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.