All Categories

Go forth into the world and make music...

5/4/2016

What to do now? Play music by yourself and with other people. You have a lot of information to absorb. Now you get to decide where you want to go with it.
It has been a very great pleasure working with you all. I have loved working with you, some of you many times. I may have some new ideas for classes in the future. If so, I will keep you posted.
For now:
Get together with others, go to BUG Jams, practice the material we have introduced. review Book 3,
Whatever form it takes……. Make Music, and Have Fun!
As for me…...I'm going to have a shot of Jameson's.
Gail

Time Flies…..

4/28/2016

It's hard to believe how quickly 12 weeks passes. It's been fun, and a learning experience for me, as all teaching is.
Next Week we'll play Adoration to warm up, and see how you all did with it over the week. It's a challenging piece, but a lovely one.
Then we'll play The House of the Rising Sun. Practice the 6/8 finger picking pattern and stylize with your own strum patterns.
Other requests for our last class are:
Strum review - please bring the "Ukulele Strum Patterns" page that I gave you (attached below)
Circle of 5ths review -
Some Jazz Progression(s) - that you can work on.
See you Then,
Gail
Remember to get your tickets for the Bellingham Ukulele Orchestra's Concert on May 21, 7:00. "Just For Fun". I will have tickets in class next week. $10.00

ukulele_strum_patterns.pdf
File Size:	2077 kb
File Type:	pdf

house_of_the_rising_sun.doc
File Size:	25 kb
File Type:	doc

It's all about the Rhythm

4/20/2016

Rhythm is what makes the music interesting. The difference in a scale and a song. We are working on a couple of songs that rely heavily on the rhythm to define them. The notes themselves, at least in Kabak da boynuma don't do much. But the rhythm that is written, along with a strum that enhances the turns it into something interesting and unique.
For Next Week:
Please practice the closed chord shapes we used in class (one major, one minor, and one dominant 7th) with Kabak da boynuma.
listen to the recording of Kabak da boynuma and try to hear the rhythm (with chords) that James plays. The work on a rhythm to play behind the melody; either the one he plays, or your own. Also continue to practice the melody focusing on the 16th note run down in measure 4. Or, pick out a new melody. consider using the chord shapes as a starting point.
Adoration - Listen to the recording to help you learn the rhythm of this melody. It is a wee bit tricky with the syncopations and ties, etc. so becoming familiar with the melody will help a lot to learn the rhythm of the notes.
I am attaching the harmony for the piece. It is the same (rhythmacally) but plays higher up the neck.
Then, practice the rhythm that I passed out in class (page 47, book 2, lines number 4 & 7) Like the Bossa Nova, this will take a bit of practice, but I think it is a bit easier.

adoration_harmony.pdf
File Size:	38 kb
File Type:	pdf

Got the Barre Chord Blues?

4/13/2016

We focused on harmonizing on the Ukulele and some 12 bar blues riffs using closed chord shapes.
Continue practicing the harmonized scales and aim toward getting away from the paper. As always, it is the goal that your fingers eventually will know where to go to find those harmonies. Use Morning Has Broken (below) as an exercise to try to figure out the harmonies for the simple melody.
We then concentrated on two closed chord shapes to play the 12 bar blues. The shapes below (as shown) for playing in the keys of C and G (or any key, depending on which fret you are on. The R indicates the Root, which tells you what the chord is.
Just have some fun playing the 12 bar blues with the list or make up your own 12 bar blues tune. There will be a gold star for everyone who comes to class with their own 12 bar blues song next week!
In Book 3 Practice Kabak da Boynuma. A sweet, little simple song from Azerbaijan.

morning_has_broken.pdf
File Size:	45 kb
File Type:	pdf

12_bar_blues_box_chart-7th_chords.doc
File Size:	32 kb
File Type:	doc

Intervals - thirds galore !

4/6/2016

Really very nice work on Las Chaparreras. It began to seem like you didn't even have to think about the tricky rhythm. If seems like you were just feeling the rhythm of the song. And the pull-offs are getting very good also.
Then we got into intervals - how to play harmonic thirds (majors and minors) on the ukulele. Practice the scales with thirds on the page that I passed out (use the tabs to help you work through them) I am hoping that, by the end of the week, it will begin to make more sense.
Then….. working on playing Jeu Jeu (pg 58) both the Uke I and Uke II at the same time. You will notice that the interval between the parts is a third.
That's it. Have fun with it and enjoy the sound of playing the scales with harmony… all by yourself!

We are fortunate that the Ukulele duo Ruby and Smith from Vancouver have agreed to be guest at the Bellingham Ukulele Orchestra concert on May21. Ruby (Daphne Roubini) would like to give a workshop on the Sunday following our concert (May 22). It need not be large and can be at a house but we need for someone to host it. Please let me know if you would be willing to do that or of you know of someone who would. I will take care of the promotion for it.

Blame it on the Bossa Nova (strum)….

3/30/2016

Keep working on the Bossa Nova strum daily and by next week you will have it down ! I can (almost) promise that.
Also continue to work on Las Chaparerras. It will really help to listen to the recording to get the rhythm in your heads. I have attached that recording below to make it easy for you to listen to it. Also focus on the pull-offs in the second half. Practice the strum by playing alternating bass strings (C and G) for the first beat followed by 2 enthusiastic strums (for beats 2 and 3) Think Mariachi!
Review the pages on major and minor intervals (pg 36-37) and we will talk about playing intervals next week.
Enjoy the sun !

Dance of the fingers and eyes takes hours and hours

3/24/2016

Remember to practice your Bb scale in thirds for next week

The Dance of the Hours had never been a favorite in this book. Why is so darn hard to read?
You can use the handout below to try playing both Uke II parts at the same time. This may be easier than reading them separately. We will play this again next week, just for Kathy, Les, and Michael (and you thought you could get out of it!). We'll also sing the Hello Muddah words that Michael sent…. for comic relief.

There are many things we can practice with the fun latin rhythm song, Sway.(attached below)
1. Playing the song by ear. Listening for the chord changes.
2. Playing the "closed" chord shapes so that you can move around the fretboard and change keys
3. Play this song with a Bossa Nova Rhythm (Use your Strumming handout; Brazilian Strum, and the recording below)
4. Stylize the tune by varying the rhythm and leaving some empty space, etc

We will also begin to work on Las Chaparreras (pg 35) As you pratice this, concentrate on the rhythm and the pull-offs.

Events:
Bellingham Ukulele Orchestra will present it's 4th annual concert (Just For Fun) on May 21 at the Heiner Theater at Whatcom Community College. Tickets are $10.00 and can be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets or from ME in April. We will have special guests and we put on a good show so don't miss it.

Also - the Langley Ukulele Ensemble will be appearing in Bellingham on April 24. If you have never heard the amazing group of kids, you will love them. Click here for ticket information.

sway-_without_chords.doc
File Size:	24 kb
File Type:	doc

ukulele_strum_patterns.pdf
File Size:	2077 kb
File Type:	pdf

dance_of_the_hours_intervals.pdf
File Size:	1849 kb
File Type:	pdf

Happy St. Paddy's Day

3/16/2016

I hope you all find a great way to Celebrate the day.
It was fun to play some Irish tunes. Have fun with Star of the County Down and The Blarney Pilgrim. If you have questions about them, we can talk about it next week.

Next Week we'll warm up again with the Bb Scale (across the neck). Charley has sent a diagram showing the Two patterns for Scales across the neck: One starting on the G string and the other begins the pattern on the C string. These are easy to read and may help you get the patterns in your head. Attached

scale_across_neck.pdf
File Size:	268 kb
File Type:	pdf

We will begin to tackle Dance of the Hours next week. Although the Uke II part can be played both notes at once, it is meant to be divided (div.) and played by two ukuleles. So, we really have 3 uke parts on that piece. Please practice the Uke I and then both of the Uke II parts (top and bottom notes separately). The notes are very tricky to read and there are some booby traps. For example a B# is the same as a C, and a E# is the same as an F. So…. read them carefully.
The Uke I is all over the place (staff) so take your time and work out the fingering.
Many of you will recognize this tune and Michael has sent (by email) the words that were put to the tune by Allen Sherman while Ponchielli was (no doubt) rolling over in his grave.
See you next week, Gail
A handful of skill is better than a bagful of gold. - Irish Proverb

Abdelazar and more chords

3/9/2016

Lovely job on Theme From Abdelazer. We'll play that again next week…before we have our Irish song party.
Playing this beautiful piece prompts me to review and practice the Bb scale. In class I passed out two different ways to look at it (attached). Please practice your Bb scale for next week. This is the major scale pattern that begins on the G string. Once you have learned it, you can move it up and down the fretboard to play any major scale.

We did some review of Summertime. looked at chord for that in another position on the neck and changed it to the key of Em.

In honor of St Paddy's day, please practice Oft in the Stilly Night (pg 41), and I will also compile a list of other Irish Songs, some of which are below. The songs that are scanned below, and maybe of bad quality, are in the Daily Ukulele.

danny_boy.pdf
File Size:	1864 kb
File Type:	pdf

2_irish_songs.pdf
File Size:	1900 kb
File Type:	pdf

whiskey-in-the-jar-7515.pdf
File Size:	34 kb
File Type:	pdf

drunken_sailor_–_am_and_g_.doc
File Size:	24 kb
File Type:	doc

Playing in Am and Abdelazer

3/2/2016

To summarize last night:
We warmed up by playing I Shall Be Released using our sliding chords up the neck.
We then played Salvonic Dance; both the melody and the harmony and chords.
We then reviewed the chords in the Key of Am (pg 20) and afterwards played the Crawdad Song in Am - It works but sounds a bit weird.
Next we talked about the chords in Summertime, and some strumming and picking techniques that can be used with that (and other songs).
Finally we began to work on Theme From Abdelazer, and talk about some chord shapes that can be used for fingering (Attached). Listen to this lovely song on your CD to become familiar with it.

For Next Week:
Practice Theme From Abdelazer - learning the notes, practice the chords also.
Work on playing Summertime by ear using the patterns I showed you in class. And then work on your own arrangement making it sound the way you want it to. That means to vary the strum, use finger picking, leave some silences, or whatever you feel like doing to make it yours
Have fun with it!
Gail

shapes_for_abdelazer.pdf
File Size:	708 kb
File Type:	pdf

BELLINGHAM UKULELE ORCHESTRA Spring Concert
MAY 21
$10.00 - Tickets will go on sale in April

Archives

May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014

Instructor

Gail MacDonald is a
Fully Certified Instructor with the James Hill Ukulele Initiative with over 6 years experience teaching Ukulele In The Classroom classes.

Categories