Happy Holildays

Our Christmas Party was a success with a lot of folks bringing edible goodies to share and some nice musical goodies too.  Rex did not bring his usual video camera but he did capture some of the soloists with his smart phone, and some of them are posted in our club YouTube page.  Use a filter of "last month" to see the most recent ones.

Our next club meeting is January 9 and I think it might be a good idea to cover some of our club "standards".  So you might want to look them over before the 9th.

Christmas Party

Just a reminder that Thursday is our Christmas party. Bring your club song ring binder, the yellow Daily Uke if you have one, and an unsigned Christmas card for the card exchange. Goodies are OK too. A mike will also be set up for anyone who wants to demonstrate a song.

It has been a nice year and while we are looking forward to 2014. the last club meeting of 1013 is coming up on Thursday the 19th.

Since we are meeting at a food establishment, it is not normal to bring food items to their shop, but this evening will be special in that the pizza shop has OK'ed us bringing some snacks to share.  So, if you are so inclined, you can bring something to share.  Personally Dorothy calls me the "cookie monster" and I think it shows.

We will have a mike setup for anyone who wants to sing a special song or two.  We will have songs to do in a group sing-a-long too.  If you have a Yellow Daily Ukulele book, starting on page 296, are a number of Christmas season songs.  If you have a Yellow book, bring it to our meeting.  Rex will be bringing some copies of some of his favorites to share as well.  If you have any special ones you like, bring copies to share.

There will be a Christmas card exchange as well.  I'll bring a box in which everyone can drop a card, and sometime in the evening, we will select one, and then share it with the group.  So everyone, even guests, spouses, kids -- everyone bring a card.  It should NOT be signed or addressed to anyone in particular.  NOT signed, please.

Everyone is welcome and even if you don't have a uke, that is OK.  Got a guitar, mandolin, a percussion instrument?  A kazoo?  All are welcome.

Come on out, even if you have not been active as of late.  This is our club -- no your club -- so let's make this a super ending to a really nice year.  

Ralph

Award winning songwriter does his thing

December 5th weather looks bad

One can never really know about the weather forecasts when dealing with specific parts of the city, but generally speaking, the forecasts for Thursday look bad -- ice and light snow later.

Since I live quite a way from the pizza shop, I will not be attending the club meeting on Thursday.  Those living closer might want to hold off making a decision, but for me, I'll be seeing everyone the following Thursday for the Open Mike night.

And don't forget our Christmas party night on December 19.


Ralph

December activities

We have three planned club activities this month.

Thursday, Dec 5 will be a regular club meeting with time allowed for some instruction, playing the songs already in our song books* and, if anyone wants to do it, share some new songs with the group.

Thursday Dec 12 will be an Open Mike night.  As usual, folks will do up to three songs, but if we still have some time before the pizza shop closes, additional songs can be presented.  Cap'n does a lot of work to get this setup, so come out, even if it as just part of the audience.

Thursday Dec 19 will be our last meeting this month and we will have a low key Christmas party theme.  Cap'n will set up the mike and PA system for those who want to share their seasonal songs and we can do some group sing-a-longs too.  More details later.  But please put this date on your calendar -- it should be a fun evening to cap off a good year.

Ralph

*  Some folks might like to put the song sheets, now in Word and PDF format in our resource section of the web  https://sites.google.com/site/tulsaukuleleclub/   into a tablet and bring the tablet to our events, not a ring binder.  If you do this, I suggest you use your word processor to reformat the song sheet so that you don't have to swipe back and forth between the sheets.  To keep the song sheets to two pages, the song sheet is probably formatted to require you to go back and forth to the chorus.  If you reformat the sheet -- for your purposes -- so that the chorus is repeated where necessary, yoiu can just swipe down the song and not have to go back and forth.  This might make your use of a tablet easier than staying with the existing song sheet format.  

November, December, January meeting date adjustments.

Please consult the calendar on this web page or the Tulsa UkeClub website for the adjustments to the meeting dates during these holiday months. We hope you enjoy your holidays.

Thursday the 14th

Another Open Mike night coming up.  Come and give your best or come and give support.

Don't forget that those with concerns over BMI can get a great grilled chicken salad as an alternative to a slice.

Thursday the 7th of November

Our next meeting is this coming Thursday at the pizza shop.

There is plenty of material to work on in our song books.  Folks can also bring new material for consideration.

I have nothing special planned but if you are interested, since Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas is coming up soon, you might want to start working on some seasonal songs.  If you cannot find a song you like, let us know and one of the group may have one in their file.

Hope you can make it.

Ralph

A reminder -- for the time being, we have cancelled the Tuesday meetings at the Western Country Diner.

No Meeting tonight for it is Halloween.

We will resume Thursday night ukulele meetings in November. 1st and 3rd Thursdays being Regular Tulsa Ukulele Club Meetings while 2nd and 4th Thursdays being Ukulele Open Mic Night. And again the Tuesday night meetings at the Country Western Diner have been cancelled for the time being.

Meeting plans have changed

Over time, all groups like ours evolve and this is true of our ukulele club too.  For a variety of reasons, a lot of our regular club meeting attendees have found it difficult to attend a meeting on Tuesday evenings so the participation at the Western Country Diner has declined.  But fortunately, Thursday evenings do seem to have a lot of participation so we are cancelling, at least for the near term, our meetings at the WCD.  We will continue to have club jam sessions and open mike nights at the NYC Pizza shop on Thursday evenings.

I want to express my appreciation to the staff at the WCD for all the special attention they gave us with their special table setups for our group.  First rate service.

Beginner emphasis?

Any interest in having a club meeting day, say once a month, that emphasizes beginner instruction and easy to play songs? If so, give me some feedback.

Saturday Nov 9

My church in Broken Arrow is having a fall talent show in combination with a craft show and I have reserved one 20 minute slot at 11:30 AM Saturday, Nov 9.   Any Ukulele players interested? We could do some group numbers using our club standards an/or a few solo songs.  There is no specified theme for the songs even though this craft show has a holiday craft theme.  I need to know who is interested soon so we can decide how to organize our plans.

Upcoming activities.

Here is a recap of the near term activities.

This Saturday at OKC.  Regular workshop and open mike afterward

Next Tuesday at WCD.  Regular education and jam meeting

Next Thursday at NYC Pizza.  Open Mike

If you know of anything else, let me know and I will pass it along.

Don't forget to check out the web page for songs and photos, and the Facebook page for the latest reports by the members.

Ralph

Tonight's Ukulele Meeting.

Tonight we hope to discuss the up coming workshop/concert with Pops Bayless. I'd like to discuss our club performing in the future. And we will play lots of music on our ukuleles.

Thursday night

There has been a lot of negative feedback on the planned song circle so that is cancelled.  We will have our usual format for the meeting.

Thursday Song Circle

I thought I would summarize what we have planned for this coming Thursday meeting at the NYC Pizza shop, 49th and Harvard.  We have not done this song circle very often, so here is a recap of our plans.

We would like everyone to prepare to lead three songs.  They should be songs you like, in a key in which you can sing.  They can be of any genre -- Hawaiian/Island, country, spiritual, pop -- your call.  You set the song key, you set the tempo. They can be familiar numbers or songs new to the group.  They can be simple two chord songs (i.e., Buffalo Gal, Take Me Back To Tulsa), or something more complex, again, your choice.  They can be familiar numbers or songs new to the group, but obviously as the song leader, you will know the song very well.

We will go around the table and everyone will get a chance to lead one of their songs.  The leader will call our the song title, the key and the name of the chords in the song.*.  Given we have some beginners in the group, while not normal, it might be wise to show how to finger any unusual chords before starting the song.

The song leader might use a song sheet or not, but the rest of the group does not use any written aid.  They listen to the song and play along following the song leader.  It can be helpful to watch the fingering of the leader or some other player in the group if you have any difficulty.  Or mute the strings as needed if you get a bit lost.

This is great ear training.  It is the same technique promoted by Jim d'Ville in his "Play By Ear" training program.  See   http://www.playukulelebyear.com/   and sign up for his free video examples, or get his DVDs..

Now we would like everyone to participate as a song leader, but if you have some problems preparing for the club meeting, please come anyway.

See you on Thursday.

Ralph

*  It is more normal to call out the song arrangement using the Nashville system, but for Thursday, let's just identify the chords by familiar names.

Thursday Open Mike Night

Another Open Mike night this Thursday starting at 7 PM.  Got some songs ready?

Thanks to Cap'n and Rex for all their effort in getting the gear setup (and put away) -- there is a lot of effort (and expense in the equipment) involved.  Thanks to both of you.

The week on September 8

This coming week will be pretty busy for the uke folks.  Tuesday is our regularly scheduled 2nd Tuesday jam and instructional meeting at the Western Country Diner and as usual, we will work on some familiar numbers as well as look at new ones/  Got any you think would be good for the group?  Bring it along.

Thursday is an Open Mike night at the NYC Pizza shop.  Here we have to thank Cap'n and Rex for all their effort to bring their gear and set up the PA system.  Got some songs you want to share?  Let's hear them.

Another great Open Mike

I think everyone had a good time last night at the Open Mike at the pizza shop.  There were some great songs and good performances, including a milestone for our group --  Kay performed a Hawaiian love song in Hawaiian.  Not being a linguist myself, this was really impressive.

Also of note were two folks joining us for the first time, Glenn Gosley and Terry Pitts (from Bartlesville).  Let's all give a big welcome to them.

I hope that the videos the Rex was taking will turn out good for they could be a good addition to our club YouTube Channel.

Lets also give thanks to Rex for the  mike and amp setup and to Cap'n for starting this element of our club's activities.  It takes some effort to do this so recognition is welcomed.


Ralph

Open Mike Night

Thursday will be another Open Mike Night.  Come to perform or clap!

Open mike night

Here is a big thanks to Rex for setting up his equipment for last night's open mike.  I really liked the setup at that end of the room, and the UkeFarm music feed until we started playing was excellent too.

Thanks  again

Busy week ahead

We havde a busy week ahead.

We have the second Tuesday ukulele club meeting coming up this coming Tuesday, the 13th.  Hope you can make it.  Western Country Diner, 19th and Sheridan.

Rex is planing to host the open mike night this coming Thursday at the NYC Pizza shop.

Ralph

A concert idea

Now we may not have the skill levels of the concert performers at this particular concert in British Columbia, but we could do something like this -- tie in a concert with our group playing, with a charity.  The charity, and the host facility -- say a church -- have extensive contacts and could bring out a good crowd.

Anyone want to take on this community project?

Thursday's meeting

We had a nice evening at the pizza shop. Tieu showed up with an instrument and played very well -- he is in the class being held at Saied Music. Phillip and his wife 
Sara also showed. Phillip is another of the multi-instrument men who have recently picked up the ukulele and are enjoying the fun. Welcome all.

Social Media is working for us

I just checked our stats and we are now over 26,000 views and counting.

Many thanks to Bill K for setting up the blog.

This, the FaceBook pages, our YouTube channel and the web page are all contributing to our steady growth.

Yes, social media is effective.


Ralph

Meeting this Thursday

This coming Thursday will be our first meeting in August.

As usual, it is useful to keep things going if everyone has preselected some numbers to play.  If you have one you want to learn, that would be a good choice too.

I see that there are a number of folks being mentioned in our FaceBook pages as newcomers, so please welcome them, one and all.

See you Thursday at the pizza shop.

Ralph

A good one

Could this be your house?

near term schedule

I have heard some rumblings that the club meeting lull for the next week or so needs correction.

Well, you can go to north OKC this coming Saturday evening and be with the uke workshop meeting there at 6 PM.  Jeff started the group two years ago and this will be the starting evening of year three.

Or, if someone wants something local, make a recommendation and we will see if there is any other interest.  Cap'n has offered another open mike night, or it could just be a jam.  Or maybe someone wants to so something this coming weekend.  

If not, let's gather at the pizza shop on August 8

Ralph

Open Mike Night

Well, I think about 10 folks showed up for this open mike night, and thanks to Cap'n for setting this up again.  A variety of music genre's and music styles but, risking offending someone by omission, the highlights for me were with Rex showing what a good banjo uke could do, Robert's good voice, and the duet of Mark and Tom.   And Cap'n is correct -- the group is getting better and more confident as the days go by.

Thanks for the nice evening.

Club activities this week

The club has two activities planned for this coming week. 

The first is the regular meeting at the WCD.  As usual, it is helpful if folks preplan some songs they want to play, or to introduce to the others.

Then on Thursday is another Open Mike night with Cap'n hosting this at the pizza shop.  Come to play or come and be part of the audience, but come if you are free that evening.

Kimo Hussey video series

Anyone interested in ukes will find this upcoming video series interesting.  I have had the pleasure of meeting Kimo a couple times at the Dallas uke festival a few years ago and he is a great player and teacher.  These videos should be quite informative.

http://kimohussey.com/kimo-hussey-ukulele-video-series-aloha-and-welcome/

Great meeting last night

We had a really good turnout last night and more importantly, the group is getting much better, more confident, willing to really sing along with the music.  The open mike nights seem to have improved the confidence and the All Girl Orchestra extra evenings has really helped them too.

It was a really nice evening.

Sound comparison -- from very inexpensive to quite expensive

I just found this comparison of a number of ukes made by a fellow in the UK.  I think that everyone will be able to hear the sound differences between the very inexpensive and the most expensive, an all koa tenor.  Some differences will be the body size, the larger bodies having a fuller sound, but even the small koa soprano has a great sound.  Within the same price range, there are differences (such as the Dolphin sounding pretty good compared to the others).  The Flea and Fluke are made in Massachusetts,  the two koa ukes are made in Hawaii, the rest are made in Asia.

Most folks will prefer the sound of the ukes having a solid top.  For having a laminate top, I think the Flea and Fluke are nice sounding ukes, but some of this is probably related to the rounded shape of the body.

Calendar update

Check out the updated club activities calendar at the bottom of the opening page.  I've updated the months of July and August and included the five beginner uke classes being conducted at Saied Music.

Don't forget that OKC has two meetings a month, both of which are in northern OKC and easy to get to from here.  And during the summer months, you will be driving home in daylight too.

Another nice open mike evening

Last night we had the second open mike night at the NYC Pizza shop and it was a good one.  As before, Cap'n did all the work to get the place setup for the session, bringing his electronics and sound system with him and then organizing the session.  We all owe him a Thank You for the effort and all the time  it takes to do the setup and tear down.  This setup does not come free of time and effort.

I did not log the names of those who elected to give is a song or two but we pretty well filled an hour and a half.  Thanks to all who went to the microphone.

I also think the club members are properly responding to the open mike theme.  It is not to show off one's skills per se,  but to gain confidence in being in front of the public, and for putting in the energy and time to work on a couple songs to get better at performing that song, in your individual style.  None of us will perform a particular piece in the style of a recording artist -- it should be our take on that song and how we relate to it.

I am also pleased that the shop is gradually improving the appearance of the room.  From when we started, the current appearance is very much improved, with all the sheet-rock and basic painting competed.  The mural theme is a good one, given the name of the shop.  It is becoming a much nicer venue for our club than a few months ago.

Ralph

Napa Valley in September

If anyone is interested in a trip to Napa Valley this September, you should definitely plan on attending the ukulele festival there September 6-8.  Here is the link:

http://winecountryukefest.com/

They have a great array of excellent instructors, workshops for all skill levels and the many concerts are world renown.  Some of the performances, both small in the garden, and on the main stage, are recorded in YouTube.

And if you go, leave your current uke at home and get that special one there.

You will not regret this trip.

A great example

Here is a nice video that shows that the ukukeke can be a really nice instrument for accompanying a vocalist on a soft, sweet tune.

Open mike night

Our open mike night was a success.  I was not counting but I think we had about 10 folks step up to the microphone, performing a wide variety of songs.

Our little club has come a long way in the last couple years, not only with the addition of new members who were already musicians but with the increased confidence of the beginners.

We will have to do again some time.

Thanks to all who participated as well as to Cap'n for doing all the arranging and setup.

Ralph

We should do this song too

Ukulele Lady was written by Kahn and Whiting in 1925, performed by many artists including this version by the Muppets.  I've got the song sheet if we want to try it.

Great cartoon

A slightly altered Blondie cartoon, even better if you know about the Barnkickers

(Here is a link to their first award winning video, about 5 years ago.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEs2qViWECs 

It was a nice evening

Well, we had a nice turnout last night at the pizza shop.  I think we all had a good time.

Let's welcome John Nicholas.  John is a guitar teacher at Saied, and while not really too familiar with the uke yet, one can tell that he will be one the talented folks that we can always use to help the newcomers.  He is planning to come to our "Four Strings, Four Fingers, For Fun" evenings in the future as time will allow.

Some of you may find that the music shop in Bartlesville is close to you,  Tom Stevens is giving uke specific lessons at that shop.  Tom brought a couple nice ukes that that shop sells to our meeting last night and I really like the tone of the RipTide mahogany tenor he had with him.  (Tom normally plays a baritone with CGEA tuning strings, giving an overall lower tone than mostukes.).

Tom and Mark are working on a gig at a restaurant in Bartlesville.  When this is finalized, they will let us know and maybe ask some of us to set in during their evening entertainment.  Tom did have a couple evening gigs at the local Dusty Dog Pub last month too.

Next week we will have more ujke opportunities with our regular meeting at the WCD on Tuesday and the open mike night the Cap'n is setting up for Thursday evening at the pizza shop.  Hope you can make it.

Formal music lessons

If you know of anyone who wants formal instruction in the ukulele, I see that the Firey Bros. shop in Sand Springs is now advertising uke lessons.  To the best of my knowledge, this is the first shop to offer uke lessons.   So for those who want more than the simple strums and open chord fingering, this could be what you are looking for to aid in playing enjoyment.

Ralph

Open Mike, June 27

Cap'n is arranging for an open mike night at the NYC Pizza shop on Thursday, June 27.  He will be setting up a mike for vocals, and maybe a mike for the uke too.  (A mike for the uke may be overkill, most of us cannot sing as loud as we play, and this is a small room.)

So, look over your songs and select some you like.  Even if you don't think you can do it as well as the professionals you see on YouTube, non't fear -- nobody will be throwing pizza slices at you!


Ralph

July schedule

At the club meeting last night, there was complete agreement that we should drop the first Thursday meeting of July.  So for July, we now have three planned club meetings.

Of course, maybe we can get some interest in meeting at a restaurant patio, a park setting or somewhere  else on a weekend, so if you are interested in this, let us know

Ralph

Vintage music source

Some of you may like what can be called vintage music -- material from the late 1800's to about 1940 or so.  Ian has made it a hobby of collecting and scanning old sheet music and old music book material and put them in a pair of DVDs.  These are not video DVDs, but data DVDs, full of pdfs of the sheet music.  Much is arranged and show ukulele chords (some with fingering in C, some in D tuning), some show guitar chords and fingering.

All told there are about 7600 songs in the two DVDs, some of which are probably duplicates, but even with that, this is a huge resource for those who like this material.

This web page has a link to the song index and a link to order the DVDs.  For $15, one gets two DVDs packed with vintage material.  A fantastic resource for those interested in this music.

http://vintageukemusic.com/


Ralph

Thursday was an unusual club day

The regularly scheduled meeting at the NYC pizza shop  became a show of our resilience.

For some reason, our communication with the shop had slipped up and they booked their rear room for a local business group.  So, as folks arrived, we had to decide what to do.  Well, Toby came to the rescue.  He offered his house for our evening jam session.

And it was a lifesaver in that we had a couple new folks show up as well as a large group of regulars.  A total of 14 folks were milling around wondering where we would go, where we would eat.  

Toby's offer solved the location problem and we decided to just eat at the pizza shop and then caravan to Toby's house.

It worked out well.  

While we normally end up or jams about 8:30 to 8:45 (both restaurants want to close at 9 PM), with our late start and no closing period, we stayed at the Bogle residence till almost 9:30, leaving just because a lot of folks had to go to work the following day.  I'm sure if this had been a Friday or Saturday evening, we would have gone on for much longer.

It was a record attendance last night and it was really good to see everyone enjoying themselves.

Hat's off to Bill and Janice Dunn for bringing enough copies of a new song to share.  How they knew how many to produce, given our record attendance, I don't know.  And we should give recognition to Bill for leading the song.  Given that he is a real beginner, he deserves credit for the effort.

And a Gold Star to Mary for suggesting some songs for us to play.  Rex and I don't really want to be dictators in song selection and we want others to show their preferences.  Thanks to Mary for selecting some songs we all like.

Just so we don't get too bored with our current material, I am suggesting that every now and then we have a Theme Night.  This could include songs with a railroad theme (i.e., I've Been Working On A Railroad, Freight Train), maybe ships (i.e., Titanic, Blow The Man Down), cities (Amarillo By Morning, San Francisco Bay Blues) or just Oklahoma (could be hundreds --see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_Oklahoma  )

So give me some feedback -- good idea or not?  And if you like a song but don't have the resources to find the lyrics and chords and make up song sheets, just let me know and we will do our best to find it.

There was some interest shown for some instruction in the proper way to play Hawaiian music andI I'll get with Leilani and come up with a schedule.  Maybe we can come up with something a bit less expensive, but this is her reference book.  :  http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Ukulele-1-Learn-beloved-Hawai%60i/dp/1427626936/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370617475&sr=1-1&keywords=island+joy+hawaiian+music

Feedback is always welcome.  This is your club.

Hawaiian style

I have been in contact with Leilani, the lady who runs the Tulsa hula school and performances.  She has made an offer to give us some instruction in how to play a Hawaiian song in the correct Hawaiian style (as opposed to a Hollywood or Broadway style).

I have a book of the songs in this style and it is arranged for the ukulele.  The arrangements are, for the most part, quite easy for just about any club member to play.  But playing in a true Hawaiian style could be different from what might seem natural to most of us

So if you are interested in getting to meet Leilani and get some pointers, let me know and I will see if we can set up an appropriate time and place.

When we decided that playing the uke would be fun, we really should be able to play several number in the correct style.  So if you agree, contact me.

Ralph

WiFi at the Western Country Diner

I found out that the Western Country Diner has free WiFi at last night's meeting. This means if you have a Lap Top, iPad, or PC Tablet that you could access the Tulsa Ukulele Club's Resource page on our web site during our meetings there. Which means you could have access to all our song sheets without printing them out. Which means you would have the latest revision to a song if it has been modified. Last night a few songs were played from the Resource page that weren't on the Core List. Well I have only printed out the songs on the Core List so if I had my Lap Top there it would have given me access to the songs I hadn't printed out. I do have a Lap Top and the down side to that is the screen is wide and not long like a sheet of paper. Anyway, I just thought I'd pass on that there is another avenue for song sheets when we meet at the Western Country Diner.
Jazzbanjorex.

Yes we are gathering tomorrow.

Our normal 4th Tuesday meeting at the Western Country Diner is still on, even is close to the Memorial Day weekend.

Hope you can make it.

Want to help them make the trip?

Noel and Kate are slated to be the only representatives of the US at the ukulele festival in Prague this summer.  They do have a sponsor for some of their costs via Kala Ukulele, but can use some more support.

This pair got together via their common bond of being (1) cancer survivors and (2) musicians and vocalists and have been seen very frequently in the Dallas area where they live (and where Noel has a ukulele shop).  I'm sure they would appreciate any support.

Check out their video.

http://www.gofundme.com/SpiritRunners?utm_campaign=Emails&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

I spotted some bargains

I was looking at the FleaMarket site, and in particular the Marketplace section and spotted a fellow selling two nice ukuleles.

One is a Lanakai CK-T koa tenor, packaged in a kit with the gig bag and tuner, asking $85 plus shipping.  Several years ago I had a concert sized version of this particular uke and it was very nice.  A laminate, with a koa veneer, with some bling.  I sold my concert to a fellow in OKC last year (after at least 5 years of ownership) for more than this fellow is asking for his almost new tenor, so I consider this to be a good offer.

The second is a mahogany Pono tenor, model MTDX.  Pono ukes have an excellent reputation, and I have one; it is possibly my most favorite uke.  This offer, with an asking price of $250, is a significant saving over new.  This particular model is, like all Pono ukes, all solid wood.  This particular model is without any bling, which some folks prefer.

So if you are interested in a tenor, either one of these should be very nice.

Ralph
ps -- I have no involvement with these offers -- they just look pretty attractive for mid range ukes.

Uke Summer Canp

Ms. Grant is having a ukulele summer camp at a church in Owasso this summer.  It is designed for youth, grade 2 and older.  They need to have a uke for the class.  June 24-28, 9AM to Noon.

If you know anyone interested, contact me and I will forward your request to Ms. Grant.

Ralph

A reminder

Please don't forget to check out our club Resources section every now and then to be sure your song book is up to date.    Our jams rely on everyone being on the same page.

Now if you have a preference for a different key for a particular song, let us know so we can address your needs.  Not every song needs to be in the key of C!

https://sites.google.com/site/tulsaukuleleclub/

Ralph

Owasso Youth Concert

The Choir and Ukulele Club of the North Intermediate school in Owasso gave a concert to the residents of a local nursing home on Friday, May 10.  They had a wide variety of music genre and it was well received.  Here are a couple of the snapshots I took during the concert.    Both the Choir and Uke club had special tee shirts.  Most of the uke players were strummers but the two gals shown were able to fingerpick the melody line.  Everyone had a good time.

Updated Song Files

https://sites.google.com/site/tulsaukuleleclub/Resources

Rex has been doing a lot of work to get our song sheets in order and to pull together a really good list of song numbers that have proven to be popular for the active members.   To be sure that we can all be on the same page in our routine jams, the selected songs are now listed in the web page Resources section in the section called "Lists:.  Check out the list to see that you have the songs noted in your personal ring binder.

Now in the "Songs for Learning" section, are the actual song files, along with a notation as to the release date, or what could be called the "revision" date.  So when you look at the song title, you will see the revision date and if your personal club book version of the song has the same date, you are current, otherwise, you need to update your personal file for that song.

This may seem to be a lot of bother, but it is the only way we can all be on the same page.

Rex and I don't get our jollies trying to keep these files up to date but we do find that if we are all together, using the same resource, we have a much better club meeting.  So you can help by keeping current.

The song list noted has about 40 "core" songs and you will find that the number of songs in the resources section are greater than that number.  You might want to download others for your personal pleasure.  And if enough folks like one of these, we can always add it to the "core" songs.  Nothing is cast in concrete.

Comments are always welcome.

Ralph

Meeting: Tomorrow, 02May2013.

For those of us who can't go a week without meeting up to play ukuleles, we're having an intervention this Thursday the 2nd of May 2013 at the NYC Pizzeria.

ImpressiveTexas club show

I was not able to get this video to show, but here is the link for you to see.  This is the Austin TX club at a special day at the church where they have their meetings.  I was impressed with the wide range of ages and that the kids were not embarrassed to be with the seniors.  Note the youngster doing a solo part.

Now it's time for us to get our kids and grand-kids involved.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Yda-CPPfMSQ

A sing-along site

Here is a site out of the Netherlands that has a large number of songs arranged for a play-along mode.  Select the tuning key -- C, or G for the baritone.  (D, is also available but most of us do not use that option).  Click on a song, click on Open and then the start icon.   You will see a video of someone(or a group) doing the song, a lower bar scrolling along with the vocals and the chords, along with a fretboard with the fingering positions showing the chords that should be played at that time.

I found this site a long time ago but I just looked at all the songs and they have really enlarged the song list.

Going over some of these songs is great fun and educational as well.  One thing that is good -- not all the songs are in the key of C!  Check it out.

For future convenience, I have added a link to this site in the Handy Links section.


http://www.ukuleleplayalong.nl/#

For raw beginners ----

Here is a gent from Mississippi that is a very good guitar player offering suggestions for beginners.  Raw beginners.  But there are some gems in here for everyone.

Have a few smiles, learn a bit too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maIpJ3n2vx0

Rex is highlighted here

The host of Humble Baritonics has just posted one of the videos of Rex in his web page.  Check out Rex on his baritone doing this song, one of the many that he posts almost weekly.

http://humblebaritonics.blogspot.com/

The site is a good one for those interested in the baritone uke and the variety of different tunings that this longer scale ukulele can provide.

The Music Shop has received a number of Mahalo ukes, mostly the highly decorated ones with smiley faces and the like.  So if you know anyone interested in a cheapie, or maybe to use as a wall hanger, you might check them out.

Workshop report

Rex and KR report that the attendance at the workshop on Saturday the 20th at Saied Music was well attended -- 28 folks showed up, with a wide range of ages, some from some distance from Tulsa.  There was interest in future workshops expressed.  We may have something going here.

Weekend meeting -- should we plan one?

At this time we have about four meetings a month, but always on weeknights.  This precludes a fair fraction of the local uke world from participating if they are occupied during the evenings with work or family.

I hosted a meeting a few months ago on a Sunday afternoon and it was not well received.  Maybe it was a lack of extra promotion for the special event, maybe Sunday afternoon was not good, maybe it was just the wrong day -- I don't know, but it was not popular.

But maybe the club should entertain looking at a weekend event again.  The Oklahoma folks meet on a Saturday evening,  The extremely popular Dallas club has club meetings on Tuesday evenings and on Saturdays.  Sometimes  the Saturday meetings are in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening and their "beginners" sessions are on a Saturday morning.  So that suggests that a Saturday could be a popular day.

Give me some feedback.  Does this have any appeal?

Ralph

A busy man today

Rex has been busy today.  First thing this morning he and his Dulcimer Magic group performed at the Sand Springs festival and then he led the ukulele workshop at Saied Music.

Rambling along

I was just rambling along this morning and I wondered if one could come up with a story about the different size ukes. Here is my take.

Soprano. Like a young girl, lively, full of fun and optimism, but not yet fully developed. Young, bright voice.

Concert. A young lady, with all the proper traits, sometimes dressed out with a lot of bling, but not yet fully mature. Voice is getting a bit more mature.

Tenor. A matured woman, confident, willing to be seen and heard, sometimes bright and gay (high g) and sometimes a bit dark (low g) depending on the mood. Can be in the spotlight with or without a lot of bling or be happy in solitude.

Baritone. The male figure in this family. Generally best kept in the background in a support role but willing to star when needed.

What is yours?

Kimo Hussey is a great teacher

Kimo has been to the Dallas Uke festivals a couple of times and he is a great teacher.  He is in demand for workshops around the world.  Now that he is a retired AF pilot, he has time to enjoy his passion for the uke.

Here is a small video on some basic right hand technique (plus some more fancier stuff)

It does not take a genius to play the ukulele.  Need proof?

Lessons at Saied Music April 20

The folks at Saied Music at 32nd and Yale have arranged for Rex to teach a workshop for the ukulele.  This lesson will be at 1PM on Saturday April 20.

So if you know of anyone who might be interested, let them know about it and they can contact Saied for a slot in the program.  Please note that this workshop is not just for raw beginners.

It is my understanding that some instruments will be available for use during the program and that passout material will be provided.  I also think that there is no age restriction, but best check with Saied on any minimum age for youth.

We know that Rex can do a great job so pass the word.

Ralph

Another one

Here is another one of Rex's videos


http://goanimate.com/videos/0wJDkV-JHmMY/1

Gals,this is for you

Gals, this is for you.


http://goanimate.com/videos/0Gt5qskNXGi4/1

Good information for the beginner

Mike Lynch has a nice video that he prepared several years ago on some basics on how to finger chords.  There is some good basic information here, including the need to keep the thumb behind the neck to keep the pressure on the strings.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pJme1gtN1SM#at=90

May schedule

Greetings.  I know it may be a bit far ahead for some of you, but the calendar for the month of May demanded that we change the dates for the meetings at the NYC Pizza shop from the 1st and 3rd Thursdays to the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.  I have changed the club calendar posted in out blog and web page to match the changes.  This change will give us one meeting a week instead of jammng two meetings into one week.

Easter goodies

Here are a couple of Easter goodies for you by one of masters of swing using a uke, Gerald Ross

http://geraldross.com/listen.htm

Spring is here

Hi, everyone.

This morning with all the storms around us, it looks like Spring is here in Oklahoma.  Dorothy even asked if our safe room was ready (and I assured her it was).

Spring also brings an opportunity to select some special songs to work on.  You can Google "songs about spring" or something like that and get some suggestions.  Some of these are in our Daily Uke books too.

But there are also a wide variety of themes we might look at that match the coming months.  These include Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and the two patriotic days, Memorial Day and Fourth of July.

So if you have anything you want to share, and they are not already in our Resources or the song books, you can send them out by email, or bring some copies to share at our meetings.

Our next meeting is Thursday, April 4 at the NYC pizza shop.

And if you are up to a bit of travel, on Saturday the 6th is the monthly OCTMA meeting, always a nice meeting with new folks to meet.

Need Motivation?

Now for those of us who never seem to get beyond the top few frets, here is something to give us some motivation.

jokes

A little musicians humor please.

Some good ones here.

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?78846-musician-jokes-please

March 26 Meeting

Just a reminder that Spring, while officially here, is just around the corner.  Our winter weather will be over soon.  Easter and Passover is upon us.

The song Easter Parade is on Page 289 of the Yellow Daily Uke book.  Let's try this out this Tuesday at the Western Country Diner.   If you have some other songs that are appropriate, bring them along.

Hope to see you there

Ralph

March 12 Meeting

Our next meeting, this Tuesday at the Western Country Diner, will be before St. Pat's day.  There are three Irish theme songs in the Yellow Daily Ule book -- Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling and Danny Boy.  Would you like to try them out?  They don't seem to difficult.

And since we have some beginners with us, we will also do a few songs that have proven to be good ones for those just starting out.

Go to the Web Page  https://sites.google.com/site/tulsaukuleleclub/Resources   and download Take Me Back To Tulsa.  This is a two chord version of this Bob Wills number.

Hope you can make the meeting.

Ralph

D and D7 chords

At the club meeting last night we had a short discussion about different ways to play the D and D7.  I'll take a couple minutes to try and explain my thoughts on the choices.  I'll only discuss working in the top 5 frets (but the experienced player will work the entire fretboard).

There are two common ways to play a D ( D,F#,A) -- 2220 and 2225.   With 2220, the A note is doubled and with 2225, the D note is doubled.  I play the 2220 with three fingers and the 2225 with a bar on the 2nd fret and the pinky on the A, 5th fret.  Which to choose?  I tend to minimize hand and finger motion and select the one base on the preceding chord fingering or the fingering for the subsequent chord.  Or, since the only change is on the A string, if I want the highest note to be the A (2220) for a lower tone or the highest to be D (2225) for a higher tone. Personally, most of the time I make the selection based on minimum hand-finger movement in the chord sequence.

Now there are at least a half dozen ways to play a D7 chord  (ACF#D)  in the top 5 frets.  All the books show 2223 and some show 2020, sometimes called the Hawaiian D7.   2020 does not really give a D7 chord -- there is no D note in that fingering, but the tone is similar to a normal D7 and it is accepted as a D7 in the ukulele world.  In some cases it is easier to finger the 2020 in a chord sequence, other times 2223 is easier.  For example, if I am playing a C chord, going to a D7, it is easy for me to keep my ring (or pinky) finger on the A string and drop the pointer finger and bar the 2nd fret to get a D7 -- this gives 2223.  Sometimes it is easier to do a 2020 from other chords.  Generally I try and listen to the song melody and then select the one that is best for the melody.  2020 gives a lower tone that 2223 with the C and A strings both giving lower notes than 2223 since they are open strings in that fingering.  I see that most of the recommendations in the Daily Uke book  for D7 is 2020, so it is very acceptable.

Lone Star Uke Festival, March 8 & 9

The Lone Star Ukulele Festival is this coming weekend, starting on Friday morning.  Classes and workshops during the day on Friday and Saturday and concerts in the evening.  Expect some extensive jam sessions too.

Here is the link    http://www.lonestarukefest.com/

Here are some workshops designed for all levels of players and the concerts should be great too.  The workshops cover a wide range of material, not just playing the uke, but singing and songwriting too -- check the web page for specifics.

Bytown song book links

Every club seems to have their own collection of songs that they enjoy playing as a group.  I've added a link to the Bytown collection in the Handy Links section.

They have pulled together a number links to on-line of song books.  I think most of these are from England, but they can all be useful.

It is too bad that there is not a master index of songs and what book contains the song, but one can easily browse the links to find the songs in each book.

The combination of the various club books, the Internet and the large number of printed books (including the two Daily Uke books) give us a huge resource for our musical adventures

http://www.bytownukulele.ca/Songbooks.aspx

Something to consider

Her is something to consider when you might be discussing the fee for a gig.  Musicians really do work pretty cheap (until they get at the top level)

Tuesday evening, Feb 26

Well, it looks like it might not be a great day, but there does not appear to be any problem with driving and traffic today or tonight, so I plan to go to the WCD for our regular Tuesday meeting.

Hope you can make it too.

Ralph

Most Used Chords

I got this from a Facebook posting.  I don't know the source of the data, but it seems that this is a reasonable distribution.  So if you are beginning to play the uke, work on those most frequently seen in songs, as shown here.  Personally, I think that the various 7th's are more frequently seen than shown in this list, but that is just my observation.  For example, I think D7 and G7 is used more than D and G.  But we need them all.

Click on the image to make it larger

Tuesday Feb 22

Bases on the weather report I saw tonight, the weather conditions for this coming Tuesday evening does not appear to be very good.

So if you are considering coming to the meeting that night, send me a response, by email, or by phone and I will put you on the "possible list".  I need your phone number to call you, so be sure you include that if you give me an email response.

That way if we want to cancel, I can give everyone a call that we are going to cancel.

Now I am not frightened by the forecast -- I, as well as most of you, have lived in places with much worse weather than we have here.  But still, there is no reason to take any unnecessary risks.

Don't bother to tell me you are not planning to attend -- I just want those who might attend.

Ralph

A complete Chord program

If you are ever looking for a way to play a chord that is different from what you might see in a table or a book, this program could be for you.

http://www.tonalalchemy.com/

This is a program for all string instruments, not just a uke, but it covers the uke world completely.  It shows all the chord possibilities in the selected uke tuning -- C, both high and low G, D, G, both high and low D, Bb and gives you the option of doing your own thing, such as a Cautro or slack key tuning.

It shows the chord possibilities over the complete neck.

I find it useful when I might be looking for another way to finger a chord.  For example, there are several ways to pay an Em in the top 5 frets, but the easiest is just a 2 finger version, 0302.  And there are 12 ways to finger a C7 chord in the top 5 frets.  So the program gives you a lot of options.

One nice feature is the ability to show finger placement on a provided graphic and the program will tell you the name of the chord, if it is a chord.  0323 is not a chord, but 2323 is a diminished chord, so you cannot cheat by leaving out the first string -- it isn't a chord.

There is an audible feature -- the program gives you the sound of the selected chord.

So if you want to delve into chord options, this could be for you.

Transposing Wheel

If you find that a published song sheet has a key that is not very good for your voice, you might want to change the key.

Here is a link to a useful graphic.  Print it, cut it out and glue  it on some light card stock (like that of cereal box) and put it together.  I use small diameter pop rivets or small machine screws to hold them together, but you can use anything you like.

What is different about this particular transcribing wheel is that is is arranged in the Circle of Fifths, so it serves both purposes.  Note that the song, Five Foot Two, in the key of C, has a chord sequence that follows the Circle in 7ths -- C, E7, A7, D7, G7 back to C.  Singing this song in the key of F, you would have this sequence -- F, A7, D7, G7, C7, F

And again, using C as the key, the 4th is F and the 5th is G, so a song in the I, IV, V sequence would be C, F, G, or in the key of F, the chord sequence of  I, IV, V7 would be F, Bb, C7.

It as useful tool to have handy.

http://ukuleletonya.com/files/transposing_wheel.pdf

Now this is the way our local music shops should market ukes.  This is a shop in Durham, NC and they have a wide variety of ukes on the wall.  The gal is playing everything from the $40 Dolphins to PONO's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KOGJWsWyQEU

My second thoughts about The Daily Ukulele Songbooks.

I was going through the Blue and Yellow The Daily Ukulele songbooks, page by page, to find the songs with 2, 3, 4, and 5 chords. It is shown right under the title of the song which chords are used for each song. I was then witting the number of chords used, in the song, in the index between the title and page number of that song. I was doing this for quick reference to find simple songs right from the index. In doing this I realized that there were many more songs I am familiar with than when I did a scan of the indexes when I first got the books. I wish I'd had these books much earlier for there are quite a few songs I had hunted for on the internet or worked out by listening to the songs over and over to make my YouTube videos for the Ukulele Underground's Seasons of the Ukulele contest this year. Live and learn.

Spring Theme

Not that love theme songs are passe' but we are fast approaching the Spring time of the year and that could be the theme for the couple of months.  And this period includes the major Christian date of Easter.

So think about some appropriate spiritual songs and those dealing with springtime.  We have some appropriate songs in our club song book and if you want, Google Easter Songs and Springtime Songs for some other numbers.  We can even think about  Easter bunny songs and get ready to pay to the grandkids.

February 12th Meeting

Well, we had a nice club meeting last night with a couple new folks and several others who returned after some time off.  We played a lot of new numbers that fell into the "Love" theme as well as a couple that fell into the Mardi Gras theme.

Now these new songs are not in our Resources section of our web page and if you liked them enough, we can add them.  To recap, they were:

Walking after midnight
Last night on the back porch
Heartache by the numbers
One by one
Only you
Nancy Jane
Bye bye love
Pretty when it's new
Basin Street Blues
Jambalaya

So if you liked them enough, we can add them to the Resouces section, let us know.

Craig's List

I check this site every now and then to see what might be for sale in this area and right now there are several ukuleles that could be attractive to the community.  Most of the time there are only one or two listings, mostly low and mid priced instruments.  But right now there are several, including an upscale all Koa tenor made in Hawaii (at a significant discount over a new one)  So if you know anyone who is interested in a used instrument, at an appropriate saving, you might have them check these out.

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is coming!

In the ukulele world, this group stands out at one of the most famous and they pack the concert halls when they perform.  They are coming to the USA and their last stop is in Overland Park, KS on Saturday, April 20.

Here is the link to their home page, and from there a link to the nearby concert.

I expect that the concert will be sold out so if you think you would like to go, or if you want to make up a group to go together, best get on it soon.

http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/main/home.aspx

If you go, be sure to take a uke, for it is tradition that the audience plays along with the orchestra on their signature number.

February Meeings

The first Thursday club meeting went well with a good turnout and a couple new folks showing up.

Our first Tuesday club meeting with be this coming Tuesday the 12.  This is Valentine's Day and I hope we can all enjoy some songs with a "love" theme.  I've selected a few to share, and some of them are "in love" and some are "out of love".  There are a ;lot of the "out of love" category in Pop and Country Music.

This is also Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras so if you have the appropriate color clothes or beads, be sure to wear them.  Now I have enough songs selected for Tuesday, but if you have not selected one, you might look for something with a New Orleans theme.  Here is a link with hundreds of songs in that group, so you can probably find one you like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_New_Orleans

Hope to see you on Tuesday, beads and all.

Ralph

Here's something we should do

It has been suggested in just about all musical forums that folks like us should have a half dozen or so songs "down pat" so that if we are requested to play a song or two, we can do so without hesitation, and without a song sheet.

Now I remember a couple times when I was with the Dallas group and a request came in from the rest of the restaurant patrons, Mark (the leader) would say, sure we could do it, and we all would automatically go into Five Foot Two, with the comment that that song has the same notes as the requested song, just in a different order. This got a few chuckles, but there is an underlying message -- it is really good to some songs that we can call on without hesitation.

 Kay, Bill and Blayne have a number of songs in memory that they can perform well.  I have chatted with Rex and he wants to work on this too.  Now for me, doing something without a song sheet will be a real stretch, for regardless of my history with the uke, and regardless of all the genres of music that I have played, I just have not memorized any songs.

That is going to change, and I hope you are going to help me, and in doing so, help yourself.

So in addition to concentrating on love themed songs in February, I hope we can work on a song w/o looking at the song sheet.  Now what songs?  I'm open to suggestions, but "Five Foot Two" is a uke standard that we should all know and "Amazing Grace" would be a great option too.  What would you like?

Want to help me improve?

Ralph

A real talent

Here is a video of a real musician on the instrument.  The video was taken to demonstrate how one instrument can be played in a variety of styles and have a different tone, depending on attack.

But forget that, just enjoy the video.

February is here

February is here and we have a pretty full schedule for this short month.  Our regular Tuesday evening meetings at the Western Country Diner is on the 12th and 26th.  Our new Thursday evening meetings are at the NYC Pizza on the 7th and 21st.

Since the major Hallmark Card holiday this month is Valentine's Day, let's keep with the love song theme -- love found, in love, falling out of love, maybe even something like Banks of the Ohio, or some novelty tunes would work too.

We'll try some of the songs in the Beloff Daily Ukulele books, which are good since they have the melody line as well as the chords, all in a uke friendly key and arrangement.  If you want to work on any of these songs, let us know and we can put them in our plans.

Check out the new products

As some of you may know, the staff at UU make the annual trip to Anaheim for the winter NAMM show.  This is a trade show, aimed at getting dealers to know about the new products that are going to be in the 2013 ukulele market.

Here is the link:  http://ukuleleunderground.com/

There is a large black box in the lower right.  Click on it and you will see a number of interviews with the vendors describing their latest products.

It is always interesting to see what is in the marketplace.

Be prepared for a couple hours of browsing if you want to see all of the interviews.

Ralph

Learn the ukulele fingerboard

Here is a blog on learning the ukulele fingerboard that might be useful.
http://lambchopukulele.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-learn-13-of-ukulele-fingerboard.html?m=1

Someone saw us!!!!!

Someone must have seen us last Tuesday evening.

Ukulele strap

This is an innovative way to add a strap to your ukulele, perfect for those reluctant to add a strap button to their instrument.  It won't work on a pineapple shape, but for the great majority of ukes, this would appear to be quite nice.

One could make one, but for the price, why not just order it?

http://mobiusstrap.com/

He's a WINNER

Rex routinely sends a video to the UU contests and he just recently won the "47th Season" contest with a cover of Roger Miller's "Kansas City Star" song.

Nice banjo uke work, Rex.

Congratulations on your successful entry.

World Ukulele Day

Anyone want to organize something for Saturday, February 2?  Most of us have seen many of Mike Lynch's instructional videos and he promotes this day as Ukulele World Day.

The OKC folks have a meeting on this day, so that is one option.  Anyone not able to get there for Saturday evening want to set up something here, say for Saturday afternoon?

In praise of the uke

Here is a super musician with a baritone.  A fabulous musician showing what one can do with a good baritone ukulele.

I don't know if Benny Chong travels, but Byron Yasui does travel and give ukulele workshops around the country.  The Dallas group had him for a ukulele workshop a couple years ago.  He is a professor of music at the U of Hawaii, specializing in the upright bass, as shown in this video.  For the uke, he prefers the baritone for the fretboard range it provides.

And for the other size extreme, a soprano, here is what has become a classic piece.

Beginner strum lessons

Here is a video for some basic strums for the uke, aimed at the beginner.  We all need these in our quiver.
I'll add that in pattern #3, one can locate the missing strum at the other end of the sequence too.

Sunday, Jan 27.

There has been some interest expressed in having a uke gathering on a weekend, versus just on midweek evenings.  Some folks just cannot get free on midweek but could meet on a Saturday or Sunday.

Ellen has offered the Activity room at the Prairie Rose retirement village for such a gathering, and the best time appears to be the last Sunday afternoon of the month, starting at 2 PM.  For January, this is Jan 27.

So we will give this a test this month and see how this works out for our members.

Give me some feedback on this please.

Ralph

Thursday 17 January

As you many know, some folks in the ukulele world have some difficulty making our meetings on Tuesday evenings, and we have heard some requests for an alternate evening.

Cap'n has taken on the task of finding a different evening and has set up a date with the NYC Pizza restaurant for our use.  This restaurant has set aside a room for us, so we won't disturb their other patrons, but hopefully, they will know about us and may check out a uke for themselves.  Here is their web page

http://www.nycpizzatulsa.com/homepage.html

The initial day is Thursday, Jan 17.  6:30 to 8:30.  This is lasagna night, so that special will be available in addition to the regular menu

The restaurant is located at 4775 S Harvard.  

So if you would like to check out another location, come on out to the NYC Pizza location on the 17th.  Bring your song book and uke and any special songs to share.  Remember this is "love theme" month.

Hope to see you there.

Ralph

OKC club startup

Jeff and Steve have taken the OKC Tradional Music Association ukulele group one step further.  They are planning to have regular OKC ukulele club meetings on the 3rd Saturday of the month at a local church a bit north of the Kirkpatrick turnpike, a location that will be very convenient for those coming down the Turner turnpike.  This will result in two planned OKC uke folk meetings a month, the 1st Saturday at the OCTMA meeting and the 3rd Saturday at the new uke club meeting.

For those of us in the Tulsa area, this will open up another evening for a uke gathering not too far away.

Love themed songs

I sent out a file with the songs in our club song book with the "love" themed songs highlighted by email.

If you did not get this file, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Ralph

Happy New Year

Greetings on the first day of the new year.  

I hope that your Christmas list to Santa was fulfilled. I asked for some more skill but it has not come to the Christmas stocking yet so I will just have to struggle along.

I think that for the first couple months of this year we should highlight some songs with a "love" theme given that Valentine's Day is coming up in about 6 weeks.  Our club book has a number of songs that fit into this category, including Ain't She Sweet and Hey Good Looking.  The book contains some songs that I don't recall the group working on, including Eight Days a Week.   So that is a resource

Then there are love themed songs that you individually like that are not in our current song book.  There must be thousands of songs in this genre if one includes "falling in love" (Hey Good Looking), "in love" (I love to see you smile) , "falling out of love" (Pretty When New), "love spurned" (One by One), "love gone really bad" (Banks of the Ohio).

So let's spend some time on these songs at our next meeting.  If you like one that is not in our book, bring copies to share.

Hope to see you there.

Ralph

Western Country Diner, Jan 8, 6:30