Nui Ukulele Newsletter, June 27, 2008, Newsletter of the Nui Ukulele Club of Chicago
I view life as a learning experience. It is not so much as about music; it is about what happens when you are doing the music.
– Michael Schenker
If music be the food of love, play on. – William Shakespeare
Music is all about [a person (sic)] wanting to be better at it.
– Geddy Lee
Announcements
Learning Corner
Ukulele Events
Announcements
Do you know a famous up-and-coming ukulele player? I do. His name is George Klingelhofer, co-organizer of the www.windycityukefest.com , and member of the www.windycityislanders.com . He just got featured on YouTube with a bunch of other ukulele players. This is a cool deal, but George did not just get featured. He was the NUMBER ONE featured video on the YouTube main page last week. This is like hitting the lottery. George, you ROCK!!! George has noticed with his new-found fame. He can get a small cup of coffee at Starbucks for about $1.60 WITH a coupon. Check out his featured YouTube video “Luau Time” with Bosko and Honey as of June 26, 2008. George’s video has 268,000 hits. Braddha George is Chicago’s newest ukulele hero.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WIOJO_VxCA
Windy City Ukulele Festival 2008
Yes, there is a buzz going on for the Windy City Ukulele Festival. Spots are filling up. It is a great honor for Chicagoland and us to host such a great event. This ukulele festival is world-class, and there will not be a ukulele-related activity that we will not be doing. A few of the instructors just got back from the Portland Ukulele Festival. They have shared a lot of what makes this festival great, and how we can make our festival better. This will be the one of best ukulele festivals of the year.
We have updated the workshop details. We will have workshops for all levels of ukulele playing ability: The starters ukulele workshop will be taught by Ukulele Tonya. This workshop is for people who have never touched an instrument before. You will know how to play a song or two by the time you are done. We will have workshops for beginners, intermediate and advanced, and professional ukulele players. We will have a workshop for general music teachers and ukulele instructors taught by Kimo, considered tops in teaching and performing in the ukulele world. Last, but not lest! We will be teaching a kids ukulele workshop. Most of these instructors are world-class ukulele instructors, and have published and well-respected instructional materials.
Check out the workshop teachers link on the www.windycityukefest.com web page.
Also, we have add a public transportation page, rooms-to-share page, and Ukeaholic blog page, and pre-festival feedback page. Also, I am proud to announce that Curt Sheller will be teaching an advanced ukulele workshop at the festival, and performing. We are honored to have him as he has made great contributions to intermediate-to-advanced ukulele instruction with his published ukulele instruction books.
We also have a pre-festival feedback on-line form. The more feedback we get, the more we can tailor our workshops, performances, and stages to suit the desires of uke players. Please take some time and fill out the on-line form to better help us serve you.
Don’t wait before it too late! The full festival pass is a great deal. Sign up for the Windy City Ukulele Full Festival Pass, and reserve your spot, and enjoy the “Best Ukulele Experience in the Midwest”. July 31st, Aug 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 2008
Learning Corner
New Music Notation (part 2): Scale Degree Music Notation
As a natural extension of the chord progression music notation, I needed something to represent the melodies in intros, solos, and endings. So, I developed the scale degree music notation. The advantages of the scale degree music notation over standard music notation and ukulele tablature is as follows:
1) The scale degree music notation is easier to read.
2) You understand the note relationships better, and can switch keys easier.
3) The notation is more compact, and preserves the much of the formatting with changes in font.
4) Works together with the chord progression music notation.
The two most important music qualities I needed to represent were pitch and duration. Intensity (volume) and timbre could be handed in special notes.
Thus, I developed the following using the table from the chord progression music notation. The numbers/letter contained in the square brackets [ ] represent chords
Example: [2m7] represent the second minor seventh chord in a chord progression.
|
DO |
RE |
MI |
FA |
SO |
LA |
TI |
DO |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
A |
B |
C |
|
F |
G |
A |
Bb |
C |
D |
E |
F |
|
G |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F# |
G |
|
A |
B |
C# |
D |
E |
F# |
G# |
A |
|
D |
E |
F# |
G |
A |
B |
C# |
D |
The melody will be represented by the numbers/letters in the parenthesis ( )
The letters used to represent the pitch duration are as follows:
q = quarter note
e = eighth note
s = sixteenth note ( Note: when used inside square brackets means suspended chord)
h = half note
w = whole note
D= dotted (this extends the duration by 1/2 the original note value.)
r = rest
| = bar line
Pitch additions are:
b = flat a note (move one fret up the fret board to a lower pitch)
# = sharp a note (move one fret down the fret board to a higher pitch)
bb = double flat (move two frets up the fret board to a lower pitch)
x = double sharp (move two frets down the fret board to a higher pitch)
The first line of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” looks like this:
( 1q 1q 5q 5q | 6q 6q 5h | 4q 4q 3q 3q | 2q 2q 1h | )
Special notes can be include in curly brackets { }.
3/4 time sig = 3/4 time signature
mp = dynamics (volume)
tie = tie notes
slur = slur notes
tr = trill
tri = triplets
int = interval (two notes played together)
mm = 75 = q ( metronome marking 75 beats per minute quarter note gets the beat)
I will give more written examples in my next Nui Ukulele Newsletter.
Now, this is not the end of be all of music notation, nor can it replace all standard music notation, but it is easier to read, write and reproduce.
Ukulele Events Calendar
Bookmark this URL to see the latest Ukulele Events Calendar.
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ukeaholics@gmail.com&ctz=America/Chicago
Monthly Nui Ukulele Club Meeting
July 20th, 1 PM Open Jam Session.
12 PM Orientation / Beginners Session
Windy City Ukulele Festival 2008
July 31st, Aug 1st, 2nd, and 3rd