SeilerBird's ukulele baptism

[SeilerBird]

I got my bass uke a few days ago and I had a problem playing it. I don't use a pick when playing bass I pluck with my index and middle fingers. On my Hofner bass I anchor my thumb on the top of the neck pickup for stability. Since the uke bass has a pickup that is located inside the body there is nothing to anchor my thumb on making it difficult for me to play. I went to Home Depot this morning and bought a piece of wood and attached it to the body and now it is playable. There are other bass players who don't anchor their thumb and have no problem but since I have always played with my thumb anchored it was not easy for me to play that way. Here is a photo of my Hofner and my uke bass with my modification.

[SeilerBird]

I have a meetup today at 6pm about 50 miles away. The World Series starts at 8pm and I am a huge Cubs fan since I was born and raised in Chicago and my dad was a Cubs fan. He used to take me to Wrigley Field. Watching the games brings back memories of my dad. So I am going to have to miss the first hour of the series so I don't miss the meetup. I am currently listening to my Jake CD to get me into the mood.

[Tom]

Have fun.

[SeilerBird]

Have fun.

Fun? I hit the jackpot. This was my fifth meetup and by far the very best. This is a group that has been meeting for years and they have it down cold. This is the Space Coast Ukulele Club and it meets at the Hawaiian Cultural Center. I walked in and the first thing they told me was to take off my shoes. My kind of people. Then they wrote me out a name tag and gave me a sheet with all the main chords diagramed. The leader of the group has an amazing setup. He has about four beautiful ukes, a computer, a microphone and PA and a TV screen on the wall in front of him. He would pick a song, put it on the screen, make sure everyone was comfortable with the chords and then start the song. He would sing and play the song and operate the computer to scroll the lyrics. After we had done about six easy songs to begin we had a dozen or so hula girls get up and do a line dance hula. After several more dances we took a break. Everyone got into a circle and held hands while the leader said a prayer. Then everyone lined up to share in the pot luck meal. They had enough food and drink to feed an army. At this point I declined the food, thanked everyone and hit the road. It was 7:30 and I was an hour from home and the World Series was starting at eight. Really a cool friendly group and I can't wait to go back next month.

https://youtu.be/ofaUSEfGvUw

[Tom]

My hula isn't very good, and I wouldn't dance in public 

[kdbgoat]

My hula isn't very good, and I wouldn't dance in public 

I'm with you there. I dance like I'm wearing wooden underwear.

[Tom]

I dance like an elephant with 4 left feet.

[SeilerBird]

I am just the opposite, I love to dance. I always have all my life. In fact recently someone from my high school class posted a video of a dance party from when I was in the 8th grade. I am the first male you see with dorky glasses and an even dorkier hair cut;

https://www.facebook.com/100008088555797/videos/1774893872790214/

In the 80s and 90s I spent hundreds of nights in country bars country dancing and line dancing. Weird because I never drank.

[SeilerBird]

I had a rough day yesterday. I had a meetup with a few other ukers to practice for the upcoming Christmas parade we are going to march in. We practiced Christmas songs for three hours. Then in the evening I went to the Space Coast Uke Club for their monthly meetup and near the end I was getting cramps everywhere from sitting in a folding chair for six hours. But I had a blast.

[Tom]

... practice for the upcoming Christmas parade we are going to march in

Sounds like fun. Will you be a strumming/singing Santa?

How many folks will play? Just curious, will you be amp'd? Every time we've tried to play &/or sing outdoors with a couple of dozen ukes or more without an amp, the sound doesn't project. As a result, the first question I ask venues that call and ask us to play is "will this event be indoors or outdoors?". The next question is "will the audience be eating &/or drinking?". Our bankoukers might have a chance of projecting, but we don't play banjoukes on Christmas or Hawaiian songs 

Meanwhile, I'd be afraid to have our band march while playing & singing; Many are in their 70's, 80's and even 90's, and we'd end up with some accidents or health issues.

[SeilerBird]

Sounds like fun. Will you be a strumming/singing Santa?

I have not decided on what I will wear yet.

How many folks will play? Just curious, will you be amp'd? Every time we've tried to play &/or sing outdoors with a couple of dozen ukes or more without an amp, the sound doesn't project. As a result, the first question I ask venues that call and ask us to play is "will this event be indoors or outdoors?". The next question is "will the audience be eating &/or drinking?". Our bankoukers might have a chance of projecting, but we don't play banjoukes on Christmas or Hawaiian songs 

I think we have about a dozen. There is a flat bed truck involved that will haul the older and more invalid of the group. I may get myself a small battery powered amp to use. I don't know if they will be drinking. This group did this last year and they had a blast.

Meanwhile, I'd be afraid to have our band march while playing & singing; Many are in their 70's, 80's and even 90's, and we'd end up with some accidents or health issues.

We do have a lot of younger people in the group and they will be the marchers, the rest of us will be on the truck.

[SeilerBird]

Had a practice tonight for the Christmas parade on Saturday. We picked out three songs and dumbed them down so they are all in the key of C so they flow together nicely. We will just keep on repeating them till we run out of parade route. We have another practice on Wednesday. Three single women there tonight, things are looking up. The three songs are Frosty the Snowman, Deck the Halls and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree. Then we made a recording with our cell phones so we can practice without the group. And Friday night I get to go see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in Gainesville, their only east coast performance. It is uke week for me.

[Tom]

You're making me envious. We're in the MidWest for Thanksgiving through new year, and I miss our weekly ukulele practices. I'll also miss our two December performances by the Delta Strummers. OTOH I've played the uke since being here, and played with a couple of guitarists at the Thanksgiving get together at our place. Time to re-engage with the Buckeye Ukulele Society.

[SeilerBird]

I have decided I like my current like up of ukuleles so I decided to take some photographs of the collection for insurance purposes.

I really love my four ukes and I am not planning on changing any of them or adding to the collection. So hopefully I am set for a while.

[SeilerBird]

https://youtu.be/BBTYA7-0byU

I had an interesting weekend. Friday night I drove up to Gainesville (three hours) and watched the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain do a show and then drove home. I got to bed at two am and set the alarm for six. I had to get up and drive for an hour to be ready for the Winter Park Christmas Parade. I am on the far left in the flag hat playing bass. We had a great time but I wish the parade would have lasted about an hour longer.

[SeilerBird]

Well I am madly in love with my bass uke. The strings only felt strange and rubbery to me for about the first five minutes, then it just became normal and easy to play. At the parade last Saturday that we marched in I volunteered to play bass and everyone approved. After the parade the cute Japanese lady that I have a crush on came up to me to tell me that my bass playing really helped her. She said every time she got lost she just listened for the bass and was able to find out where we were. This group is planning on meeting this Saturday morning at a catering truck that is parked in downtown Winter Park for a jam session. There are actually two catering trucks parked there. One is a coffee truck and one is a pastrami truck. So I am going to take sheet music for Hot Pastrami this week. The song was originally a hit by the Dartells whom went to the same high school as me. They used to play at all the school dances. It was strange looking back at the fact that there were rock and roll artists walking around my high school. I did not appreciate it at the time, it just seemed normal to me.

[Tom]

The bass always sets the beat for the uke strumming.