Hi DUGs,
I trust you had a good meeting last week while I was away. Jackie and I had a lovely, if very busy time, down in Lancashire. Looking forward to getting stuck back in this on Wednesday.
BraveUke
A full review of the BraveUke Festival will be on the DUG website when I get a bit of time. But for now, a quick update - I showed a photo last week and mentioned that some of our players where hidden (or hiding) behind the music stands. Well, one of us was so well hidden, I missed her completely. Jenn Simpson was lurking, somewhere behind John and David. Jenn had not been able to get to many of our rehearsals, so didn't feel confident about playing along with us. But she knew the songs well enough, so she bravely joined on stage to add an extra voice.
I found a better picture, showing nearly everbody (Simon is only half on this one!).
Well done, Jenn, and sorry I missed you off last week's newsletter.
So, the full list, from left to right: Marc Stevens, Ken Russell, Sandra Dawson, Shona Walace, Simon Jones, John McPherson, Dave Bright, Jennifer Simpson, John McBoyle, Pauline Sutton (front) ... and some random guy in a hat!
Doune Music Night - Saturday, 16th May
It looks like there will be nine of us performing at the Music Night, which is brilliant. We could still squeeze one or two more on stage if you fancy it, just let me Know.
The event is on Saturday, 6.00 pm - 8.30 pm (approx). We will probably be on stage towards the end of the evening. I'll confirm with the performers when I get more info.
The Music Night is a fund raiser for the Doune Primary Parent Council. We will be performing the same setlist as BraveUke.
Playlist
As great as they are, I'm sure you are all ready for a break from our BraveUke/Music Night setlist. But I'd like us to play them through one more time before we put them away. Partly because it will be good for those preforming on Saturday, but also while we have become so proficient, I'd really like to get a recording of the whole group performing the setlist.
As well as the setlist, we will have a practice at the three songs we will be working on with Sarah, before she returns next week.
I would also like to introduce the first of the three new songs we have in the pipeline, Elbow's One Day Like This.
If you get a spare minute, I urge you to have a listen to Ukelear Fusion's version of the song on YouTube: One Day Like This.
This is a lovely song, with lots of scope for different strumming patterns, picking, and vocals. But we will start this week by just learning the basic strumming pattern and the couple of new chords we need for the song.
Someone You Loved
Teach Your Children
Friday, I'm in Love
It's Raining Again
Fisherman's Blues
Walking on the Waves
This Is The Life
Sweet Child O' Mine
Whistle for the Choir
Somewhere in My Heart
One Day Like This
Workshop - Wednesday, 20th May
Next week will be the second of Sarah's 2026 Workshop Sessions.
In the first session, we concentrated on two songs - Whistle for the Choir and Sweet Child O' Mine, focusing on the chords and chord progressions for both. I have attached Sarah's worksheet/song sheet for Sweet Child O' Mine.
In this session, Sarah will also be working on Aztec Camera's Somewhere In My Heart with us. We've played this through a couple of times, but I know Sarah will be introducing some of her 'twinkly chords'.
Sarah's worksheet/song sheet for this one is also attached.
All the worksheets, notes, and video links are in the Members' Area of the website: 2026 Workshops
Just a reminder - WORKSHOPS ARE OPEN TO MEMBERS ONLY
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