Intermediate

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:

• How to make simple chords even simpler
• How to sound better by adding open string color tones 
• How to play and sing simultaneously (it’s not an easy thing to do) 
• How to produce a beautiful fingerstyle tone
 
• The application of enharmonics and countermelodies to add depth to a song

In this something-for-everyone class, get to know Daniel’s beloved ʻukulele composition, Pineapple Mango. We will explore different things you can do with three chords utilizing some of Daniel’s go-to techniques that help keep a repeated chord progression interesting such as strum patterns, muted bass notes, marimba rolls, percussion, hammer-ons, harmonics, and a little bit of singing in the Hawaiian language. It’s a memorable melody that’s sure to be a staple in your ʻukulele soundtrack.

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. 

Blues is one of the most commonly loved and understood forms of music for a reason; it helps us express some of the deepest feeling in our hearts. Join Dani Joy for this simple workshop where we’ll break down Charles Bradley’s version of Black Sabbaths song “Changes”. You’ll learn some simple chords up the neck, a little fundamental chordal walk down and leave with a deeper understanding of how to express yourself through one of America’s most beloved musical languages; the blues! 

Ready to get creative with your strumming? In this workshop, we'll break down how to create more rhythms with our strumming technique through roll and flare strums, which can be used to play complex rhythms like triplets and sixteenth notes with ease. Let's get jiggy!!!

Let's add some drums to our strums! Get ready to add kicks, snares, and chucks to our strumming technique and transform into your very own one-man-band. Let's get jiggy!!!

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!!!