Advanced Beginner

A little bit o'Smeck.  Roy Smeck that is, one of the grandaddies of uke shredding-native of PA.  A quick run through some of his right hand technique and we'll jump into a very simple chord melody of his. Early 20th century east coast style.

Learn just enough about this "1 4 5" that you've heard everyone talking about and start joining jams without having to have paper music in front of you.  This approach gives just a minimal amount of the "algebra" or music theory.  Since it's not everyone's...JAM! :)

This is more of a beginner/confident beginner/longtime beginner class.

Ever wondered how to construct a harmony part? Ever run into a song that was easy to play in uke group, but completely out of your vocal range? If you're ready to go beyond the basics of "hum & strum", this class is for you! Using the simple technique presented in this class, you'll be able to create one, two, and three-part harmonies quickly and with confidence.

Attendees should be prepared to sing! You will need a uke to play and a pencil to take notes. A music stand is not required, but will be extremely helpful.

In this workshop, we will explore some great techniques to make our playing more dynamic. Chord suspensions, double stops, palm muting and some different strum patterns

In this workshop we will learn some quick and easy tips on how to make our song introductions more exciting by incorporating some of the same techniques used in instrumental,  chord melody arrangements. A number of intros to popular songs will be taught.

In this workshop we will explore some proper singing techniques and exercises to help improve our singing performance.

This workshop is an introduction to the music genre known as the murder ballad. Derived from the British/Scottish Broadside Ballad tradition as a means to spread news, the tradition was carried over to America and continued most notably in Appalachia, sometimes as a cautionary tale, and sometimes as a means to reinforce social order. Some like to think of them as an “old time true crime podcast” before we had such things. 

Learn some basic fingerpicking patterns to change the dynamics of the tunes you play. We will
go over good fingerpicking techniques so your body is in a good ergonomic position to play
and doesn’t create tension in the neck, shoulder, or wrist. We will learn a four finger forward
roll and how to apply it to Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright and a forward reverse roll
to play Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Jawaiian music is a unique blend of reggae with pop sensibilities that comes from Hawaii. Mixing the culture of life in Hawaii with catchy reggae beats makes for great songs to jam on and even more fun to play with friends. We'll go through some of the basics of the genre by learning some of the classics with their foundational rhythms and licks.

One of the virtues of the ‘ukulele is learning just how much we can do with so little. We take it one step further and focus on just 3 strings at a time to help visualize the fretboard a bit differently; with constraints. We’ll walk through a small tune and do some finger-picking to help train our fingers and ears to traverse the fretboard. High G and Low G friendly :)