Season 2-0-2 ... Two by Two ... Duos and the Number 2

Finally, thanks to lelouden who collaborated, my first SOTU contribution :)



Perhaps I should have edited the intro and outro out, but hey, I am a beginner at this.
 
Thank you, Wendy, for hosting and encouraging these great collaborations!

Thank you, Myrna, for your reaching out, editing of the vids, and beautiful vocals. You are so very kind!






QUOTE=myrnaukelele;1793862]And now one from the Everly Brothers.

Thank you turtledrum- I had fun singing with you![/QUOTE]
 


On behalf of and for two extinguished Old Firelighters.
 
file:///Users/lauriemilliron/Downloads/Hard%20Times%20Come%20Again%20No%20More.mp4
I know some of you have seen Linda and I singing this on her channel but I thought I better enter it on mine too:) I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! What a blessing music is to all of us. I wish you the joy of music in the coming year:)
 
There is a song I've been wanting to try, but it requires a female vocal accompaniment. So if you want to learn a new song and give it a try, here is my video with the male vocal parts only:
https://app.box.com/s/olalvysln9s0s64k54e2mz8zry2kun3g
Here's the chord/lyric sheet:
https://app.box.com/s/7irowvj0pbs1o36qdy3dmxkyywoj4e0z

To hear the original so you can learn the female vocal part, go to youtube and look up "Reno Alex Woodward." It isn't hard, and I put it in the key of C just like the original, so you won't have to worry about any hard chords, either. It's a country song in 3/4 time, and I omitted the instrumental break in the middle to keep it simple.
 
It's a great week when my little girl actually wants to play with me :) It was some work but we got her done with just practicing yesterday and today. Put the music in Garageband and fixed some minor flaws and then played along with ourselves for making the video. This was fun!



Just as other's have said. If there are any songs on my YT pages you like you are welcome to sing/play along.
 
"Two Lions Sleep Tonight" - 12-year-old Sara's ukulele debut

Well, in case anyone is still doubting how easy it can be to get someone else to make video with you ... I offer my own magical Season 202 experience from this evening.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen my cousin Alan's now 12-year-old daughter Sara (they live in New Hampshire) ... but when I had other plans at Thanksgiving, she let out a big disappointed sigh. So I was happy to be able to get together with her and her dad at his folks' (my aunt and uncle's) place for a quiet family dinner this evening while they're in town again.

That side of the family generally can be expected to listen politely toone ukulele song from me per visit (I wrote this last year for my uncle's 80th b'day) ... music has not been a big part of our gatherings. But Sara is clearly my relation ... and her talented mom's daughter. She asked me for a uke lesson ... and took to it like a fish to water. (Just by chance, I brought a uke or five along....)

I taught her C, F, and G7, and the easiest beginner song I know, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (C-F-C-G7). She kept at it until she could play the chord progression while I sang (she tried to sing too, but it made her brain go tilt, so we made video with her just playing). We called it (and I sang) "Two Lions Sleep Tonight", so the host would allow it. (You never know with this host ... she always has so many rules!)

The metronome app you see us using to start we downloaded to help her learn to play in rhythm and make the chord changes at playing speed ... it worked wonders and really helped her get that last element in place quickly after initially struggling with it. (I gotta start rehearsing with a metronome, I think!)

So here's young Sara's ukulele debut.

 
"The Ukulele Duo" - original song by Sara

Well, I was over the moon with how far Sara came in one evening. By the time we made that video it was after 9pm, Sara's dad and grandad (my uncle) were tired and ready for bed, and I figured it was time for me to pack up my ukes and go home.

But Sara was not done with me or my ukes yet. Within minutes of finishing the video, she had learned to play the song twice as fast ... and to sing along with her playing! So, of course I felt we probably ought to make a new video.

But even that was not enough for Sara. "Can we write a song together?" she asked. "Sure," I said, "What do you want to write about?" "Two people playing ukuleles together," said Sara, and proceeded to sing those words to a series of C's and Am's (which I'd just taught her so she'd have access to more songs), and then added a little flourish on the A string at the end.

Then she suggested she would play the "Lion Sleeps Tonight" chords (C-F-C-G7) three times while I played the "Christmas Train Blues" 12-bar blues progression simultaneously (C7-C7-C7-C7, F7-F7-C7-C7, G7-G7-F7-C7). I thought this would sound like mush together, but hey, she's the songwriter, so we tried it ... and you know, I think it sounds pretty cool! Then she added a little ending and, Tada! ... young Sara, who had been playing uke all of maybe 2-3 hours, has written her first song!

Before making video, while she was writing the song, we captured it in her iPhone so we'd have a record of it. To save the recording, the iPhone asks for a title ... and she handed me the phone to type one in. "What do you want to call it?" I asked. And Sara says, "The Ukulele Duo". I kid you not ... the entire song and Season-202-fitting title all came from her ... all I did was ask a few open questions, and she created this:

 
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - with Sara singing and playing like a veteran

So, of course after that, we immediately recorded the new, improved version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", with Sara singing and playing as if she's been doing it for years, instead of, no kidding, just a couple of hours!

We forgot to sing "Two Lions" this time, but I'm hoping the host will allow it, because ... omg ... Sara!



And of course after that it would have just been cruel to pack up all my ukes and take them away from her. So I left her with my Waterman, a tuner, and a pick (did you notice she was playing with a pick in all the videos? ... her choice ... she even made one out of paper that she played on most of the night, before I remembered I might have some with me and dug out a real one). (Cuz I remember how I felt my first day uking ... I just could not imagine waking up the next day without a ukulele by my side so I could just do more of that all day for the rest of my life!)

It was after 11:30 by the time Sara finally let me go home (but not after asking twice if I could stay over).

So, not only did I get three duo videos made during one casual family dinner ... but my family now has a second uker! And songwriter!

So ... um ... did I mention magic? I think I may have heard something about that earlier this week....

Yeah, I think so....
 
I'm a bit behind on commenting, but all videos are on the playlist. It's a very busy week - more gatherings and two parties still to come - but I will be back and comment soon. I have watched all the videos - they are all wonderful! - and will be back with proper comments soon.

Meanwhile ... Janet and April - mwah! CeeJay and Rob - lol! UkingViking and Mitch - welcome!, The Two Lovebirds Jon & Joo - whee! and congrats!, Myrna & Linda Turtledrum, SillyDave-and-Ruth, the Two Alans, Brian & Ivan, Linda L and Laurie, Linda L and UkeViking (what's your name?), Rick and Mitch ... all terrific stuff!

I think that's all the ones I have yet to comment on ... please forgive me (and tell me!) if I missed you. It is very late, and only due to my own spaciness, and nothing whatsoever to do with you, if I did leave someone out ... you are all aces in my book.

We're about halfway through and we have 26 duo videos so far. We got off to a slow-ish start - not surprising because duos can take a bit more time ... but now we are cooking! So keep 'em coming ....

And if you start something, please finish it ... I know these wonderful long-distance collabs some of you are working on can take time. You have four more official days (through midnight Hawaii time Monday morning - eight days total) to get them done, and most of you will be able to do that. But I would much rather have you post something late than abandon one that needs a bit more time.

I know there's some great stuff already underway ... I am so excited to see what you all come up with!

Are we having fun now? I hope you all are enjoying this as much as I am.
 
Rex and pa.
The 'two' aspect is that Silent Night has a partner song called On a Starlit Night and I've attempted to add that on the second run through.
 
Another midnight vocal done! I need an email to dropbox you Alan.


Wow. You are a seasonista GEM Linda! Thank you!



This old hymn was recorded by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and I'll bet some other duos have done it as well.
A few firsts here.
Longest song from me I think.
Largest file upload and longest time to upload (over 2 hours).
 
Last entry from us for this week. Wishing everyone good health and happiness in 2016!
Love from joo and jon. xo

 
Wow, wow, wow! Amazing stuff - playlist updated, "proper" comments (and on YouTube) coming.

For now, let me just say, these four newest videos all moved me deeply! Rob's gardeners collab ... yeah, it's a really big duo ... screw the "rules" ... it's totally wonderful and totally in the spirit of the Season. Rex and Pa ... so moving ... Rex is into the moving-out-of-silence phase now, and hallelujah for that! I am eager to hear you sing again, and yet I am really grateful for all these wonderful instrumentals ... and Pa's flute lines ... everybody should watch this, like 12 times. Pa and Linda - omg - gorgeous - what a gift to each other and all of us! And Joo and Jon - glorious - is this really your last for the week - and am I greedy to want more?!

I am loving this whole Season ... everything is just, so ... I'm in tears here, all of you!

Keep making your magic together. I hope everyone will take some time to participate here, with someone near or far. As a gift to yourself, and yeah, incidentally to all us. But do it for you. You deserve a taste of this. Magic.
 
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