Olivia Borkosky - Let’s Uke-ify that song! (Beginner/Intermediate) 

We’ll take a song of any genre and we’ll “uke-ify” it! We’ll sit down and listen to the song, discuss the structure, strumming patterns, and melody, and then work together to come up with a really neat creative cover of the song. Great for figuring out how to play a song you hear and for developing songwriting ideas! 

 

Abe Lagrimas, Jr. -  Sophisticated Harmony (Intermediate)

Are you tired of playing the same chords over and over? Learn about other chord substitutions to add some spice to your playing. Abe will discuss chords such as Maj7, min7, sus4, add9, and dominant 9 chords. He will explain the chord names, how they're built, and how you can apply them into any song.

 

Kevin Carroll - Intro to Gypsy Jazz (Intermediate to Advanced) 

Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli and Austin band Hot Club of Cowtown are proponents of this intoxicating music. Growing out of the 1920's Parisian jazz scene, this music is still revered by many today. Because this musical form lacked drums, the guitars had to create the groove and beat. We will get to play both the rhythm parts and the lead parts to gain our first taste of this incredible music. It is easier than you think! 

 

Tamara Williamson & Patty Ewaschuk   Performance 101 (All levels)
Set yourself up for success when you perform by remembering the 3 Ps: Preparation, Presence and Professionalism. This fun workshop will cover how to put your best foot forward in this challenging industry and the work behind a live show. Even if you’re simply working up the courage for an open mic, this will help you be prepared for your set.  

 

 

Workshops 2

 

1:30pm – 2:45pm

 

Gerald Ross - Swing Sampler (Confident Beginner to Intermediate)   

The 1930s and 40s were a magical time in the history of popular music. Swing was mainstream. The ukulele was made for swing music! Any uke song can swing and sound jazzy. It's easy to make your instrumental accompaniment more interesting through chord substitutions and strumming patterns. The material covered in this class is not exclusive to the jazz/swing world  it can be used for all styles of music. No music theory needed. No music reading required. No knuckle-busting chord shapes to learn. Just fun! A concert or tenor sized uke tuned GCEA is recommended. 

 

Kevin Carroll - Celtic Ukulele (Adventurous Beginner through Advanced) 

This ensemble-style class will explore the Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland and the British Isles. Bagpipe drones, fiddly-bits, hammer-ons and pull-offs are just the beginning. We will also try our hand at a couple of traditional “session” tunes where the ukulele will play Celtic fiddle melodies. Material will include a curated set of traditional music that has been tailored to fit the ukulele like a fine kilt. Prior note-reading and/or tablature reading experience highly recommended. Low-G tuning recommended, though not mandatory. 

 

Abe Lagrimas, Jr. - Chord Melody 1 - "Moon River" (Advanced Intermediate)

This workshop is designed for high-G tuned ukuleles but low-Gs are also welcome. Abe will teach you his approach on how to play chord and melody simultaneously and finally incorporate that high G-string into playing melodies. Learn how to take a song with a simple melody and transform it into a beautiful and lush solo ukulele arrangement. Participants must be able to play barre chords and use all four fingers comfortably.

 

Victoria Vox - Intro to Mouth Trumpet (Advanced Beginner Singers) 

If your hands are full with a guitar or ukulele and you find yourself wishing you had a horn player, this class is for you. The Mouth Trumpet, also called a Mouth Horn or Lips-aphone, is an old jazz-era vocal technique first heard by the Mills Brothers. Today, it is used by beat-boxers and vocalists. Very similar to playing a real trumpet, you’ll learn some techniques to give your “horn” some edge!

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Workshops 3

 

3:15pm – 4:30pm

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Victoria Vox - Get in the Groove: (All Levels) 

In this very hands on class, we’ll play around with different rhythms and grooves. Over a simple chord progression we’ll work on loosening up the right hand, for fun strums! The groove even starts before you play a note! We’ll play a simple tune in many different styles: Pop / Jazz / Ska / Swing / Blues / Reggae / Opera / Bluegrass, etc. This class is groovy,100% fun, and a bit of a right hand strumming crash course!

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Gerald Ross - Take it! Single-note soloing the easy way (Confident Beginner +) 

Have you ever wondered how musicians play just the right notes when it’s time to take a solo? Do they randomly pick notes out of thin air or is there some logic to the musical lines they play?  Have you ever been to a jam session and when it's time to take an instrumental solo everyone looks at you says "take it!" We will learn what to do when that situation arises.  It's not as difficult or scary as you may think.  You can do it! Single note soloing is easy. We’ll learn some tricks and techniques that will have you playing more than just chords. You will be soloing within the first fifteen minutes of the class guaranteed!

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Jack Maher - Guitar Licks for Uke (Advanced Beginner – Advanced)

Ukulele and Guitar: the same animal, different species. Life-Long guitarist Jack Maher approaches the ukulele from a guitar players point of view. Explore tips, tricks, and techniques commonly used with guitarists that you can add to your ukulele bag of tricks. We’ll play with hammer ons, pull offs, tapping, harmonics, and some cliché (but must know!) guitar licks! — baritone friendly. 

 

Pete Howlett - Building a Ukulele (All levels) 

Pete will take us on the journey of an artisan ukulele maker, explaining the process of building well-crafted instruments and answering questions about building, sound properties, woods, the perfect set-up and life as a ukulele maker. He’ll be sharing a new ukulele design, why he has developed it, and why this ground-breaking design has changed his thinking about building.
An interesting and interactive session with an experienced builder.