Twin Cities Ukulele Orchestra

Ok, I'm ready to finally get this thing rolling here.

I am seeking Minnesota ukulele players of all ages and skill levels to form a Twin Cities Ukulele Orchestra as fashioned after such better known organizations as the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra. My hope is to organize a group with an eye towards performing and a with a healthy sense of the ridiculous. Meeting on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to work on repertoire, learn new things, show off a bit what you’ve been working on at home and just have some fun.
I’m much less concerned about skill level (that’ll improve with practice) than I am at least a certain level of commitment to the cause. The Orchestra should be serious about playing well while otherwise not being particularly serious at all. If that makes sense.
My current hope is to gauge the level of interest with this ad, hash out a few songs to start with and then have our initial meeting towards the end of this month or the beginning of March at an as yet undecided location in the Minneapolis area (depending on the who and how many of participants.)
I’ll also see about getting up a blog or Facebook group or something for the Orchestra as a central location to disseminate info on what’s going on once things start rolling a bit and there are a few folks have thrown their ukes into the ring.

Don’t be shy. This could be a lot of fun.

Thank God you're not worried about skill level. This is just what I need. I'm in -- let me know what I can do to help with this. Just remember I'm from Burnsville when you pick a location to meet.

Cool. I've got a couple of responses from Craigslist so far. One is a guy who can already play and another from a woman who's just ordered a uke. (but she's plays violin. shouldn't be that hard for her.)

I'm wondering if it's something I can run by the StrumMn guys to see if any of those folks who do that would be interested. (Although there's a bit of a fuddy duddy streak running through that group that I'm not so sure would know what to do when faced with a Dandy Warhols song.)

Anybody else in the area wanna play?

Lanark said:

I'm wondering if it's something I can run by the StrumMn guys to see if any of those folks who do that would be interested. (Although there's a bit of a fuddy duddy streak running through that group that I'm not so sure would know what to do when faced with a Dandy Warhols song.)

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I'd certainly think it was okay to let the StrumMN people know. Couldn't people do both? Seems to me they are totally different approaches to a ukulele "club". There are actually a few places I can think of to place flyers.

Please, oh please, don't call me a fuddy duddy but I have no idea what a Dandy Warhols is. (I can learn)

sukie said:

I'd certainly think it was okay to let the StrumMN people know. Couldn't people do both? Seems to me they are totally different approaches to a ukulele "club". There are actually a few places I can think of to place flyers.

Please, oh please, don't call me a fuddy duddy but I have no idea what a Dandy Warhols is. (I can learn)

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Sounds cool. The song I figured out was this one
(it does feature brief full frontal nudity, so don't say you weren't warned) which a great song. Four chords repeated over and over.

Lanark said:

Sounds cool. The song I figured out was this one
(it does feature brief full frontal nudity, so don't say you weren't warned) which a great song. Four chords repeated over and over.

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But Deach lives too far away to be in the orchestra.

It's commute sure, but you know...

Loved the song.

I was soliciting friends for suggestions and one threw out "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash. That would be hilariously cool and I can sort of hear it in my head...

Don't burn your bridges, especially when asking for help getting the word out.
StrumMn has always been open to new music or ideas for meetings, what have you offered so far? We're meeting next Sunday, how about teaching us a Dandy Warhols song?

I will freely admit that most people attending StrumMn are beginners, but there has been no other uke group or place for people to learn. I've asked every month for people to contribute songs they are working on or interested in but only a few regulars seem to contribute.

Hopefully your new performance oriented group will give players with a peforming bent a new outlet. I think there is room for both groups in town without name calling and hopefully a lot of overlap between attendees.

I wish the TCUO much success.

Brian, The Head Fuddy Duddy

Live in minneapolis and am just learning to play

I have been playing for a week or two (played guitar years ago... coming back slowly) and am interested in playing with some other people. Keep me posted.

Thanks
tyler

Interested in the club

Hey,

My name is Jason. I'm from Apple Valley. I've been playing for a couple years. I'm no jake shimabukuro but I can carry a tune. I would love to be a part of this. Please let me know what I can do to help get this going and where we would meet.

Thank you!
Jason Hara

We are long dead. It was fun, but things changed.

Check out StrumMn. I think its: StrumMn.shutterfly.com for info. Our next meeting is Monday, Jan 7 from 7 to 9.