Nui Ukulele Newsletter, July 21, 2008, Newsletter of the Nui Ukulele Club of Chicago
Windy City Ukulele Fest Updates, On the Shoulders of Giants, Lullabies, and Uke Songs.
Music hath charms to
soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, and bend a knotted oak.
-- William Congreve
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
-- Victor Hugo
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. – Bethold Auerback
Windy City Ukulele Festival Updates
Announcements
Web Site of the Month
Learning Corner
Windy City Ukulele Festival Updates (www.windycityukefest.com )
We are now in the final stages of planning the Windy City Ukulele Festival. We have created a few new price points for people interesting in getting a taste of the Windy City Ukulele Festival. People can now for as little as $25 dollars discover what the ukulele is, and what the ukulele culture is all about.
Click here, to find out about the most wonderful instrument ever created, "the 'ukulele", and to purchase tickets.
How does it feel to stand on the shoulders of giants? I know because that is what it feels like to be apart of the Windy City Ukulele Festival. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to bring these world-class ukulele people together here to the Midwest. You won't find a better combination of world-class ukulele instructors, and top-notch ukulele performers, and vendors in the Midwest. Most of the instructors have published materials on learning how to play music on the ukulele.
For Kimo's Teacher Workshop, we have added another hour on Friday to accommodate more material that will be presented to people interested in teaching the ukulele to others.
We have added two world-class ukulele instructors that will be teaching at the festival. Curt Sheller. He is very well known and respected for his intermediate and advanced ukulele instruction material.
And Joyce Flaugher, she has been promoting and perpetuating the aloha spirit of the Hawaiian islands since 1967. She teaches hula and ukulele in Texas, and is one of the principle organizers of the Texas Uke Fest. She will be teaching a hula class at the fest.
More info can be found on the Workshop Teachers Web Page.
Become A YOUTUBE ukulele video STAR!!!!!
We have added video recording to the UkeTube Stage, so if you have the Deluxe Taste pass or Full Festival pass, you can be recorded performing on the UkeTube Stage, and you can be come a international ukulele YouTube star. Well, maybe your mom or a friend(s) will watch it!
http://www.windycityukefest.com
Windy City Ukulele Festival 2008: ÒThe Best Ukulele Experience in the MidwestÓ
Announcements
Congratulations to Geoff Davis and the Blue Stone Folk School (www.bluestonefolkschool.org) on the week long ÒUkulele Intensive WorkshopÓ
Geoff has built a excellent ukulele workshop and has raised the bar for ukulele instruction. Hats off to Geoff Davis for building up, and continuing the wonderful tradition of sharing and teaching the ukulele in Indiana, and the Midwest.
Along with the regular jamming, and singing, I will also be giving a previewing of some of the instructional material that will be used at the Windy City Uke Fest. I really am impressed with what I have received some far from the instructors at the festival. The workshop practice book will revival some of the best ukulele books out there.
Lullabies! We all need some Lullabies!!!!!!
There is a new group in Chicagoland. The club is called ÒThe Lulaby Preservation LeagueÓ The mission of the club is as follows:
The Lullaby Preservation League exists in order to promote intergenerational and intercultural sharing of music which soothes. Our core activities are the lullaby singaround, local traveling teams and the compilation, on the Lullaby Preservation League website, of music which soothes.
For more information, go to
http://www.lullaby-preservation-league.org
Ukulele Web Site of the Month
This monthÕs ukulele web site is Live Ukulele. ( http://liveukulele.com )
This web site was started by two guys, Hippie Guy and Slack Key Kid. Hippy Guy has been playing the uke since 2005, and Slack Key Kid has been playing the uke since 2004.
Hippy Guy has now reached the grand old age of 15. They have compiles a lot of good information on the ukulele, and their whole mission is to make enough money to make it back to the Kahumoku 'Ohana 2008 HAWAIIAN MUSIC & LIFESTYLE WORKSHOP ( http://konaweb.com/keoki/ ). Good luck to you, guys and keep strumming, singing and smiling.
Learning Corner
As promised, I was going to give you some more examples of music that uses the chord progression notation.
DonÕt Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFarrin (arrangement by Terry Truhart)
The basic progression is [1][2m][4][1] through the entire song.
I like the key of G for this song. So, in the key of G, the root chord or [1] chord is G.
The second chord is a minor chord, this is Am or [2m]. The fourth chord or [4] is C.
So, you learn three chords, and how to switch back and forth between the chords.
1) G to Am : [1] to [2m]
2) Am to C : [2m] to [4]
3) C back to G : [4] to [1]
4) Repeat
Each chord get 8 beats, then you switch to the next chord.
Don't Worry Be Happy (MS-Word doc)
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Web Site Updates
Songs Section
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Keep Strumming, Singing, and Smiling,
Terry Truhart
co-organizer of the
www.WindyCityUkeFest.com
"The Best Ukulele Experience in the Midwest"
tpensel@pobox.com
www.nuiukulele.org
312-491-9928