<![CDATA[Bellingham Ukulele Orchestra - Ukestra]]>Sat, 23 May 2026 11:12:27 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Fun Class...]]>Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:25:03 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/fun-classThank You all for being part of the first experimental Ukestra. ​I hope you enjoy playing some of the songs we learned with friends. I will let you know soon what things will be offered in the New Year. 

I am attaching the Ukulele Chord Forms and Fretboard page (which I love) on the resource page.
For those who are interested in further understanding, the book I recommend is "Understanding Ukulele Chords" by Robbert van Renesse.


]]><![CDATA[Moving towards the holidays...]]>Thu, 17 Nov 2016 15:05:27 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/moving-towards-the-holidaysWe will have class next week. I am assuming that on Monday you all won't have all scattered for the holiday yet. 
The good news: We won't play Do You Know the Way to San Jose again (sorry Connie). But those who love it now have this song to play at home. 
Next week we will play Winter Wonderland. Think about our class playing this for the BUG Jam on Dec 3. Parts are:
Uke I -Glenda, Brian, Carolyn, Carla
Uke II - Connie, Louise, Katrina
Uke III - Carol, Michael, 
Chords - Charley
If I missed you, or you weren't in class, pick a part to work on. 
The helpful diagram that Charley made for notes from the 7th to the 12th fret is posted on the resources page. 
Also Practice Bring Me Sunshine (pdf on resources page).  If you choose, use the closed chords so that you can make the key change without having to use different shapes.  Otherwise, using the first position chords is just fine. Remember to work on your swing strum. There is a good video by Gerald Ross illustrating this strum on the resources page. 
Have a Great Week-End: Be thankful for your many blessings.
]]><![CDATA[Smile…… ]]>Tue, 08 Nov 2016 14:46:32 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/smileNext Week we'll work on Do You Know the Way to San Jose again. It has interesting chords and a good riff. 
We'll also work on a Christmas song that the Orchestra plays; "Winter Wonderland". You can print Winter Wonderland from the Resources Page  There are 3 parts plus chords.  We can decide out parts next week, so play through them and see what you prefer. 
***The Bellingham Ukulele Orcherstra will be presenting a FREE holiday concert at the Downtown Library on (Friday) Dec 2, at 5:00pm, AND at the Ferndale Library on (Saturday) Dec 10 at 3:00pm]]><![CDATA[Spooky …… Halloween !]]>Tue, 25 Oct 2016 18:16:33 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/spooky-halloweenI just realized that next Monday is Halloween. So that you can enjoy the goblins, that ghosts that may visit your door, and since I have been told to expect LOTS of little guest begging treats at the door of my new house, I have decided to cancel our class on Oct 31. We'll just add one more class onto the end.  Enjoy! 
At our next class we'll warm up with The Middle,  so practice your part for this. On my notes I have listed for the riff: Connie, Carla, Pam Melody, Charley and Carolyn. Everyone else should be playing the chords (with Reggae Strum). Go to the Resources Page for recordings. 
We will also work again on Tequila, which sounded pretty darn good for the first time through. Recordings on the last blog and the Resources Page
Also, we will begin to work on Do You Know The Way to San Jose, which I passed out last week. There are chords (and alternate chords) on Resources Page.
Happy Halloween !
]]><![CDATA[A Nobel Poet … Bob Dylan]]>Sat, 15 Oct 2016 21:01:56 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/a-nobel-poet-bob-dylanIt is well known that music is a great emotional memory stimulator. If you are like me, playing the songs of Bob Dylan sends me right back to the 60's and 70's, my youth, the Vietnam war, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary, a time of great idealism (perhaps just because I was young). I am glad to now have the opportunity to appreciate the genius and timelessness of Bob Dylan's work as an adult, living in a new century where many things have changes, and many things have not. 
Below are the songs we played in our impromptu Bob Dylan session along with some of my suggestions:
Blowin in the Wind - consider using this strum: Down, down-up, down-up, down
                                                                                  1          2      &     3     &          4
The Times They Are A'Changin'  -3/4 time try this one:   Down,  down-up,  down
  with emphasis on the 2nd be                                                  1           2      &       3
You Ain't Goin Nowhere… strum     Down,  down, down-up, down-up
                                                              1          2         3      &     4       &
Tomorrow is a Long Time:   Slow and bluesy,  Whimpy Strong
Don't Think Twice, It's Allright:    Consider finger picking #1 (patterns below) while make chords 
My Tamborine Man - finger picking #2
T= thumb,  1 = first finger,      2 = second finger
#1                                             #2                    2
     T          1          T       2                   T            T         T           2            T          2
l--------------------------x---          l-------------x----------------------------------x--------
l-----------x------------------          l-------------------------------x--------------------------
l-------------------x----------          l-------------x-------------------------x-----------------
l---x--------------------------          l----x----------------x-----------------------------------
Let's play these Boots Are Made For Walking next week to warm-up.
We'll also play My Girl and then move on to work on "Tequila".
In preparation, you can practice the notes as written on the cheat sheet I handed out in class and I have made a recording of the riff and put it below. 
Also practice the two chords we talked about for Tequila; both use the same shape (Recording below).
]]><![CDATA[Why Michael Plays music]]>Tue, 11 Oct 2016 13:38:50 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/why-michael-plays-musicHi Gail,
 You asked, “Why do you play music?”
It would be interesting to hear how the various “students” would answer that question.
 Until it was brought to my attention, I never really thought of how much music is a part of my life.  It’s just always there. Always.
If I’m not listening and singing or humming to 88.7 KNKX (formerly KPLU) while working in my shop, or singing along with a song in my car, I’m whistling or singing all the time…
Tatiana recently mentioned that she’d never known anyone else who was always singing or whistling.
Do to laziness/stubbornness when I was younger, I never learned to play an instrument.  What a lost opportunity!  
I always had to count on someone else to accompany me when I was singing for weddings, wakes, parties, even Rainbow Girl Installations!  
 I had an old Harmony soprano uke around for maybe 10 years (“Someday I’m gonna learn to play that thing!”), just standing there in the corner, seldom picked up and played.
A WCC ad peaked my interest and got me to one of Tom’s classes for beginners.  Hey.  This isn’t so hard.  And I can sing along.
That class got me going, and with the many wonderful classes I’ve taken from you, there’s now an additional wonderful facet to the music in my life.  
Now when I hear a song that I like, my first thought is “Can I play that on my uke?”.
 
]]><![CDATA[Why do you play music ?]]>Tue, 04 Oct 2016 20:29:18 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/why-do-you-play-musicIt's worth thinking about. Especially on those days when the skill you are working on seems so hard. I think one reason I play music is because I love learning new things, and there is no end to the learning with music. 
Things to remember when practicing on My Girl:
There are only 2 basic chord progressions in the song: I, IV, I, IV and I ii, IV, V. It helps to think about this before you start practicing.
On the Modulation: After the last (key of C) Chorus, play: One measure each, C, then F (sing hey, hey, hey on beat 3). 
We use a whimpy- strong strum on this. 
Work on learning the words. It will make the the song more fun, and easier to play and sing.
The Middle - riffers are Connie, Carla, Pam, Melody, Charley, Carolyn. Everyone else is playing the chords and the reggae rhythm on three strings. Remember that the Riffers do the singing and Chorders do not sing at all. It's just too hard at this point. 
For an ending on Brown Eyed Girl, we'll tacet on the last D7 and the last G
Next week we'll work on These Boots are Made for Walking with riffs. 
Gail

]]><![CDATA[A little Reggae - The Middle]]>Tue, 27 Sep 2016 16:07:39 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/a-little-reggae-the-middleWe are making good progress with Brown Eyed Girl and My Girl. 
For next week you can practice your parts for those pieces because we will play them both again. 
Parts for Brown Eyed Girl -
Chords: Lee, Joan, Melody, Chip, Brian, Carolyn
High riff - Connie Katrina, Pam, Michael, Glenda
Low riff - Carol Joan, Louise, Rick, Carla
Those who want to play both riff notes…go for it!
Parts for My Girl -
Pentatonic scale Riff - Louise, Chip, Jean, Pam Katrina
Everyone else is on chords and Vocals
Next week we'll see if someone wants to do the improvised solo at the end (talkin' bout, talkin' bout, talkin bout….or something)
NEW SONG! The Middle - This song gives us the chance to work on the Reggae Strum. For this song we are using a 3 string strum (only hit the C, E, and A strings). You have to work at missing the G string. 
​Remember that we only strum on the 2 and 4. The pattern is:
1              2             3             4
rest   down-up     rest      down
Some recordings for The Middle are posted on the (NEW) Resource Page. There you will find recordings of the riff, the strum, the vocal. 
Have Fun. 
​Gail


]]><![CDATA[Ukestra numero uno]]>Tue, 20 Sep 2016 16:19:41 GMThttps://www.bellinghamukuleleorchestra.com/ukestra/ukestra-numero-unoIt's great to see all of your familiar faces again.  As I said yesterday, this class is a bit of an experiment for all of us, with the point being to have fun and learn something in the process. 
I welcome any input you might have about the kind of things you would like to work on. 
We worked on Brown Eyed Girl to begin with. This is a fairly simple song with a I, IV, I V7 pattern throughout most of the song. to add interest we are learning the familiar riff (with Harmony) that starts the song off.
​For next week practice the riff: The melody, the harmony, and (if you want a real challange), playing both riff notes at the same time. 
We then worked on My Girl. this tune gives us the chance to practice the 5 note pentatonic scale all over the neck. There is a key change in the middle. which changes the chords and the position of the (pentatonic scale) riff.
For both of these songs we will select parts to play and play them in class next week. So, although everyone has the option of learning all of the parts, you can choose what you want to play for the arrangement; chords, riffs, vocals, etc. 
My exercises for Carpal Tunnel are posted Here. 
Some notes about the attached files:
* I passed out all of these pages in class. There in nothing new posted here.
* I have copied most of these from Mark and Jane's(Australian's)"Sum of the Parts" site. In Australia the use different sized standard paper than we do (who knew?) so if you print them, your printer may chop of some of the top or the bottom. You usually still get the important stuff but may just lose the title. 
* The page with the Brown Eyed girl riffs has the same parts shown twice so all you need is half the page (3 lines).
* The two pages at the bottom (My Girl Pentatonic and Major Pentatonic pattern) just show you two different ways fo looking at the same thing: The Major Pentatonic Scale. 

browneyedgirl_uke.pdf
File Size: 119 kb
File Type: pdf
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browneyedgirl_riff.pdf
File Size: 79 kb
File Type: pdf
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my-girl.pdf
File Size: 174 kb
File Type: pdf
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my-girl-pentatonic-scale.pdf
File Size: 71 kb
File Type: pdf
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major_pentatonic_pattern.pdf
File Size: 1386 kb
File Type: pdf
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