring my copy of the 365 day edition to the club meeting and if anyone wants to join me in getting the 366 day version, we can save a couple pennies by ordering as a group.  At about $25 for 366 songs, all arranged for a uke, this is a very good price for a fake book.

Here is the link where you can see the songs in the 365 day edition.  Click on the "song list"

http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=258

Here is the link to pre-order the latest version (but w/o the song list)

http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Ukulele-Leap-Year/dp/1458482685/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349358218&sr=1-1&keywords=leap+year+daily+ukulele

Guitar Center beginner lessons

It looks like the Guitar Center is hosting a basic ukulele training session on each Saturday morning in October.  I called the local folks and it is an entry level 45 minutes -- how to hold the uke, a basic strum, three or four chords, a simple song or two.  So if you know anyone who is interested, pass the word.

The local GC is on 71st a bit west of Highway 169 in a strip mall.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Saturday-Ukulele-Class-g26598t0.gc?source=4TP2JPG

Children songs

We had a couple of small children come and visit our table last night.  I looked for something special to play and sing for them and only found "Christmas Cookies".  I thought I had "There ain't no bugs on me" with me but I could not find it.

Do you have any favorites that you think we should have in our book for occasions like this?


Ralph

It was a nice morning at the Prairie Rose

We had six folks show up for the video session this morning the the Prairie Rose.   As we have reported, Rex plans to send selected videos to the 2012 Bushman ukulele contest.  The club can send three and individuals can also send three.

Rex came to the village and set up a lot of audio and video equipment and we all owe him a big thanks for the effort, and to Ellen for getting us the room.

Based on the history and viewing the submittals, some of which are quite professional, I don't think we will win a prize, but one never knows.  The main purpose is to get some videos of the group, and club members showing the enjoyment they get from this comparatively simple musical instrument.

You should sign in to the club YouTube channel    Tulsa Ukeclub   and then "subscribe".  This will result in your getting notifications when there are new videos submitted.  This is our channel and we have to thank Rex for doing this work.

We performed some solo numbers as well as a number of group songs and all were recorded.  Rex sill do some editing and put them on the club channel.  He will also send out a notice when this is accomplished.  He expects to have this work done by next weekend..

Thanks to Rex and Ellen for their effort and to the participants for joining in the fun.

Ralph

Four fingers, four strings, for fun

Bushman video session

Just a reminder that we will be doing our videos this coming Saturday, the 22nd, at the Prairie Rose village.  We have the room open from 10 till 2.

Come out and join us in some group songs, or do a solo or duet -- your call, but do come out.

Ralph

We are immortalized!

Rex had his video gear working at our recent gathering at the Prairie Rose on Saturday afternoon and he recorded all of the performances.  He has posted them in our YouTube channel  "Tulsa Ukeclub".

Here is the link to the club YouTube channel :

   http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDQoqJivjfcRPal5ePnYbg?feature=results_main

Everyone is there, and here is one by Bill Jensen.  It happened to be the 61st anniversary of Bill and Harriet, so a love song is very appropriate.

Prairie Rose was a success

Ellen reports that the residents were very pleased with our mini-concert today.  Thanks for all who worked to pull this off, in particular Rex with all his electronic gear and Ellen for the organization.

This event was quite different than similar concerts that the Dallas group does at similar villages.  They do group songs, with an occasional solo, and we went the other way today -- just solo's.  If we ever get into a full hour schedule, we will have to add some group numbers too.  Same effect though -- the residents were pleased.

Rex will do some editing on the video he was taking -- you did not notice that did you -- and he will publish it in the uke club YouTube channel.

He will let us know when it is up and running.

Thanks again.

Ralph

Saturday at Prairie Rose

Rex has his live music gear  ready to set up at the Prairie Rose village for our Noon mini-concert. Some folks have been working on a solo or two.  So come out and join us this coming Saturday.  One of our newest club members, Ellen, is the Activities Director and she is pleased that we can join them for this special village lunch hour.

September 22 video session

Heads Up.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept 22.  10 AM to 2 PM at the Prairie Rose village

That is the day we will be making our video tapes, both group numbers and any soloists too.

Our group numbers will be selected from our popular numbers in the club book but if you want to do a solo number, the choice is yours.

More details later, but put the 22nd on you calendar.

Come one, come all, even if you don't participate.  It will be a fun afternoon.

Ralph

September 8th at Prairie Rose Village

Ellen has invited us to join their residents at lunch on Saturday September 8.  She has arranged for Bill Rowland, a famous local pianist to play to the residents starting at 12:30 and she thinks that it might be fun to have some uke folks do some songs during the half hour before Bill starts his concert.

Residents will be coming into the dining room during this period so this is a low key event and nobody will be expecting performance perfection.  This is the perfect time to get some exposure to a performance too.  Don't be surprised if the residents pay attention, or don't pay attention -- I expect both will occur.. 

We could do some group numbers, or you could do a solo piece number or two.

Lunch is on Ellen.

Let me hear if you are interested so we can complete the planning for the day.

You may prefer to sit or stand -- your choice.  Chairs will be available.  If you don't have a uke strap, which I have found to be very useful if you stand, you might want to check out the neck strap that clips to the sound hole.  If Willie Nelson uses one for his guitar, it must be OK for ukes.  Here is one source:  http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=213

Needed:  a uke, a music stand and music sheets if you need them, and of course yourself.  Hawaiian theme shirts are or course, optional.

THIS IS A LOW KEY EVENT, JUST FOR FUN.

Ralph

Meeting report

Well, I think everyone had a good time last night at the Diner.  We went through a number of the songs in our book, some of which we had not tried before.  Nobody brought new ones to share, but the evening was full anyway.

Let's all give a big welcome to Clint Roberts.  Clint is a native of Hawaii so we will certainly have to polish up on some or our songs with an island flavor.

Wendy showed up with a cast on her right hand but Rex had a shaker she could use to keep us in time.  Rex played his nice banjo uke which also was strong enough to keep the group in time.  

With Rex, Cap't, Clint and myself, we had four males this time, almost equal to the gals -- Mary, Barb, Ellen, Cinde and Wendy.  Come on guys, we are being outshown.

Ellen has set up a date for the video taping at her retirement village, Prairie Rose, as well as a couple other events in which we may want to participate.  More on that later. 

A great evening.  Next up are the normal 2nd and 4th Tuesdays,Sept 11 & 18 at the restaurant and two special events at the Prairie Rose village, Saturdays Sept 8 and 22. (Details on these later.)

Ralph

Dallas Ukulele Headquarters

Everyone should consider joining this great nearby ukulele group.  There is no cost to join and generally speaking, there is no cost for any of their activities .  They have several activities a month, so if you are in the greater Dallas area, there might be one going on when you are there.

They have a lot of song and instruction files that you might find useful, and they are available to download once you are a member.

No cost -- what a deal.

http://www.meetup.com/ukulele-84/

Get ready for immortality

As we know, Rex is planning to do some video taping of the group doing a couple songs in mid September.  He can also video any others who might want to do a duo or solo performance.  So get your thinking caps on and go through your song books and select a couple songs that you might want to perform.   The Bushman folks will accept three videos from each of us.  Probably as good, you can send a high quality video to your friends and relatives too.

So if this appeals, get your song books out and do some practicing

Ralph

August 14

Hi:

Tuesday is coming up soon and while we might do some of our core songs to get ready for the video taping in September, let's not get bored just doing the same old stuff.  

So I would like you to select a couple songs that you would like to work on that evening.  It can come from our club book, or something new you can share -- your choice.

Hope you can make it.

Ralph

Next meetings - a reminder

Here is a reminder that Jeff is hosting his monthly workshop on Saturday the 4th in OKC.  Give me a call if you need any more information or want to car pool.


And on the 14th we will have our normal meeting at the Western Country Diner.

Ralph

Plans for next month's meetings

Rex and I have been working behind the scene to provide some slash marks to our song sheets so we can all work to the same song time and stay together.  (The slash marks show where each bar starts.)  This and the use of our lapel mike for the song leader, should make our song fest a more pleasant experience.  Rex may bring a drum machine to help too.

It will take some time to get these sheets prepared but to ease the pain of your printing them again and again, I will do the reproduction of the new sheets that have been completed and bring them to the meeting.  Same songs, just enhanced song sheets.  They will be sent to Google Drive too, so they will be available there too.

Now for a bit of meeting format change. After any opening questions and instruction, we will start with five or six songs with which we are all familiar.  Good songs with a good beat.  While these may change over time, for starters we will play (in any order):

Your Sixteen

King of the road
Shady Grove

Bring it on back to my house

Hey Good Looking

When the Saints go marching in

After we are all warmed up with these familiar pieces, we will go into a song circle.  Here is where you are going to play a more active role in our club.  We would like you to select several songs that you like and you think the group would like, say 2 or 3 numbers.  Everyone is requested to be the song leader for the songs they select.  I suggest you choose one from our club book, including ones we have been playing, but if you want, you can bring new song sheets to share with others.  

Then we can close with the familiar Happy Trails or some other familiar number..

This should make for a better meeting, i.e., better organized & more music in our limited time at the restaurant.

See you there

Baritone site

Now the baritone uke is not the most popular size ukulele but has it's supporters  - those who like the lower tones and greater resonance of the larger body uke.  I just found this site and those with baritone interests should check it out, and the many YouTube videos showing folks playing this size instrument.

The baritone size is a natural for the guitar players since one version of the tuning is the same as the top four strings of a normal six string guitar, DGBE.  Sometimes it is tuned with a high D so as to sound more like a uke, and some string sets are available to allow tuning to the standard GCEA, which gives the standard tuning a much more resonant voice.

http://humblebaritonics.blogspot.com/

Tulsa Uke Club YouTube channel

Rex has an extensive personal YouTube channel and he has just finished the introduction to one for our club.

Go to YouTube and enter "Tulsa ukeclub" and his introduction video will show.  Scroll down some more and  you will see that he has added a lot or material that will be useful for our members.

Rex will also bring his video camera to some of our club meetings so that we can video a song every now and then.

Thanks for all the work, Rex

Revised Club Core Song Book

After about a year working with the collection of song sheets that have been gathered, some duplicates (in different keys and different verses), some with errors and with a realization that some of the collection does not match our club members choices of material, I have pulled together a much smaller selection of songs and generated a new song book collection.

It currently has 38 songs, but no doubt will grow in time.  But it is a start for our group to polish some songs so that we can be proud of our performances, both at the jams as well as any future performances at places like retirement villages, the Spotlight Theater or other similar locations.

I strongly suggest you make up a new ring binder with just these songs to eliminate confusion at our jam sessions.

We needed some Internet access and control, so Google Drive has been selected to store the song sheets.  The collection is located in Google Drive so that you can view and print out the song sheets on your own (or have some printing shop like Staples or the UPS store print them for you).  If you want the updated book, let me know and I can add you to the approved access list.

Final Concert Number, 2012 Lone Star Ukulele Festival

Here is the concluding number at the recent Lone Star Ukulele Festival concert with all the performers and workshop leaders on stage.

The lead is Pop's Bayless, of Austin, leading one of his original song, Flaming Ukulele In The Sky.  Pop's is one of the leading ukulele men in the country, both in workshops, song writing and performances.  If we go to any regional festival or uke gathering, we will probably need to learn this song.

I will add it to our group of club core songs so we can be prepared.

It was a good evening

Well, last night was a nice evening for the local uke world.  Barb, Kay, Cap'n, Rex and myself welcomed Karl to the group.  He has a nice voice and is really welcome.  He is building a uke for his dad (who had one in WWII and had a uke then) so maybe we can see him in our group too.

We have noticed that there are several instances of multiple copies of some of our song sheets, and they are not always in agreement, both in terms of key as well as content.  Some of the songs in the DUH book have been shortened to fit on a page, as one example of the latter.

So I will be undertaking a task of making a new collection, and importantly, finding a way to get this collection available on line.  That way newcomers can pickup the current version of our collection directly from the internet, and we call all have access to the latest version (for example, if we decide to  change the key of a song).  I will always note the latest revision date in the song sheet heading, again to allow us to be sure we are current.  More on this as I work on this task.

Got any nice songs for which you can become the "owner" (& principal song leader) and that is not in our song collection?  If so, send it along to me.

June 24 Sing-A-Long

I hope everyone has Sunday evening, June 24 open so that they can go to the Synagogue at 17th and Peoria for their annual folk song sing-a-long.  This year's theme will be on Woody Guthrie's songs.  We can expect the program will have about 24 songs, some of which will be Guthrie's.  Here I am going to guess -- Oklahoma Hills and This Land Is Your Land (maybe all 7 verses too, but probably not Union Maid.

This is not a Jewish promotion, just a great community music program that the Synagogue puts on each year.  Hundreds will be there to participate, so it is wise to get there early to get a good seat.

It starts promptly at 6:45.  Parking is sparse, so that is another incentive to get there early.

This will be my 4th concert and based on this history I can guarantee that you will enjoy the evening.

Ralph

MO uke festival

It is not too often that we get a uke festival fairly close to us.   The folks in the St. Louis MO area are organizing one this coming July.  The location is about 350 miles from here, so it would be possible to leave early on Friday morning and still make the first workshop.

Cali Rose and her husband Craig Brandau are well recognized "faculty" members at ukulele festivals and I think that the workshops would be worthwile. Check them out in YouTube.   And getting to see a well respected uke builders workshop is a real plus too.

Here is the link.  Car Pool anyone?

Ralph

http://www.mightymoukefest.com

June 12 Meeting

There have been a few suggestions for numbers that our group might like.  Check out the YouTube videos of these songs

Bring It On Down To My House, Honey, a Bob Wills western swing number.  Works with ukes, like most country style songs

Sunshine On My Shoulders, a good John Denver number.

What A Day For A Daydream, a Lovin' Spoonful popular song.

We have send song sheets out for these, but if you did not get them, let me know and I will send them to you by email.

Hope to see everyone Tuesday evening.

Ralph

It was a good evening

Our meeting last Tuesday evening went well with seven participants.  We worked on some ones we really seem to like -- One Paddle-Two Paddle, San Francisco Bay Blues, Bring Me Sunshine, Octopus Garden, Shady Grove, Your Sixteen and a couple new ones including Hasagawa General Store, Johnny Be Goode, Bye Bye Love.

We have a lot of female voices in the group so if they keys in the song sheets are not good for your voice, let me know and we can revise the sheet with a new key.  There is  nothing magic about the song key -- we don't have to do it just like the original, or in a easy to play key like C (but don't ask me to change to E please -- not a good one for the uke).

Our next meeting is June 12th.  Hope your schedule allows you to attend.

Ralph

Next meeting, May 22

We had a nice meeting last night with Mary, Helen, Cindo, Rex and his son.    We had a new player join us -- so welcome Barb Nole.  She has a baritone and a very nice Pono tenor that she brought with her.

We did go over some of the songs we are considering for a new group of core songs as well as look at some others.  As usual, we hope that anyone proposing a new number take ownership of it, that is select the key, set the tempo, bring song sheets to share and be the song leader.

It was mentioned that some of the songs suggested are not in our book and that not everyone has downloaded copies that may have come out via email.  To correct this, I will gather a set of song sheets, zip them into a file and send them out.  If you already have them, great, but if not, print out your personal copy.

I have been thinking that our mix of players will not ever do some of the songs that make up the DUH song book selections.  Ones like "The Buckin Song",  If My Nose Was Running Money" and "Do Your Ears Hang Low" just do not seem to be the kind of songs that this group is interested in singing.  These are just examples, and if you think that we might want to thin out our ring binders, give me a call and we can get together and do some thinning of the collection.

Our next meeting is in two weeks, on the 22nd.  See you there.

Ralph

May 8 Meeting

We will be having our usual club meeting on Tuesday evening.  Mary, Cheri, Kay, Blayne and Rex have made suggestions for a group of core songs to polish and we will surely go over them.  We are always ready to welcome new suggestions too.

---------------

You might note that I have added a link to the San Jose uke club songbook web page.  There are a lot of good numbers there, in the format we like.  They have made it easy to select songs that might fit your skill level too by color coding the title, green being the easiest.

And if you are unsure of your best singing key, check out their version of "In an English country garden", which is provided in several keys.

----------------

I have also added a link to Richard Gilmann's web page.   He has collected a huge number of links to other web sources that can be useful to us.  The links include such familiar ones as Cordie as well as links to education pages and clubs around the world, most of which have song books.   This is a great site consolidating our resources.

"Cheater" music theory

Rex sends along this link for a short overview of music theory, produced by a Seattle based uke performer. Howlin' Hobbit.

Good stuff, here

.http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1125378/ukulele%20docs/cheater_theory_v2.pdf

Meeting Notes for April 10th

Well, we certainly had a nice evening last night. It was good to see Jeff and Blayne as well as some of our local regulars. And it was very pleasant to greet a newcomer, Cinde Berkowitz, who not only has a nice Fender uke, but is also an accomplished musician with other instruments. She regularly meets with Mary at their family jams too. Another club asset.

We played a couple songs pretty tightly, probably because they were familiar to us. “Shady Grove” was particularly tight as was a new number to us suggested by Jeff, the Beetles tune “Your Sixteen”. We played a couple other Beetles numbers, but only one Hawaiian number “One Paddle, Two Paddle”.

We continue to think about getting a core group of songs that we really play well. Mr. Sandman, Shady Grove and Your Sixteen certainly seem to have appeal, but if you want some other, let's work on them.

I hope to see everyone on the 24^th.

Circle of Fifths

Rex recommended this short instruction on the Circle of Fifths and song construction.

Here is the link.  It comes from a San Diego club.

http://files.meetup.com/1618566/HappyStrummers-Circle_of_Fifths_handout.pdf

Uncle Rod's Boot Camp

Here is a link to a somewhat different approach to learning to play the uke.  This Hawaiian wants you to learn to do all the open string positions first, in all the keys that fit the ukulele.  He recommends that you play each worksheet, slowly at first, building up speed as your muscle memory comes into play.  First with 4 beats per chord, then three, then two then one, as skills improve.

Mary has been using these sheets, along with a metronome, for some time and recommends them.

Now this won't give you anything on movable chords or using all the fretboard, but it is a great start.

http://files.meetup.com/2287271/ukulele%20boot%20camp%20rev%5B2%5D.pdf

Rex is featured on our YouTube link

You can catch the latest videos by Rex in the YouTube link  on the right hand side of the page.

A little bit of fluff for the Easter Day

Enyoy, and share with your family.

Another MP3 site

I found this link via the UU forum and you might find it useful.

http://www.4shared.com/dir/gp-s7YJU/MP3s.html

There are a couple hundred songs, in MP3 format, at this link.  For those I checked, all were being played using a ukulele by a single person, so this is what you might sound like playing by yourself at  home.  It can be used for study too.

I did not try and download the songs to my computer but there is a link that suggests it can be done.  I just listened to a few to check out the site.

It is a little bit of a hassle to get the song playing.  Once you click on the triangle "go" button, an ad comes up.  It takes a keen eye to find the small X in the upper right hand corner to close the ad.

Otherwise, this can be a source for a wide variety of songs.

Let me know how you like it.

April 10th is coming up soon

Tuesday will be here before we know it, so if you are able, please try and come up with a couple two or three chord songs that we might select on which to polish our skills.  I know Rex is planning on "Shady Grove" and I have several picked up, including "The MTA" song popularized by the Kingston Trio.

Hope you can make it.

Usual time, usual place.

Lone Star Uke Fest, 2012

Noel has set up a mini-festival for 2012 in Dallas that you might find worthwhile.  This is a shortened version with a jam and open mike session on Friday evening, workshops on Saturday and an evening concert.  (Since the festival location is very close to her shop and a nearby sports bar, one can expect some late Saturday evening jams sessions too.)  The setting she has chosen for 2012 is the City of Dallas Bath House Community Center on White Rock Lake, but because of it's size, there is a limit to the number of folks who can be accommodated.   She tells me that the open reservations are filling up pretty fast, so if you are interested, give Noel a call.

The workshop leaders are well respected -- I personally know both Deb and Pop's and Jim travels all around the country giving his "Play by Ear" workshop sessions.

So if you have the time, you might want to check this out this weekend in June.

http://www.lonestarukefest.com/

Let's reorganize our song book

I think that we have found that our song book organization has a lot of confusion.

Let's all take our ring binders and remove the DUH song pages (from the two DUH books) and simply put the individual song sheets back into the alpha section that already exists.  Any songs that we add to our book will go into the alpha section, as we do now.

I will generate a listing of the songs and send it out separately.

This will make finding a song a lot easier.

March 27th is coming up soon

Howdy:

Next Tuesday is our next scheduled meeting, the 4th Tuesday of the month, and it is just around the corner.  I believe Rex is planning to work on Mr, Sandman so if you don't have his song sheet for the song, send me a note and we can send you another copy.  Rex is planning to spend a bit of time on some elementary music theory too, tied in with Mr. Sandman.

We never got to do any of the St. Patrick Day songs at the last meeting and I will bring sheets to share on a couple of them that we might like to try.  Ditto on a couple Woody Guthrie songs in keeping with his centennial celebration in 2012.

Hope everyone else can find a song or two to bring, or from our song book, that they like and would like to work on as a group too.

See you there.

Play By Ear Link

I have added Jim D'Ville's "Play By Ear" link to the Handy Link section of this blog.

Jim is a well respected ukulele teacher with an emphasis on learning to play a tune without constantly looking at a printed song sheet, but by developing our ear to the music.

He periodically updates his blog with interviews as well as a series of short YouTube video clips by well known musicians that the viewer is encouraged to listen to, and decide on the key and the chord sequences used in the song.  Many of the songs are just three chords, arranged in different patterns, hence the name "the 3 chord club".  Check him out -- good information and free too.  Sign up for his Facebook link and keep up to date with his blog entries.

Jim will be one of the workshop leaders at the upcoming mini-festival in Dallas in June, and based on past responses, it will be a big hit with the participants.  If you are free that weekend, it will be worth the trip.

A good meeting last night

We had a good meeting last night.  We spent a bit of time going over bar chords and why they are useful and how to visualize playing them using the familiar open position fingering.  Spent some time looking at the circle of fifths and the probably chord sequences in popular songs.  And some time simply playing a number of tunes.

I was pleased Jeff, Helen, Lucy and Mary each had some different songs they wanted to share and Jeff brought his recent group song pack (from his last OKC group meeting) to share too.

I will have to work on my tempo or Helen will start calling me Speedy Gonzales!

See you on the 27th.

Ralph

Mr. Sandman

In case you missed the link, here is the new video that Rex just made for us last week.  He is planning to give us some in-person, hands on specifics this coming Tuesday evening.  This is just one of the songs being planned for Tuesday, so hope to see everyone there.

Heads Up for June Ukulele Festival in Dallas

More details will be coming later, but Noel, the owner of the ukulele shop in Dallas is going to host a mini festival June 1 and 2.   Friday evening will be an Open Mic session and Saturday will have workshops by Deb Porter, Pop's Bayless and Jim D'Ville. There will be a concert on Saturday evening.  $99 for the workshops and $10 for the concert for those not going to the workshops, like your spouse and friends.

This is shorter and less expensive than the prior 3 day events and should be well received.  I can personally vouch for the workshops by Deb and Pop's and Jim has give his workshops around the world.  It should be a great festival.

More information to follow.

Hey Good Lookin', meet Mr. Sandman on the 13th!

There is plenty cookin' up for our next meeting on March 13th! Mary will lead us in a nice version of Hey Good Lookin' "...so if you wanna have fun come along with me..."

Rex is ready to teach us Mr. Sandman, complete with some light finger-picking. This will up the ante on everyone's skills, so I suggest any of you over-achievers check out his youtube lesson  here  to get a head start. Although it may seem challenging, Rex shows you some easier options if you're new to the uke.

St. Patrick's day is just around the corner and of course we have to play an Irish song! Ralph will bring Danny Boy, a nice slow lament familiar to all and perfect for newer players. I'm sure we won't be leaving until we've jammed on a couple of other great songs, too.

Last meeting Ralph showed us how to play closed chords 'up the neck' to add more variety. Rex also endorses this method to spice up a tune. I tried it on a new song I was learning and it really does work! If you'd like to review or practice it, just ask Ralph for a repeat.

As usual, we'll spend the first 20 minutes or so assisting new players with tuning and simple, common chords. We can also practice the triplet strum we learned last time, as it does take some time to get it down so you can toss in a different rhythm to your playing.

The great staff of the Western Country Diner allows us to use their restaurant at no cost, so we like to give them some business. If you're interested, come around 6:30 for dinner or dessert and conversation; strumming begins at 7.

A nice evening in OKC

Kay and I car pooled down to OKC on Saturday afternoon to play with the folks attending their monthly meeting.  They meet in a church, along with a group of autoharp, dulcimer, Celtic and guitar folks (in separate rooms, naturally).  We had a really good time with Jeff and about 9 other locals, plus Blayne from Stillwater.  One interesting thing, to me at least, was that most of the local folks were gals, something that is becoming far more common in the uke clubs.  Because everyone was beyond the beginner stage, we had a lot of time working on the songs Jeff selected for that evening and it was good to hear everyone doing well.  This was, in part, because Jeff selected a number of songs from the '60s and '70s, songs familiar to the group.

A really nice evening and if you are free the next Saturday evening, join them.

This could be a winner for a beginner

The Kani-Ka-Pila shop has a March special running that you should know about.  They have a line of soprano size ukes similar to the popular Dolphin ukes - painted in bright colors too -- that they believe is better sounding than the Dolphin.  And they change out the strings to use their brand of fluorcarbon strings and here is the real kicker, the March special includes a copy of the Ralph Shaw instructional DVD for kids, in itself, a $20 item.  All for $39.95 (Plus ship, I assume).  So if you want something around the house for the kids and grandkids, or for a gift, this looks like a good deal.

They indicate the the builder of the uke is Bugsgear and if so this is a very reliable Japanese firm. I don't find this uke in their web page but it is supposed to be a new item, competing with the Dolphin.

I know the firm has been around for a while but I do not vouch for the quality of the uke.  I personally don't need another low cost uke or I would get one, but buyer beware.  I do think they have a return policy to reduce any risk.

Starter uke, good strings, DVD.  Sounds very good.

Ralph

http://kani-ka-pila.com/wordpress/archives/1600

Want to write a verse?

My friend in Dallas has a song that some of us (particularly those in my age group) can relate too.

Feel like contributing a verse?  Send it along.

Ralph

Sweet Georgia Brown on the 28th!

At our next meeting I'll be leading Sweet Georgia Brown in the key of G, using the following chords: G E7 A7 D7 B7 Em. If you're not used to playing B7 and Em I'll show you a shortcut to get you started. We'll also work on a triple, or triplet, strum to use in the song.

Sweet Georgia Brown sounds especially good with a banjo uke (banjuke or banjolele?) so I hope somebody brings one to liven up the tune.

As usual, we'll spend the first 20-30 minutes assisting beginners with tuning and introductory chords, and I'm sure we'll continue working on one of our club standards, San Francisco Bay Blues, as well as other fun tunes. The meeting begins at 7pm at the Western Country Diner. Some of us will be there about 6:15 for dinner and conversation beforehand.

There's always an extra uke available, so if you're thinking about getting one, come try it out and see how much fun you can have!

Kay        

Not just Honolulu Baby or Pineapple Princess!

Bartt is obviously a non traditional uke player.  Bartt is a teacher in an alternative school in the LA area, an old guitar man and now exclusively performs with his ukulele, both in festivals and workshops and in concerts.  He has some instructional videos too.

Not just  I V VI songs for Bartt!  But we can all do this one for the chords are familiar and easy.

Go to YouTube and see many more, including some great classical numbers.  Bartt is one great uke player.

Ralph

Another song site

I just found a link to a great song site on a baritone ukulele web page.

Here is the site for "number 1 hits" in a given year

http://bettylou.zzruss.com/no1hits.htm

At the bottom of the page are links to several other groupings of songs, including Country and Pop.

Find a song, open that link and you will get a standard format song sheet. Many also have links to midi files on the song, quick and easly but I find YouTube a better source for the audio

Warning -- if you just Google for Betty Lou songs, you will get her standard home page and there is no link to country songs, or the #1 hits page.

Lots of songs in a number of genre's, including international songs.

Ralph

Something different

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFRwifnhTUY&feature=related

This is a YouTube video of a group doing a number in the home of Phil Morris.  Phil and his business partner build the very special Spanky Banjo Ukes   http://www.spankyukes.com/  and Spanky is the sponsors for the Wahooligans , http://www.thewahooligans.com/   a  group that are the headliner for a couple of the Dallas Uke Festivals concerts in the years past.  For those event, they incorporate Gordon McLeod as part of the group.

Here is Gordon and his wife, Dirje (of the Wahooligans), and Kelly showing how a good banjo uke can cut it in a group.  Jeff has been saying that his banjo uke is well received in his OKC jams and this is proof.

Sale

I got an email from the Music Shop (on 31st near Mingo) that they are discounting their ukes another 20% over their normal low pricing. The shop said that they have 80 ukes now in inventory. So if you, or anyone you know are interested in a uke, you might want to check them out.

(I am not specifically recommending this shop over the others in the community, but the 20% discount could be attractive to our club members.)

Ralph

February 14 meeting - Cancelled

Hi, everyone.

After chatting with a couple folks, it appears that the meeting date of the 2nd Tuesday (set by the restaurant based on their room availability) would not be a good evening for a uke jam.

So unless I hear a clamor from you, we will skip the 14th and meet at our regular 4th Tuesday of the month, Feb. 28. On the 14th, take your spouse or best buddy out to a nice dinner instead.

Now if you want a group "uke fix" before the next regular meeting, we can arrange that, probably for Saturday or Sunday the 18th and 19th at the Troubador's Emporium, so if this has an appeal, let me know. Otherwise, see everyone on the 28th.

Ralph

Thursday is National Ukulele Day

I don't know who started this, but Mike Lynch (Ukulele Mike of YouTube fame) is promoting it.

So do we.

So does Linus

Ralph

Curt Sheller uke book

Curt Sheller is a musician that has published a number of books for guitar and the ukulele and he recently offered some of his "Ukulele Chord" books for club use, for just a modest shipping fee.

I contacted him and he was kind enough to send us some. I will have them with me at our next meeting, Tuesday the 14th, to pass out.

Check out his web page http://curtsheller.com/ for more information on his other publications.

Thanks Curt.

Ralph

Another good song site

The Internet is amazing.

I just found another great site for music with aver a dozen small collections of songs prepared for a uke club (in Great Britain).  You may not like the format as well as our standard, but it is compact, and we can always take the lyrics and chord information and reformat it.  It is nice, like some other sources, that it includes open position chord fingering positions.

Lots of numbers of which most of us are not familiar, like this cute Valentine Day number, "I want to marry a lighthouse keeper".

http://www.wukulele.com/ is the site for the music

Enjoy the fun.

Spotlight Theater

As you may know, we have had four members of the Spotlight Theater team play with us from time to time, and they are having a special evening on Friday, February 10.  Many of the folks who put on the Olio section of the normal show will put on a special evening of all Olio selections.  Just an evening of good local talent doing their thing.  It should be a great evening.  Should we get a block of tickets?

http://spotlighttheater.org/olio-follies.shtml


Ralph

February 14 meeting

It is time to start thinking about our next meeting on Feb. 14 since this is a special day. This is Valentine's Day and we should be doing some special songs that evening. Everyone should select a couple appropriate songs, either from our club song book, or from their personal files, so we can have a nice evening with a variety of numbers.

I will open the "appropriate" classification to all typical Country Western themes too, not just plain "love you" numbers. CW songs cover the range from falling in love, being in love and falling out of love, so we can live with that. But no "murder" songs like "Banks of the Ohio" please.

Ralph

Meeting Review 1-24-12

I had a blast at last night's meeting at WCD with several returning players as well as a first-timer. Our music selections spanned the decades as did our ages, from the teens through the... well, let's just say 'retired'. 


We played some tin pan alley and early swing/jazz, laid back with Jimmy Buffet and reminisced with The Eagles. I especially enjoyed playing a couple of songs written by Okies as well as an Okie-fied version of a little Hawaiian tune, but my favorite was a fast blues number. Can it really be blues if it's fast and spunky?


Jeff showed us a simple but effective way to spruce up some song endings, but since I was having fun I didn't take notes. Bad student! So if you also forgot, or missed the meeting, I know he will be happy to share the tips again. At the Tulsa Ukulele Club you can never fall behind or be too new, because we always assist beginners and help each other out through any tricky spots.


Our next meeting is on Valentine's Day, so drag your Valentine along (we always have an extra uke or two) and join us for some fun and great food from a warm and welcoming staff at the Western Country Diner.  We'll be trying out some love songs, nothing sappy, mind you, but they might be served with a little cheese ;)


Hope to see you there!   --Kay

Bored, need some spice?

Unhappy with your progress.  Bored some of the time.


Well, you can't do this with a guitar.


Ralph

Pops Bayless in concert

Pop's is a well known musician, based in Austin, and the founder of several bands.  He routinely plays a uke and banjo.  He has composed many songs, including a complete off-Broadway show for his Shorty Long* band.  Pop's is a fixture in the Texas uke world and we in OK should know him.  I like to call him a friend too.

The next time he comes to the Dallas area, we should get together and car pool to his show.

Pop's is also an accomplished uke teacher and if we ever want to bring in a professional for a workshop in
Tulsa, he would be a good choice.

I cannot seem to get this link to show so you will have to click on it to see it. In this clip he is performing several of his own songs.

Please note that for the most part he is using a simple strum so it shows what can be done with a simple right hand technique.

Ralph

*  Short left hand nails, long right hand nails

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RkxRBSS4h3I

Does this work for you?

I picked this up from kay's facebook page.

Works for me. But onnly I would follow this advice!!!!!

Ralph

OKC meeting

Here is a last minute notice that the OKC group of acoustical instruments in meeting tomorrow night in OKC. Jeff Howard has information.

This is a regular meeting for the first Saturday of the month so I will have to remember to put it on our calendar.

The OKC group is finalizing plans for a local uke club and when that gels we can put that on our calendar too.

Ralph

World Ukulele Day

Ukulele Mike has just reminded us that February 2 is World Ukulele Day.

So got some suggestions as to what our group can do?

Ralph

January meetings are coming up

We have two meetings scheduled for this month -- next week on Tuesday the 10th and the second one on Tuesday the 24th.

Bill Jensen is making some selections of songs that he thinks we will enjoy playing, both at our normal jam sessions as well as at a potential gig at the Spotlight Theater, joining Bill in his regular spot on the Olio Spotlilght calendar in February or March. I'm looking forward to seeing which songs he likes for the theater.

Hope everyone can make it on the 10th.

Ralph