Spring into Uke

with Jim Beloff, Ron Gordon, and Ron Whitford

Saturday, May 11 starting at 10:00 am

All-day Ukulele Intensive. Open to ALL LEVELS of player — beginner to advanced! See the full schedule of workshops…

Register

The workshop will be held in person at the Old Songs building (37 S Main in Voorheesville). If you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID, the flu, or a cold (cough, runny nose, sore throat, or fever) at the time of the event, please stay home, and ask for a refund.

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Schedule

• 9:30 am — Doors open, participant check-in.
• 10:15 am — Introductions
• 10:30 am — Workshops — Session 1

  • Beginning Uke with Ron Whitford — The beginners’ workshop will focus on basic chord progressions (one – four – five chords) and how a circle of fifths works. The session will show how to make efficient chord transitions by moving or lifting the least fingers possible. We’ll be playing songs in a few keys to demonstrate these skills. A basic strum will be taught to keep the rhythm in a song.

  • 5 Essential Strums and a Frail with Ron Gordon — This workshop will present songs to study five useful strums: the one-finger strum, the thumb drag, triplet, damp, and syncopated. There will also be a quick study of a banjo strum, frailing on the uke. Learn how to add variety to your right-hand rhythm playing! Workshop Materials

• 11:30 am — Lunch Out (of the building)
• 1:00 pm — Workshops — Session 2

  • Jim’s Jazzin’ Up the Uke with Jim Beloff — How to use chord substitutions to “jazz up” a simple 4 or 5 chord song. Based on the 2015 Flea Market Music book. We’ll also play through several Lyle Ritz classic jazz arrangements. Jim’s style is decidedly jazzy, so here’s a great opportunity to understand the thinking behind this style of music on the uke. Workshop Materials

  • Ukulele Fingerpicking or the Educated Thumb with Ron Gordon — Fingerpicking on the ukulele is a beautiful technique to accompany songs and play solo repertoire. In this workshop, you will learn some of the patterns that bring out the melodic side of the uke: “parlor style”, arpeggio, and alternate thumb. We’ll cover some songs and an instrumental in this session. Workshop Materials

• 2:45 pm — Workshops — Session 3

  • The New Daily Ukulele with Jim Beloff — A new Workshop/Jam that Jim will offer is selected songs from the new “Daily Ukulele: Another Year” songbook which is due to come out in soon. This would be the first time Jim would be offering this. You’ll get an early intro of all new songs, on all levels, in this workshop. Kind of like a world premiere! It’s quite a story of how Jim decided to create an all-new book modeled on the original. We’ll have to find a red carpet! Workshop Materials

  • Jugband/Blues Workshop with Ron Whitford — Ron will present a sample of jug band songs by original jug band groups giving some biographical information about some of the early Jug Band/Blues artists: Gus Cannon’s song, “Going to Germany”, Memphis Minnie’s, “What’s the Matter with the Mill?”, “Call the Fire Wagon”, the Mississippi Sheiks’,” Bootlegger’s Blues” and Frank Stokes, “Chicken Roost Behind the Moon.” Ukes, jugs, kazoos, and washtub basses are welcome.

• 4:15 pm — Concert: A brief sampler from each teacher/performer
• 5:30 pm — Everybody go home and practice!

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