Brewkulele

SpaceForRent

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(I have no affiliation with this company or event)

I just stumbled on a series of events for complete novices in Massachusetts called Brewkulele. The company provides instruments and whatnot and provides a 2hr class at local craft brewery. Sounds fun. It might be a little basic for me, but they'll be at my favorite taproom and I've never played in a group so I'll be checking it out.

https://www.brewkulele.com
 
From the FAQs-

"Can I bring my own ukulele?
We recommend using the ukuleles provided during the event. The ukuleles we provide are specifically set up to facilitate learning the song."




Huh? Perhaps they have all the right notes built in?
 
From the FAQs-

"Can I bring my own ukulele?
We recommend using the ukuleles provided during the event. The ukuleles we provide are specifically set up to facilitate learning the song."




Huh? Perhaps they have all the right notes built in?

Maybe they are those Bluetooth jobbies, with the LED fingerboards to show finger position :D But after a few IPAs, who cares? :rock:
 
I think those are called Fretlight ukes! Sorta like TAB for the new millennium. Their salesman hounded me for months trying to get our college to adopt their system (controller board, software app, instruments, etc). However, beer aspect sounds good and in the end that's all that matters.
 
I'm confused - they say that the participants will learn "One Song in the style of" certain artists, but "due to copyright concerns" can't release the name of the artist or song. And for the Baseball one, the song ls listed as "Suite Clementine".

"Suite"?????? The song is "Sweet Clementine", public domain from the mid-1800's, and I'm trying to understand the baseball link.

For the other events, I have to be honest - $30 for a beer, learn to play a single song (which is either public domain, or a freely admitted copyright violation), and you have to use THEIR ukes, unless you are left handed... sounds like BS to me.

-Kurt​
 
I'm confused - they say that the participants will learn "One Song in the style of" certain artists, but "due to copyright concerns" can't release the name of the artist or song. And for the Baseball one, the song ls listed as "Suite Clementine".

"Suite"?????? The song is "Sweet Clementine", public domain from the mid-1800's, and I'm trying to understand the baseball link.

Niel Diamond, Sweet Caroline.
https://www.boston.com/sports/bosto...-fenways-beloved-and-detested-ballpark-anthem
 
So it it is Sweet Caroline (rather than Suite Clementine, as they posted), they screwed the pooch on two words. If they are that lazy in failing to proofread, it looks like an even bigger ripoff.

Kurt, maybe they were sampling the product too liberally when designing their promotional materials :D
 
Y'all a bunch of downers this week. :p Did EVERYONE forget to drink their Ovaltine or something? I've got my ticket. I'll report back at the end of May.

"Set up to learn the song" could either mean a non-GCEA tuning, or maybe they're using the color-coded Aquila "kids" strings. Mostly, I think they don't want to have to troubleshoot problems with someone's else uke. I can see someone coming to the event with an Amazon-purchased uke that has mile high action and loose friction tuners, demanding that the staff help them make it sound good. And, yeah... They probably called the song Suite Clementine on purpose to avoid copyright issues. This is a Massachusetts company and anyone in this area reading that would immediately know they meant Sweet Caroline which has become synonymous with the Boston Red Sox.
 
From the FAQs-

"Can I bring my own ukulele?
We recommend using the ukuleles provided during the event. The ukuleles we provide are specifically set up to facilitate learning the song."




Huh? Perhaps they have all the right notes built in?


I'd guess this was written by someone relatively new to ukulele that thinks alternative tunings are more common.
 
Hi,
I came across this thread and saw some questions as to what Brewkulele is. I thought IÂ’d chime in and help answer those questions. I appreciate your curiosity!

To pull back the curtain on Brewkulele a little bit, I am one of the creators of Brewkulele. I have an MA in psychology, an MBA and taught guitar, ukulele, and bass for 20 years. One of our partners is a Berklee graduate and has also taught for 20 years. Our other partner is also a longtime musician who is a co-owner of a local music store. We have brought together our knowledge and love of the ukulele to create Brewkulele.

Brewkulele is an experience for attendees of all playing levels to come out, learn a song on ukulele, enjoy the offerings of the hosting venue, and most of all, connect with others to ultimately have a fun, memorable night.

As there were some questions above about what Brewkulele is and what we do, I provided some answers below to clarify.

A social experience
Our goal is for attendees of all playing levels to be able to participate, enjoy each otherÂ’s company, and play together. We focus more on the social aspect of playing in a group rather than reading music, learning theory, or what have you.

Song choice
We do a different song at each event. We wonÂ’t repeat a song at the same venue. If you come to say, Democracy Brewing in July, that song wonÂ’t be repeated at that venue. We may do it down the line at another venue but we have a lot of songs in the pipeline and donÂ’t foresee that happening anytime soon.

Song names
To avoid copyright issues, we do not name the songs we will be learning in advertisements or in the materials provided during the event. For fun we “flip” the name of the song in a playful manner. As discussed above, when the song is “Suite Clementine”, it will be a song in the style of everybody’s favorite song to sing at Fenway Park as StageHand shared above. For another example, “Motel San Francisco” should be easy to figure out. Further, we aren’t learning songs note for note. We have our own arrangements that are structured in a way that is inclusive of all attendees.

We provide ukuleles for several reasons.

-Our events are typically during the week when people are getting off of work. Us providing the ukes allows you to avoid the hassle of either having to carry your ukulele around all day, rushing home to get it, or leave it in the car all day (please donÂ’t do that).
-For attendees who have never played ukulele before, we want to remove the barrier of having to buy a ukulele to attend. If we provide the ukulele, they learn the song, they just might learn to love it like us and buy one for themselves.
-Further, we want everybody to be in tune and in the same tuning. We provide soprano ukuleles in standard tuning (GCEA) for the event so that this is facilitated.
-Also, as SpaceForRent mentioned, we prefer not to take time away from the event to have to set up and tune each personÂ’s ukulele that maybe they just bought or had sitting around for a few years collecting dust.
-ThereÂ’s no bluetooth or fretlight involved.

Pricing
-Our events are priced at $30 per person for a 2 hour event. We do not include a drink in the ticket price. To include a drink would add an additional $10 on the ticket price which we feel, at $40 a ticket, would preclude a lot of people from attending.

To put our event in context of other night out experiences:
-Wine and paint events are typically around $45-$55 for 2 hours. No drinks are included.
-Ax throwing is $25 a person for 30 minutes (for two people) No drinks are included.
-Private lessons can range from $40-$60 for one half our lesson. No drinks included.
-Bowling can be up to $45 for one game for a party of two. No drinks included.


We are under no pretenses that Brewkulele is for everyone. As stated above, we want everyone to be able to play together and make it through the song chosen for the evening. The Brewkulele guide will check in with every attendee to ensure you are keeping up and provide assistance as needed. If you are more advanced, the guide will make adjustments to the song, either through different strum patterns, chords, or arpeggiations that can fill out the song. If, on the other hand, you are looking for an avenue to solo or would like to learn something more in depth with more personal attention, private lessons are probably the way to go.

I am hopeful you will come and experience Brewkulele. After each event, I give attendees my email address and ask them to email me any suggestions they may have. We welcome all feedback as we want to make this event better and more inclusive. IÂ’d love for you guys to come and give us your feedback. Thank you again for your curiosity.

Sincerely,
Richard Sanger
Co-creator of Brewkulele
 
Sounds like an Olympic sport in the making to me.
 
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