Highly recommended. This year was my first, I will be back and I will bring more people with me next year!
April 25-27, 2025
A student at this level knows a handful of chords and can move from one chord to another without pausing. Student may have trouble with, say, the B-flat chord shape. Student has learned a strum or two and/or a finger pattern for picking.
With his original Hawaiian love song Aloha Pumehana as a reference, Daniel will go over how to create interesting layers of arrangement using color tones, counterpoint, fingerstyle, and strumming. He’ll discuss:
During this hour Marc will lay the foundations of fingerpicking, giving an insight into beginners fingerpicking technique in pop, blues and folk styles. We will incorporate musical ideas, motifs and syncopation complete with a couple of songs to take away.
Get your head out of the songbook and engaging with the players around you! Marc Gallagher shares his tips and tricks that helped him memorize over 700 songs, breaking 3 popular tunes down to their bare bones from a musical and lyrical standpoint to help you learn how to learn songs.
Swap out the practice room for the writing room! I will share my 14 years of songwriting experience to teach everything you need to write your first song. From classic song structures like the Blues, we will go through Pop, Country and more looking at melody, structure, harmony and of course lyrics.
Ok, you can strum now but why doesn’t your strumming sound like the pros?
In this class you will learn the kinetic movements necessary to manipulate the strings into a symphony of sound, along with a little strengthening of barre chords on the left hand for tight control. You’ll come away with a classy strum, honed listening skills and a beautiful song to show off your new skills. We’ll even cover Neil’s iconic riff to add that extra sparkle.
Ten-hut! Time to tackle barre chords and 4 finger chords of all shapes and sizes! We're talkin' healthy habits when it comes to making tricky chords, helpful chord substitutes, and more. Let's get jiggy!!!
This workshop is a sequel to my first murder ballad workshop and focuses attention on how the murder ballad evolved through time as songwriting reflected more female voices. What separates this group of murder ballads from the first workshoip is that they were not always written to tell a news story, but are creative pieces playing on the knowledge of the genre.
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.
Highly recommended. This year was my first, I will be back and I will bring more people with me next year!
Everyone was friendly and encouraging. The level of the entertainment and instruction was top notch! I am looking forward to returning!
Great people, great fun, great workshops, Great jams and amazing organizers.
Always a great gathering of the ukulele community…a lot to learn and a lot of fun doing it!
An outstanding festival for ukulele players, both beginners and experienced. The ability to interact face-to-face with the amazing guest performers, other uke players, and vendors was invaluable.
The Soirée should win an award for the best organized ukulele festival!
The Soiree is a great program to attend. It is well organized, with a great deal of expertise, thoughtful planning and reasonable fees. Well seasoned presenters make the sessions productive and organized!
Top notch! Fantastic instructors! Very enthusiastic, informative and knowledgeable. Superb presentations. I learned so much this weekend
The Allegheny [Ukulele] Soirée is a ukulele smorgasbord...something for every age, talent level, social class...my friends are there
This festival is well run, feels intimate, and really helped grow my skills and push me to be a better player. I love the teaching artists, and the jams were fun!