We had a nice turnout for our December meeting despite the weather.
We'll have our 1st meeting of the new year on Sunday Jan 11th down at the Como Park Pavillion again, 2-5pm. Add a comment or send me an email if you have songs you want to share with the group.
See you there!
Brian
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
We're still on for today...
The weather is looking pretty good right now, if it takes a turn for the worse we can knock off early. Use your own judgement and stay safe.
Brian
Brian
Sunday, December 14, 2008
song choices?
Hi All,
I wanted to comment on song choices.
I threw in the song "Moonlight On The Colorado" for this month and thought some of you might be interested in how I came up with this choice.
I'd never heard of the song before Thanksgiving this year. Sometime during Thanksgiving Day I was sitting with my mom and talking about the old songs we've been playing at our uke meetings.
She started humming and then singing bits of the song "Moonlight" and asking if I remembered years ago when we had a Victrola in the basement and she played this song.
Well, I don't recall ever having a Victrola and she's been forgetting things lately so maybe it was from when SHE was young rather than when I was.
Anyway, she mentioned how she used to love the song. That was enough for me, I wanted to learn the song so I could play it for my mom.
When I got home I started searching. I didn't have too much luck at first, I found a few sound clips, just bits of the song, from websites selling CD's. I checked youtube and found one clip of a young gal singing the song but not a period clip like I was hoping for. Here it is if you want to hear it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN_B-X6IM3Q
I finally found the sheet music for it at this website: http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/ and this is the version I uploaded in the blog link. I think this song would sound really cool on steel guitar... maybe I need a resonator uke to fake it.
Do any of you have stories behind song choices?
Hope to see a few of you next Sunday.
Brian
I wanted to comment on song choices.
I threw in the song "Moonlight On The Colorado" for this month and thought some of you might be interested in how I came up with this choice.
I'd never heard of the song before Thanksgiving this year. Sometime during Thanksgiving Day I was sitting with my mom and talking about the old songs we've been playing at our uke meetings.
She started humming and then singing bits of the song "Moonlight" and asking if I remembered years ago when we had a Victrola in the basement and she played this song.
Well, I don't recall ever having a Victrola and she's been forgetting things lately so maybe it was from when SHE was young rather than when I was.
Anyway, she mentioned how she used to love the song. That was enough for me, I wanted to learn the song so I could play it for my mom.
When I got home I started searching. I didn't have too much luck at first, I found a few sound clips, just bits of the song, from websites selling CD's. I checked youtube and found one clip of a young gal singing the song but not a period clip like I was hoping for. Here it is if you want to hear it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN_B-X6IM3Q
I finally found the sheet music for it at this website: http://sheetmusic.library.sc.edu/ and this is the version I uploaded in the blog link. I think this song would sound really cool on steel guitar... maybe I need a resonator uke to fake it.
Do any of you have stories behind song choices?
Hope to see a few of you next Sunday.
Brian
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Next Meeting, DEC 21st, 2-5pm Como Pavillion
Hi everyone,
Yes, we're still planning on meeting on the 21st.
I've had 4 songs submitted and I'll add a 5th; download and print them if you're coming.
If you have any more songs to share please let me know and I'll try to post them.
I don't know all of these either, come and learn them along with us.
David has supplied links to youtube for a couple of them at the top of the pages.
If it asks for a userid/password just hit cancel and they should download.
After You've Gone
Moonlight On The Colorado
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Shine On Harvest Moon (updated version from John)
Whispering (verses included from David)
Whispering (sheet music)
The Whispering sheet music is the same as I handed out last month, grab a copy if you want as it'll help with the melody. David's version just has chord names, plus verses mine was missing.
The changes to Shine On Harvest Moon are interesting. This is the 2nd update John sent and what he's doing is converting it to a chord melody version. I play chord melody almost all the time and can show you a few more changes to take it even farther... I'd have to TAB it out to show all of it but at the meeting I can tell/show what I mean.
Last month I think we had more fun with the "oldies" than with the Xmas tunes but we'll play whatever you bring to share, as usual.
Hope to see you there.
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Yes, we're still planning on meeting on the 21st.
I've had 4 songs submitted and I'll add a 5th; download and print them if you're coming.
If you have any more songs to share please let me know and I'll try to post them.
I don't know all of these either, come and learn them along with us.
David has supplied links to youtube for a couple of them at the top of the pages.
If it asks for a userid/password just hit cancel and they should download.
After You've Gone
Moonlight On The Colorado
Red Roses For A Blue Lady
Shine On Harvest Moon (updated version from John)
Whispering (verses included from David)
Whispering (sheet music)
The Whispering sheet music is the same as I handed out last month, grab a copy if you want as it'll help with the melody. David's version just has chord names, plus verses mine was missing.
The changes to Shine On Harvest Moon are interesting. This is the 2nd update John sent and what he's doing is converting it to a chord melody version. I play chord melody almost all the time and can show you a few more changes to take it even farther... I'd have to TAB it out to show all of it but at the meeting I can tell/show what I mean.
Last month I think we had more fun with the "oldies" than with the Xmas tunes but we'll play whatever you bring to share, as usual.
Hope to see you there.
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Monday, November 24, 2008
Nov 23 recap
Hi all,
We had 8 show up to play yesterday and had a good time. I hope 1st-timers will come back again.
John did a little rework on Shine on Harvest Moon and sent this to me, check it out. (Just hit cancel if it asks for a userid/password.)
If any of you are on FaceBook, I just signed up last Friday and created a "StrumMn ukulele players" page. I'm going to try using it as an addition to the blog here. Check it out and let me know if you think it would work better for sharing information.
Next meeting is Sunday Dec 21st. I know it may not work for everyone but I hope a few off you can come down to Como and play uke. I'll post here and send an email reminder a couple weeks before the 21st.
Until then, keep StrumMn!
Brian
We had 8 show up to play yesterday and had a good time. I hope 1st-timers will come back again.
John did a little rework on Shine on Harvest Moon and sent this to me, check it out. (Just hit cancel if it asks for a userid/password.)
If any of you are on FaceBook, I just signed up last Friday and created a "StrumMn ukulele players" page. I'm going to try using it as an addition to the blog here. Check it out and let me know if you think it would work better for sharing information.
Next meeting is Sunday Dec 21st. I know it may not work for everyone but I hope a few off you can come down to Como and play uke. I'll post here and send an email reminder a couple weeks before the 21st.
Until then, keep StrumMn!
Brian
Friday, November 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Looking for new songs?
check out this website I ran across: http://kristinhall.org/songbook/Songbook.html
They even have a parody of Ghost Riders (Ghost Chickens in the Sky)...
They even have a parody of Ghost Riders (Ghost Chickens in the Sky)...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Songs for the next couple meetings
I've had replies from 3 people and want to share this info so people can practice or review songs.
David sent me Shine on Harvest Moon, just click here. If it asks for a userid/password just hit cancel and it'll give you the doc anyway, let me know if you have problems.
Gary sent this:
Christmas songs, on Betty lou Christmas songs,
Frosty the snow man, I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, O Christmas Tree.
For the group play, how about from, www.salemukes.com, All of me, By the light of the silvery moon, five foot two eyes of blue, I can't give you anything but love, Sentimental Journey, Yes, sir, thats my Baby. These would be some good ones to start. I think we could look for some newer ones from the 50's and early 60's. I hope this gives us a start.
And Don sent a huge list of songs used at a nursing home. No music but check it out for songs we might want to learn for our own gig. The list is here.
If you have other suggestions please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll add it here.
Print a copy of the Xmas songs mentioned to play if you'll be there next meeting. The link to Betty Lou is in the links section to the right.
And Shine On Harvest Moon too!
Thanks!
Brian
David sent me Shine on Harvest Moon, just click here. If it asks for a userid/password just hit cancel and it'll give you the doc anyway, let me know if you have problems.
Gary sent this:
Christmas songs, on Betty lou Christmas songs,
Frosty the snow man, I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, O Christmas Tree.
For the group play, how about from, www.salemukes.com, All of me, By the light of the silvery moon, five foot two eyes of blue, I can't give you anything but love, Sentimental Journey, Yes, sir, thats my Baby. These would be some good ones to start. I think we could look for some newer ones from the 50's and early 60's. I hope this gives us a start.
And Don sent a huge list of songs used at a nursing home. No music but check it out for songs we might want to learn for our own gig. The list is here.
If you have other suggestions please leave a comment or send me an email and I'll add it here.
Print a copy of the Xmas songs mentioned to play if you'll be there next meeting. The link to Betty Lou is in the links section to the right.
And Shine On Harvest Moon too!
Thanks!
Brian
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Next couple meetings!
Hi all, it's time to schedule a couple meetings so all of you can make plans to attend.
Sunday November 23rd, 2-5pm, Como Park Pavillion.
Sunday December 21st, 2-5pm, Como Park Pavillion.
I'd like to suggest we each try to bring a Christmas song that we can play as a group or learn for the December meeting. If you give me a link or send a copy via email I'll try to post them for everyone to download.
Also, if you have a suggestion for simple songs we can use for a nursing home or assisted living home gig please let me know or bring them along. I'd like to start putting them together into a practice book so we can give this a go in a few months.
Hope to see you in a couple weeks, and let me know your ideas.
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Sunday November 23rd, 2-5pm, Como Park Pavillion.
Sunday December 21st, 2-5pm, Como Park Pavillion.
I'd like to suggest we each try to bring a Christmas song that we can play as a group or learn for the December meeting. If you give me a link or send a copy via email I'll try to post them for everyone to download.
Also, if you have a suggestion for simple songs we can use for a nursing home or assisted living home gig please let me know or bring them along. I'd like to start putting them together into a practice book so we can give this a go in a few months.
Hope to see you in a couple weeks, and let me know your ideas.
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A note from Paul in Samoa with the Peace Corps
Malo to all,
Well I finally had a chance to sit down with my computer. The past week has been the busiest week of my life, as well as one of the best weeks. Add in the preparation to the endeavor and that makes the busiest month of my life. Thank you to all who helped me in the process and also for supporting me in my Samoan Peace Corps adventure.
PC Samoa (Group 81) consists of 13 members. Nine males and four females coming from all over the states two representing MN. Go MN! We all get along very well and have become very close in such a short time. I have two roommates. Joey from Iowa and Igor from Mass. Our group is training to become teachers. Mostly computer instructors, a few special needs teachers, construction and PC Samoa’s first automotive service instructor. There are a lot of cars here and a great need for auto service skills. People seem to be pretty excited about having an auto service instructor. Oh yeah, mechanics are called engineers here. I have already made one car repair to our medical officer (MO) ‘s Honda that wouldn’t start. So I’m feeling good about the whole auto situation here.
Most of our time has been spent in language and culture training. We also have a lot of medical and safety classes. Training is going well so far. The language is definitely the toughest part. Our safety classes have been the most fun so far. One afternoon was devoted to water safety, which included a boat ride to a far coral reef where we snorkeled for a couple hours and another afternoon was devoted to beach safety, which also included a few hours of snorkeling. Already about four hours of snorkeling, can’t complain about that. The entire island (Upolu) is surrounded by coral barrier reef. Which is beautiful. It’s amazing all the ocean life I have seen in just four hours.
The rest of the island is beautiful. Green foliage, bright colored flowers everywhere, several mountains and great views from every angle. Tons of cars, a lot of cats and dogs, glass bottled Coca-Cola, and the fish market (my favorite place to eat). We’ve been staying in the Apia (capital city) Central Hotel. Nice place, very nice employees, as well as the Samoan people in general are extremely kind and respectful. Making it much easier to warm up to life here.
The entire process of the PC training is really impressive. It makes me feel even better about my choice. So much valuable information and great instructors, I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.
We have two current PC volunteers (PCV) helping with the training process, Dylan and Laura. They have been such a great source of information; they are also a lot of fun. They have brought us out to some of the local entertainment sites and also have introduced us to a lot of other volunteers in Samoa (40 total in Samoa). Haven’t met all of them yet though. I met Eric who I contacted before leaving to Samoa and thanked him for his advice on bringing a guitar here. I’m glad I did, otherwise I would be bumming. He was even nice enough to give me an hour long guitar lesson (very cool) It’s nice to be around so many nice and talented people who are eager to share their knowledge. I’ve already learned a lot of computer related knowledge from all the IT people here. Hopefully they will help me set up my blog. Which will most hopefully be up pretty soon, but no promises.
This Saturday group 81 heads to Fausaga, a village on the south side of the island for a week’s stay with individual host families, which should be really interesting. It’ll be fun to see how village life is for families. Our trainers have been preparing us for village life. Yesterday we had a lesson on how to take a bucket shower, due to the lack of running water in some homes.
Well that’s about it for me. I could tell you so much more, but that’s it for now. You probably won’t hear from me for at least a week. The village definitely won’t have internet access. If you have some time please drop me a line, via e-mail of course, it’s nice to hear from all of you and it’s also nice to hear about what’s going on with the presidential election. Everybody here has been pretty involved with the election so far and is always excited to hear about any news, although my short wave radio has come in pretty handy for that. Anyways thanks again and I hope to hear from you soon.
Tofa, Paulo
P.S. My Samoan name is Paulo, yeah it was a big change.
Well I finally had a chance to sit down with my computer. The past week has been the busiest week of my life, as well as one of the best weeks. Add in the preparation to the endeavor and that makes the busiest month of my life. Thank you to all who helped me in the process and also for supporting me in my Samoan Peace Corps adventure.
PC Samoa (Group 81) consists of 13 members. Nine males and four females coming from all over the states two representing MN. Go MN! We all get along very well and have become very close in such a short time. I have two roommates. Joey from Iowa and Igor from Mass. Our group is training to become teachers. Mostly computer instructors, a few special needs teachers, construction and PC Samoa’s first automotive service instructor. There are a lot of cars here and a great need for auto service skills. People seem to be pretty excited about having an auto service instructor. Oh yeah, mechanics are called engineers here. I have already made one car repair to our medical officer (MO) ‘s Honda that wouldn’t start. So I’m feeling good about the whole auto situation here.
Most of our time has been spent in language and culture training. We also have a lot of medical and safety classes. Training is going well so far. The language is definitely the toughest part. Our safety classes have been the most fun so far. One afternoon was devoted to water safety, which included a boat ride to a far coral reef where we snorkeled for a couple hours and another afternoon was devoted to beach safety, which also included a few hours of snorkeling. Already about four hours of snorkeling, can’t complain about that. The entire island (Upolu) is surrounded by coral barrier reef. Which is beautiful. It’s amazing all the ocean life I have seen in just four hours.
The rest of the island is beautiful. Green foliage, bright colored flowers everywhere, several mountains and great views from every angle. Tons of cars, a lot of cats and dogs, glass bottled Coca-Cola, and the fish market (my favorite place to eat). We’ve been staying in the Apia (capital city) Central Hotel. Nice place, very nice employees, as well as the Samoan people in general are extremely kind and respectful. Making it much easier to warm up to life here.
The entire process of the PC training is really impressive. It makes me feel even better about my choice. So much valuable information and great instructors, I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.
We have two current PC volunteers (PCV) helping with the training process, Dylan and Laura. They have been such a great source of information; they are also a lot of fun. They have brought us out to some of the local entertainment sites and also have introduced us to a lot of other volunteers in Samoa (40 total in Samoa). Haven’t met all of them yet though. I met Eric who I contacted before leaving to Samoa and thanked him for his advice on bringing a guitar here. I’m glad I did, otherwise I would be bumming. He was even nice enough to give me an hour long guitar lesson (very cool) It’s nice to be around so many nice and talented people who are eager to share their knowledge. I’ve already learned a lot of computer related knowledge from all the IT people here. Hopefully they will help me set up my blog. Which will most hopefully be up pretty soon, but no promises.
This Saturday group 81 heads to Fausaga, a village on the south side of the island for a week’s stay with individual host families, which should be really interesting. It’ll be fun to see how village life is for families. Our trainers have been preparing us for village life. Yesterday we had a lesson on how to take a bucket shower, due to the lack of running water in some homes.
Well that’s about it for me. I could tell you so much more, but that’s it for now. You probably won’t hear from me for at least a week. The village definitely won’t have internet access. If you have some time please drop me a line, via e-mail of course, it’s nice to hear from all of you and it’s also nice to hear about what’s going on with the presidential election. Everybody here has been pretty involved with the election so far and is always excited to hear about any news, although my short wave radio has come in pretty handy for that. Anyways thanks again and I hope to hear from you soon.
Tofa, Paulo
P.S. My Samoan name is Paulo, yeah it was a big change.
10/19 followup
Hi All,
We had 7 of us show up to play today and it was gorgeous down at Como. A special welcome to the 3 first timers, Steve, Jonah, and Mercedes. I hope you come back and play uke with us again.
We're talking seriously about doing a gig at an assisted living home, the first thing is to get a short repertoire of songs together. Easy songs that we can learn and play together and that residents can sing along with would be best. Please help come up with some ideas.
I'll post a date for our next meeting soon, I'll shoot for pre-Thanksgiving which will hopefully give us a shot at another meeting before Xmas as well.
I received an email from Paul in Samoa last night, I wish I'd seen it before our meeting today so I could share it. I'll put in a separate blog entry for it.
Until next time, keep StrumMn! And come up with songs for our new "gig"!
Brian
We had 7 of us show up to play today and it was gorgeous down at Como. A special welcome to the 3 first timers, Steve, Jonah, and Mercedes. I hope you come back and play uke with us again.
We're talking seriously about doing a gig at an assisted living home, the first thing is to get a short repertoire of songs together. Easy songs that we can learn and play together and that residents can sing along with would be best. Please help come up with some ideas.
I'll post a date for our next meeting soon, I'll shoot for pre-Thanksgiving which will hopefully give us a shot at another meeting before Xmas as well.
I received an email from Paul in Samoa last night, I wish I'd seen it before our meeting today so I could share it. I'll put in a separate blog entry for it.
Until next time, keep StrumMn! And come up with songs for our new "gig"!
Brian
Monday, October 13, 2008
Next meetng, Sunday 10/19!
Sorry for the short notice.
Let's try for Sunday the 19th, 2-5pm, Como (Black Bear Crossing Cafe).
David sent me a couple songs and I uploaded them to my web storage, hopefully you can get to them.
http://home.comcast.net/~ukulele-melee/music/ItsBeenALongLongTime.doc
http://home.comcast.net/~ukulele-melee/music/WhiteSandyBeach.doc
If you said you wanted a StrumMn shirt, I'll have it on Sunday.
If you have more songs for us leave a comment with a link or email it to me.
If you are looking for songs to play, check this out: http://nwfolk.com/uketabs.html
Hope to see you on Sunday!
Brian
Let's try for Sunday the 19th, 2-5pm, Como (Black Bear Crossing Cafe).
David sent me a couple songs and I uploaded them to my web storage, hopefully you can get to them.
http://home.comcast.net/~ukulele-melee/music/ItsBeenALongLongTime.doc
http://home.comcast.net/~ukulele-melee/music/WhiteSandyBeach.doc
If you said you wanted a StrumMn shirt, I'll have it on Sunday.
If you have more songs for us leave a comment with a link or email it to me.
If you are looking for songs to play, check this out: http://nwfolk.com/uketabs.html
Hope to see you on Sunday!
Brian
Friday, September 26, 2008
Follow-up to Sept 21 uke playing session
Hi everyone,
Once again we had 6 people show up, incuding 2 more 1st timers... welcome guys!
Lots of uke talk, playing through songs and discussion with Paul about his Peace Corps assignment to Samoa. We all wish him the best!
Of course, we met on Sunday and on Monday I got a call that the new StrumMn shirts are all done and ready to be picked up. No hurry now so I don't have them yet, maybe this weekend.
If anyone is in a hurry to get theirs (assuming you asked for one) maybe we can work something out. I drive from Lino Lakes to Eden Prairie every day and there is a lot in between there where I could meet or drop one off. Otherwise I'll have them at the October get together which will be... well, sometime in October. Either the 19th or 26th... any preference? Speak up now and I'll set the date soon.
If you have links to music for us to try just leave a comment. David has been coming up with some winners lately... got any more?
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Once again we had 6 people show up, incuding 2 more 1st timers... welcome guys!
Lots of uke talk, playing through songs and discussion with Paul about his Peace Corps assignment to Samoa. We all wish him the best!
Of course, we met on Sunday and on Monday I got a call that the new StrumMn shirts are all done and ready to be picked up. No hurry now so I don't have them yet, maybe this weekend.
If anyone is in a hurry to get theirs (assuming you asked for one) maybe we can work something out. I drive from Lino Lakes to Eden Prairie every day and there is a lot in between there where I could meet or drop one off. Otherwise I'll have them at the October get together which will be... well, sometime in October. Either the 19th or 26th... any preference? Speak up now and I'll set the date soon.
If you have links to music for us to try just leave a comment. David has been coming up with some winners lately... got any more?
Keep StrumMn!
Brian
Friday, September 12, 2008
Next StrumMn meeting - Sunday Sept 21st
Hi everyone, hope you're all out there strumming your ukes.
I typed this up and then deleted it once already when my plans were up in the air, hopefully this plan will work for most of you even though it's short notice.
Big news! Paul was accepted for the Peace Corps and will be gone for 2 years... I'm hoping he can make the meeting... I'm willing to push it out one more week if it means he can be there. Paul?
I'm half way through 2 weeks of on-call work which will really stress me out so I'm planning our next meeting for after I'm done with that. I called down to Como to check evening hours and to my dismay they are only open until 7pm now. That means I'm switching us from our summer evening meetings to the Sunday afternoon winter schedule.
Sunday Sept 21st, 2-5pm, inside the Black Bear Crossing Cafe in the Pavillion at Como Park.
Now, what do you want to play? Attach a comment to this post with suggestions and links if you can.
I haven't been able to contact my t-shirt person yet, I lost my invoice and need to find contact info again, but will still try to get more info for those of you who expressed interest.
Keep on StrumMn!
Brian
I typed this up and then deleted it once already when my plans were up in the air, hopefully this plan will work for most of you even though it's short notice.
Big news! Paul was accepted for the Peace Corps and will be gone for 2 years... I'm hoping he can make the meeting... I'm willing to push it out one more week if it means he can be there. Paul?
I'm half way through 2 weeks of on-call work which will really stress me out so I'm planning our next meeting for after I'm done with that. I called down to Como to check evening hours and to my dismay they are only open until 7pm now. That means I'm switching us from our summer evening meetings to the Sunday afternoon winter schedule.
Sunday Sept 21st, 2-5pm, inside the Black Bear Crossing Cafe in the Pavillion at Como Park.
Now, what do you want to play? Attach a comment to this post with suggestions and links if you can.
I haven't been able to contact my t-shirt person yet, I lost my invoice and need to find contact info again, but will still try to get more info for those of you who expressed interest.
Keep on StrumMn!
Brian
Monday, August 18, 2008
Monday followup
Another nice turnout on a beautiful evening. There were 6 of us out playing uke in the park tonight. We ran through an assortment of music and it was nice that everyone brought some to share.
Sara, it was nice that you could join us for the first time and I hope you come back again. By the way, that B chord on the baritone came to me on the way home. It's what the rest of us call the dreaded E chord with a 4442 shape. (I just needed to visualize my accordian buttons to come up with it.) Check out the Sheep Entertainment chord finder, the link is off to the right and here it is too. http://www.sheep-entertainment.nl/ukulele/index.html
Our next meeting will be mid September and I think we'll move inside the cafe since we ran out of light by about 8:30 tonight. Pick some music for next time and watch this space for the next date.
Oh yeah, StrumMn t-shirts should be $15, there may be a slight extra charge for larger sizes. Let me know if you want one and I'll wait a bit before placing the order and try to deliver at the next meeting if possible.
Until then, keep StrumMn!
Brian
Sara, it was nice that you could join us for the first time and I hope you come back again. By the way, that B chord on the baritone came to me on the way home. It's what the rest of us call the dreaded E chord with a 4442 shape. (I just needed to visualize my accordian buttons to come up with it.) Check out the Sheep Entertainment chord finder, the link is off to the right and here it is too. http://www.sheep-entertainment.nl/ukulele/index.html
Our next meeting will be mid September and I think we'll move inside the cafe since we ran out of light by about 8:30 tonight. Pick some music for next time and watch this space for the next date.
Oh yeah, StrumMn t-shirts should be $15, there may be a slight extra charge for larger sizes. Let me know if you want one and I'll wait a bit before placing the order and try to deliver at the next meeting if possible.
Until then, keep StrumMn!
Brian
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Music for Monday 8/18
We're planning to meet from 7-9 near the pavillion again. We'll be outside if it's nice and in the Black Bear Crossing Cafe if otherwise.
I picked 3 songs from DrUke (I stole one from David), download/print/practice if you want.
If you have a song you want to cover please leave a link in a comment here so others can grab a copy.
http://www.doctoruke.com/songs.html
ZipADeeDooDah
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
Till There Was You
Hope to see you on the 18th!
Brian
I picked 3 songs from DrUke (I stole one from David), download/print/practice if you want.
If you have a song you want to cover please leave a link in a comment here so others can grab a copy.
http://www.doctoruke.com/songs.html
ZipADeeDooDah
I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter
Till There Was You
Hope to see you on the 18th!
Brian
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Windy City Uke Fest !!!
More pictures added on 8/10, take a look below... and again on 8/12! And 8/16.
I know some of you have been waiting to hear about this, the WCUF was a BLAST!
I know some of you have been waiting to hear about this, the WCUF was a BLAST!
What do you want to know? Workshops daily from 9-12 and 1-4, concerts from 6-11, jamming and talking and shopping uke in between.
The lineup of performers: Kimo Hussey, Ali Lexa, Windy City Islanders, Seeso, Abe Lagrimas Jr., Gerald Ross, Tim Sweeney, Victoria Vox, Mark "Spanky" Guiterrez, Lil Rev, Barefoot Hawaiian, Jonathan Carreira, Lopaka, Keenan Kamae, Curt Sheller. Hope I didn't miss any!
If ukes can get mojo from osmosis I'm in good shape, MY uke was played by Kimo Hussey, Spanky, Gerald Ross, MGM, and others as they checked it out. It's not perfect but I think I got a few thumbs up, I even have video of Spanky playing it which I'll try to get on here somehow (I've never done that before).
Check back as I'll probably just update this blog rather than enter another one.
And remember, StrumMn will meet on Monday 8/18 down at Como.
Anyway, here's a pic of the stage at the Tiki Terrace to start things off.
And a pic of David and Paul, and Spanky playing MY uke!
And here's Mark "Spanky" Guiterrez playing MY uke... just 20 seconds worth.
I just received this next picture from Steve Matheson. He lives in Australia and attended the WCUF. Since my Sheoak wood is from Australia I thought he'd get a kick out of it, and he did!
The lineup of performers: Kimo Hussey, Ali Lexa, Windy City Islanders, Seeso, Abe Lagrimas Jr., Gerald Ross, Tim Sweeney, Victoria Vox, Mark "Spanky" Guiterrez, Lil Rev, Barefoot Hawaiian, Jonathan Carreira, Lopaka, Keenan Kamae, Curt Sheller. Hope I didn't miss any!
If ukes can get mojo from osmosis I'm in good shape, MY uke was played by Kimo Hussey, Spanky, Gerald Ross, MGM, and others as they checked it out. It's not perfect but I think I got a few thumbs up, I even have video of Spanky playing it which I'll try to get on here somehow (I've never done that before).
Check back as I'll probably just update this blog rather than enter another one.
And remember, StrumMn will meet on Monday 8/18 down at Como.
Anyway, here's a pic of the stage at the Tiki Terrace to start things off.
And a pic of David and Paul, and Spanky playing MY uke!
And here's Mark "Spanky" Guiterrez playing MY uke... just 20 seconds worth.
I just received this next picture from Steve Matheson. He lives in Australia and attended the WCUF. Since my Sheoak wood is from Australia I thought he'd get a kick out of it, and he did!
Here Kimo Hussey teaches a class.
Part of the vendor area...
More vendor space... That's MGM (Music Guy Mike) in blue with his back to the camera and Curt Sheller walking away (his table is the one in the foreground...)
Lil' Rev performs along with Gerald Ross.
And Victoria Vox puts on a fun show.
Jamming in the hotel lobby, photo courtesy or UkuleleTonya
One more picture! I added a few t-shirts to my wardrobe. I had a couple StrumMn t-shirts embroidered for David and myself (I can get more for $15 if anyone is interested, now that the image is digitized. I'll probably change the text from "my ukulele" to "ukulele players" next time around). Then there is the official WCUF t-shirt. And David's wife surprised us by sending along the Ukulele Hero shirts for both of us; what a gal!
Monday, July 28, 2008
A uke is born!
I strung it up tonight with Aquila strings and strummed a couple chords. The strings are still stretching so it'll be a day or two before I do much playing. At one point as I was bringing the strings up to tension I heard a good CRACK but I think it was the neck shifting slightly as I don't see any problems. I'll need to pick up a new case for it now, maybe one of those nice tweed ones that musicguymic sells. I'll try to post a sound file in a day or two if the strings have settled a bit.
Next StrumMn meeting tentatively planned for Monday 8/18 at Como, mark your calendars!
Next StrumMn meeting tentatively planned for Monday 8/18 at Como, mark your calendars!
Brian
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Almost there... !
Another coat or 2 of Arrow Wood Finish and then tuners should get me to the point that I can string it up and test the results.
Today I bolted on the neck so I could work on the saddle placement.
Here I masked it off, placed it with double stick tape, then carefully cut around it and then scraped off the finish so the glue would have bare wood to stick to.
Gluing the saddle in place. I lucked out with a new clamp I bought a few weeks ago, it turned out to work perfect for this task! The 2 side clamps were just to make sure the "wings" made solid contact, although I was afraid to pull them up too tight as they clamped right on the body.
Here it is tonight. I put in a bone nut and saddle which may need a little tweaking, I think the action may be able to come down a little bit.
Hopefully the bolt on neck attachment will work ok, etc... this whole thing has been an interesting experience. I'm hoping I can have it completed mid week and maybe a sound sample at that time. Keep your fingers crossed!
Brian
Today I bolted on the neck so I could work on the saddle placement.
Here I masked it off, placed it with double stick tape, then carefully cut around it and then scraped off the finish so the glue would have bare wood to stick to.
Gluing the saddle in place. I lucked out with a new clamp I bought a few weeks ago, it turned out to work perfect for this task! The 2 side clamps were just to make sure the "wings" made solid contact, although I was afraid to pull them up too tight as they clamped right on the body.
Here it is tonight. I put in a bone nut and saddle which may need a little tweaking, I think the action may be able to come down a little bit.
Hopefully the bolt on neck attachment will work ok, etc... this whole thing has been an interesting experience. I'm hoping I can have it completed mid week and maybe a sound sample at that time. Keep your fingers crossed!
Brian
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Disaster! (and recovery?)
Well I got 8 frets installed this morning and then the tail of the fretboard broke off at the 12th fret slot. :-(
I thought I'd just install the frets in the broke off piece and then glue it together with that fret glued in place but when I tried putting in fret 15 it split again. That sheoak is just too brittle when not glued to backing.
I thought about gluing it all to the body and then trying to install the frets but then I'd worry about busting up the body soooo... I took the fretboard off the neck with my table saw and I'll need to fashion a new fretboard.
I have a nice piece of ebony fretboard material I bought a couple years ago, I guess it's time to put it to use!
This may blow my timetable for having it ready for the Windy City Uke Fest. :-(
Pictures later....
Brian
Here's the start of fretting, looking good and I love that fretboard!
And here it is broken... ARGH!
I thought I'd try fretting this section and glue it on but it split again at the last fret when I tried to install it. You can click on all these pics if you want to see a larger version for details...
After much thought I decided to scrap the fretboard so I pulled the frets to re-use and here I've started nibbling the fretboard off the mahogany neck with the table saw.
Here is the piece of ebony I had on hand, I printed out a new fretboard template to glue on the fretboard blank.
First fret cut, 14 more to go...
Time to taper to match my neck and put the frets in again. I'm going to put all the frets in this time before gluing it to the neck.
And here is the new fretboard being glued to the neck. I'll need to do some glue cleanup and then, hopefully, I can install the neck on the body. Then I can do some refinishing and measure for placing the bridge and saddle. Installing that will be another hair raising adventure.
Brian
I thought I'd just install the frets in the broke off piece and then glue it together with that fret glued in place but when I tried putting in fret 15 it split again. That sheoak is just too brittle when not glued to backing.
I thought about gluing it all to the body and then trying to install the frets but then I'd worry about busting up the body soooo... I took the fretboard off the neck with my table saw and I'll need to fashion a new fretboard.
I have a nice piece of ebony fretboard material I bought a couple years ago, I guess it's time to put it to use!
This may blow my timetable for having it ready for the Windy City Uke Fest. :-(
Pictures later....
Brian
Here's the start of fretting, looking good and I love that fretboard!
And here it is broken... ARGH!
I thought I'd try fretting this section and glue it on but it split again at the last fret when I tried to install it. You can click on all these pics if you want to see a larger version for details...
After much thought I decided to scrap the fretboard so I pulled the frets to re-use and here I've started nibbling the fretboard off the mahogany neck with the table saw.
Here is the piece of ebony I had on hand, I printed out a new fretboard template to glue on the fretboard blank.
First fret cut, 14 more to go...
Time to taper to match my neck and put the frets in again. I'm going to put all the frets in this time before gluing it to the neck.
And here is the new fretboard being glued to the neck. I'll need to do some glue cleanup and then, hopefully, I can install the neck on the body. Then I can do some refinishing and measure for placing the bridge and saddle. Installing that will be another hair raising adventure.
Wish me luck!
Brian
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