This weekend I put together the music for Under Pressure. It’s not completely finished but in light of David Bowie’s passing, I thought I’d share it.
- Under Pressure, Queen and David Bowie (1981) official video, ukulele video
Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 2)
Hi, all! There are lots of updates today.
Art opening, May 1
The MacKenzie Art Gallery has asked us to play at the opening reception for David Thauberger’s new exhibit, Road Trips and Other Diversions.
Depending on the weather, we’ll either set up outside or in the lobby. Please bring all your music and a stand. We’ll probably be standing.
To give me an idea of how many to expect, please let me know by email or on Facebook if you can make it.
Road Trips and Other Diversions
- Friday, May 1
- Meet at 6:45 pm
- Play from 7:10 to 7:40 pm
- Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 3475 Albert St.
Those who can make it are asked to join us for a short meeting at the store on Tuesday, April 28, where we will discuss which songs we want to play from our binder. If you can’t make it, you are still welcome to join us at the opening.
Pre-event meeting
- Tuesday, April 28
- 7 pm
- Sawchyn Guitars, 2132 Dewdney Ave.
Anniversary circle! May 5
When I first asked Kendra and Peter about putting together a ukulele circle, I didn’t know if we’d make it to a second month, let alone a whole year. Thank you to everybody who has come out, whether you were there from the beginning or joined us in April.
- Tuesday, May 5
- 7–9 pm
- Sawchyn Guitars, 2132 Dewdney Ave.
I’m not bringing any new music, but we may play through some of our favourites. If you want to play something in front of the group, I’ll have a sign up sheet on the counter. A few of you have already signed up! If you want to lead the group in a new song, please bring some music to share or send it to me and I’ll post it here.
After the solos are done, we’ll take a break from playing and enjoy each other’s company over food and drink. Please feel free to bring a dessert or fruit or punch or whatever you’d like to share. Don’t worry if you can’t bring anything, I’m sure there will be plenty to go around.
The Moveable Feast, May 23
This performance art piece is going to be part of the Cathedral Arts Festival. It will also be a tribute to Michele Sereda, one of the original organizers. It’s a joint collaboration with the De Propere Fanfare, Curtain Razors, Common Weal Community Arts, the Dunlop Art Gallery and the Cathedral Arts Festival.
Here’s an example of what they do.
Participation is entirely voluntary. There are a number of rehearsals before the performance, so you may want to check your schedules before you commit.
Schedule of events
The Launch
Musicians meet and greet with the Belgians
- Saturday, May 9
- 7–9 pm
- Location TBA
Week 1 rehearsals
- May 11–15
- 12–3 pm or 6–9 pm
- Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre, 2900 13th Avenue
CVAF Opening Picnic Concert Dress Rehearsals
- Saturday, May 16
- 6–9 pm
- Sunday, May 17
- 11 am – 2 pm
CVAF Opening Picnic Performance
- Monday, May 18
- 12:30 am
- Les Sherman Park
Week 2 rehearsals: Creating the parade
- May 18–22
- Times TBA
- Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre and the German Club
Parade dress rehearsal
- Friday, May 22
- 6–10 pm
Moveable Feast Parade
- Saturday, May 23
- 10:30 am call time
- 11 am parade
- 13th Avenue
Music
There are four pieces to perform. They weren’t written specifically for ukulele so one of the members of De Propere Fanfare is putting something together. I’ve included the PDFs and sound files here:
- Den Turk (mp3)
- John Zirkus: chords | guitar TAB (mp3)
- No Tengo Trabaja (mp3)
- Serpent d’Eau (mp3)
If you would like to take part, please let me know by May 1.
This morning, CBC’s Q had a debate about teaching music in school, specifically should ukuleles replace recorders. James Hill, who led our latest workshop, took the side of the ukulele.
The audio is on the web and the Q website lets you cast your vote.
Thanks, Susan, for the heads up!
By the way, James is up for a Juno for Roots/Traditional Recording of the Year (Solo) for his latest release, The Old Silo.
I’m still working out some kinks and cleaning up the music, but the interactive music library is now live on the website.
The editor allows you to switch tuning from soprano to baritone and also switch keys. That’s helpful in case you find a song that was written for guitar.
A huge thanks to Buz over at Uke Geeks for creating this awesome tool! It’s certainly beyond anything I could ever do.
My boundless gratitude, also, to Joel Jacques and the Bytown Ukulele Group (BUG) for providing me with all their music to get this library off the ground!
I still need to move all our existing music into the library so the main music page will still be around for a little while. The new version will eventually replace that one.
I would like to alter the software so it doesn’t ignore the blank lines lines between verses. If you pick any song at random, all the verses will likely run into each other. I’ve added spaces to the songs we’re playing at the next circle, but want this to be automatic.
I also want to turn on uploads so people can submit their own music to the group.
Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions. If you find any chords with funny numbering, let me know that, too. I’ve already fixed the broken A Major chord that we found at the last circle – you no longer have to cross your fingers to make the numbers match.
Oh, one last thing. Some songs are listed twice. That’s because BUG has a “slow jam” version that may be a bit simpler to play or include extra comments or tips. Part of my clean up is to make it more obvious which version is which.
Happy strumming!
Sawchyn Guitars is having weekly specials leading up to Christmas. Week two is all about ukuleles!
December 8-13: Everything Ukulele
Buy a Uke from our wall and save 10% and save 20% on ukulele accessories like straps, tuners, capos, and the famous Aquila Red Series Strings!
They have lots of great gift ideas for the ukulele lover in your life.
I’ve posted a few more Christmas tunes to the Music page:
- Here Comes Santa Claus [C] (GCEA) (DGBE)
- O Come, All Ye Faithful [F] (GCEA) (DGBE)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [C] (GCEA) (DGBE)
- Santa Baby [C] (GCEA) (DGBE)
- Silent Night [G] (GCEA) (DGBE)
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas [C] (GCEA) (DGBE)
Many thanks to Gary for preparing a few of these! It certainly makes my life easier 🙂
Thank you, Joel! Thank you Sawchyn Guitars! Thank you participants!
I had a great time, and I hope you did, too. To all the new players, all of you are welcome to join us at our monthly ukulele circle. We meet at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month. The next circle is December 2.
I’m going to add all the music we played to our music page. In the mean time, you can find all of it on the Bytown Ukulele Group’s site.
Links
Joel mentioned a few websites during both sessions:
- Bytown Ukulele Group (Joel’s Ottawa group. All his music can be found here.)
- Ukulele Mike (check out his YouTube channels for great tutorials)
- Ukulele Dav & Arnaud.D (ukulele TABs in French)
- Ukulele Hunt (coined the term Swiss army strum)
- Richard G’s Ukulele Songbook (lots of ukulele music)
I’ve uploaded three five new holiday songs to the Music page: Jingle Bells, Silver Bells and Mele Kalikimaka. More songs are coming!
Update: I just added Auld Lang Syne and Feliz Navidad.
I’ve also started adding baritone (DGBE) tuning to the rest of the repertoire, in addition to the “standard” GCEA tuning commonly used by soprano, concert and tenor ukuleles. The whole collection should be available soon.
I’m building up a list of other ukulele groups across Canada. I’ve found that ukulele circles are very welcoming, so next time you’re on the road, bring your four-stringed travel companion and meet some new friends!
This list is far from complete. If you know of other groups, please add a comment with their name, web link and, if possible, their regular jam night.
Welcome to the Queen City Ukes’ new website! All our music will be available here as well as on our Facebook group. We’ll post all the information about the upcoming ukulele circles, requests for new music and resources for those who want to take lessons.
Happy strumming!
