Where does your Uke Group meet?

NOTLguy

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Our group, The Niagara-on-the-Lake Ukesters meets on Sunday afternoon in the gym of the local community centre from 3:30 - 4:30 pm. They provide us with a projection system that we connect to a laptop to display the song sheets on the wall. You can bring your own music stand and book of songs or use the projection system to follow along. We have Four sets of songs, one for each week that contain eight songs in each set. We work through the eight tunes, usually workshop a new tune and have a ten minute open mic at the end.

The fourth Sunday of the month we meet in a local pub from 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm and work through the usual 4th Set of songs and then have an hour and a half of open mic performances by members of the group.

I was wondering what type of setup your uke group has, how often you meet and where you meet etc.

Regards,
Bill
 
I am a member of the Tree Town Ukes in Ann Arbor. We meet the last Tuesday of the month for an hour and a half at a local music store. Most bring their own music stands and song books, but if you don't have that it is easy enough to look on with another. We usually go through our repertoire of songs and then if there is time at the end there is some open mic opportunities. We also play parades, the local farm market, and at ukulele events around the area.
 
We meet in a coffee shop every Monday. 1st and third Mondays are jams. 2nd and 4th are kinda show what you are learning nights and the most fun. 5th Mondays are open mic nights, kinda sorta.

Wish we where at a bar but it's hard to find one that is centrally located.
 
I can not find a group in my area. I've asked around, searched high and low, and can't find one. I have been thinking of trying to get one started myself, but considering that I just started playing the ukulele in April, I don't know what groups even do. I have an idea though. I think that if everyone just showed up with the Daily Ukulele book, we could find a lot to do just there. But the other thing is that I live in two places, and I bounce between the two pretty randomly. I don't want to be responsible for getting something going, only to run off. Anyway, I would love to become part of a group.
 
The Pensacola Ukulele Players Society (PUPS) meets every Saturday morning at a local music shop. They are real supportive and lend an employee or two to lead the group. We play charity events several times a year and try to take in retirement homes especially at Christmas
Cliff
 
I was wondering what type of setup your uke group has, how often you meet and where you meet etc.
We meet twice a month in a church. We are starting to write 3 or 4 part arrangements for a more orchestrated sound.

I can not find a group in my area. I've asked around, searched high and low, and can't find one.... I would love to become part of a group.
It might be easier in Ames or San Juan to find groups that are already formed, not necessarily uke groups. Just any group willing to let new people come in and play along.

When we lived in Bolivia, I started getting together with a guy from Chile who played guitar and sang. I brought along my guitar and mandolin. After a few months we were 20+ Bolivians, Chilenos and Gringos playing Beatles, South American folk, rock whatever. Potluck dinners were also a part of the deal.
 
Middlesbrough U3A Ukulele group meet 2nd & 4th Tuesday 2 - 4pm in a local community centre. When we started, I used to do regular song sheets but other members now bring in song sheets. Several go to a class nearby and bring songs they are doing in that so we now have quite a collection. We basically jam. Someone calls a song and we play. Some sing, some don't but it's a relaxed atmosphere and we enjoy ourselves which is what it's about.
 
We meet in a coffee shop every Monday. 1st and third Mondays are jams. 2nd and 4th are kinda show what you are learning nights and the most fun. 5th Mondays are open mic nights, kinda sorta.

Wish we where at a bar but it's hard to find one that is centrally located.

I have seen the web site about these meetings (and noticed you move the location when the Twins are playing in town since you meet near Target Field) and will want to get there one day. I don't feel ready yet, since I have only been playing a month now and am focusing all my ukulele energies on finishing "Polani" so I can play it for a group of people next weekend. Then I will get more into strumming through chord progressions. I have both "Daily Ukulele" books (the normal one and the leap year version), which I understand are used at these meetings. It all sounds like great fun.

Tony
 
The Quad Cities Ukulele Club, Moline IL, meets at a local music store, West Music on the 1st & 3rd Mondays for about 2 hours. They let us use teaching rooms for our meetings and have also sponsored some of our events. They will also allow prospective members to use their instruments free to see if they really like it. We also work from the Daily Ukulele books and generally practice for what ever gig we have coming up.
 
The Ukulele Band of Alabama meets in my church, in one of the bigger rooms. We don't do anything projected, because we play in a circle. Everyone prints their stuff off the site and brings it. We meet the second and fourth Monday of each month. That may change, as members are wanting more jam time. We start at 6:00 and go through the song list. So far, we just play songs together, but I foresee an open mic/show and tell session being organized in our future. Maybe after we get this uke fest under our belts.

I didn't have a group to play with either and that is why I started UBA. I was lonely. It is a ton of fun and I encourage anyone to start a group - whether you are experienced or not. It will grow organically with you as you play and you can get tons of great advice from group members and leaders here on UU.
 
At a bar. Everyone brings 2 or more pieces of music to share. I make copies. Everyone leads the songs they bring.
 
The Electric City Uke Club meets the 2nd Monday of each month from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in a restaurant/neighborhood store/comfy area in the oldest part of Schenectady - the Stockade- at a place called Arthur's Market, which has been operating on-and-off since the late 1700s. It is an historic building in an historic neighborhood so drafty, cold in the winter, parking is a gamble, and when the streets are plowed (a miracle in itself) it is even worse.

But the ceiling is low, and the seats aren't bad, and we do a circle - one person leads, the rest follow along. Somer folks pass out song books and collect them at the end of the night, I try to print out lead sheets, pass 'em out, and tuck the spares in my binder.

If there was another gathering once or twice a month within driving distance, I'd try to make it - just don't have the time to try and organize one.

-Kurt

(And hoping that Dick Adcock can make it down one of these nights fro the club - he's only about 15-20 miles away!)


-Kurt​
 
I can not find a group in my area. I've asked around, searched high and low, and can't find one. I have been thinking of trying to get one started myself, but considering that I just started playing the ukulele in April, I don't know what groups even do. I have an idea though. I think that if everyone just showed up with the Daily Ukulele book, we could find a lot to do just there. But the other thing is that I live in two places, and I bounce between the two pretty randomly. I don't want to be responsible for getting something going, only to run off. Anyway, I would love to become part of a group.

I might suggest you start a Meetup Group, give your club a catchy name. That's what TBUS did. It only had a handful of members, and was wayward, until our organizer took over. Now we have 700. We meet (no, not all of us) in a clubouse of a retirement condo community for our 2nd Saturday jam sessions. It's the third meeting place we've had since I joined, we keep outgrowing them. We also meet 4th Thursdays at a local pub/eatery for Open Mic, usually about 20 of us per night. The organizers keep us busy with workshops too, plus an annual festival!
 
The North East Wisconsin Uke Club usually meets in a large room at a local nature center. During the summer, we try to meet outside at least once. The nature center provides a projector, but we usually sit in a large circle-ish with table music stands. A bar would not work, we have several kids in our club!
 
A year ago when I started playing ukulele, I've participated in the 2013 and 2104 Los Angeles Music Center summer Active Arts Ukule-Along, three Saturdays for 3 1/2 hours each. Joined the CC Strummers group out of the Culver City Senior Center, which is actually classes created by Cali Rose, twice a week, one hour each, Mondays at 3:30 pm (beginners) and Thursdays at 10 am (intermediates). It's $3 a session and she provides all the sheet music that she arranges.

It's all strum and sing along and there are about 135 members, but we usually have about 30-40 at a time. We perform from time to time, right now we're rehearsing for the Culver City annual La Balogña Fiesta at the end of August. We've done flash mobs, senior centers, assisted living residences, etc. It's "tons of fun."

I was also a member of the Westside Ukulele Ensemble, an advanced instrumental group doing three part arrangements (with a few sing along) that meets once a month at 7:30 to 9 pm in a coffee shop in West LA, and often at a couple members homes, but a couple of weeks ago I realized that I bit off more than I could chew when we were rehearsing for the LA Ukulele Expo, so I dropped out.
 
I am lucky to live just outside of Toronto which has a large and healthy uke community. I attend three different uke jams / gatherings. Corktown Uke Jam is held once a week at the Domininion Tavern, has 1500 members with 60 - 100 attending weekly. Scarborough Uke Jam is held at the Old Stone Cottage, another tavern, with 25- 30 people once every two weeks. The last one is the Rooster held once a month in the Rooster coffee house with about 20 - 25 people. All three of these are set up with the songs projected on a wall and are sing along arrangements. Two out of the three have an open mike at the end of the evening. It is because of these groups I am so addicted to the uke.:)Nothing better than getting together with a bunch of like minded people and playing music as one.
 
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The Free Range Ukulele Society of Oak Park (FRUSOP) meets in a cafe every Thursday night. Song packets are e-mailed out to members, with some printed copies available to those that don't have one or who happen to hear of us and walk in. The cafe proudly hosts the group and, of course, food and drinks are available for purchase. It's a win/win for both entities.

Dan
 
But the ceiling is low, and the seats aren't bad,
-Kurt​

So, do ukulele's sound better with a low ceiling, (snicker, snicker:))

I meet with a group that has a large member base hosted by Moses Kamai (I don't remember how many) and we have perhaps 20 to 40 people that meet on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at a cafe in Reston VA. We are the Northern VA Ukulele Society. We are a performance group and have 3 signature songs that all should learn to play by heart. The first Sunday of the month is for beginners and the 4th for jams and open mic. We go through our song set and then members lead any songs that they have brought to share. We also have a yearly ukulele festival at Lake Ann and usually are booked to play at the holidays for the Reston Town Center.

This group is a bit of a hike for me at an hour away. I have good news that I have found a place here in Berryville, VA that is willing to host us! So I will be starting a group right here. It will be at an art studio in town and the nice lady who runs the studio also has property where she has camps for kids during the summer so I will be able to host a camp next summer too :) We have a local arts center called "The Barns of Rose Hill" that hosts a lot of bands, acts, etc. Hoping to get more ukulele artists to come here to play. I know that Stu Fuch is interested in coming out.
 
I might suggest you start a Meetup Group, give your club a catchy name....

The group I'm in, San Francisco Ukulele Rebellion, began as, and continues to be, a meetup.com group. We used to meet at a cafe in San Francisco not far from Golden Gate Park, but the cafe doesn't have licenses from BMI, ASCAP, or the third licensing group, whose name and/or acronym I can't remember. (The cafe plays a radio when we don't meet there, and playing a radio as a form of entertainment for the public is exempt from licensing fees, which are instead paid by the radio stations.) We don't meet at the cafe any more becuse first BMI, and then ASCAP, sent the cafe cease and desist letters, stating that by permitting live performances of copyrighted songs, the cafe was violating the law. Our group paid the BMI fee for the cafe (roughly $350/year) but drew the line at the ASCAP fee (we already pay a fee to meetup.com for the use of the website). We're currently meeting outdoors, but we're looking for a new indoor venue that already has licenses.

As an aside, people in our group believe that licencing entities like BMI and ASCAP troll meetup.com looking for groups that play music in public venues and then attempt to extort licensing fees from those venues that don't already have licenses. We considered leaving meetup.com in the hope of falling under the radar of these licensing entities, but we ultimately decided that alternatives to meetup.com (for example, yahoo groups) wouldn't be as effective. I'd be curious to know whether this license fee issue has been part of the decision-making process for other groups in finding a place to meet.
 
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