Ukulele Ramblings - On starting your own ukulele club

You will have seen in many posts on Got A Ukulele that I do sing the praises of ukulele clubs and societies as being great places for the beginner to learn and build confidence. I keep a growing List of clubson this very site and you may have seen my earlier post about jamming and performing which recommended the same. But what if there is no club near you? Could you start one up? Why not!

Starting a uke club isn't actually as tough as you may think it would be. When you break it down it comes to venue, promotion and organisation. Read on for some tips.

1. The venue and times

Now unless you are expecting an enormous growth in membership, you are not going to need the Royal Albert Hall, but bear in mind, as a club grows you may also regret choosing the six foot square back room with four chairs.

The most obvious venues are pubs, clubs and village halls. Whichever you choose, think of somewhere easily accessible and you must of course get permission. You may find some venues want to charge, but conversely you may find that many, pubs in particular may welcome the trade and offer you a room or a corner for nothing on the basis it brings more punters in. Explain that you are not intending to make huge amounts of noise (ukes are acoustic!). In terms of what the room needs to provide, unless you are going to provide lots of sheet music stands at your own expense, you need a room with enough seats, but more importantly large tables for people to lay out song sheets, tuners etc, without anyone feeling out on a limb. This may require some table re-arranging before the club meets, but it will be far better for everyone to see mostly everyone else. Beginner ukulele players benefit massively from being able to watch the finger positions of other players.

Also think about the appropriate day to suggest to the venue owner (and time). Inn the case of a pub you would be silly to expect to get the front room reserved at 8pm on a Friday. For this reason, most clubs seem to meet midweek in the evening. Frequency is one to discuss with future members. Some clubs are weekly, but more frequently people seem to meet every other week or once a month allowing members time to practice between sessions.


2. Promoting your club

I write this section on the basis that you are not looking to pay for advertising. If you've just landed a fortune from the will of your great great uncle Eric, then be my guest, but most will want to promote for no money. (nb some clubs do charge membership subs but that is something you need to work out with members to ensure monies are transparent and nobody brings your treasury into question!)

The most obvious place to advertise is the venue itself. Ask if you can put up some flyers with details of the event in the pub or club, particularly in the windows. You could go further and put some flyers up on lampposts in your town (but remember, Bill Stickers will be prosecuted....) or hand them out around town. Keep them fresh and replace any tatty ones and get your friends to spread the word too.

Scout the local papers, particularly free ones as some do offer free listings in their entertainment sections on occasion. If you can get a free listing, use it!

Beyond that, the Internet is your friend. There are a multitude of ways you can spread the word, but the three I'd recommend are Facebook, Twitter and a blog. On Facebook as well as announcing the club on your page, announce it in the various ukulele groups that exist. Check out groups that are for your town and do the same. At the same time set up both a Facebook page for your club, and a group to add members too and promote both in the same way (but don't spam!). Then more links you have flying around, the better. On twitter, make your announcement using the hashtag #ukulele and also a hashtag for your town such as #Warwick or #Idaho. People search those tags and you may get a bite. A blog is more hard work, but it would be good for your club to at least have a homepage with club contact details, address etc. If your club grows successful you can then use your blog to add song sheets and news to.

Promotion is hard work, and having like minded friends to help will be a real boost. In fact having a friend who plays uke joining you will ensure you are not sat on your own on the first night!


3. Organisation

How you run your club, it's structure, its style is entirely up to you and the members. What I would suggest though is on your first night you don't dictate or get hung up on structure to early. Speak to your members, find out what they want, what they like to play, how frequently they want to meet and so on. Get those issues ironed out early and you will have happy members, but remember toehold regular review and feedback sessions with them!

Members are going to need music to play and as the organiser you need to make the first efforts in getting some chords and lyrics to simple songs with a broad appeal printed off. Please don't just steal someone elses hard work, try to create your own, with a bit of work on Word you will soon have something that looks presentable. The easiest way to get these out to your gang is to email them well in advance or you could be kind and print off a set of song sheets for everyone. I highly recommend an A4 four ring binder containing plastic clear wallets to hold sheets. These allow songs to be moved about easily and the plastic stops them getting dog eared.

Most importantly with organisation though, you started the club, so you need to commit to it. You need to be the inspiration to ensure people come back. Don't look bored (or worse not turn up) on the second meeting. As a club grows in size, others will offer to help and your admin burden will drop!



But those are just my thoughts. A successful club needs to be democratic and flexible. What suits one player doesn't necessarily suit another so listen to each other. Most of all, just get out there and play with others - it's hugely rewarding!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

How is a Ukulele made? Kanile'a factory tour

Ever wondered how a good quality ukulele gets made?

Well now you can find out. The wonderful Lorraine Bow from Learn To Uke recently visited Hawaii and shared with me this detailed video she shot of her tour around the Kanile'a factory in Kaneohe, featuring Joe and Kristen from Kanile'a themselves. As a Kanile'a player i found this fascinating, and anyone with a love for the instrument will too. Thanks Lorraine!







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

UKULELE BEGINNERS - On Jamming, Busking and Performing

So you have bought your first ukulele, and you are (but of course) having lots of fun with it. Then this post pops up on Got A Ukulele and you are horrified.  Playing in public? To an audience? I couldn't possibly!

The fact is though, that once you are over the initial hump of getting used to some basic chords and strums, the singular best way to improve your playing an confidence is to play with or for other people. A reception to the music you make really is the best way you can judge your abilities and improve on them.  Now, before you continue in a total panic, I'm not suggesting you should be booking yourself in for a residency at Caesars Palace, but there are many options available to you that I would urge you to try.

1. MAKE A VIDEO


Not everybody lives in an area with easy access to lots of other people who play the ukulele, and it may be that you are just not able to get out and about to perform in public, but the video, and by that I mean uploading a recording of yourself to something like YouTube is a superb and easy way of getting feedback on your performances. Not only can others look at your work, but the very act of watching and listening to yourself back in a recording is a sure fire way to improving your skills. The first time you do it you may find it impossible and unbearable to listen to yourself - that's normal. Have faith in yourself though and give it a try.  Then give some serious thought to putting a video or two up on the internet for others to see. You may get some nasty words, but ignore them, as on the whole you find real constructive criticism.  The Ukulele Underground Forum is a great place to alert people to your videos and seek feedback. Listen to your reviewers and take on board the tips they give you to improve your work.   Perhaps the most famous  success story of performing in this way is the wonderful Julia Nunes who started out performing on YouTube and is now a gigging and recording musician who has played with the likes of Ben Folds. My good pal Rae Carter may well be heading in the same direction. He's had tens of thousands of video views now, is regularly gigging and just got a recording contract!

2. TRY JAMMING


Playing with other like minded players is a brilliant way to improve your playing and confidence, and being a group activity you are sure to help each other out, or give each other ideas as to new songs to practice. You can do this as informally as you like, perhaps just with friends in your living room or garden, or perhaps ask at your local pub or club if they would mind you playing in their premises, thus potentially enticing others to join in. I play this way with friends all the time and its huge fun. We play in a local pub an on occasion have ended up with quite an audience singing along with us.

If you want to do it more formally there are a huge range of clubs and societies out there who will welcome you with open arms and you will find quite a listing HERE. Who knows, playing with a club informally this way could get you noticed, as has happened with the great guys at UkeJam, in Godalming in the UK. They havent been playing as a club for all that long, but in the last few months have played both the Guildford Festival, and supported Hayseed Dixie at a recent show!

3. BE A BUSKER


Perhaps this is one for when you are little more seasoned with your playing and have a few good songs under your belt, but this form of playing, in the town centre or park near to you is both a daunting and extremely rewarding experience. You can do this with friends or solo, but having done this myself can vouch for the fact that the more "unusual" aspect that the ukulele carries (than say, the guitar) will likely draw some people to watch you. The plus side, of course, is that if you are any good you could go home at the end of the day with a bit of money in your pocket!  Please, please though, check first with your local bye-laws as to whether you need a licence to busk in your area!


4. OPEN MICS


Open Mics are events, usually put on at local pubs, bars or clubs, where anyone can turn up and book a slot to take to the stage and perform a song or two in front of an audience. You are unlikely to get paid, and you may not even get listened to, but this is a real step into proper performing where you have to stand on your own two feet and get your style and sound out there to the general public. Bear in mind, with a small instrument like a ukulele that you almost certainly will need to consider some form of amplification both for your instrument and your voice if you dont want to get lost in the hubbub of the audience.


Beyond that, the sky is the limit  really. If you really dont like the idea of playing in public, I'd still urge you to try to play with good friends or at least record yourself and listen to it back. It's without a doubt one of the best ways to progress your playing.  Whatever you choose, you are going to be nervous and unsure when you first give it a try, but that will pass with more experience, and with more experience comes better playing and more fun. It's all good!

Best of luck!

COMPETITION TIME - Win a copy of my ukulele book

I haven't run a competition on Got A Ukulele for a little while, so it's about time I changed all that. In this competition you have the chance to win a copy of my ukulele handbook, "What Ukulele Players Really Want To Know"  in paperback! I will also throw in a Got A Ukulele Button badge!

All you have to do to enter is answer this simple question, and email your answer with your name to

bazmazwave@gmail.com

,marking your subject line BOOK COMPETITION.

QUESTION - WHAT YEAR WAS THE UKULELE VIRTUOSO JAKE SHIMABUKURO BORN?

All the correct answers will be thrown in a hat shaped receptacle and a winner drawn at random.  What could be simpler?  Answers need to be with my 31 October to count in the draw!

Good luck!

RULES (IMPORTANT)!

1. Competition  ends at midnight GMT  on 31 October 2011

2. To be eligible for the prize draw, you must enter by email, and provide me with a working email address by which I can contact you for address details if you win

3. I reserve the right to reject entries that are duplicates, offensive or anything else unsavoury!  My decision on this is final.

4. On draw day, I will put all eligible entries in a hat and draw a winner.    My decision on the winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

5. The winner will be announced within 7 days of the draw day, and will be announced on this site.  

6.  Winner will need to provide valid postal address for the item to be posted

7. In the event the winner does not respond to the request for address within 14 days, I will pick another name from the hat.

8. No responsibility is held for failure with the postal service, and no replacement will be offered.  This prize has no alternative cash value.

9. Item will be posted standard post within 14 days of confirmation of winners address, depending on where you are you may need to sign for it.

10. No purchase necessary

11. Emailing your answer not proof that I have received your entry. No responsibility can be accepted for entries that are lost or delayed, or which are not received for any reason

12. The prize in not transferable to another person