Are you in a Uke group. What Makes your Group work

KaraUkey

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You see a lot of speculation about the so called Uke fad.
Has the bubble burst?
Has it peaked?

Most often it seems to be measured by Ukulele sales.
But is that fair?
Should it be measured by the number of people all around the world playing ukes?
And if that's the case does a lot of it come down to Uke groups and clubs?

Are you a member of a group or club?
What makes your group work?
What kind of music do you play?
 
I've been a member of the CC Strummers in Culver City, CA, out of the Culver City Senior Center since I started playing uke a year ago (played guitar for 50 years). It's officially listed as ukulele classes, Monday afternoons for beginners, Thursday mornings for intermediate, $3 a session, but there'a so much camaraderie that it's really more like a club. There are about 200 signed up, and about 95 regulars. I handle the contact list and more people are signing up than dropping out.

What makes it work is the teacher (leader) Cali Rose. First she's a consummate professional (as is her husband Craig Brandau), but more so, she has a great personality; fun, inviting, supportive, positive reinforcement at all times. She even convinced me (and a couple of others in the group) to take on the bass ukulele, which I'm learning now. (Something I've been reluctant to do for many years of coaxing by my guitar playing friends.)

We play all kinds of music, from a quick rendition of "Beethoven's 5th" to "Johnny Be Good" to "Sway" to Pharrell's "Happy (Clap Along)" and so much inbetween, and certainly many Hawaiian songs. I can say because of the group and Cali, I've applied myself to the uke more in the last year than I have my guitars for the last 20 years.
 
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Great to hear, and I can identify with what you say. I played guitar for over 40 years, but, like you, I've applied myself much more to my Uke in the last few years and that definitely comes down to a great bunch of people in the group I belong to and the camaraderie that exists there and in other groups I've visited. Sounds like you have a great leader. Cheers
 
I've been in a few uke groups over the years but have really only been consistent with one of them, which is an advanced instrumental ensemble class. What makes it work for me is that I'm constantly being challenged by interesting material - not the typical three-chord strum-and-sing stuff, which bores me since I am not a singer. In an all-instrumental group there is much more emphasis on timing, countermelody, etc. and I find that I am constantly learning something new. The music we play ranges from classical to Tin Pan Alley to bossa nova to Beatles, and just about everything in between - we even have an Irish jig in our repertoire. I think what makes it work so well is having a leader who is an incredibly talented arranger, who chooses material that is actually *good* and not just the "cool" thing to play right now or songs that are closely associated with the ukulele.

haha...are you talking about the class or the group? ;)

I feel the WUE (Westside Ensemble) became an extension of a class taught by Steve Rose at McCabes. I found it rather boring as songs that are "good" is very subjective. We were stuck in the past and I want to learn songs newer than the 1970s. The pace was rather slow but that is my fault as I have self diagnosed "ADD" so I like to learn a song quickly and move on. To make it interesting, I tried to sight read most of the songs at the meeting and tried to learn both parts. If it was more difficult, I practiced a little at home.

With that said, the arrangements were excellent and the people are very nice. If you've never played in an ensemble, it's great to play with others and learn the dynamics of playing parts.

As to answer your question about uke being a fad, I think it's important to reach out to the next generation of players and the best way is to pique their interest with songs they know. FYI, a new CD was released by Vance Joy today and it has a few songs performed on the uke. I never heard of the guy until today and so I checked out the official video of "Riptide" and it had over 40 million views. I hope a few people started the uke because of that song.
 
I was also a member of the WUE group nongdam (hi Daniel) is referring to (and sideways by janray1940), but after a few months I realized I bit off more than I could chew (especially since I have no musical knowledge) so I dropped out the weekend of the LA Uke Expo/World Record attempt.
 
I don't think it is a bubble that has burst, or I sincerely hope not. Things are just starting to get good in my neck of the woods and I hope we are strumming for a very long time.

I'm in a group that I started back in January. We started because I was getting very interested in ukulele and wanted some people to play with. The people in our group are very nice and we all get along.

We play many genres of music. It is a lot of fun. It isn't competitive at this point - most of us are beginner to intermediate players. We basically play songs that are requested by members and supplemented by me. We have two performances coming up and we are excited about it. Our songs are strum and sing for the most part, but if members start branching out and doing other things, that will be great.
 
JR, you're right as you did say the class and not the WUE. I got confused as I didn't think taking lessons from a music store was what the OP was writing about. You're right about me not taking the class so my view of the class is conjecture based on what I've heard. I've heard Steve was open to "cool" things to play but the squeaky wheel gets the oil as the saying goes. Again, conjecture on my part. I know people are happy to take the class so it must be cool.
 
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I play in a monthly group. The first half of the 2 our meeting is always some sort of lesson on music theory or technique. The last hour is usually a jam session where everyone picks a song. The group has done some public performances, and right now were prepping for a 3 song set at a local uke jam in October. There are usually about 15-20 people there, with about half of that being folks who show up every month. It may not sound like very much in a city the size of Kansas City, but there are at least 4 uke groups in town that I'm aware of and 3 or 4 weekly groups that are uke frindly. Anyone who can't find a group playing at least once a week here just isn't trying.

You see a lot of speculation about the so called Uke fad.
Has the bubble burst?
Has it peaked?

As far as whether or not interest in the ukulele has peaked, these are my thoughts. I was talking to friend who plays Jazz a while back, and this whole notion of whether Jazz had sort of jumped the shark came up. Apparently one of the serious problems in Jazz for the last decade or so is that there are one or two extremely well known Jazz players and everyone wants to be like them. It seems you can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone who plays the sax "exactly" like Charlie Parker or John Coltrane. So, what's happened over the years is that there are a lot of awesome Jazz players that sound like this guy or that guy, but there's not been anyone with a new, fresh sound in the Jazz scene for so long that people have just started to lose interest.

I can see where that could become a problem among ukesters, but I think we're a long way off from that. Sure; there are a handful of ukulele players that seem to attract legions of wannabes. There are days that you log in and it seems like everyone is trying to learn how to play like James Hill or Jake Shimabukuro. Thankfully, this seems to be just an internet phenomenon. With all the Jake and James wannabe's you'll find online though, I think it's easy to lose sight of the fact that real people are out there figuring out their own ukulele arrangements and playing their music their way.

Personally, I have faith that there are plenty of uniquely skilled ukulele players out there who will continue to make things interesting for many years to come. However, it occurs to me that it really doesn't matter. What is the worst that would happen if the ukulele stops being popular? People who picked up the uke because it was trendy or they thought it might get them laid will go away and chase the next cool fad. I suspect a lot of Jake and James clones will go the way of the dodo when that happens. Meanwhile,people who play the ukulele because they love to play the ukulele will still be around playing the ukulele.
 
I run the Normal Ukulele Fun jam
We have been around for 2 years in Normal, IL and all I have seen is growth. We have about 15-30 people show up on the first Saturday of the month at a coffee shop. It is free, and also free form.
We have a book that we have assembled from many other books, and we play the songs out of it. We also have people do solo or a few people might do a song together for the group. We are beginners - paid professional.
What makes it work:
  1. Meet at the same time and place every time
  2. Have a website. people can find you that had no idea there was a uke jam in your area
  3. Have a book you all use. Either create one or choose one , like The Daily Ukulele
  4. Have a back-up. I have a few people that help run it and keep it going if I am out
  5. Have very little structure. For us, we play a song once and move on. it is all fun. We screw them up and just roll with it. Try it again next time
  6. Bring extra ukuleles. I have found that people will come to watch or were at the coffee shop and saw us but did not bring a uke. The extras are good to get them going.
 
I am a member of Pensacola Ukulele Players Society (PUPS). We meet every Sat morn at a local music
store, Blues Angel Music. The store provides free Ukulele beginners group lesson at 9:30 and the group meets at 10:30. The store provides an employee to lead the group. We take up 4 or 5 songs each week. Generally a couple of easy and at least one that is more challenging. There are about 35 or 40 in the group. Occasionally we have a gig and we will spend several weeks working on songs for that. We are a diverse group with all ages from 10 and a few in there 70's. We have a few very good musicians and the rest of us doing the best we can. It works because we have fun. We have great support from Blues Angel Music. They let us play ukes from the store if we want. Of course we buy a lot of ukuleles, music and accessories from the store. It also makes the store a busy place on Sat mornings. People come in to look at guitars or band instruments here us and come check us out. Once in a while we get into a song and people break out in applause when we finish. Feels good. I can say that being in a group helps me improve my ukulele and vocal skills. I also think it does a lot of good for your well being to play music in a group.
Cliff
 
I am a member of Pensacola Ukulele Players Society (PUPS). We meet every Sat morn at a local music
store, Blues Angel Music. The store provides free Ukulele beginners group lesson at 9:30 and the group meets at 10:30. The store provides an employee to lead the group. We take up 4 or 5 songs each week. Generally a couple of easy and at least one that is more challenging. There are about 35 or 40 in the group. Occasionally we have a gig and we will spend several weeks working on songs for that. We are a diverse group with all ages from 10 and a few in there 70's. We have a few very good musicians and the rest of us doing the best we can. It works because we have fun. We have great support from Blues Angel Music. They let us play ukes from the store if we want. Of course we buy a lot of ukuleles, music and accessories from the store. It also makes the store a busy place on Sat mornings. People come in to look at guitars or band instruments here us and come check us out. Once in a while we get into a song and people break out in applause when we finish. Feels good. I can say that being in a group helps me improve my ukulele and vocal skills. I also think it does a lot of good for your well being to play music in a group.
Cliff

Amen to all that.
 
I founded our local Ukulele Group, had to pass it on owing to illness
after almost two years; I then started,and still run, a smaller B/U
group! We have a mix of classic songs, old time stuff, modern and
standards. We have a laugh and it's all very relaxed, no one is in
the position of being expected to be a brilliant soloist or anything!
Just a group of pals, having a giggle and a strum, from a 'songbook'
we have built up over the last few years.
I start off most meetings by choosing the first half dozen or so tunes
from the book, then we go round the group, each member choosing a
song. Then I choose a few more,trying to get old favourites, and a good
mix of stuff we may not have played for a while. Then round the group
again and so on, until we run out of time!
 
I am fortunate enough to attend three regular uke jams. All of them are lead by the organizer, leader picks most of the songs as a projector is used to display songs on a wall Choices are made by participants about half way through from a large selection of past material.

What makes it work is all three are well attended, well run and a lot of fun. I have learned a great deal attending these but It is the FUN part of playing music with others that has me hooked and keeps me coming back.
 
I started our uke club four years ago where six folks came and now around 60 people come to our bi-monthly meetings. I've had to change meeting locations three times to accommodate our club's growth.

We offer a Beginner program consisting of four lessons to get folks to learn the most frequently played chords (major, minor and sevenths)
We have a website where folks can download PDFs of our song sheets, check out the calendar of uke events, and see photos of our lively group.
The first half of the meeting is playing a song list, the second half is open mic/jam time. It's great seeing more and more folks getting out of their comfort zone to perform.
We have a group of "core" members who step up to lead the meeting if I'm not there, for which I am grateful.
Most of our club membership is 40+ in age so we play lots of "oldies" but I try to include newer songs. Some are well received and others not so much. Oh,well.
Folks are willing to play a song twice. We've learned we always sound better the second time.
We have levels of difficulty from easy three chord songs to quite challenging. I tell folks if they don't know a chord, just do air strums to keep the tempo until we play a chord they do know.
Additional instruments like kazoos, harmonicas, a bass, shaker eggs are fine...as long as they are played competently, are appropriate to the song being played and don't overpower the ukes.

One of the things I insist on is that the songs be secular, even the end of year "Holiday" songs. We have a diverse group and I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable.
 
I'm too proud to be anonymous about this. I'm a member of TBUS (Tampa Bay Ukulele Society). We're the third largest uke club in the US. We have a open jam session every month, lots of people show up. It's well organized, fun, and we laugh a lot. We have an open mic at a local bar/eatery once a month. Some of the talent is really really good. I changed my work schedule to go to it, it's that good. There is another jam session every month across the Bay, some of our members live in Tampa.
I was just made an Event Organizer because I wanted a jam session in the evenings. It's difficult, as many of you know, for busy people to cut out in the middle of the day to go goof off, and hard to get back to being "productive" after clowning around for hours with some of teh coolest people around.
We have workshops too, several very talented people have presented, like Stuart Fuchs, and Lil Rev.
Our annual festival, in November, is attended by folks from all over the country, and is two evenings, and two days long. We even have a Luau.
As you can see, the club organizers keep us engaged, all year long. I've made some great friends, and some of us are likely to be friends for life.
 
Hey folks, let's not stray off the beaten path or get into personal digs at other members. Play nice please. :)
 
I'm too proud to be anonymous about this. I'm a member of TBUS (Tampa Bay Ukulele Society). We're the third largest uke club in the US. We have a open jam session every month, lots of people show up. It's well organized, fun, and we laugh a lot. We have an open mic at a local bar/eatery once a month. Some of the talent is really really good. I changed my work schedule to go to it, it's that good. There is another jam session every month across the Bay, some of our members live in Tampa.
I was just made an Event Organizer because I wanted a jam session in the evenings. It's difficult, as many of you know, for busy people to cut out in the middle of the day to go goof off, and hard to get back to being "productive" after clowning around for hours with some of the coolest people around.
We have workshops too, several very talented people have presented, like Stuart Fuchs, and Lil Rev.
Our annual festival, in November, is attended by folks from all over the country, and is two evenings, and two days long. We even have a Luau.
As you can see, the club organizers keep us engaged, all year long. I've made some great friends, and some of us are likely to be friends for life.



Wow. We talk about some of your talented people in our little meet ups and we are miles away down under and yet get inspiration from what they do.
 
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I am a member of Pensacola Ukulele Players Society (PUPS). We meet every Sat morn at a local music
store, Blues Angel Music. The store provides free Ukulele beginners group lesson at 9:30 and the group meets at 10:30. The store provides an employee to lead the group. We take up 4 or 5 songs each week. Generally a couple of easy and at least one that is more challenging. There are about 35 or 40 in the group. Occasionally we have a gig and we will spend several weeks working on songs for that. We are a diverse group with all ages from 10 and a few in there 70's. We have a few very good musicians and the rest of us doing the best we can. It works because we have fun. We have great support from Blues Angel Music. They let us play ukes from the store if we want. Of course we buy a lot of ukuleles, music and accessories from the store. It also makes the store a busy place on Sat mornings. People come in to look at guitars or band instruments here us and come check us out. Once in a while we get into a song and people break out in applause when we finish. Feels good. I can say that being in a group helps me improve my ukulele and vocal skills. I also think it does a lot of good for your well being to play music in a group.
Cliff


Yep. I couldn't agree more. In particular "It works because we have fun". Cheers
 
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