Hi DUGs,
Loch Lomond Strumday
Report of the Strumday from Julia -
A lady in a teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini, a troop of chefs in pizza hats and a set of strumpets was an unexpected surprise at my first ukulele strum day! For a moment I felt the need for costumes, hats and props- our DUG T-shirts felt a little understated. I needn’t have worried. Tom did an excellent introduction to our set. He acknowledged Joe’s committed leadership of the group and then added his own unique humour to the introduction to get the crowd in the mood.
Our set was very well received. The audience sang, clapped and cheered. We were amazed by all the congratulations on the performance on our way back to our seats. I’ve come to the conclusion fancy props are overrated and Doune Ukulele Group you are brilliant!
The day wasn’t just about the open mic session. In the morning we were treated to a workshop led by Finlay Allison, who taught us three songs in a honky tonk style. We even managed to get use out of those little dots on the side of the neck of our ukuleles again!
Photos of the day are also on his website. You can just about see us sat at the back.
Once workshops and performances were over we ended the day with a group strumalong.
Many thanks to the organisers of the Strumday for all their hard work and lovely refreshments provided during the day. Also thanks to Joe for organising it for us. It may have been my first Strumday, but hopefully it won’t be my last!
Ukulele Workshop
Sarah really put us through our paces last Wednesday.
There was a lot to take in. Sarah has sent this summary of the workshop:
- Drum! A drum beat will make a massive difference to keeping your group in time. Just having some to count in 1,2,3,4 and to also count out sometimes as well will really tighten things up.
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Drum beats are helpful when transitioning from section to section, especially when you want everyone to all come in at the same time after a gap too
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Keep strumming simple. Don't overcomplicate strumming with lots of different patterns.
- Shotgun - Stick with D,D,DuDu, placing greater emphasis on the first two Down strums during the chorus (as you were doing already)
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Choose an acapella part! You have some lovely singers in the group, so stripping back the strumming and letting the lovely depth of the voices take over I think will be really effective
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Rocking All Over The World - similar to above, add in an acapella clapping chorus before the last chorus to really give it some life
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I'm A Believer - G7 and C and D to start. When the D chord is played at the end of each section, strum DuDuDuDu D! That last, DOWN, is 1, then count 2,3,4 before getting in to the next section. The drum will help with this too
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Wizzard - Keep practicing those chord progressions and twinkly chords, slowly and get used to moving between the, (rhythm comes later!)
- Repeat Repeat Repeat - Go over things again and again. Getting the group to all stop and start together is tricky and always takes practice. The drum is key and so is the count of 1,2,3,4. I think this could be a game changer for you all!
My thoughts:
I have thought for some time that we would benefit from some form of percussion.
This was clearly demonstrated with Alison's Bodrum playing on the two songs we practised for the Loch Lomond Strumday. It had a real impact.
Pauline was very brave getting up and giving Sarah's Cajon a go on Wednesday (and did a good job, too!)
Ideally, we could do with a dedicated percussionist. We are on the lookout.
Meanwhile, I don't think it would be fair to expect one person to take this on. After all, we come along on Wednesday evenings to play our ukuleles.
So, I think a few of us should take turns. This could be playing a Cajon, Bodrum, Tambourine, or even sleigh bells (it is nearly Christmas, after all 😉).
I will be calling for volunteers - I just hope a few more of us are brave enough to give it a go.
Playlist
So, this week we will start with practising the four songs we did with Sarah - Rockin' All Over the World, Shotgun, I'm a Believer, and I Wish it Could Be Christmas.
I am also putting Dance the Night Away and Sit Down on the playlist.
Both these songs lend themselves to the same techniques we have been learning with Sarah.
I have also put in some of our most recent new songs.
Rockin' All Over The World
Shotgun
I'm a Believer
I Wish it Could be Christmas
Dance the Night Away
Sit Down
Harvest Moon
If I Had a Million Dollars
What Was I Made For?
Texas Hold Em
Sarah has great YouTube tutorials for I Wish It Could Be Christmas and I'm a Believer.
If you have time, please check them out...
Events Calendar
DUG Song Sheets
Now that we are no longer using printed song sheets at our meetings, all new songs will be put on the website, rather than attached to these emails. If you want to practice any of our songs, you can view/download all our songs here: Our Songs