Newsletter von Ralph Shaw

[Uketeufel]

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The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
July 06 2010
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Dear Raimund,







Was this a long weekend for you? If you live in North America it probably was.

Canadians celebrated Canada Day on July 1st and the USA just had their July 4th celebrations. This means that from last Thursday to this Monday very little work has been getting done. Coincide this with the timing of the World Cup and I\'m surprised that our entire civilization hasn\'t ground to a complete halt.







If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

Word count this issue: 801 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3 minutes

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UE #42  Long Weekend

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It\'s a good time to be playing the ukulele. As the fireworks make colourful explosions in the distance it\'s wonderful to be inspired by the non-musical skills of the soccer magic that has taken over the world.
 

I\'m not really a sports watching person. I sometimes try, but a few minutes in front of TV\'s latest \"Big Game\" finds me overcome with a powerful feeling of \"what-a-Big-waste-of-time\".

 

I don\'t even understand most sports. I never played ice hockey, baseball or American Football. I had only a brief and embarrassing attempt at basketball. As a tall youth I was expected to excel at this game designed only for elongated freaks. I failed miserably. Therefore you\'re not likely to see me goggle-eyed in front of a TV, beer can in hand shouting, \"Yes! Come on...Yes... OOoooh\"

 

EXCEPT...

 

Every 4 years. The World Cup. I can watch the World Cup. The games are slow and steady. And, with all that green grass they are nice & soothing to the eyes. Plus I understand the game! As a child it was the only proper sport we played. Admittedly we also played cricket; a game you can play in a cardigan and still not work up a sweat, so I\'m not sure it counts as a sport.

 

I have often heard football fever being likened to religious fanaticism but that\'s not quite right. Watch a game. As the ball is kicked up and down the field you\'ll hear the commentator filling you in, not only on game statistics but also on the private lives of the players. If the midfield striker looks sluggish you\'ll learn that he recently became a father of twins and is probably sleep deprived. If on the other hand the centre-forward\'s playing has reached a new high the commentator will tell you its because,

\"Gonaldo appears desperate to impress his fiance; where she sits, next to Phil Collins, sharing a little joke now as they watch from the VIP section.\"

 

Sport is not a religion - it\'s soap opera for men.

 

Watching the players run and gyrate in their efforts to keep possession of the ball I think of the essential combinations of muscle training and intelligent spontaneity required to play at that level. It can be awe-inspiring to see a flying overhead kick into the goal. At the same time I know that I will never achieve that sort of athleticism myself. However such moments do propel me towards improving my musical skills.

 

Not every flying overhead kick goes sailing into the back of the net. And so it is that, no matter how much you practice your ukulele, not every performance will succeed.





The tension that performers go through before a concert can be quite palpable. Doing a \'safe\' performance results in an unremarkable show. Most performers know this and regularly choose to walk the high-wire of risk that comes with publicly displaying their talent. They perform at the very edge of what is possible for them at that time. Sometimes they excel and sometimes they fail but it\'s the endeavour that needs to be applauded.

 

If you\'ve been playing the same song over and over again to the point where it is \'safe\' and \'easy\', ask yourself what you can do to make it more interesting.

 

For example: Are you someone that always stays in the 1st 3 frets of the ukulele? If your answer is yes, maybe its time to consider trying one or two second position chords.

 

If you are new to this idea don\'t think you must adapt every chord of the song. Just pick one of them, say the C chord. To find 2nd position C: play the Bflat chord and move the whole chord 2 frets along. You are now playing another version of C (btw. I\'m thinking in GCEA tuning here). Try your song again, only now use your new C chord every time C comes around.  

 

In other words you don\'t need to play the whole song with fancy, new fangled, hard to remember chords. Just change one of them and your music will begin to sound different. And... being slightly outside of your comfort zone will require more of your intention and focus. This will show - in a good way.

 

If new chords aren\'t your thing then work to improve your strumming game. Are your strums varied enough? Work to constantly change your strum style.

 

I  challenge you to take your playing to a new level so that the next time you are in front of an audience you\'ll give them something to watch and applaud. Walk the high wire that takes you to the edge of your ability.

 

And whenever you see someone else perform with heart, whether in shiny shoes or muddy soccer boots, be sure to let them hear your appreciative hurrahs!



© Ralph Shaw 2010

 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Learn to play with heart:

The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series shows how to play and perform better. The DVD system is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and can pause and rewind as often as you wish.


1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids - Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

Upcoming Events:


Aug 1 to 7th Augusta Swing Camp West Virginia USA
Ukulele and Performance classes




Sept 11 & 12 Wine Country Ukulele Festival, St Helena California





Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca
Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters?Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
July 13 2010
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Dear Raimund,






Ukulele strumming can be hard on the fingernails. Today we look at some causes and cures of nail ailments.






If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

Word count this issue: 794 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3 minutes

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UE #43  Failsafe aids for ailing nails



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Not all players depend on their fingernail to strum the strings. Some players use picks or manage to do all their playing using the pad of the thumb. But in my experience most of us are dependent on the strength and state of one solitary fingernail.

 

In The Complete Ukulele Course DVD I teach how to strum using the end of the index finger as if it were a pick. I talk about doing down-strums with the back of the fingernail and up-strums with the pad of the finger. This works great until the nail gets damaged. When this happens the enjoyable pastime of ukulele playing can become a difficult or even agonizing affair.

 

I once heard of a performer who would refuse to play publicly if his fingernail wasn\'t in exactly the required condition that he felt was necessary for performing. But, for those of us who would have a hard time looking a client in the eye while making such an excuse, we need to figure out some ways around this curiously debilitating problem.

 

3 main causes of nail failure are:

 

1)    Weak nails - a result of genetics and/or poor nutrition and/or physical illness. When you see someone in radiant health it often shows in the strength of their hair and fingernails. When did you last see a sick person with great hair? Nutrition and digestion is also a major factor. Having once had, and recovered from, a fairly serious digestive disorder I understand how prevalent this is in our society. I once heard that as many as 80 to 90% of illnesses come from either improper nutrition or poor food digestion/absorption as the root cause. Thankfully many have learned that our natural bodies are meant to consume natural food. The general rule is to avoid the non-foods (sugar, caffeine, alcohol, white flour etc.) and stay clear of \'food products\' (in other words only eat stuff your great grandma would recognize).

 

2)    Nails get worn down from playing. Under normal circumstances the playing of a soprano ukulele shouldn\'t affect your fingernails. Nylon strings won\'t wear down your fingernail although they may dig into your cuticle which can be painful. What will affect your nail are \'wound\' strings (btw. wound rhymes with hound and not spooned). Often found on the larger tenor and baritone ukes these strings are abrasive to the fingernails and can lead to nail breakages.





Another factor that causes nail damage is when the finger repeatedly hits the ends of the frets or the side of the fingerboard. I had this problem with my banjo-ukulele and solved it by putting a plastic material (\'pick-guard\') around the part of the fret board where my finger was striking.

 

3)   Nails get broken by day to day living. Learn to be careful and wear gloves. I used to be the sort to do all kinds of work with my bare hands. As my wisdom incrementally increases I now take the time to put on gloves more often.

 

Solutions to help your ailing nail:

 

1)    Strum with something else. There are a wide range of guitar/ukulele picks available. They are cheap so why not try a few out and see how it goes. Or, if its just one nail that is giving you trouble try using other fingernails. Strum using several fingernails together. I do this all the time. It can be an especially useful technique if you have small fingernails.

 

2)    Keep the edge of your nail rounded and smooth. Small irregularities in the fingernail can lead to faster wear and breakages. You can use a nail file and additionally use a smooth stone. I find that the right choice of stone will make a smoother edge than most nail files.

 

3)    Nail polish. Putting clear nail polish on your nail will help to strengthen it. I occasionally still resort to this. Put on several layers. I use \"Sally Hansen Hard as Nails with Nylon\". At about $3 a bottle its cheap and it works better than many of the more expensive brands.

 

4)    Use a fake fingernail. You can buy fingernail kits from the drugstore or chemist. They are usually plastic and glue onto the existing nail with a strong adhesive. Success with this can be varied. A friend of mine who plays often and professionally informs me that he gets a single fake nail put on at one of those nail-care/manicure places. It costs him around 5 bucks for an extremely real looking nail and he is very happy with the results.

I said to him, \"I guess you\'d have to be a real man to walk into one of those places to get your nails done.\"

He replied, \"Well if that\'s all it takes - it\'s fine with me\"!

 

          5)  Switch to oboe!







© Ralph Shaw 2010


 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The DVD system is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and can pause and rewind as often as you wish.


1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids - Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

Upcoming Events:


Aug 1 to 7th Augusta Swing Camp West Virginia USA
Ukulele and Performance classes




Sept 11 & 12 Wine Country Ukulele Festival, St Helena California





Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca
Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters?Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.
 
 
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
July 27 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,







Hawaiians are a very lucky people and I\'m a bit jealous of them. For one thing, they get to live in Hawaii. But more than that. The Hawaiian people are fortunate to still have such a strong knowledge of their native roots and culture.







If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

Word count this issue: 822 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3 minutes

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UE #44  Sithee - the Yorkshire Aloha



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When I first heard a live Hawaiian band it was in Whaler\'s Village, Lahaina on the island of Maui. I was moved to tears as I listened to the sweet sounds that those people were making. I still remember every part of the ensemble from the throbbing bass guitar to the sweet Kamaka lili\'u ukuleles. There was beauty everywhere. From the steady authority of the large lady on guitar to the delicately suggestive movements of the smiling hula dancer. From the deep voiced male singer to the high pitched falsetto of the other male singer.

 

The sights and sounds of that experience evoked for me so much more than just the music. I felt I could hear the very landscape from whence these people and their ancestors came. Without even understanding the words of the songs it seemed I was somehow able to reach in and connect with their entire culture.

 

It got me thinking. Our \"western\" culture (I\'ll ignore the fact that Hawaii is west of everywhere) seems to have done its utmost to systematically eradicate every native culture on earth. But what kind of a culture do we have? How many of our songs, the ones we westerners proudly sing, are able to communicate the depth and richness of who we are?

 

And... Hawaiians have the word; \"Aloha\".

 

Aloha - the word that says so much. A fond greeting of both welcome and farewell. An all-enveloping word that expresses the inherent beauty and love that IS all creation.

 

The Hawaiians graciously share Aloha with all of us. But I have to confess that actually saying the word Aloha makes me feel a bit awkward.

 

For a start I\'m a tall, skinny, white European-Canadian. The feeling I get when I say Aloha is a bit like knowing you have to hug someone when you\'re not the hugging type. Whenever I say Aloha I feel like I\'m borrowing something. A favour which I can\'t return.

 

So I started to look at my own life and upbringing to see what vestiges of my ancestry might be salvageable to use with some of the same self worth that the Hawaiians hold.

 

It was at an opening ceremony of the Wine Country Ukulele Festival in California. Greetings were conducted by the great Liko Puha. A man whose heartfelt presence is enough to imbue even the most motley gathering of humanity with a soulful sense of ceremonial wonder.

 

We stood in a circle and each took turns to say a few words. Everyone seemed to make a point of saying, \"Aloha\". When it came to my turn I said, \"In my homeland, by the windswept Yorkshire moors we don\'t say Aloha we say \'Owdo\'.\" I nodded and resolutely spoke. \"Owdo\" I said.

 

I did it with a straight face though at the time I wasn\'t sure if I was being serious or not. But a little while later it certainly did make me smile when dear Liko came to me and asked with grave seriousness to say it for him again. He apparently wanted to get the pronunciation just right. I treasure the memory of this big Hawaiian carefully mouthing \'Owdo\' a few times to help him remember. Perhaps he was afraid of offending my people should he ever meet more Yorkshire folk.

 

\'Owdo doesn\'t quite do the job for me though. Not like Aloha. It\'s really just a shortening of the phrase \"how do you do\". After thinking some more I eventually remembered the old greeting from my childhood: \"Sithee\".

 

You may be surprised to know that in my village there are still people who use the ancient words \'thee\' \'thy\' or \'tha\' instead of \'you\'. The greeting Sithee was (and I hope still is) commonly used as hello and goodbye.

 

Sithee means \'see you\'. \"I recognize your presence\". Frankly it still doesn\'t do

the emotional heavy lifting that Aloha can manage but its all I have. I even end some of my emails now with: Sithee, Ralph.

I like it. It keeps me in touch with the inner part of me that will always be near the purple-heathered moors of South Yorkshire.

 

When the Hawaiian group performed their songs I felt that I knew them. If you think about it every great performer does that.

 

Think of your favourite performer. I\'m betting that seeing him or her on stage or screen gives you a feeling that you know who they are and what they are about. The image, the sound, the moves all add up to a feeling of completeness.

 

Who are you when you sing? How does the performance that you think you are projecting differ from what the audience is seeing? What can you draw on from your own history and background to make the ever expanding picture of yourself as complete as possible? It\'s something to think about.

 

And finally, thank you Hawaii; for Aloha and for ukuleles. Really, what more could we possibly need.

 

Sithee,




Ralph

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
August 10 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,








Ralph Reader was a famous impresario. Born 1903 his legendary career included the production of numerous Broadway and West End shows. But his most famous achievement is probably the creation of The Gang Show.








If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

Word count this issue: 904 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes

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UE #45  Where to Look When You Sing



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Gang Shows are shows put on by members of the scouting movement. Sometimes they\'ve been huge international events broadcast live on radio or they can be intimate little productions held in a scout hut in front of a few parents and friends.

 

The latter is the kind I was involved with. I was a cub scout when I participated in my first gang show. It involved songs, sketches (= skits for all you Americans) and an enactment of the Pied Piper of Hamelin story. During rehearsals there arose a small problem when it was found that although we had boys to play the parts of children and rats there was no-one to play the part of the mourning mothers. This is a necessary part of the tale when the piper lures the children of the village away for ever because he was not paid his due.

 

So I volunteered. It didn\'t occur to me at the time that there was anything odd about wearing a dress and an apron. It was just a play after all. And nobody said anything. Unusually for boys of this age I was not ridiculed at all. Perhaps they were just glad to not have to become cross-dressing 9 year olds.

 

The moment came when Akela (our female cub leader) was tying on my headscarf prior to my stepping on stage and said,




\"I think you\'re very brave.\"

 

It was only then that it began to dawn on me that I might be doing something that society might deem unusual. My thoughts went, \'Who, Brave, Me?\' etc. and quite frankly I have to say that my potentially Oscar level performance was adversely affected by her ill-timed comment.

 

I can\'t say I was traumatized. I still have no problem putting on a skirt and apron if the circumstances deem it necessary. After all Scotsmen and free-masons do it all the time! (Ha Ha - please don\'t write to complain unless you are a Scottish free-mason with no sense of humour!)

 

Anyway all this is slightly off-topic.




 

Ralph Reader went to the USA to see Al Jolson perform. Jolson already had a reputation as the greatest entertainer who had ever lived. Other entertainers said that.

 

Mr Reader bought a ticket to the show but on arriving at the theatre was told the show was canceled because Jolson had gone to the races. He was given a ticket for the following night.

 

Reader was incensed. He spent the whole evening and next day thinking about Jolson\'s arrogance. He decided he disliked the man so much he wouldn\'t go to the show. At the last moment though he did walk through the theatre doors and found himself standing at the very back of a packed house.

 

He said that from the moment Jolson came on stage all the venom and anger he\'d been harbouring towards Jolson melted away. He was mesmerized. Even at the back of a full theatre he said it was as if Jolson were performing for him alone. Every person in that theatre felt exactly the same way.

 

I find this story inspirational. Whenever I perform I aim to include everyone. My goal is to make every onlooker feel personally involved. Much of this has to do with eye contact. Where to look.

 

If you are singing on stage and your eyes are always closed or permanently looking away, either above or to one side, then you will not be able to fully connect with your audience.

 

In a theatre it is too dark to make true eye contact. Instead I do it in my mind. I choose several points throughout the entire theatre (say 5, like the spots on a die). I sing or talk to each point as if there sits an imaginary friend who is adoring every moment of my presentation. By doing this my focus is fixed on one point for a phrase or two before fixing on another point in the audience. This avoids having my eyes swim around looking for a place to land and never finding it.


Performing in the intimate surroundings of a smaller well-lit room can actually be more difficult. Now you truly ARE making eye-contact. But a similar rule applies. Sing a phrase to one person and then move to another.

 

Don\'t worry if you suddenly find yourself singing \"darling you\'re the only one for me\" to someone of your second favourite sex. You can either quickly look to someone more attractive or just smile and treat it as a moment of lightness.

 

From time to time you can break away and close your eyes or visualize a scene in the air but don\'t stay there too long. Keep returning to the people you are communicating with. It can feel risky to look at people like this. Reading their facial expressions and body language can also be distracting and off-putting. Get used to that. Try and spend more time on the smiling faces. However, if you feel the audience is uncomfortable with eye contact it is definitely permissible to sing with closed eyes. You have to judge this as you go.

 

If members of the audience look grumpy and are checking their watches you need to try harder to connect. Sometimes you\'ll succeed and sometimes you won\'t but its your job to try.  

 

And if I could just add one more thing before you go on stage,





\"I think you\'re very brave!\"







© Ralph Shaw 2010






 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The DVD is a great way to learn by yourself.


1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids - Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

Upcoming Events:


Aug 1 to 7th Augusta Swing Camp West Virginia USA
Ukulele and Performance classes




Sept 11 & 12 Wine Country Ukulele Festival, St Helena California





Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca
Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters?Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.
 
 
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 

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Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
August 24 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,









Thanks to the internet we now have easy access to the music of some amazing ukulele players. They are doing things on their instruments that I would never have thought possible when I began playing in 1990. However the high level of skill expectation can seem insurmountable to someone just starting out.









If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

Word count this issue: 706 words

Estimated reading time: just over 2½ minutes

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UE #46  What Ukulele Players Can Learn from a Juggler



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I am glad that I learned ukulele in those long ago pre-internet days when access to ukulele related information was very scarce. As a result I spent years playing songs with relatively simple chord changes. I concentrated on playing them well while at the same time worked to be as entertaining as possible.
 

Many years ago I got an Extra part in a movie called Carpool starring Tom Arnold. What do mean, you didn\'t see it?!!!! That\'s OK neither did I.

 

In those days I was known as Ralph the Clown (its what I did between being a physicist and becoming King of the Ukulele, I know, I\'ll explain another time).

 

Being a clown was not a very social existence. Most of my performances were for events where I was the only entertainer. Therefore it would come as a welcome change to get a movie gig where they needed a whole bunch of circus performers.

 

The film set of a circus or old-style carnival made it feel like we were the real thing. Old style circuses are quite rare these days so it felt really cool to drive across the sawdust of a circus ring in a tiny car containing several dozen clowns. Actually it only held 4 of us - the rest popped out later using camera trickery - but it was still cool!

 

Being on the movie set with a bunch of clowns, acrobats and jugglers was always a good time. We\'d chat and exchange stories and ideas. The only down-side was the actual filming. To be called to the set meant that we had to put aside our coffees and muffins and go outside into the Vancouver winter cold. Everyone wore summer clothes to create the illusion that we were in California in July. Heaven forbid that American viewers should have to see anything Canadian! Bright lights can make the darkest day look like summer in LA but unfortunately they don\'t provide the warmth.

 

I doubt I\'m in the movie. The first scene to be shot did not include me and it was a scene they kept filming over and over. So while others paraded around providing background movement for the scene I had lots of time to hang out.

 

I was watching an acrobat-juggler friend manipulate a 4 foot length of rope. He was twirling it as if it were a baton. It looked easy. He let me try. Not surprisingly I couldn\'t do it. After a few more goes I gave the rope back.

 

He told me this is one of the hardest skills he has ever learned and yet it looks like the easiest. For this reason the trick is almost worthless to his show because it always fails to impress the audience. The irony, he told me, is that it is often the simplest, easiest tricks that get the most audience adulation and applause.

 

It can be the same with music. I have found that audiences will get more enjoyment from a 3 chord song played very well than from a 10 chord song played almost as well. They don\'t know that it took you only 1 hour to learn the 3 chord song compared to a week to learn the more difficult 10 chord piece. Not only do they not know - they don\'t care. They just want to be entertained.

 

Its what you do with what you\'ve got that matters.

 

Too many players attempt music that is slightly too far beyond their reach and so have to put in many extra hours of work for only incremental results. Meanwhile their ability as an entertainer is not improving because they don\'t attend to the extra nuances that a good musical performance demands.

 

By choosing to keep the music simple there is more time to spend on the presentation of the song.

 

Look at your goals. If they are purely about learning musical skills then put your time into honing the trickier techniques. But, if your desire is to entertain an audience then they won\'t be impressed with how long it took you to learn a difficult piece. Figuring out an entertaining way to present a simple song may be a better use of your time.




© Ralph Shaw 2010

PS. Here\'s a related joke I heard not so long ago:-

Definition of Rock and Roll: 3 chords, listened to by thousands.
Definition of Jazz: Thousands of chords, listened to by 3.
 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The DVD is a great way to learn by yourself.


1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids - Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

Upcoming Events:


Sept 11 & 12 Wine Country Ukulele Festival, St Helena California





Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca
Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters?Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.
 
 
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 
 

Forward email
 
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Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 7 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,










Think about this for a moment. What would you say is the most difficult common skill that we share? Most people use it every day and hardly give it a thought! If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 856 words

Estimated reading time: just under 3½ minutes

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UE #47  Speaking of Improvisation



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

What do you think it is... writing perhaps? Riding a bike or driving a car? How about the apparently simple act of walking? Maybe the mental arithmetic involved in figuring out the tip for a dinner for 8 including the guy who forgot his wallet, a disgruntled vegetarian and the couple who only had decaf because they ate before they came?      
 

I learned from an expert on the radio (yes I still use mine) that the most difficult thing that most people ever learn to do is talk. The combination of knowledge and physical skill inherent in the act of speaking is quite mind boggling. First there is the massive vocabulary of words that we just simply need to know. Most of us use 2 to 5 thousand words to communicate. Then we have to know how the words fit together to form coherent thoughts, sentences and ideas. Grammar it is called; though we rarely think about that when we pick up the phone to order a pizza.

 

Knowing all about words and sentence structure is not nearly enough. Communication requires us to coordinate our mouths, lips, cheeks, tongues and air flow to make the sounds that represent the words we wish to use.

 

As well as knowing what to say we also have to be adept in knowing how to say it: Should my next words be said politely or in an angry tone? Is it appropriate to speak right now or should I save my thought for later? Should my tale be concise or filled out with interesting asides and additional information? Should I speak slowly, calmly, with a frown perhaps. Or quickly, excitedly, with a twinkle in my eye?

 

We can add humour; irony, double entendre, sarcasm, wit or hyperbole. Our words can be made poetically beautiful by delivering them in ways that create senses beyond which their meanings normally imply.

 

From early childhood we are told that schooling, learning and education are synonymous with one another. But think back... who taught you to speak? Which teacher, parent or friend showed you all the necessary intricacies vital for verbal intercourse? It was you wasn\'t it!

 

Our ability to speak began with us listening to others do it. Soon realizing that this skill would enable us to get stuff; attention, affection, cookies etc. we began using it whenever we could. Our first efforts were unrecognizable except to those closest to us but we kept trying and we got better.

 

Think about all the people you know. Did any of them never learn to speak? It is remarkable indeed that this most difficult of skills is shared by pretty much everyone.

 

But the most incredible thing to me is that we are able to do all of this \"on the fly\". Apart from the occasional speech that gets written out beforehand verbal communication is almost totally an improvised medium.

 

It is nothing short of miraculous that we can listen to others speak and immediately create a response incorporating all the above skill sets; vocabulary, sentence structure, meaning and intonation; all effortlessly combined to produce the desired results.

 

However like the aforementioned pizza; it\'s not necessarily all made from scratch. We have all sorts of devices to help us keep the flow of utterances coming smoothly. Our memory banks hold pre-programmed phrases; verbal snippets and sayings, references that we can habitually retrieve and repeat as required.

 

We are all natural born improvisers.

 

Teaching recently at the Augusta Swing Camp in West Virginia I discovered that \"jamming\" (playing informal, unrehearsed music with others) was one of the prime activities. I was surprised to be slightly uncomfortable doing it.

 

The truth is I don\'t know much about chord structure, harmony, scales and so on. I had a fear that my lack of formal musical expertise would come blaring out in a series of clunkingly discordant atonal utterances. I usually prefer to learn a song and then practice it to an acceptable performance level before showing it off in public. Indeed, many of the students seemed to be far more at ease with musical improvisation than I was. I was afraid of playing \"wrong notes\".

 

But why should music be different from speech? Fact was that in the jam sessions no-one made fun of anyone\'s incoherent musical babbling; anymore than we would criticize a 2 year old for improper use of syntax.

 

Thinking about how we develop speech helps me to be kinder with myself around the idea of musical improvisation. I wish I had a better understanding of musical theory but on the other hand I communicate just fine without having a diploma in English. Most of my knowledge of grammar I absorbed through everyday life. And those thousands of words I need for speech were memorized by daily use, not by rote learning.

 

We became the astoundingly good verbal improvisers that we are by:

a) having the desire to do it and

b) doing it.

Music should be this way too.

 

Next time I\'ll tell you more about my Augusta Swing Camp experience and how rewarding a great \"jamming\" environment can be.




© Ralph Shaw 2010

 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The DVD is a great way to learn by yourself.


1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids - Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

Upcoming Events:


Sept 11 & 12 Wine Country Ukulele Festival, St Helena California





Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca

Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters?Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 21, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,












One of the highlights of my summer has been to spend a week at the Augusta Heritage Swing Camp.  I was there to teach ukulele and live performance but I also learned a lot about the value of jamming. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 847 words

Estimated reading time: just under 3½ minutes

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UE #48  Swing Camp



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

To the uninitiated \"Swing Camp\" could mean just about anything. (One of my relatives pictured open-minded couples swapping tents to the strains of live ukulele music). Wrong! So before you start conjuring up your own ideas of what \"Swing Camp\" involves allow me to enlighten you.

Every summer on a lovely campus in Elkins, West Virginia a teaching staff of first rate musicians and a host of eager students gather together to teach, learn and make wonderful music together. Called Augusta; not because it takes place in August, which it does, but because that was the original name for West Virginia.

Its an immersion into music in an atmosphere that could not be more supportive and friendly. During morning classes you learn: swing guitar, horns, fiddle, bass, percussion, ukulele strumming styles and more. Every afternoon was Band Class where students gather together in small groups to work out a song arrangement in a realistic band situation. Evenings, while a live band played, there was dancing in the sparkling outdoor dance pavilion.


After that: teachers and students go off to participate in Jam Sessions!

A Jam Session is commonly defined as: \"an informal gathering of musicians to play improvised or unrehearsed music\". Jam sessions would pop up almost any time there was nothing else going on. Often, rather than join in right away, I would stand or sit on the edge of the jam circle watching and listening.

The teachers are all top level professionals; some of them quite acclaimed and famous in their fields. You may not recognize the name of Trumpeter Peter Ecklund but he was the one who recorded the famous whistling part on Geoff Muldaur\'s version of the song Brazil. He has worked with Gregg Allman, Leon Redbone and Paul Butterfield amongst others.

The brilliant and soulful Rusty Mason, an 88 year old piano and horn player, was the first black musician in his area to join an all white dance band. Whether you listen to him talk or play music you are equally enthralled.

Guitarist Tom Mitchell has played with Dan Hicks, Bette Midler, Ricki Lee Jones, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Brian Setzer.

Trombonist John Jensen has performed alongside Urbie Green, Milt Hinton, Stephanie Nakasian and Hod O\'Brien and is part of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

The inspirational Bassist Ralph Gordon has toured with Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians and the ground breaking folk ensemble, Trapezoid.

Those are just some of the teachers and I\'m deliberately name dropping to give a good idea of the caliber of musicianship that the students were getting to jam with into the early hours of every morning.

It was clear how enjoyable this experience was to those involved. And addictive too judging by the number of hours that were devoted to jamming.

I also noticed the excellent manners of the participants:

1)    Inclusiveness. Everyone who wanted to participate and solo could, and did, regardless of their ability

2)    Acceptance. There was never any criticism of any kind. Neither positive nor negative comments came up. There was an occasional \"Yeah\" for a bit of really cool playing and someone might tell the trombonist what a great contribution she was providing. But mostly each solo was taken for whatever it was.

3)    Supporting. When someone soloed everyone else did their bit to support the soloist. This was mainly achieved by playing quietly, sparsely or not playing at all. It would be bad taste indeed to play in such a way as to distract from the solo player.

4)    Leadership. Not everyone knows every song therefore anyone who wanted to could choose to lead a song. Everyone else would do their best to join in and contribute; regardless of how well they knew the song or the key. The choice of leader would come about either by someone starting to play or by someone inviting another to contribute a song. I was new, so if it hadn\'t been for these invitations I would have probably participated a lot less than I did.

5)    Kindness. There was an underlying pleasant tone which characterized every interaction. No-one was pushy, forceful, arrogant, mean, loud or belligerent. Such insensitivity would have stood out immediately.

6)    Giving. Everyone gave of their best. Such serious fun! A smiling soloist was also doing their damndest to produce the best music they could possibly achieve at that time and place with whatever amount of wine or beer was (or wasn\'t) in their system.

The Augusta Swing Camp has existed for 22 years. Teachers who\'ve been involved for all or most of that time tell me they don\'t ever remember a single unpleasant interaction. It could be that the unspoken rules for jamming have permeated into the very culture of Swing Camp.

The present day resurgence of the ukulele is leading to a world where a lot more home-made music and jamming is taking place. I\'ll be fascinated to see how the above guidelines of jamming etiquette become incorporated into everyday life. Its probably a foolish dream of mine but I\'d love it if every day could be more like those laugh-filled musical days at Swing Camp.

© Ralph Shaw 2010


Find out more or sign up for the Augusta Swing Camp:

Look at the Swing Week At Augusta Facebook page (photos, videos, conversations with students)
Look at the Swing Week Webpage:  www.augustaheritage.com/swing.html
E-mail Wendi Bourne at swing@augustaheritage.com
 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn Ukulele!  The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series shows you how.



1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids- Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Upcoming Events:


Sept 24th Milwaukee Ukulele Festival


CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca

Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters? Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.

Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

 
 
 
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 05, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,












Are you a worrier, especially when it comes to your music and performance? I may not be able to cure you but I can tell you some benefits of creative worrying and maybe help you see the positive side of your negativity. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!












Word count this issue: 930 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 

UE #49  The Sacred Path of the Worrier

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

I just got back from the land of beer and cheese - Milwaukee. I attended an enjoyable one day ukulele festival there put on by Lil\' Rev and his trusty band of uke playing volunteers.

Milwaukee was settled by Germans who found the local water & farmland perfect for brewing beer. Many of the big breweries have gone but some of the best beer I have ever tasted was home-made by my host Steve Yeo. After my long flight his beer, served with cheese, crackers and a bit of smoked salmon REALLY hit the spot. I swear it was one of the most delicious glasses of beer I have ever had the pleasure of washing my cheese and crackers down with. It was full flavoured without being too hoppy, too malty or too anything.


I\'ve been doing a spot of brewing myself lately but my latest batch didn\'t work too well. When I added the yeast to the wort (thats the mixture of malt, hops and water) nothing happened. After a day or so I realized that the yeast wasn\'t activating. Steve informs me that this anxiety over whether the yeast will take or not is the origin of the term \"Worry Wort\" for someone who tends to worry about things. He may not be correct about this since the earliest written reference of the term is spelled Worry Wart.


But, whatever its origin, I am one. If everything in my life was flowing effortlessly in seamless perfection I would worry that it was all too perfect.

To regular readers of this newsletter I may come across as an upbeat sort of chap. A person with a positive and optimistic outlook. Actually I\'m not that at all. The reality is that I have always been a bit of a worrier.


My tendency is to look into the future and think of everything that can go wrong. If there is a silvery lining then that only highlights the fact that a big looming cloud is coming over the horizon. I wish I were one of those eternally cheerful people who walk around grinning as they enjoy every moment on this green earth but I\'m not. Since I can\'t make my tendency to worry go away I have learned to embrace and use it.

They tell me, \"Don\'t worry\" and \"Think positive\". And that\'s another thing. Who exactly was it that got to decide that thinking positive was such a grand way to be? I would argue that many people who achieve excellence do so through having a healthy dose of negative thinking. Though I prefer to call it contingency thinking or defensive pessimism.

It turns out that I still get uptight and nervous before many performances and festivals. Its because my mind is busy creating every disaster that might befall me: What if I forget the words/chords to the songs? What if I get lost on the way to the gig? What if I forget the electrical cord for my amplifier? What if the audience doesn\'t like me?  and so on...


I also notice that as I think about these things my mind also comes up with solutions: I work on the songs so that I remember them. I look at the map. I asked questions to find out what sort of people I\'ll be performing for so as to plan my set accordingly. I double check the equipment I need to bring etc.

Negative thinking, when used properly, can be a powerful and vital part in attaining excellence or even just attaining being quite good. (Btw. extreme negative thinking in the form of a debilitating mood disorder is a sign of severe imbalance and needs to be treated).

Positive thinking on the other hand is really not much use at all. Positive emotions are no guarantee of positive outcomes. I\'m not saying positivity is a bad thing but aside from making you feel good it really doesn\'t help with the specifics. Your negativity is what prepares you for all the stuff that can go wrong. Contingency thinking is vital for seeking out and correcting those little imperfections that make your musical performance less than it can be.

It is as difficult to change your average emotional state as it is to achieve a new average weight. Apparently its coded into our genes (see: Lykken\'s set point theory of happiness) If something really good, or really bad, happens in your life you\'ll likely be back to feeling your normal self within 3 to 6 months. And its encouraging to note; studies show that grouchy people are just as healthy as smiley people. Nature has endowed us with enough negativity to get the job done right so don\'t worry about worrying.

I once read that 95% of the things we worry about never happen. Good to know. But when the 5% does go wrong, and it happens on stage in front of hundreds of people, I want to be prepared!

The flip side of all this is that when things do go wrong it can be completely unexpected. No amount of preparation or pre-planning will help. So once you\'ve dealt with all the reasonable worries learn to set them aside and live in the moment.

The positive use of your natural negativity may lead you to a place where you can actually relax and enjoy life more. Which, in spite of all I just said, is a good way to be. It may not feel like you are living in a land of milk and honey but you may find yourself in a land of beer and cheese. Which for for some of us is infinitely preferable.

© Ralph Shaw 2010

 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn Ukulele!  The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series shows you how.



1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, frailing, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae and much more. Essential!!


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids- Get this dvd and a ukulele for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.



Upcoming Events:


March 4-5th 2011: Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca

Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters? Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

Privacy Policy: I will never share information from my email contacts list with anyone, for any reason whatsoever.

To change your email address: Go to the \"update profile/email address\" link near the end of the page.

To unsubscribe:Go to the \"safe unsubscribe\" link near the end of the page.


To subscribe: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also see the Archive of previous newsletters.

Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card

 
 
 
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 19, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,















Humans have existed in an illiterate state for millions of years. Nevertheless the ability to read is a useful one. But just because we can read doesn\'t mean we always should. There comes a point where needing to have the words and chords in front of you can be a real drawback.

If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!













Word count this issue: 918 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 
UE #50  Paper View

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

Paper.

 

Let\'s look at a piece of paper.

 

It has the lyrics of the song clearly shown. Above them are the chord names. This is how most of us learn a song. The words and chords are written or printed on a piece of paper and WE READ THEM.

 

There was the story of the great concert violinist who, at a birthday party, was asked to play Happy Birthday. He unfortunately was not able to do so because he couldn\'t do it without the written music.

 

We don\'t want to be that guy. So we play it safe. We go onstage carrying the PIECE OF PAPER with us. There it is now, clipped securely to a music stand.





Here are some PROs and CONs of having your paper on stage :

 

PRO:

Useful when you don\'t have time to learn the song.

Listen to Johnny Cash sing A Boy Named Sue as performed in San Quentin Jail. The way he sings it you\'d swear he\'s been singing the song for months or even years. But no. He had just got the song shortly before and this was his premier performance of that ditty. Could it have been done better without paper? Probably not.

 

CON:

Its a physical object.

Paper bears the major disadvantage of possibly being: lost, torn to bits, burnt to ashes, forgotten, stolen, left on the kitchen counter or being eaten by your neighbour\'s turtles.

 

PRO:

Paper can provide helpful nudges to an ailing ability to memorize.

Let\'s face it. Remembering chords and lyrics can be difficult for some.

 

CON:

It tends to inhibit physical movement.


Come on now. Dance a little. Use that Mojo

 

CON:

The music stand creates a physical barrier separating you from your audience.

Better connection with your crowd will be achieved if the space between you is more open. As a general rule, before starting my performance, I always try to remove any physical objects that stand between me and the people.

 

PRO:

Paper can provide helpful nudges to someone too busy or too lazy to memorize.

Todd Butler is a friend of mine who entertains by singing satirical songs combined with amazing guitar picking. I once asked him why he performs with the lyrics in front of him. He said,

\"Oh I\'ve got better things to do than spend my time learning the words to my songs.\"

But he uses it so well that after seeing his hilarious performance you\'d be walking away with no thought for the mental crutch with which he flies.

 

CON:

Some may use paper as a way to avoid eye contact with the audience.

It is vital that you keep the connection to the audience. Eye contact can play a major role here. Though not always. Great blind performers are unequivocal proof that a powerful connection can still be achieved without eye contact. Mind you they obviously aren\'t using paper either...

 

CON:

It can lessen the ability to act out a song.

Incorporate a song into your being and you\'ve gone beyond merely memorizing. (Think Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; could you forget that song even if you tried?) At that point you can act the song to a far greater degree than by reading lyrics.

 

Generally though I believe you\'ll do a better performance without the paper.





But if it is unavoidable;

Here are some pointers for using paper successfully:

 

1) Position the paper at a level where you don\'t have to move your head. Have it high enough to read while easily maintaining eye contact with the audience. Using a microphone? Make absolutely sure that you\'re not moving your mouth away from the mic every time you turn to look at your paper. You could, and this is real innovation now, try using 2 PIECES of PAPER. See Photo of Todd Butler below with 2 music stands. In fact, now I think of it, why stop there? Have 3, 4 or 5 music stands! Its up to you.





2) Rehearse with your paper. If necessary mark the points where you can comfortably look away from your sheet and easily return to the correct place on the paper. In a group situation it is a problem if everyone is singing one verse but the loudest voice in the group has skipped over and is singing a different verse.

 

3) If you normally need glasses to read then don\'t take them off just before going on stage. I have seen this so many times. Someone thinks they look more attractive without spectacles. So they spend the whole time on stage stooping and squinting while they puzzle over the blurred markings on the lyric sheet. Believe me, the glasses are more attractive than that!

 

4) Get a Kani Ka Pila Klip. Its a flexible holder that clips onto your headstock and holds a small lyric sheet.

 

5) Have the paper in your back pocket. There is a certain amount of stress involved in getting up to sing a memorized song. The stress can cause you to forget lyrics. Having the paper with you onstage is insurance that, should you need the lyrics, they are within easy reach. This reduces the stress and HEY PRESTO! - you don\'t need the paper after all.

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 2, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,














Last issue I wrote about not using paper on stage. I then received email asking for help with memorizing words and chords. I do apologise, it was forgetful of me to not mention my earlier newsletter: How to Remember Lyrics part 1. Also I intended to write a \"part 2\" but it er...it slipped my mind. Not a problem - here it is now. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!

 











Word count this issue: 955 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes


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UE #51  How to Remember Lyrics part 2
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They call it, \"Getting a rush!\" It\'s the feeling that comes from the release of adrenaline in response to stress. Fight or flight. Unbelievably there are people who willingly seek out this feeling by taking part in life-threatening activities. Activities which, to some degree or other, often use gravity as the primary locomotive force.

 

I\'m talking about skiing, hang-gliding, white water rafting, rock climbing, bungee jumping and so on; all those \'sports\' that I choose to watch from afar knowing that, were I to participate, I would sooner or later come to find myself either wrapped around a large wet boulder, free falling with no bungee to stop me or impaled on a cold Spruce. Therefore I don\'t do gravity.

 

I\'m not saying that others shouldn\'t. In fact I\'m quite happy for you and everyone you know to risk getting a broken this or a crushed that in pursuit of getting a \"rush\". But its not for me. The terror of knowing, that whether I will be having a rest of my life, or not, depends on the decisions and actions I make in the next 30 seconds, is enough to scare me into blank minded knee buckling witlessness. If I really want to feel like that then I\'ll just go and perform on stage.

 

That\'s right. Going in front of an audience is very much like setting off at speed down a snowy mountain. You\'re fine so long as you remain relaxed and keep within your skill and experience level. But when the tilting slope suddenly gives your momentum an unexpected lurch; when you can no longer influence your direction and are unable to stop. Panic sets in and your mind goes blank - AAARGH!!!

 

I\'ve heard it called a brown-out. With a black-out you actually lose consciousness and fall to the floor; a brown-out, in some ways, is worse because you get to stay fully conscious while your mind goes fully blank. It\'s a stress reaction.

 

Its that awful moment when you\'re in front of a crowd singing a song that you may have sung faultlessly for 10 years. Suddenly you have no idea what the next lyric line is.

 

Such onstage mind blanking may be triggered by all kinds of factors. With me it seems to begin with some distraction which induces the mind to wander. This distraction can be externally triggered, as in noticing a fly on the head of the bald man in row 2. Or it may be a self-induced distraction, as in thinking, \'It would be simply awful if I were to forget the lyrics right now\'. And then you do.

 

The distraction only takes a millisecond but when the brain clicks back to the task at hand you\'ll find it has split into its 2 component hemispheres which then chatter accordingly:

 

Right Hemisphere: WHAT ARE THE WORDS?! We don\'t know the words!! We\'ve forgotten the song. What are we going to do?!!

 

Left Hemishere: Will you shut up. I\'m trying to think.

 

Right Hemisphere: You\'re the one with all the technical know how. You\'re supposed to keep up with routine processing.

 

Left Hemisphere: Listen, I\'d be doing fine if you hadn\'t started making entomological observations about that bald guy. Have you any idea how distracting that is?

 

Right Hemisphere: I\'m the artistic one - that\'s what I do.

 

Left Hemishere: Well don\'t. Because right now we are in the middle of a song and I have no idea what to sing next.

 

Right Hemisphere: I know, I\'ll improvise! I\'ll make something up!

 

Left Hemisphere: Oh good grief. Alright then. But it has to rhyme with luck.

 

Right Hemisphere: Oh dear. We really suck.

 

Left Hemisphere: You could say that.

 

Mind blanking rarely happens to someone while stresslessly playing alone at home. Your goal therefore is learn to feel as relaxed on stage as you do on your sofa - obviously you may never fully arrive at that state but that\'s OK. Here are some pointers:

 

1)    Build your inner confidence. Replace fearful worries of forgetting with reassuring thoughts confirming that you actually do know your material very well.

2)    Practice recovering from mistakes. During rehearsal time try and create bad memory moments for yourself and then try and get out of it. Figure out what you\'d say or do in a worst case scenario.

3)    Practice creating lyrics on the spot. Difficult at first but, like a muscle, the ability to improvise gets stronger the more you do it. When this happens for real you\'ll feel like a fraud. But do it with confidence and it can be impossible to tell whether that \'shooby dooby doo\' fill-in was intentional or not.

4)    Abandon a song that isn\'t working. One mistake can lead to another as the stress mounts and the self-confidence plummets so know when to cut your losses. Move quickly to the next song and say no more about the mishap.

5)    Or, abandon the song and talk about it. Treating your mistake as a bit of fun may endear you to your audience. Calling it a \"seniors moment\" while you obviously look to be in your 30s will get a chuckle.

 

Aim to reduce stress and build confidence. Being good at what you do, all the while gathering a colourful palette of experiences, is what will create the unflappable confidence that rarely forgets a lyric.

 

But, should you falter, should your mind go blank at the critical time, should your whole show fall flat on its face be comforted by the fact that at least you didn\'t. Gravity plays no part here. No matter how bad it seems at the time; once the adrenal glands have stopped their pumping you\'ll realise that everyone went away unharmed. Now that\'s an extreme sport I can handle!

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 16, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
































I have written before about minimizing distractions in your ukulele show. But sometimes we have to work with a distraction and maybe even use it to our own advantage. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 978 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes


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 UE #52  Poppy Power
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Two young cadets stood in the middle of my outdoor performance space. One, an air cadet; the other dressed smartly in his naval uniform. This included apparently, spats! The boys looked to be about 13 and from their necks hung poppy trays. They were selling plastic poppies in the run-up to November 11th (known as Remembrance Day or Veterans Day). Raising money to help local war veterans.

 

Of course it\'s an extremely good cause but that didn\'t prevent me getting slightly irritated. You see, my performance space was at Granville Island and I was busking. That is, performing for tips.

 

I love doing outdoor shows there. Granville Island is a major attraction for tourists and locals alike who come to buy everything from groceries to gifts and bananas to boats. The authorities allow performers to put on shows for which remuneration comes in the form of tips and CD sales. It\'s a win-win situation. The \"Island\" (joined to the mainland is not, strictly speaking, an island) gets free entertainment and the entertainers get to make a few bucks and acquire future bookings.

 

The only things that can spoil my show are poor weather and distractions. Of distractions there are plenty. Birds, dogs, kids, bikes, power tools, phones, fools and food; all of them threatening to lure the attention of the audience away. Over time however I have come to embrace most of the distractions that unwittingly trespass into my space. Each has the potential to be brought into the show in some way. Even a momentary acknowledgement of their presence can strengthen the performer-audience bond.

 

It\'s necessary to deal with unexpected situations in a positive way. Lighthearted fun is what people want and displays of negativity are a downer. Having a downer in the show won\'t cause complaints but will result in audience members looking around for other things to do. If this happens many of them won\'t bother to throw a tip in the instrument case as they leave.

 

Those 2 military cadets with their uniforms and poppy trays was a major downer just waiting to happen. Almost any way to tackle it would reflect poorly on me.





They stood in the area between myself and the audience; accosting passers-by, exhorting them to purchase poppies. Often you\'ll see volunteers selling poppies outside liquor stores. One friend commented that by standing near my instrument case the cadets were doing the equivalent of entering the liquor store and standing by the till!

 

I felt pretty certain that the public, given a choice of supporting myself or donating to a couple of fresh faced lads collecting for the brave and fallen, would soon be ignoring my CD table; and pinning poppies on themselves as they walked by. What to do?

 

I thought of asking them to take their poppy sales elsewhere; away from the show area. I\'m sure they would have politely done so. But instead I chose to include them in the show. I just didn\'t tell them that!

 

My show that day was mostly from the repertoire of the early 1940s. Songs by George Formby, the Inkspots and Vera Lynn. In between I talked about the significance of those songs during World War II.





The cadets were a little surprised when, from time to time, I would also refer to them in the show. In fact they looked a little nervous and even seemed to be thinking of moving location. But I kept things happy and the boys stayed. The audience enjoyed the interaction and a curious thing happened; everyone became part of the show. We were one company. This is what I love.

 

I noticed people buying a poppy and then also pausing to put money in my ukulele case. Enough for all of us. I asked the naval cadet about his spats and found out they don\'t call them spats in the navy. But I sang a song with spats in anyway. Puttin\' on the Ritz. It was all getting rather jolly. I sang and danced my way around the 2 figures. They stood their ground, each one clutching his poppy-tray more tightly whenever I came close.

 

I sang George Formby\'s Our Sergeant Major. During the instrumental I shouted at them, in true Sergeant Major fashion,

 

\"Come on now you two. Pick up those feet!! Left Right and a Left Right Left.\"

They didn\'t march. They were talking; trying to ignore me. Oh well.

 

The show ended with Gracie Field\'s song: Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye. Cheerio here I go on my Way...

 

It really was a good time. The audience showed their appreciation with applause and donations.





The 2 cadets came over to my CDs. After perusing them for a moment the air cadet turned and beamed at me saying,

 

\"That was a great show. We both really liked it.\"

 

I smiled at this unexpected outpouring of pleasure. He continued,

 

\"I was trying to get him\" he nodded at his laconic friend, \"to march with me but he wouldn\'t so we didn\'t.\"

 

He looked a little regretful. So I said,

 

\"That\'s alright, you can march next time.\"

 

I\'ll never know what sort of future these two kindly young men will march towards. It genuinely touched me to know, that wherever they go a part of my show will go with them. Perhaps they will be inspired to find laughter and music in times of difficulty and boredom.

 

The air cadet looked around, as if searching for something and then said,

 

\"I\'d like to give you one of these.\"

 

He would probably have given me money if he had it. Instead he picked a poppy out of his tray and pinned it on the left lapel of my suit; over my heart.

 

I stood to attention and looking him in the eye, I saluted. It was one of the proudest moments of my life.

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 23, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
































I\'d like to try something different this week. I thought it would be useful to get a perspective from someone who is just starting out. Ginny recently took up ukulele and also wants to try her hand at writing. Here she is, take it away Ginny! If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 954 words

Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes


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UE #53  Ginny the Beginner
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Ok yah like Ralph said I\'m like TOTALLY into uke and writing also. Someday I want to do like my own newsletter and have a blog but Ralph is so neat to let me use his newsletter for practice.

 

So yah I think uke is awesome. Ive been playing it for like quite a while but not too long say a few months. My mom thinks its really cool. She says she never heard me sing since I was like 4 and says I have a good voice. She might be lying - she\'s my mom LOL.

 

What I like about the uke is... its small. It fits in my locker and is no hass to carry on the bus. One time this guy asked me to play and I was totally freaked but I did anyway even though I only know like 4 songs. I didnt even do a whole song because my stop came and I had to get off but people were smiling and 2 clapped. The guy said I have a nice voice. He must know my mom LOL.

 

What I didnt know was that like I thought it was going to be way easy. It kind of is but it isn\'t. I couldnt tune it. That took like forever. Then I learned a song real quick which was kind of a surprise but it was an easy song I guess. I want to sing like really good songs like some of those really amazing youtube guys. Right now I want to learn Im Yours by Jason Mraz.  I think hes hot. My mom says he looks like a young Hugh Grant. Who is waaay not hot. But maybe he does, I dunno.

 

Playing uke gives me a lot of friends. I know I already have friends on facebook and whatnot but I see my uke friends more in real time. I know you can play music like online using skype and stuff but I find I like playing with real people. We talk and sometimes we eat and do different things. One time some of us were just strumming in the park just doing our thing and these guys came and listened. They wanted to know if they could download our music on itunes!! They were joking ha ha. But they went to a store and came back with drinks (diet soda - not my thing but nice of them to buy it). I guess that was the first time I got paid for playing uke. I guess Im a professional now!

 

Uke keeps me awake. I cant go to sleep because I get music going through my head. Its a bit of a hass but I dont mind. Sometimes I play it in bed. You cant do that with a piano. Except a Casio.

 

If I could be anything at all I think Id like to have like 50 million hits on youtube and be really famous and recognized all the time. But Id want it to be for something good like a good song or something and not something retarded or skanky where people see me at Safeway and go, \"Uh - theres that weirdo\". I know there are people who will do any random $*** (pardon my language) to get on TV or famous or whatever but Im not like that. I think its like bad for your family if they have to be related to you because you did something like that.





Either that or a writer. Maybe a writer for kids. When I baby-sit theres this kid. His name is Smith Jones which is kinda weird to have Smith as a first name but it works I guess. He wont go to sleep unless I tell him a story. So one day I made up a story about my uke coming to life and going back to see his family and friends in Ukeytown. And I made up all these characters who were all ukuleles come to life. There was a police uke-ciffer and a uke-doggy dog and even a uke-Barbie. I kinda remember the stories. I should probably write them down before I forget.

 

If not Id kinda like to work in the travel industry like as a tour guide or airline person. I really want to travel but we don\'t have much money right now so we dont get to go to places where some of my friends go. I dont mind but I think it would be neat to like work in different places and always have my uke with me. Playing uke is a good way to make friends...and enemies LOL.

 

I dont know if Ralph will let me do this again but its been neat to tell you about myself and my uke thing. Im kinda busy right now but eventually I want to do my own blog and if I do Ill get Ralph to tell you where to find it. One day I went to a friends house and she was learning to play from one of Ralph\'s DVDs and I went, \"I know him\". Like it was no big deal but she started freakin out and going OMG!!! You KNOW Ralph Shaw!! Like he was some big movie star or something. It was kinda weird because Ralphs just this guy I know and just because he has DVDs and whatnot doesnt make him any different. Anyway whatever.

 

Now that I have a uke I dont think I could live without it. It sounds like Im addicted to it or something. I guess maybe I am but it cant be that bad or my mom wouldn\'t be encouraging it LOL.

 

Chow

Ginny

 

PS. I love my II=00

 



© Ralph Shaw 2010

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 7, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
































I think I started to look for similarities in the lives and careers of George Formby and Elvis Presley while flipping through a copy of The Vellum. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 1006 words

Estimated reading time: about 4 minutes


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UE #54  George Formby Has Left the Building
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Formed within 6 months of Formby\'s passing in 1961, the George Formby Society continues 50 years after his death. George Harrison (of 60s pop group The Beatles) was a member. The GFS holds 4 annual conventions in Blackpool where followers of Formby\'s unique style of showmanship meet to perform his songs; often doing their best to look and sound like their smiling buck-toothed hero. It\'s the convention photos that I was looking at in my copy of The Vellum, the quarterly magazine of the George Formby Society.
 

Any of that sound familiar? Conventions, where afficionadoes emulate their musical hero? What other performer has had such charismatic appeal that they inspire such devotion, decades after their death? Only Elvis Presley.

 

Say the name Elvis to most people and it probably won\'t be the Canadian figure skater Elvis Stojko who comes first to mind. Similarly the name Formby is much more associated with the uke-wielding funny man than the west coast town after which he got his name. Ask an Englishman, even today, \"who is \'Our George?\'\" he\'ll probably say George Formby.

 

Such are the iconic natures of these 2 men.

 

Their talent provided them with great fame and riches. Elvis had his own jet. Formby was Britain\'s highest paid entertainer for 6 years in a row. Yet it must not be forgotten that each owed his fortune in large part, to the incredibly shrewd business savvy of their managers. Colonel Tom Parker was Elvis\' manager and Beryl Formby was George\'s manager and wife. Each of these relationships, though financially successful, were also the cause of much unhappiness for the 2 men as time went on.

 

They made movies at a breakneck rate. Often 2 or more per year. Formby made nearly 30 and Elvis just over 30. Neither could be described as grade A actors but audiences didn\'t care. In both cases they wanted to see the man; and in every movie they got to see them play the same man. No method acting for them. They played themselves. The names of their characters may have changed, but their persona never did.

 

That both had enormous international appeal is undoubted. Formby\'s movies were watched throughout the British Empire and Scandinavia, also breaking box-office records in Russia. He was said to be the 3rd most popular celebrity there; after Stalin and Churchill.

 

Both Formby and Presley had the gift of innovation and a knack for knowing how to use it. In Formby\'s case it was the use of the ukulele. These days the instrument is part of our everyday lexicon but back in 1920s England the playing of a banjo-ukulele was as daringly modern as todays DJs who play turntables. Done with a preposterously high degree of musicality his rhythmic skill is still emulated by many. Similarly Elvis\' bodily gyrations produced an indelible effect on the public. And, were it not for his use of guitar rather than piano as his lead instrument, rock-guitar culture may never have happened. My father recalls being unable to find other guitar players in his home town in the early \'50s. Returning from 2½ years in Antarctica he discovered guitars were everywhere. He wondered what happened. Elvis happened.

 

Nothing succeeds like success but success succeeds better with censorship. Both Elvis and Formby were unwitting victims and yes, beneficiaries of the powers of censorship. In George\'s case his songs: With My Little Ukulele In My Hand and The Window Cleaner were banned by the BBC leading to unrivalled record sales. For Elvis it was his physical movements that were held accountable for the moral decay of society. On one TV  show he gyrated his little finger through not being allowed access to his pelvis. But showing him from the waist up only fueled the thirst of those wanting to see his live concerts.

 

Its ironic that Elvis never performed in Britain and Formby never performed in the States, though both were given tempting offers to do so. Elvis was offered $28,000 to perform at the London Palladium. Only much later did we learn that Colonel Tom Parker was actually called Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk. He was never a Colonel nor was he a citizen of the United States. He therefore didn\'t book any shows for Elvis that necessitated a passport.

 

With Formby it was on the heels of his enormously successful concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The show, a fundraiser to help flood relief victims, was relayed to 730 radio stations across Canada and the USA; the biggest ever such broadcast. The next day he was offered $10,000 to perform 8 shows in Chicago and $5000 for one night at Carnegie Hall. He turned them both down saying that Americans wouldn\'t understand his humour. He was probably correct. It would be the equivalent of a Jewish American comedian doing his act in Blackpool. In that era the cultural gap was probably just too great for such an exchange.

 

It seems that both men were inherently fair when it came to issues of race. Elvis borrowed heavily from black gospel and blues and was surprised when southern DJs wouldn\'t play his music because it was \"too black\". George and Beryl Formby despised segregation. On a tour of South Africa they discovered he was to perform for \"white only\" audiences. In response, and at their own expense they set up a tour of the black townships, even paying for their own police escort. As a result the black citizens of SA adored them. But their behaviour so incensed the pre-apartheid authorities that they were deported.

 

Other similarities: Each did scenes singing to a dog; Elvis sang \'Hounddog\' to a Bassett hound on the Steve Allen show. George sang \'Goodnight Little Fellow Goodnight\' to his dog, Mickey Dripping, in the revue \'Formby Seeing Life\'.

Both Presley and Formby made use of prescription drugs which affected them adversely.

At the end of their lives each man was engaged to be married again, but passed away before the wedding could take place.

 

Two cultural icons. Two unforgettable shining beacons of raw talent and charismatic appeal. Both so different, yet so similar in the power that they held as performers. Noone can deny each his rightful place on the pedestal of immortality.

 

It makes me smile to think that the descendants and heirs of Elvis\' legacy, may be proud to proclaim that Elvis Presley is America\'s George Formby.




© Ralph Shaw 2010

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 21, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
































Christmas.


Supposedly a time of joy; the season of goodwill also tends to deliver a certain amount of pain. Music provides a soothing balm for the extreme emotions that the season brings, and ukulele players have a unique opportunity to heal the spirits.

If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!











Word count this issue: 896 words

Estimated reading time: about 3½ minutes


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 UE #55  DANGER - Christmas Ahead
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I went to the movies last night. I rarely go anymore. Truth is I get so distracted by the goings on in the crowd around me; the popcorn, the phones, the standing up and sitting down etc. I usually prefer to wait until I can watch the movie at home on my old tube television.

 

The movie was The King\'s Speech. It contains some excellent lessons on stage fright. I may talk about those another time. Unbelievably it has an \'R\' - Restricted rating. This is due to the use of some delightfully appropriate anglo-saxon language. However, and at the risk of sounding like an insufferable snob; I have to say that the R rating, plus the non-violent, non-sexual content of the film, did a wonderful job of eliminating riff-raff from the movie theatre.

 

It was the most enjoyable cinema experience I have had in many a year. I didn\'t see or smell a single bucket of popcorn. No glowing phone screens were in operation, and no-one was heard sucking the dregs from the bottom of a hideously priced vat of carbonated sugar water. This was all good. If we don\'t tolerate it during a live performance why should we have to put up with it in a movie theater?





Unfortunately there was nothing anyone could do about the onslaught of advertising.

 

They told us the movie would start at 7:10 pm. It didn\'t. It started at 7:35. For 45 minutes we were subjected to trailers and advertisements. My friends and I marveled at the number of commercials to advertise pain relievers. Headache pills mostly.

 

I don\'t know if the push to sell pain medication is a direct response to the tooth-rattling volume levels in modern cinemas. I rather suspect that its more likely a Christmas thing. A lot of people are under a lot of stress and strain at this time of year and the pharmaceutical corporations have obviously discovered another lucrative market for their wares.

 

There are a lot of things not to like about Christmas. Any festivity which leads to such marked increases in drunkenness, depression and suicide should come with an official health warning. DANGER - Christmas Ahead - Enter at your own Risk.

 

But I won\'t dwell on all that.

 

Better than pain pills; a more holistic approach to keep mind, body and spirit together is to sing. And we ukulele players are the doctors for the season. In our little black cases we carry no instruments of medication. Instead we carry instruments of jollification. Purveying good cheer with which to sweep away the seasonal blahs.

 

Its good tidings indeed that while Christmastime can generate stress it also provides us with opportunities to sing together. Loudly, boisterously and joyfully. That is how it should be done. In the western culture Christmas is one of the last strongholds where our tribe still willingly gathers to sing informally.

 

At a Christmas lunch, where I performed for a society of volunteers; it amused me, as it always does, to loudly sing, \"Sleigh bells ring\" and without any urging the crowd joined in on, \"are you listening\". Exactly the same effect can be achieved by belting out, \"Five Go-old Rings...\" Wild reindeer can\'t stop the resulting, \"fo-our calling birds, three french hens, two-o turtle doves...\" In fact, just for fun, try doing that as loud as you dare in some crowded area and see what happens. It can\'t hurt.

 

Learn some well known Christmas songs. If you\'re not comfortable with the religious aspects of certain songs there are lots of winter songs to choose from: Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, Marshmallow World, Silver Bells, Let It Snow, White Christmas and Blue Christmas.





But also take a look at some of the traditional carols. Try: In the Bleak Midwinter, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, O Holy Night. Christian or not, many would agree that the language and melodies are very moving.


 

I know several musicians who refuse to learn any seasonal repertoire. That\'s a choice. But I think they are missing out on a lot of fun for themselves and for others. I agree that there are few things more nauseating than Christmas music played too soon, too long and in the wrong place. For this reason timing is everything and is also why the little ukulele shines like a Christmas star.

 

Its small. So, at this time of year carry your uke around with you everywhere. No matter whether you play it or not. That\'s not important. Your role is that of a musical shaman. Your power is the ability to transform a group of wary individuals into an openhearted band of humanity. Be ready to open your case and release the music whenever it seems right.

 

It could be a party, on the subway, at the office. A song can change everything. You are the facilitator. The instigator. The brave leader who opens his/her mouth and thereby allows others to open up and sing. It doesn\'t always work. Sometimes you\'ll fail to judge the mood correctly. Doesn\'t matter. It is compensated for in those times when your individual spark bursts into flame and lights up everyone around you.

 

At the Christmas lunch where I sang, a gentleman approached me saying, \"That\'s, er rather an unusual instrument on which to be playing this kind of music.\"

 

I had to respectfully disagree. The ukulele is made for Christmas-tide. Along with trumpets and harps, the angels are surely strumming their ukuleles as we sing along in joyful unison.





I wish each and every one of you the very best that the season has to offer, and a healthy and prosperous 2011.




© Ralph Shaw 2010



 
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Music is indeed a wonderful gift. But that doesn\'t mean you don\'t need to practice! Whether you\'re a beginner or more experienced player, you can grow and expand your repertoire of skills with: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series



1 The Complete Ukulele Course shows you how to get started with tuning and strumming. It then teaches you a variety of techniques to make your playing more and more interesting.


2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele will give you specific strums and a song to go with each one. These include: samba, blues, clawhammer, bossa nova, bo diddley, reggae, march, waltz, syncopation and much more. Essential.


3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. Great fun and excellent practice at a great price!


4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids- Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Music is a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time. The ukulele is a non-threatening and joyful introduction to music education.


Upcoming Events:

Burnaby Village Museum Outdoor Christmas shows on a Vintage Street. Dec 23rd 3:00 to 4:45pm and Dec 29th 2:00 to 3:30pm. 6501, Deer Lake Ave
Burnaby BC. Bring the family and ride the 1930s Carousel.


March 4-5th 2011: Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon


 

March 18-20th 2011: Reno Ukulele Festival, Reno, Nevada

 

March 25-26th 2011: Vancouver Ukulele Festival




Ongoing - Frequent Performances at Granville Island in Vancouver, BC

               


              - Vancouver Ukulele Circle meets 3rd Tuesday every month



CDs available: www.RalphShaw.ca

Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"

By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.

Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals.

King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
(All CDs =$14.95 each)

If you found value in this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends that may be interested (Just use the little blue \"forward email\" link near the end of this email).

Got ideas for future newsletters? Then let me know. I\'ll be more than happy to consider them.

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You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Uketeufel]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 29, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,































Out with the old and in with the new! That\'s what we say on New Year\'s Eve. It\'s a fine sentiment, but one that is difficult to follow through on if you\'re the type who doesn\'t like getting rid of stuff. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!












Word count this issue: 726 words

Estimated reading time: a whisker over 2½ minutes


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UE #56  In With the Old
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




I have no difficulty with the \'In with the new\' part. I like new things. It\'s the \'Out with the old\' that gives me trouble. There are some things that I just hate to throw away. One of them is food. In my home, leftovers are carefully scooped into clean containers and put in the fridge. Sometimes they even get eaten. More often than not they are kept nice and cold until way past any reasonable date where they might still be deemed edible. Then, with a reluctant sigh, I open the containers and scrape the contents into the garbage. I can\'t bear to throw away good food. That\'s why I keep it in a cool place until it is mouldy. Then I throw it out. See - it makes perfect sense.

 

Similarly with ukulele strings. When my uke strings are no longer good for playing music I always feel they must still be good for something. So I keep them; in a box. Many crinkly string packages bursting with bent and gnarly strings whose playing days are over. But for what conceivable purpose can old ukulele strings be used?

 

I finally have the answer. Cat toys.

 

After changing my last set of strings and in a state of absentmindedness; I tied them together with a simple knot about ¾ of the way along, and then threw them onto the coffee table. The ends of the strings continued to bounce. The cat saw the movement and pounced.

 

The cat played with the strings for about ½ an hour. She loved it! This particular toy has given our cat more quality playtime than any of the bought toys from the pet store.

 

Now, where to take this amazing idea? I did think of marketing my brainchild to the multi-million dollar cat-toy industry. But in the end I have decided to offer my invention for the benefit of all humanity. Therefore dear reader, I give it to you for the same amount that it cost me. Nothing. Nada, zilch, diddley squat, absolutely sweet-bugger-all. That is to say, more or less Zero.

 

I\'m thrilled to have found a use for those old strings; but I would love to know if there are other sensible and practical ways in which our old, curly and indented lengths of nylon may be put to work.

 

Here\'s what we\'ll do. Send me your suggested use/s for old ukulele strings. If its a good one I will publish your idea in a future newsletter. The winner with the best suggestion (to be decided by my highly paid research team) will receive one of my CDs or DVDs (your choice) and a ukulele chord chart poster (9\"X17\") to go on the wall of your practice room. PLUS - not only, but also... a free-e-e cat-toy!!!

 

Below is a picture of my cat toy. I had some trouble working out how to make an image of it. The advent of the digital age has rendered me unable to take photographs. I don\'t even own a camera anymore. Even if I did own one I\'m sure it would take me 3 years just to learn how to upload the pictures; or download them or whatever it is. However I popped it in the scanner, which I do know how to use, and I think it came out rather well.


 

 
Cat Toy Made from Old Ukulele Strings




 

I tried scanning the cat too but that didn\'t really work out.

 

So please email me your uses for old strings. And do send an accompanying picture; should you be conversant in the ways of such modern day wizardry.

 

Well now, after all that I\'m feeling a little peckish.

 

Hmm, I wonder what\'s in the fridge?

 

 

P.S. A small disclaimer: I have not checked with a veterinarian that this is a safe toy. You should check that its safe before use. If you know any reason why my toy is not suitable for said purpose please let me know. Also metal or wound strings are probably not a good idea; so only use nylon strings. Cat-gut strings are definitely out.

 

P.P.S. No animals were scanned in the making of this column.

 

 

Thank you for a wonderful 2010. I truly appreciate all the feedback, kind words and greetings you have given me all year long.

 

I wish you a very happy new year and a musical and joyful 2011
 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer

Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 30, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,































Oh dear! I thought it might happen - and it has. Along with BP and Toyota I too must suffer public embarrassment for a faulty product.




I have been reliably informed that the cat toy idea I proposed (see recent newsletter below) is possibly dangerous for our furry friends, pelted pals and matted mates.





A veterinarian writes: I also hate to throw my old things away but old strings should not be used for a cat toy.  There is a condition called string foreign body that generally refers to the swallowing of string or yarn.  Also called linear foreign body.  If a linear foreign body is swallowed the intestines will attempt to move it along with peristaltic contractions.  Because the offending material is long one segment of the intestine will be contracted with the adjacent segment relaxed.  This action is repeated causing a stretching out of the foreign body until it can start cutting through the wall of the intestine. I\'ve performed many linear foreign body surgeries.  Probably better to throw those old strings away.
 
Always enjoy reading your letter,
 

I wish to thank Jim Hardesty DVM for supplying me with that valuable tidbit of information. As a cat owner who once paid to have a kitty cut open for the removal of foreign objects I can tell you that it is not fun and not cheap.





But all is not lost. Many of you have already sent in great ideas for using those old ukulele strings. Keep them coming and in a few weeks I\'ll declare a winner for the grand prize which will no longer include a cat toy made from ukulele strings.




Bye for now,

Ralph


 










``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
 


UE #56  In With the Old
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Out with the old and in with the new! That\'s what we say on New Year\'s Eve. It\'s a fine sentiment, but one that is difficult to follow through on if you\'re the type who doesn\'t like getting rid of stuff.





I have no difficulty with the \'In with the new\' part. I like new things. It\'s the \'Out with the old\' that gives me trouble. There are some things that I just hate to throw away. One of them is food. In my home, leftovers are carefully scooped into clean containers and put in the fridge. Sometimes they even get eaten. More often than not they are kept nice and cold until way past any reasonable date where they might still be deemed edible. Then, with a reluctant sigh, I open the containers and scrape the contents into the garbage. I can\'t bear to throw away good food. That\'s why I keep it in a cool place until it is mouldy. Then I throw it out. See - it makes perfect sense.

 

Similarly with ukulele strings. When my uke strings are no longer good for playing music I always feel they must still be good for something. So I keep them; in a box. Many crinkly string packages bursting with bent and gnarly strings whose playing days are over. But for what conceivable purpose can old ukulele strings be used?

 

I finally have the answer. Cat toys.

 

After changing my last set of strings and in a state of absentmindedness; I tied them together with a simple knot about ¾ of the way along, and then threw them onto the coffee table. The ends of the strings continued to bounce. The cat saw the movement and pounced.

 

The cat played with the strings for about ½ an hour. She loved it! This particular toy has given our cat more quality playtime than any of the bought toys from the pet store.

 

Now, where to take this amazing idea? I did think of marketing my brainchild to the multi-million dollar cat-toy industry. But in the end I have decided to offer my invention for the benefit of all humanity. Therefore dear reader, I give it to you for the same amount that it cost me. Nothing. Nada, zilch, diddley squat, absolutely sweet-bugger-all. That is to say, more or less Zero.

 

I\'m thrilled to have found a use for those old strings; but I would love to know if there are other sensible and practical ways in which our old, curly and indented lengths of nylon may be put to work.

 

Here\'s what we\'ll do. Send me your suggested use/s for old ukulele strings. If its a good one I will publish your idea in a future newsletter. The winner with the best suggestion (to be decided by my highly paid research team) will receive one of my CDs or DVDs (your choice) and a ukulele chord chart poster (9\"X17\") to go on the wall of your practice room. PLUS - not only, but also... a free-e-e cat-toy!!!

 

Below is a picture of my cat toy. I had some trouble working out how to make an image of it. The advent of the digital age has rendered me unable to take photographs. I don\'t even own a camera anymore. Even if I did own one I\'m sure it would take me 3 years just to learn how to upload the pictures; or download them or whatever it is. However I popped it in the scanner, which I do know how to use, and I think it came out rather well.