Calling all ukulele players

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Two weeks ago we had an Escapee couple, the Sinclairs stop by for the afternoon and they spent the night in their RV in our yard. They are Brits and spend 6 months of the year traveling the US in their RV. Turns out Mike Sinclair is a very accomplish musician. His handle on the internet is "The Ukeman". (his site is http://www.theukeman.com/fr_mysongs.cfm) He spotted Laurie's Yamaha keyboard, which turned out to be the same one he has. Mike asked if he could try it out and we were treated to a wonderful concert. He made the keyboard do things we could only imagine, but never accomplish. He also travels with a ukulele and also can make that instrument produce incredible sounds. If you want a treat, poke around his site and sample some of his songs. While he does sell them, his site will allow you to play the whole song, not just a teaser of a sample.

We had a delightful visit and made a new friend. They have promised to return and give us the chance to hear more of Mike's playing.
 
Thanks for the story and the link Chet, much appreciated. Sure looks like Mike is an accomplished musician. I'm off to see if he's You Tube or iTunes.

OK, I need to know the secret ... how did you lure this gem of a couple to your property?  ;D
 
Today I had a private coaching lesson at our home from a friend and accomplished musician. I've often described the guy as having more musical talent in his left big toe than I can ever hope to achieve. The guy plays guitar, banjo, keyboard, and other instruments. He's also the musical director for a local chorus (80 strong). He was recently (last week) in Maui and, knowing I'd bought a ukulele, sent me this photo as a joke; In the photo are his wife and another couple faking playing the ukulele. I replied to his email, urging him to buy a ukulele and teach himself, so he could teach me.

He turned up today playing as good as any ukulele player I've seen in person or online. He taught me more in 5 minutes than I've learned in hours of lessons online and on DVD, and in various books I've bought.

I'm crossing my fingers he'll do some ongoing training.
 

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Tom said:
He taught me more in 5 minutes than I've learned in hours of lessons online and on DVD, and in various books I've bought.

I know what you mean Tom.  Some of us can learn faster if someone shows us something one time than if we spend a lot of time trying to teach it to ourselves using courses or books.
 
[quote author=Luca1369]Some of us can learn faster if someone shows us something one time ...[/quote]

Aye Steve, and some of us are just slow learners  :(  I was having a tough time strumming correctly, and what he showed me was counter to the way I'd learned (or tried to learn). After he had me running through some exercises repeatedly, both on my own and together, he put his $2,200 Taylor acoustic guitar in my hands and had me strumming it. That guitar was some instrument!
 
The quality of the instrument certainly makes a BIG difference in a person's enjoyment, and often in how quickly they learn. Many, many years ago I had an el cheapo guitar. It didn't sound good, the strings were hard to push down, and the overall satisfaction level was almost nil. It was tough even playing C-G-F, with a very basic strum.  After some time of that, my wife bought me a Takamini 12 string (not top, but decent quality), and I've been enjoying it, ever since. I even learned (relatively quickly, for me) a lot more chords and several quite useful strums, along with a handful of picking patterns -- all in not much more time than I'd spent trying to get a handful of chords on the el cheapo.

I'm not a musician, and a lot of things that come easy for some people (I once watched a very good guitar playing friend learn the banjo rather well in less than two weeks), take a humongous amount of practice to master, IF I can master them at all. But it's fun, with a decent instrument.
 
Larry N. said:
The quality of the instrument certainly makes a BIG difference in a person's enjoyment, and often in how quickly they learn.

True.  You don't need to be involved with battling the physical properties of your instrument when you're trying to learn how to play it.  An instrument that fits and feels good in your hands will go a long way in aiding the learning process.
 
On the flip side, the el cheapo ukulele that this guy bought in Maui (just so he could learn to play and come home to teach me) is, by his own admission, a piece of junk. But he was playing some darned good music on it.

I was pleased to hear him say that my moderately priced uke has good tone and good tracking.
 
My long time friend and accomplished musician agreed to coach our small local ukulele group. The first session was a week ago at a local church and the second session was last evening at our house. People who had previously left the group (because they weren't learning) and others attended because of this guy's reputation.

Everyone, from ukulele newbies to long time (60 years) players, learned something. All the folks I talked with came away extremely positive and thirsting for more.

Our dog (Gabby) decided to get in the third picture. I was cracking up when she was poking her nose into all the purses and bags on the floor behind the chairs.
 

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Tom said:
Our dog (Gabby) decided to get in the third picture. I was cracking up when she was poking her nose into all the purses and bags on the floor behind the chairs.

Very slick Tom.  Lure the folks in for a ukulele lesson and then have your dog rifle their purses. 
 
Aye Steve, although I did make an announcement as we were breaking up that, if folks had lost anything from their bags or purses, Gabby had probably taken it  ;D
 
So how are you personally coming along with your ukulele lessons? 

I tried learning once, after I heard Izzy's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Beautiful World.  The only song I ever learned to play on a uke.  To me, the chording wasn't difficult, the hard part was trying to imitate Izzy's island strumming style.
 
[quote author=Luca1369]So how are you personally coming along with your ukulele lessons?[/quote]

Steve, my playing took a huge leap forward when my friend (an accomplished musician and music director) bought a ukulele, taught himself to play it, and agreed to coach our group. He has a teaching style that allows folks who've played for 60 years to learn something, while bringing learners like me along at the same time.

Basic strumming was my first obstacle, but my friend fixed that in the first 5 minutes. We're gradually learning other strums and strumming techniques.

I still have a very long way to go to consider myself a player but, as the NYC cab driver story goes ....

Q. How do I get to Carnegie Hall?

A. You practice.

One of the ladies attending our coaching sessions was born in Hawaii. She doesn't know how to read music, but plays exceptionally well by ear. She was showing our coach a few island tricks on Tuesday evening, but explained that some things can only be learned by growing up and living there.

Izzy would be hard for anyone to imitate.
 
Today I played at my first 'official' gig with the local ukulele group (The Delta Strummers). We played and sang at a nearby assisted living place. A small audience, maybe 60 people, but they were all engaged with our songs.

I woke up this morning with no voice at all but, after some sinus medication and lots of fluids, I was able to sing three solos. When I sang our closing song - God Bless America - I donned my Uncle Sam hat and had the whole audience singing along. What a blast!
 
The rush of entertaining is incredible. You sound like you need a PA Tom.
 
[quote author=seilerbird]You sound like you need a PA Tom.[/quote]

Not me. I'm able to belt it out with no audio support.

When I was first asked (at zero notice) to sing that patriotic song at a retired guy's club I'd applied to join, I almost blew their audio system out. After that, I don't use a mic for 150 or so people in the audience.
 
[quote author=seilerbird]The rush of entertaining is incredible.[/quote]

That's so true.
 
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