This just in!
Dani Joy joins the staff of the Wine Country 'Ukulele Festival and brings a lot of Crazy stuff with her!
Here's what she'll be teaching for us this year:
CRAZY
What does “Crazy” have in common with “Do-Re-Mi?” Like every single song in Western music, they are both built off a center tone and a diatonic scale. “Yikes!” you’re thinking. “This smacks of music theory!” Indeed it does, but Dani Joy has a developed a way to make this necessary bit of musical understanding both fun and enlightening. Take “Crazy,” for example, written by Willie Nelson and made famous by Patsy Cline. All it is is a center tone + scale + chords + melody. Go ahead, challenge Dani with any familiar song in one of five popular keys (C, G, A, D, F) and she’ll find the melody without any effort at all. And by the end of this workshop, you will, too. It’s a valuable tool to have in your arsenal. And who knows? No matter what your ‘ukulele skill level, you just might find yourself writing your own songs. Now that’s just crazy. (All Levels)
SYNCOPATED PATTERNS
Once you’ve got a few of the basics under your belt, it’s time to try some simple right-hand patterns that will give your music the twist and flavor that you (and your audience) have been craving! All you need is a handful of easy-to-learn techniques--rolls, taps, outside pulls, and chucks, that you can apply to music of just about any genre, and you will wow yourself in no-time. Well…..not exactly “no” time—because in order to master any of these techniques and pull them into play without having to think about it, you’ll have to practice them at home. But you will come away from this workshop with all the tools you’ll need to kick that muscle memory into gear and launch your playing to a new dimension. (Level 2 – 3)
LITTLE BOXES
Picture this. You’re sitting there minding your own business when a song comes on the radio that simply sings to you. Pretty soon your head’s bopping and your fingers are drumming in tune with your tapping foot. “Shoot,” you’re thinking, “if I just knew how to play it on my uke!” But here’s the deal: after taking this workshop with Dani Joy, you will! Just five Little Boxes will reveal the mystery of just about every song ever written and it comes with a laminated, "easily digested," color-coded cheat sheet to take home with you. So the next time that tune comes on, you’ll find your fingers gliding deftly over the strings, each familiar shape gliding painlessly into the next, while your mind takes flight, and the song becomes yours alone. (Level 3 – 4)
You can read more about Dani and the rest of our instructors and workshops here:
http://winecountryukefest.com/2015-instructors/dani-joy/