Sunday, December 16, 2007

Dec 16th meeting



Hi, I think a good time was had by all today. We went through a bunch of Christmas carols and fun seasonal tunes. I'll do some calendar checking and try to plan our next meeting for mid January. I hope you can be there with us!
Have a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas!
Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Sunday, November 18, 2007

That was Fun! How about 12/16?

Hi folks,

It was a lot of fun meeting down at como today! We ended up sitting downstairs and had people thanking us for playing, kinda cool! We had 2 first timers, George and John; I hope you guys had a good time and will come back again. New ideas help everyone.

Lets plan to meet down there next on Sunday 12/16 at 2pm again. Plan ahead everyone and lets play some uke. Xmas songs anyone?

Brian

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Meeting Sunday 11/18?


Hi Folks,

It's been almost 2 months since our last StrumMn meeting and I think it's time to get together even if it's just something informal. That said, I don't have a room reserved at the library like in the past but was hoping we could just meet down at the Black Bear Crossing Cafe at the Como Park Pavillion next Sunday afternoon and do some playing.

If someone knows of an alternative location please speak up quick and we can switch locations.
Sunday afternoons still work best for me so how about 2pm Sunday 11/18. Can anyone else make it?

I'd like to meet again before Christmas too, any dates that work best for people?

Brian

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Hey folks, time for an update!

First off, sorry this hasn't been very active. My new job leaves me less free time and after the Sept turnout I wasn't comfortable trying to book the big room at the library. When I tried they were booked out several months, very discouraging as it's more centrally located.

I'd like to try meeting someplace new, like the Black Bear Crossing cafe at Como Park. Or some neighborhood cafe someplace, got one near you where we could meet?

Just because I've been busy doesn't mean I haven't been playing my ukes. I've found a couple of the John Pak song sheets to be very good and should offer some good opportunities to help everyone move out of first position chords. Check out his Edelweiss (chords) and Feed The Birds (from Mary Poppins). If you can make it to the next meeting we can have fun with figuring out some better (or just different) fingering to mix it up in second position.
http://web.mac.com/johnpak/iWeb/homepage/Uke%20Song%20Sheets%20A-K.html

I've also been mulling about a project of sorts that maybe a few of you can either help with or just benefit from. I've got a bunch (almost all) of the Jumpin' Jim uke books. One of the drawbacks is the lack of a CD with most of them. Even when you know the basic song you don't always know how it should sound "as written." I'd like to record as many of the songs from his books as possible and organize them online for others to reference. And "playing as written" can still be quite individual and leave room for multiple versions. Some people just strum the chords exactly as written, some may fingerpick the melody as written, others may combine to play a chord melody (the chords as written but in different positions and/or adjusted to pick up the melody line). This could give new players guidance to what the songs sound like and give others ideas for taking them to another level. Let me know what you think, I'm also interested in easy ways to record if you've got ideas. So far I've only recorded through the pinhole mic in my mp3 player, it sounds remarkably well but I know there must be room for improvement.

Does anyone want to meet this weekend? Short notice and all but I could make it Sunday 11/4 if anyone is interested. If not then I'm looking a couple weeks out before I can try again.

Do people want to start working on Xmas songs yet? It'll come up fast! We MIGHT be able to get in 2 meetings before Xmas but that's about it. Let me know what you think about any of this, leave comments, I love comments.

If you know of someplace we can meet and play then pick the date time and let everyone know, or just me and I'll let everyone know, but lets get together and play!

Keep StrumMn,
Brian

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Kick-off

Howdy folks,
Well maybe it was because of the Vikings opener but the StrumMn kick-off was lightly attended.
That's ok, we got to talk and try out a few "new" ukes. The SilverTone and Howlett (Island Ukulele) both sounded and played great! The Howlett was gorgeous as well. Seems that folks are moving towards sopranos!
No date yet for the next meeting, anyone have a location they can book? If not, then I'll get to it when I can and let you all know when/where we'll meet next.
Hope to see you soon,
Brian

Monday, August 20, 2007

StrumMn September kick-off

I've reserved the Roseville Public Library meeting room on Sunday September 9th from 2pm-5pm for our fall kick-off meeting. The library is at the corner of County Rd B and Hamline Avenue. Let me know if you need directions. It's a big room, come and help fill it!

There is a link on the right to a new flyer if you want to print and post one at a favorite music store or elsewhere.

Pick a song you'd like to try as a group and bring some copies along to share. Even better, get a copy to me that I can post or link to here so others can make their own copy and practice ahead of time.

Bring an extra uke or 2 along to share or to let others try out.

Bring a friend along to share the extra uke!

I'll bring my laptop so we can access songs on the internet or view DVD instructional material.

If you want to lead the group in something particular just let me know. (ie. TPA, Hawaiian, etc)

Let me know if I missed anything here and I'll update as necessary. Feel free to leave comments, I love getting feedback.

I hope to see you in September!
Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Just because I promised...


Here is a pic of the drum sander. I still need to build the dust hood and true up the drum itself but it's looking good and everything seems to be lining up nice.
I priced out crank handles and they cost $25! The black knobs are $4.75 each (I used 5) at any local hardware stores. I found the knobs for $0.75 each online and ordered them up. They came only as female knobs and I had to cut threaded rod to length and epoxy it to the knobs, a little extra work but saved a bunch of $. Then I bought a stop collar and got out the welder to build a crank handle, got it done for under $4 including a new locknut.

The platten was too wide and I needed to trim it up some which I did with a belt sander. I chucked the drum in a wood lathe to do some real rough work, getting some glue off, etc. But it needs to be finished by putting sand paper on a board and running that through to sand the drum itself. Then a couple coats of finish to seal the drum at which point I can wind the drum itself with sandpaper. Almost there! Like the yellow? Maybe I'll write DeWalt on the side in Magic Marker for fun.

I'll probably finish just in time to head back to work and won't get much time to play with it. :-(
Brian

Friday, August 17, 2007

8/22 Last Wed @ Como for the summer?

8/15 was another nice night at Como. The Mn State Concert Band played again, they're really good! I just did my thing up on the hill as usual.

I plan to be down there again on the 22nd but it may be my last Wednesday for the summer. On Wednesday 8/29 I'm starting a new job out near 62&494 and I have no idea if I'll be able to make it that day. I don't want to leave a uke in the car all day either. If you've been planning to drop on by then next Wednesday is the day to make it! The concert that night will be "First Light Trio" if anyone cares.

I hope to post more pictures of my drum sander this weekend too, it's getting close to being functional! Once I've got it up and running if any of you are interested in building a uke and want to run a couple plates through we can have a StrumMn meeting at my place and do a little woodworking while we're at it.

Hope you're all StrumMn the summer away, enjoy!
Brian

Thursday, August 09, 2007

8/8 and 8/15 at Como

Another nice night out playing the uke on 8/8. I drove down there in the miserable humidity thinking "what am I doing?" Got down there and the temp was 5 or 10 degree's cooler by the waterfall, it became overcast and the temp and humidity both dropped even more. It became the perfect evening to play outdoors! The Minnesota Concert Band did a concert on the promenade and sounded great too, but I stayed put and played uke.
Paging through my books I tried a couple songs that I'd bypassed previously as "too hard", now Moonlight Becomes You sounds like it may be do-able after all. I'd also played Build Me Up Buttercup a number of times. It always sounded great strummed but I couldn't get it to work as a chord melody arrangement. Last night I tried it for the first time in over a month and it seemed to work fine so I guess general chord melody practice is paying off. I also tried switching fingerings (again) for the alternating 2033 2433 chords in Sentimental Journey and what didn't work at all in the past seemed natural last night. The finger twisting I've been doing now makes it work for me a couple different ways depending on what chords I'm coming from or going to. Anyone interested in learning these just show up and I can at least show you what is working for me.
I don't think I've got anything going next Wednesday so I'll plan to be down there again on the 15th. I welcome any company if you care to come play some uke.
Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

uke building - drum sander




Well, it's taking shape! The main body is together and in primer. I won't paint it until the humidity drops a bit. The platten is just fit together, not fastened... good thing too as it's about 1/8" too wide! I'll have to narrow it slightly to fit, easy at this point thank goodness. The sandpaper for the platten belt and for the drum is on order so it won't be long now until I can do final setup and a test run. You can see another view of my sidebending form in the background of one of the shots.


Brian

Sunday, August 05, 2007

8/1 at Como and next try on 8/8

Well I went to Como again on 8/1. Was there about a half hour when I got a phone call from my wife telling me about the interstate 35W bridge collapse. I stayed put for another hour in case anybody else showed up to play, all the while hoping nobody decided to come THAT route. This was the first time I left early, I wanted to get the new abot what was happening. I doubt I'll ever forget where I was and what I was doing when I got the news.

Anybody up for some playing on 8/8? You can find me outside the pavillion near the waterfall from 6-8pm. I'm easy to recognize, I'll be the one playing the uke.

Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Monday, July 30, 2007

uke building






















Ok, I mentioned last blog that I want to build a uke. Here are some pictures of the forms, side bender jig, and drum sander I'm working on.
Looks like the blog software put 'em in reverse order and won't let me move 'em around, grrrr.
I'm using the sander plans from Shop Notes magazine. It's powered by a v-belt from the arbor of a table saw and so it doesn't require it's own motor. Maybe down the line I'll convert it, I really prefer standalone tools so I'm not changing setups all the time. I don't have a dedicated dust collector and just swapping the shopvac from tool to tool is a pain in the butt.
The drum itself is probably the toughest part of the project. Using a circle cutting jig on a bandsaw sure helped. The glue up of the disks is a pain, I'm not quite done yet. I've got most of the other pieces cut out and ready to assemble and I'm waiting for the pillow block bearings to arrive at the h/w store since they didn't keep them in stock.
The Fox style bender was fun to make and looks cool. I can't wait to try it. I still need to make the cauls to pull the wood into the form, not sure how I want to fasten them just yet. Heat will come from a halogen bulb on a dimmer from an old lamp. I've got aluminum sheet to sandwhich my wood and the whole form is lined in several layers of aluminum foil to protect it.
The uke shape is just the cutout from inside the form but gives a better idea of the shape and shows some of the layout on top. I designed the shape on my PC using Visio, print it out and use spray adhesive to attach to the form. Then just cut it out at the bandsaw and use an oscillating drum sander to bring it to the line and smooth it out. I still need to hinge the form and make cauls for holding the uke body sides tight to the form while glueing head/tail blocks and kerfing.
Como, Aug 1, 6-8pm
Brian







Thursday, July 26, 2007

7/25 Como recap

Another nice evening at Como. While the radio said it was 91 with a 93 heat index on the drive down there, once I got settled in the shade near the waterfall just outside the pavillion it was very comfortable for playing.
I had a couple nice conversations with people who wondered about, or just commented on, the ukulele.
Next Wednesday is August 1st and I'll probably head down there again.
Tracie had mentioned the possibility of a meeting at her place. If anyone wants to host a meeting, please, just pick a date & time and go for it! I'll help spread the word if you wish.

I hope to follow up with another post in the next day or two. In addition to playing uke I've been nurturing my bug to build one. I've almost completed a Fox style side bender using my own design for the shape (ok, not much different from any other uke... a 1/4 inch here, a 1/4 inch there, but I did do it from scratch using Visio to get curves that I liked.) I'm also part way into building a wide drum sander for thinning ukulele top/back/side plates. Pictures will be included.

Keep StrumMn everyone!
Brian

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

7/18 at Como

I had company tonight! Ok, my wife doesn't play uke but she came down to Como and sat with me while I played.
The weather looked really ominous on the way down there but it never rained on us and the sun actually came out after a while and the humidity dropped to a comfortable level as well. There weren't as many people down there due to the weather and the evening concert sounded pretty good as we left.
I'm planning to go back again next Wednesday, 7/25, 6-8pm if anyone else wants to drop by and play.
Since Wednesday evenings don't seem to be a favorite for anyone except me I'm open to suggestions for meeting another day/time. Does anyone want to try a weekend or something? Or just wait until September when we can go back to meeting indoors at the library? I think everyone is just busy with their summer and that's ok too.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

7-11 review

7-11 was another gorgeous evening at Como, however by 8pm my fingers were actually getting a little too cold and stiff to play well. No other uke players but I had a couple people stop and talk to me tonight.
The first asked if I was part of the band when I was walking through to see if anyone else was there and when I said no she said, "oh, you're the one who sits out there and plays that little instrument, right?"
Yup, that'd be me.
The 2nd just asked what I was playing and when I responded ukulele his response was "just like Authur Godfrey."
Lots of little kids asking parents about "the little guitar" too.
Being a glutton for punishment I'll plan to be down there again next week, the 18th.
Brian

Monday, July 09, 2007

Wed 7/11/07 anyone?

I'm going down to Como again from 6-8pm on Wed 7/11 if anyone wants to come down to play uke for a while. The Minnesota Sinfonia is playing on the promenade at the pavillion at 7pm if you have family coming along who would prefer to listen to something besides uke.
Brian

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Happy 4th of July!

If you're looking for some patriotic tunes to try you should check out the Ukulele Tips 'n' Tunes book from FMM. It's got You're A Grand Old Flag, America(My Country Tis of Thee), The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle, and America The Beautiful.

My favorite book at the moment is Ukulele Gems (from FMM again. No, I'm not a shill for them, they're just great books for the uke.)
I mentioned Heart and Soul before which I found in this book. I also discovered It's Been A Long, Long Time which is a great song to play on the uke. Others I'm practicing from this book are Ukulele Lady, Bye Bye Blues, Ain't She Sweet, All Of Me, and Sentimental Journey.
Sentimental Journey is a real finger twister for me but I'm starting to hear a LITTLE progress. This one will take a long time but could be worth it. I'd love to hear/see how others finger an Am7 (2433) which needs to alternate with (2033), maybe there is an easier way than what I'm using.

Have a great 4th and come out to Como on Wednesday if you can, I'll be down there 6-8pm or so.
Keep StrumMN!
Brian

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wed the 27th recap and plans for next time...

A nice, cool, dry evening down at Como. Nicest I've seen down there this summer.

I had a nice little old lady shuffle up close and ask if it was ok to listen while I played. I told her fine, I don't normally play from memory but I'd try. So I played Blue Skies, got through 2 verses and most of the bridge when I heard her say to her grandson "this is my favorite part." As I transitioned to the last verse he sounded surprised when he asked "you know this song?" and she nodded and said "yes." When I finished she thanked me and said it was so wonderful that I would play the uke down there. Then she shuffled back to the rest of her family and kept listening and smiling. It was fun, I wish I played more songs from memory, but I'm working on it!

I probably won't make it down to Como next week due to the 4th (although I might be free on Friday the 6th if anyone else is interested in meeting up to play.)

Otherwise I'm going to plan for now on being down there on Wed the 11th unless something unknown comes up. Come on down and let's play uke!
Brian

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Wed the 20th

A gorgeous evening at Como! Rain elsewhere in the Twin Cities but not at Como. I did get a rainbow, ironically just as I was playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

I could hear the concert, lots of patriotic tunes, and got to playing a few myself. Almost ran out of frets trying to pick out the melody on one of them, it was right up to the 12th. (I wasn't actually playing the song, just trying to pick out the melody.)
I've been practicing You're A Grand Old Flag and the national anthem, maybe I'll try to gather a few more for next week in prep for the 4th of July. Anyone got a favorite figured out and want to share it?

If you feel like coming out on the 27th I hope to be down there again, it would be more fun with some company...

Hope you're all StrumMn through your summer...
Brian

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Wed the 13th

Another nice evening at Como last night. Mary joined me and we tried a few songs she had brought along and I showed her some I was working on and gave her a copy of the Bye Bye Blues I've been doctoring as more of a chord solo.

I should have Wednesday the 20th open too so I expect to be down there again barring any other big obstacles. I'll post here and email everyone on my list only if I can't make it. It's a fun place to hang out and play, stop on by if you get a chance. But keep your eye's open for us, this week we were at a picnic table by the waterfall, last week mostly upstairs in the cafeteria seating, the week before on the promenade. It's all within about 100 feet so it's easy to find.

Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Friday, June 08, 2007

Wednesdays at Como

Well, I got in a few hours of practice at Como last Wednesday and had a good time. It was a little chilly at first so I went upstairs in the Cafe and had it to myself. It actually warmed up by about 7pm and I spent the last hour outside by the waterfall playing the uke while people watching.

I'll be out there again on Wednesday the 13th if anyone cares to join me, 6-8pm for sure and maybe an hour on either end depending on how the weather is looking and if anyone else shows up. The Fridley City Band is playing a concert on the promenade at 7pm in case anyone is interested. Part of my family may come down with me this week and they'll either go to the concert or up to the zoo and the conservatory rather than watch me play.

I started on another new song, Only You by the Platters (I remember Ringo Starr doing it on his Goodnight Vienna album...) and while I only have the lyrics and chords now I'm working on getting the melody too. I'll have a couple copies along to share if anyone shows.

Keep StrumMn everyone!
Brian

Friday, June 01, 2007

Como update

I think the Como pavillion will turn out to be a great place to meet over the summer. I spent a few hours playing down there on Wednesday and it was really nice. I was under the big roof and even when the thunderstorm blew through I was easily able to stay out of the wet.

The chorale group doing the evening concert started practicing about 6pm but I just stayed off to the side and continued playing. At one point the guitar accompianist walked over and tried out my uke and we talked a bit.

The cafe was virtually empty and I learned they have a second level of seating I didn't know about, plenty of space for a small group of us to sit and play if we wanted to be indoors instead of out. I played quietly in there for a while as well and got a nice piece of carrot cake.

Wednesdays work best for me and I hope to get down there more often than our once a month meetings. Hopefully I'll see a few of you there as well.

Keep in touch and let's keep StrumMn together through the summer.
Brian

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Crooning at Como

Ok, maybe not crooning, but hopefully a little bit of uke playing.

I've been terribly busy this month and weekends are shot for most of the summer. I'm planning to head down to the Como Park pavilion on Wednesday May 30th to sit and play or practice for a couple hours. If anyone else can make it I'd sure enjoy some company. I'll plan to be there by 5pm and probably stay until 8 or so depending on weather, etc. If it's too busy we can find a tree somewhere to plop under.

What to play? Just bring whatever you're working on and we'll give it a go. I stopped by Groth music in Bloomington on Tuesday and got a copy of Ukulele Gems (another Beloff book, I must have almost all of them by now...) and have been having fun with a great version of "Heart and Soul" by Hoagy Carmichael. It's perfect for my style of chord melody / finger picking but I think any of you could have fun with this old standard.

If you have questions or comments please feel free to enter them here or send me an email.

Keep StrumMn and hope to see you there!
Brian

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Well it must be summer...

Only 3 of us on a gorgeous morning, I'm guessing a lot of people were out enjoying the weather. And I don't blame you!

We had fun going through some cowboy songs, some jazz, the TUSC 60's book, Jake's version of Yesterday, and more. I've got a few extra copies of some of the songs that I can hand out next time, first come first served.

Both libraries are booked pretty solid for weekends in May and I've only got 1 weekend where I'm free. I'm ususally free on Wednesday evenings however and was thinking of trying something different.

Would anyone be interested in meeting down at the Como Park Pavilion down by the lake for a couple hours some evening? There is a little food joint down there and paddle boat rental etc and if there isn't an event going on (I'll have to check) then we should be able to sit out of the weather and do some playing. It's a nice public place with restrooms etc. I'm open to other locations if you have ideas.

Any interest in something like this? What time works best?

Keep StrumMn everyone!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

A couple new links...

I put a couple new links off to the right over here ------>
One is for the Ukulele Cosmos. This newer forum seems to have a lot of traffic these days. Check it out if you have time.
The other site is from the TUSC uke club. Specifically I recommend checking out and printing their 4 song books, there is a lot of good music here that we could try out at our meetings. I'm not familiar with a lot of it but I'm willing to learn if others know and can lead us in them. Maybe we can just start with their 60's book, I know almost all of those songs.
Keep StrumMn,
Brian

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Next meeting is Saturday 4/28, 10am-1pm

I reserved the NorthTown library meeting room for Saturday morning 4/28 from 10-1 and I hope a few of you can make it. The month of May is going to be tough, the library is currently available on Saturday the 12th but won't let me have 2 dates on the schedule at once so it could be gone by the 28th. If someone can find another location for a May meeting I'm open to suggestions. If nothing else comes up then I'll start looking for early June locations, maybe meet at a park or something.

Music-wise we're wide open for the 28th and can always repeat some of what we've done lately. I've tabbed out the version of Yesterday from the Jake "Play Loud Ukulele" dvd and I'm working on it. It's not real complicated but is still very challenging for me to play. I only have it on paper right now so I'll try to get it on the blog or at least bring paper copies on the 28th if anyone is interested in trying it. Anyone else have something they want to share that we can post ahead of time?

Hope to see you on the 28th!
Brian

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Recap and uke news

We had a good turnout on Apr 1st and I hope everyone had fun! We ran through some blues lessons and played a bunch of songs.

Here's those I remember: Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, April Showers, Aloha Oe, Take Me Out To The Ball Game, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, My Wild Irish Rose, Sloop John B, Somebody Stole My Gal, All Of Me. I think that's all that we passed out, there were others where we just gathered around a coule copies to play.

Last night I saw a new Coke commercial on TV and they where playing/singing What'll I Do, this is an Irving Berlin tune that I passed out in the February meeting I think. It's available in the Irving Berlin uke book available for $6.95 at UkuleleWorld.com. It's a good book and costs the same as one set of good strings.

Speaking of strings. A common question is which are good. Common internet concensus is that Worth and Aquila are the top brands and I agree from personal use. I haven't found either brand available in the Twin Cities but ukuleleworld.com handles both and are great to work with. Keep asking for these locally, maybe some music store will get a clue and start stocking them!

Pick a couple songs for next meeting (date TBD) and email me a link, I'll collect them and publish a list here so we can all print copies and practice ahead of time.
We also want to generate a list of songs we can practice for a nursing home gig in the future, pick a couple favorites and let me know!

Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Play the uke in public?

Would any of you would be interested in working up a repertoire of 10-12 songs and then arranging to play as a group at a nursing home? I was thinking of some old-time standards that the residents would know and could sing along with if they wanted.
If you're interested then start thinking of some songs and lets start practicing and planning. Hopefully by summer we could give it a try.
Brian

March and April

Well Gary and I had good time today up at the NorthTown library.

We went through a bunch of Easter/Springtime music like Easter Parade, Peter Cottontail, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, My Wild Irish Rose.

Then we started playing a bunch of miscellaneous stuff and went through the Blues tutorial that Rigk Sauer of Risa Ukulele put together (it's available out on youtube if you want to watch it, or we can view it at a future meeting.)

Speaking of future meetings!

The next meeting is on Sunday April 1st, 2-5pm at the Roseville Library, Hamline & Cty Rd B.
Hopefully we'll see a few more of you since we'll be in the BIG room again.
Any ideas for new music or should we repeat the stuff above?

Unitil the 1st, keep StrumMn,
Brian

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

New StrumMn "business" cards

Hi all,

I haven't tested this yet (my color ink cartridge died) but I created some StrumMn "business" cards that you can print out and distribute if you feel like it. Hopefully I spaced these out so you can print the page once, then flip it over and print again, giving a 2 sided card.

The link to the pdf is on the right at the top of the links.

I'm open to feedback so let me know what you think.

As usual, keep StrumMn!
Brian

Saturday, February 24, 2007

A March meeting too!

Ok, I know that no one wanted to wait until April 1 for our next meeting so today I reserved the NorthTown library again for Saturday March 10th from 10am-1pm.

Gary reminded me of the Salem uke website, lots of music here: http://www.salemukes.com/song_archives.htm

I like the version of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea at this site. They also have a couple non-secular Easter songs, Peter Cottontail and In Your Easter Bonnet (Easter Parade) which I thought we could try.
Does anyone have any good sheet music or tab for real Easter music that sounds good on the uke? I'll have to check out a Hymnal and see what I can find...

Anyway, let me know your thoughts and what you want to play the next 2 meetings and I hope to see you there!

Keep StrumMn!
Brian

Friday, February 16, 2007

No "April Fool's" joke

We had a light turnout in Feb but covered some good material.

In an effort to please as many people as possible I have scheduled the next meeting back at the Roseville library. The bad news is that the soonest I could get us in there is Sunday April 1 from 2-5pm.

If people want to squeeze in another meeting in March I can probably get us into NorthTown again, just let me know what you think.

April 1 is Palm Sunday so maybe we can run through some Easter songs if anyone is interested. I know there are some appropriate songs in the Ukulele Spirit book by Jim Beloff and I've been playing Easter Parade on and off from his Gone Hollywood book.

If you plan to make it and have music you want to cover PLEASE forward it to me if possible and I'll put links to it here so everyone can check it out or print it in advance. Or just bring copies.

In other ukulele news:
I stopped into Guitar Zone yesterday and they had a few of the new Cordoba ukes on display. Very pretty Koa with robe binding in a thinner Santos style body. The reviews of them online have not been spectacular. They seemed a little on the heavy side to me but didn't sound bad. The guy working there started talking about them and saying they were tuned adf#b so I informed him that D tuning is out and C is in these days. He got a funny look on his face and started retuning the one in his hands. They're trying but obviously don't give their employees any up-to-date info on todays uke scene.

Put April 1 on your calendars, let me know if you want another meeting early in March too, and forward any music you want to cover so everyone can get an early look.
Until then just keep StrumMn!
Brian

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Next meeting! Sunday 2/11, 2-5pm UPDATED!!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the short notice.

Our next meeting will be Sunday 2/11 from 2-5pm at the NorthTown library meeting room. See previous messages for links to directions to the library.

If you want to share new music then please bring a few copies along to pass out. I'll bring some Roy Smeck arranged Irving Berlin tunes to share that I've been messing with, these offer some good opportunities to learn some 2nd and 3rd position chords. The book I'm working from is this one.

Hope to see some of you there.
Brian

p.s.
David sent me a couple songs that he'll go over with us on Sunday, here are links to them:
Aba Daba Honeymoon
South of the Border

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

January recap

Another great meeting! We had more first-timers than repeats so there was a lot of talk and get-to-know each other going on among the 11 of us. We had some fun running through a variety of songs. Plans are to meet again in February (no date yet). If you have a song to share with the group at the next meeting please email me a copy and I'll see if I can set up a method to share them from the blog so we can each have a copy and maybe practice ahead of time.
Until next time,
Keep StrumMn!