Do you carry a Uke around?

Today I was out getting my wife's car serviced and smogged. I took my concert Uke with me to learn a new song while I was out. In Jiffy Lube I asked the guy if he minded me playing and we had a conversation about Ukes and Guitars, he was an old guitar player. He said he had bought his son a Uke and it kind'a got put in the closet. I suggested he get it out and learn the chords to give his son a little boost. He was smiling when he left.

I stopped in a Taco shop to have some lunch and a young woman commented she liked the sound of my Uke. I talked with her a moment and said she ought to learn to play one. She grinned and said, "Maybe I will."

I was playing alone in the Smog shop until an older guy came in and we had a conversation about Uke's and music. He said he just did the crossword puzzles and I suggested he learn uke, as it's a great retirement advocation. He was thinking about it when I left.

So few people see a uke being played that they don't really think about playing a uke, but when they hear it, they do get interested. If more people played a Uke the world would be a happier place.

Do you do gigs or open mic, or busking? As much as you like to play for other people.
 
Do you do gigs or open mic, or busking? As much as you like to play for other people.

I don't really play for other people. I play quietly but I don't hear all that well so maybe I'm a little louder that I think I am? My concert seems to be 'chimey' so it does carry well. I just like to play and practice instead of reading old magazines or twiddling my thumbs while waiting around.

I am trying to memorize a few more songs, I can only play a few without a lead sheet so I'm pretty useless as a busker. I enjoy talking to folks though, and it does attract girls!
 
I don't really play for other people. I play quietly but I don't hear all that well so maybe I'm a little louder that I think I am? My concert seems to be 'chimey' so it does carry well. I just like to play and practice instead of reading old magazines or twiddling my thumbs while waiting around.

I am trying to memorize a few more songs, I can only play a few without a lead sheet so I'm pretty useless as a busker. I enjoy talking to folks though, and it does attract girls!

Well, you are already doing it, so I think that you would be surprised. I just went out and practiced Guitars Cadillacs and The Times They Are A Changing for an hour on a knee wall along a boardwalk well travelled by tourists and got enough money for two beers and a donut on the way home. Honestly, it isn't that demanding. You should think about it. I think it would be fun for you. You are three quarters of the way there already. Trust me, an old fart with a ukulele, you can't do anything wrong.
 
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Well, you are already doing it, so I think that you would be surprised. I just went out and practiced Guitars Cadillacs and The Times They Are A Changing for an hour on a knee wall along a boardwalk well travelled by tourists and got enough money for two beers and a donut on the way home. Honestly, it isn't that demanding. You should think about it. I think it would be fun for you. You are three quarters of the way there already. Trust me, an old fart with a ukulele, you can't do anything wrong.

In the last year or so I'm starting to sing pretty well, or maybe not toooo badly.:uhoh:

I split out all the songs I can play in my book so I can run thru them everyday to pack the cords into my brain and memorize the words. I want to have more than five or six in hand, then I might try busking for Burger money!
 
The hardest part of busking is just going out and doing it. Once you get past that initial apprehension you are home free. You don't have to be either a great singer or a great player. Most people are attracted to the fact that you have the nuts to do it, because they don't and they wish that they did. Most people who stop to listen will stand for a verse or two and move on. Some will stick around for a song or two. No one, except drunks, will stay for five songs. You can busk for hours with five songs that you are really familiar with.

There is a coffee shop here that has open mic every Tuesday evening. It is whatever. A lot of people recite poetry. Some people sing songs. Anyway, I do that once a month. Getting out in front of people is hard for me. It is one of the reasons that I took up the ukulele. But I have to force myself. Something like the coffee shop open mic is good for forcing oneself to face their deamons. Usually there are only a dozen or so people there, and half of them are going to eventually get up there too, so it is always a supportive bunch. Also it makes me learn a couple of new songs each month. It gives me a reason for what I am doing.

That is just two avenues that I have found to express myself. I think that you might want to look around. Like I said before, you are there, you just need a venue.
 
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