Ralph Shaw gibt ab jetzt einen wöchentlichen Newsletter heraus, in dem er Gedanken und Ideen mit anderen Ukulelenspielern teilen und Tips geben will:
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
August 25 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Welcome to the very first issue of The Ukulele Entertainer! This is an email newsletter created to help ukulele players with both their playing and performance skills. These weekly newsletters are designed to inform, educate and entertain. They will also be short usually taking around 3 minutes or less to read.
You are on my email list and receiving this newsletter because, you are a ukulele player who has contacted me in the past and/or you are someone who has purchased my ukulele teaching dvds and/or you are a personal friend or client or a fan who may be interested in reading what I am up to. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend.
(If you don\'t wish to receive any more emails you can unsubscribe using the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 651 words
Estimated reading time: About 2½ minutes
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UE #1 Start by Making Some Mistakes!
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Do you ever have difficulty in starting something new? Such as writing a letter? That\'s what I\'m going through right now. I trust that in a month or two I will have an easier time writing these newsletters than I am having with this one. What to say? I intend that this be the first of many and therefore I\'d like to get off to an auspicious start. I want it to be good. But, then again, perhaps I needn\'t make such a big deal out of it...
I am reminded of something my friend and ukulele playing colleague (who I will call Andy A.) told me one day.
I was at his home and I commented on his prolific output of oil paintings. They were displayed on his living room wall and mostly showed natural scenes from the area where he lives in California. It turns out that when he took up painting again in middle age his teacher told him to do a painting every day for 100 days.
I was surprised and I asked Andy A. \"Why so many?\".
The reason, he told me, was to get him to paint as many paintings as possible as fast as possible. It often happens that when we begin a new project we want everything to go just right. Our adult ego can get very attached to whether or not our first baby steps are successful or not. Babies of course do not have this problem. They just keep getting up and falling down until they eventually make it. So to prevent Andy A. fussing and fretting and trying to make his first efforts perfect he was instructed to just get them out of the way so that his baby steps lost their aura of importance.
Its a good lesson for all of us. When I teach my performance workshops to students who have a desire to get on stage I usually tell them about Andy and his 100 paintings. I tell them to get out there and do as many performances as they can and to make mistakes. Picasso said that to be a great artist you have to make at least 20,000 mistakes. So make as many mistakes as you can and make them as fast as possible!
And now look at that. I\'m already a good way into this newsletter with not much further to go. Phew what a relief!
So why am I doing this? Well, this newsletter is a coming-together for me of several interests and desires. I love to sing and play the ukulele. I also get a thrill out of performing and entertaining. And I like to teach these skills. More recently I rekindled a love of writing that, except for my songwriting, has more or less been dormant for many years. When the idea of creating a newsletter came I realized it was an opportunity to communicate my ideas of ukulele playing and musical performance that would add to the information I had already put out in my Complete Ukulele Course DVD series.
With these newsletters I will be sharing thoughts and ideas to help ukulele players to play better. And since most musicians also want to perform in one capacity or another I will also be providing tips on improving your chances of success when you get out in front of people. Much of the information will be useful for other musicians and entertainers besides uke players.
As we go along I\'ll also be writing about the things that interest and inspire me to become an ever better ukulele entertainer. Exactly where this road will lead I\'m not exactly sure. Right now though I invite you to come along on this journey with me and when I\'ve written 100 newsletters and/or made 20,000 mistakes we should have a better idea of where we are headed!
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Want to be a better ukulele player? The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn outside of having an actual teacher right there with you. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish. Learn more about my ukulele dvds
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).
I wish to publicly thank my friend Daphne Gray-Grant The Publication Coach for her invaluable help and inspiration in getting this newsletter project up and rolling. Any similarities in our newsletter presentation are purely my tribute to the quality of her work.
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 1 2009
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Dear Raimund,
One of the simplest ways to add interest and musicianship to your playing is to pay attention to the loudness and softness of your sound. Todays newsletter demonstrates the importance of volume variation and offers suggestions on how to achieve this.
You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 791 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #2 Make your Ukulele Into a Piano-Forte!
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One of the easiest but most neglected ways to make your playing interesting is through the use of dynamics. In music the word dynamics simply means, The variation in the volume of a musical sound.
Pianoforte is the original name of the instrument we now call a piano. The word \'Piano\' means soft and \'Forte\' means loud. Before the pianoforte came along keyboard instruments such as harpsichords only played at one volume. The new technology enabled the player to make their music louder and softer by pressing the keys with more or less force. The enormous increase in expressive range that this led to was considered of such importance that they named the instrument after it. Think about that!
Even if you are a complete beginner with only 2 chords under your belt you can already start making your ukulele playing much more expressive by varying the volume. Changing the volume of your music is easy to do, very effective and is not used nearly enough by many players. Listen to some of your favorite music (it doesn\'t have to have a ukulele in it) and pay special attention to how the volume and energy rises and falls.
In my mind\'s eye I can picture the swells and the drop-offs in volume as being like a series of hills and valleys. For many pieces of music you find that the ups and downs are small to medium but they rise to a crescendo somewhere near the end. Play a song that you know well and keep your mind on where volume changes can help with the expression of that song.
When I first started playing I had an inexpensive Japanese made wooden ukulele. And boy would I try and get some volume out of that little wooden box! The reason is that the only ukulele player I knew of in those days was George Formby the British star of the \'30s and \'40s. He played a banjo-ukulele and to me his playing sounded thrillingly loud and percussive. I wanted my ukulele to sound like that and I was surprisingly successful at getting every ounce of volume out of my small wooden instrument.
How did I achieve this amazing feat? Well here is my secret: You can play louder by hitting the strings harder. Ok I know its not much of a secret but hey work on it anyway! Get your wrist nice and relaxed and see how loud you can go. The movement can feel almost whip-like as your finger hits the string. Which brings up a point. Playing loud may be a little hard on the finger so here\'s a tip (a finger-tip?!!). Try using several fingers to strum down on the strings together. Or you may want to use a pick. The one I use is made by Jim Dunlop (USA nylon .60mm) and I keep it close by, right on the headstock of my uke, so I can quickly grab it for those moments where I want some extra oomf!
Playing quietly is as important as playing loudly. How soft can you go? This is where the sensitive and fleshy thumb can make your instrument whisper as delicately as the evening breeze in the leaves of a tree. How sweet it is ...hmmm!
When I finally did get a bona-fide banjo-ukulele I had to learn to play it very quietly indeed. If you have 30 wooden ukuleles playing together and only one banjo-uke it will be the banjo-uke that sticks out like a hippopotamus at a wedding. In order to make my instrument blend in as much as possible in these group situations I always aim to be as \'piano\' with my playing as I can be.
And think about dynamics before you begin to play a song. If you start too loud you have nowhere to go but softer. A softer beginning will make your later crescendo so much more effective.
One last, kind of related, thing. It was comedian George Carlin who made me aware of the incorrect use of forte in every day language.
People often say \"That\'s not really my forte.\" (Pronounced fortay with two syllables) As in: \"Mathematics is not my forte\".
They mean that math is not one of their strengths and they are showing off their knowledge of foreign languages by inserting some French into the conversation. However if they were speaking French they would pronounce it with one syllable like the English word \'Fort\'.
What they are actually doing is introducing the Italian term of forte which means loud. So when they say, \"Mathematics is not my forte\" (with 2 syllables) they are actually stating that they are not very loud at Math.
Oh well that\'s probably a good thing too.
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Want to be a better ukulele player? My DVD series: The Complete Ukulele Course will give you lots of new ideas to try. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn outside of having an actual teacher right there with you. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
I wish to publicly thank my friend Daphne Gray-Grant The Publication Coach for her invaluable help and inspiration in getting this newsletter project up and rolling. Any similarities in our newsletter presentation are purely my tribute to the quality of her work.
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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Danke.
Ich habe es abonniert!
Spottdrossel von Rabenschloss
Zitat von: SpottdrosselDanke.
Ich habe es abonniert!
Danke, ich auch... :D
Endlich habe ich etwas sehr einfach zu lesen auf dieser Seite!!! :P hehe
Aber er schreibt soviel wie ein Oper von Wagner! hehehe
Spottdrossel von Rabenschloss
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 8 2009
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Dear Raimund,
The Soprano Ukulele is one of the only instruments that has more than one standard tuning. Weird eh?! Todays newsletter offers some suggestions on which tuning to choose as well as not offering advice about how to play in a hammock.
You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 823 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #3 How to Tune Your Hammock
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Having spent the last 2 days lounging in tree dappled shade this week\'s newsletter was going to be about a very neglected subject: How to Play Ukulele While in a Hammock.
Just some of the awkward and irksome questions involved in hammock playing include: What kind of ukulele is best? Are banjo-ukuleles too heavy? Is the baritone ukulele too large? Where do I put my tuner?
And: Some hammocks suspend from a single point and have a tendency to spin around making it almost impossible to reach my beverage - if indeed I haven\'t already kicked it over. Hammocks that suspend from 2 points tend to squash my arms to the side of my body. This can lead to debilitating friction burns on the elbows.
Obviously the scope and magnitude of these issues would be better dealt with as a bound textbook rather than the economical newsletter format.
Instead I am going to talk about the question which causes more anxiety for beginner players than any other:
Which tuning should I use for my soprano ukulele?
Sounds simple, yes? Actually No. Here is why. Most instruments have one standard tuning that has long been agreed on. Example: Guitars are tuned EADGBE, mandolins (and violins) are tuned GDAE.
I find it somewhat bizarre that the soprano ukulele actually has 2 standard tunings. The Hawaiians and most of the world use GCEA tuning. This is often known as C tuning because it is really easy to make a C chord by playing the 1st string at the 3rd fret. The other and less popular D tuning has each string tuned a full tone higher: ADF#B.
D tuning was favored in the vaudeville era (1920s and 30s). The tighter strings packed more punch and power and were easier to hear in the unamplified theatres. This tuning was also adopted as the default tuning by the George Formby Society in the U.K. Interesting that George Formby didn\'t even know what tuning he was in. His ukes had bits of paper with them to remind which were his \'high\' and \'low\' ukes! Canadian Schools use ADF#B for teaching ukulele to kids. The schools also use a low 4th string making it implicit that ukulele is taught more for melody playing or as a stepping stone to the guitar. More on the low 4th string some other time...
Why 2 tunings? I\'m not really sure. The ancient ukulele instructional I had when first learning gave chord charts for both tunings but no help around which one to pick. I chose C tuning because I already played harmonica and recorder both of which also happened to be in C. Otherwise my choice was arbitrary.
I use GCEA for all my soprano, concert and tenor size ukes. I do this is because like an old dog I find it difficult to learn the trick of thinking in a new tuning. I know where all my chords are and I know their names. To start learning new chord names for familiar chord shapes would be like trying to learn a new language later in life. Possible but somewhat formidable.
Which is the better tuning? The vaudevillians definitely had the right idea. The extra tension on the instrument by having the strings slightly tighter in D tuning seems to work better for most soprano ukuleles that I have tried.
So why doesn\'t everyone use D tuning? The answer is I don\'t know. Does anyone still remember the 2 formats of video tapes -VHS and Betamax? Betamax was considered by most to be the superior system yet VHS was the one that most of the world used. Similarly Mac computers are generally thought to be better yet PCs outsell them by about 40 to 1.
Generally speaking whatever tuning you use doesn\'t matter as long as you know your chords. For example a G chord is always a G. The fingerings are different for C and D tuned ukes but if your music says to play a G chord and you are playing a G chord then it will sound right. This may seem patently obvious to many of you but you\'d be surprised how confused people can get.
Ukulele playalongs can be challenging if the songs are mostly in the keys of C and F. These are simple keys to play in on a C uke but more demanding on a D uke.
Importantly it must be remembered that most available learning materials, including my own DVDs, use the more universal C tuning. So I would recommend GCEA for most people who are starting out. There is nothing to stop you later on from switching to D tuning or even to try slack key ukulele where you essentially get to invent your own tunings!
This will have to be enough for now. I see a guy walking towards me very briskly. He seems somewhat annoyed that I am in his hammock again...gotta go!!
XTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to be a better ukulele player? My DVD series: The Complete Ukulele Course will give you lots of new ideas to try. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn outside of having an actual teacher right there with you. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
Upcoming October Tour: I\'ll be in California (St. Helena\'s Wine Country Uke Fest & Santa Cruz), Oregon (Eugene Uke-toberfest) and Eastern Canada (Moncton and Nova Scotia\'s Ukulele Ceilidh).
Details at: Tour Dates
If you are on Facebook you can join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 15 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Ever wondered what to do with that broken old ukulele? Here is a wonderful idea to turn your unplayable instrument into a delicious* fall beverage. You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 674 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE #4 Turn Your Plink into Plonk - Ukulele Wine!
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Sometimes bad things happen to good ukuleles. Irrepairable accidents are, fortunately, not common but always heartbreaking when they do occur.
This summer a friend of mine was playing ukulele at a beach campfire singalong. Everyone sat on logs. Taking a break from playing he carefully laid his uke behind the log on which he was sitting. When someone piled more wood on the fire everyone got too hot and the log was rolled back...Crunch!!!
Now you might think that was the end of his ukulele - but no. I have been able to supply him with this recipe for delicious** Ukulele Wine.
This Recipe makes 1 Imperial Gallon of Ukulele Wine
You will need:
1 ukulele (crushed)
1 gallon of boiling water
6 cups of sugar (organic raw sugar eg. Sucanat will add more flavor and body than ordinary white sugar)
1 cup of prunes
1 Campden Tablet (crushed) Optional - this is a preservative but is also what puts sulphites in your wine. If you\'re not using this do make sure everything is scrupulously sanitized.
1¼ tsp Wine Yeast.
Remove strings and all plastic and metal parts; tuners, frets, plastic nut/bridge etc. from your ukulele. Rinse the ukulele well and crush as finely as possible. Remember, the smaller you make the pieces of your ukulele the more flavor it will impart.
In a large food grade bucket combine the crushed ukulele fragments and boiling water. Cover with porous lid and soak for 24 hours. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth (or clean pantyhose will do for this) into a large cooking pot. Bring to boil and remove from heat.
Return the heated liquid to the fermenting bucket (this is called your primary) and stir in all other ingredients EXCEPT the yeast.
Allow to cool until lukewarm then sprinkle wine yeast on top or prepare yeast as per instructions on the package. Cover fermenter with a porous cover to protect from fruit flies and to allow carbon dioxide to escape. You can use the other, left-over leg of your panty hose for this.
Allow to ferment for at least 14 days. Stir daily making sure to always sanitize your spoon.
Siphon wine off the sediment into a glass secondary. Attach airlock. When fermentation is complete (Specific Gravity = 1.000 about 3 weeks. Use a hydrometer to measure this) siphon off sediment into a clean secondary. Top up with cooled pre-boiled water. Attach airlock. Siphon off sediment again in 2 months to aid clearing and top up with cooled pre-boiled water again if necessary. Let stand until clear.
At long last, after the 6 to 12 month clearing period, you get to bottle your wine. To do so sterilize all your bottles and tools. Siphon wine into bottles allowing about an inch of air space between the surface of your wine and the bottom of a fully inserted cork.
Store the filled bottles on their sides to keep corks moist, ideally in a cool dark place. That\'s it - you\'ve just crafted your first gallon of delicious*** Ukulele Wine! (aka. Plink Plonk)
* ukulele wine probably should not be consumed internally. Non organic glues and varnishes may be enough to render this drink poisonous and yukky. Keep this in mind for the future. Next time you buy a ukulele do insist that it be made from all organic edible materials. I\'m sure most ukulele builders will be more than happy to help you with your request.
** like I said before. You probably shouldn\'t drink this stuff. I won\'t take any responsibility for the after effects .
*** again. This stuff could be toxic and you may be better off using it for putting a deep and lustrous shine on your wooden furniture and antique leather items****
****Please note that ukulele wine may be damaging to products made of wood and/or leather.
PS. If anybody actually goes ahead and makes this please let me know how it turns out.
Next Week: I\'ll tell you how to deep-fry your old ukulele strings to make a delicious and Ocean-Wise alternative to Kalamari.
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Are you whining about wanting to be a better ukulele player?! My DVD series: The Complete Ukulele Course will give you lots of new ideas to try. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn outside of having an actual teacher right there with you. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
Upcoming October Tour: I\'ll be in California (St. Helena\'s Wine Country Uke Fest & Santa Cruz), Oregon (Eugene Uke-toberfest) and Eastern Canada (Moncton and Nova Scotia\'s Ukulele Ceilidh).
Details at: Tour Dates
If you are on Facebook you can join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 22 2009
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Dear Raimund,
What makes a good ukulele? Or a bad one for that matter? This week we are looking at how poetry can give us the main things to look for when deciding on that all important ukulele purchase!
You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 840 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #5 How John Keats Would Choose A Ukulele
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It is wonderful news, for ukulele players everywhere, that the choice of ukuleles has increased exponentially in the last 10 years or so. Large music companies and private luthiers are all busy making playable ukuleles in every price range. It\'s great to have this choice but the variety can also be daunting to the musical beginner.
The amount you spend on a ukulele is not necessarily an accurate guide to instrument quality but it\'s a good place to start. Decide on the maximum you are able to spend and that way you eliminate the more expensive models.
How do we decide what qualities to look for in a ukulele? As with many of life\'s important questions the answer can be found in the classics.
In 1819 when the poet John Keats penned his Ode On a Grecian Urn he may just as well have been writing about a ukulele. In fact I am certain that, if ukuleles had been around in his day, this would have been the subject of his poem instead of a dusty old jug.
They both start with \'u\'.
In many ways the urn and ukulele are quite similar. Both are functional yet beautiful, they both make a noise when you hit them and they each have a hole in the top into which Retsina and other liquids may be poured. This latter use however is not recommended for most ukuleles.
Ultimately the main qualities you need to look for in either object can be put under 2 main headings. They are Truth and Beauty.
In his Ode On a Grecian Urn Keats suggests these qualities amount to the same thing but we won\'t get too deep into philosophy today!
1) Truth
Find out if the ukulele is true by checking it for solid construction and good intonation.
What does solid construction mean?
The ukulele should be solid enough to still be in tune after being played for a few minutes or more.
If strings keep going out of tune the most usual culprits are dinky tuning pegs. They either don\'t hold the string firm or they move with the smallest touch. Sometimes they can be tightened with a small screwdriver and then they work fine but sometimes not so check that. (I will also add that with a new ukulele there may be some loss of tuning due to the stretching of the new nylon strings. It can take 2 days for strings to fully settle).
Although small and light a good ukulele should also be durable. Check for the quality of workmanship. You don\'t have to be an expert luthier to cast a critical eye over the instrument. If you saw a poorly made coffee table with gaps in the joins and rough unfinished edges you\'d probably notice that. Look for similar faults in the ukulele.
If you have ever held a wooden model aeroplane in your hands you may have noticed that it has qualities of both strength and incredible lightness. A good ukulele should have a similar feel.
What is good intonation?
When a ukulele has been accurately put together the frets, nut and bridge should all be mathematically placed in their correct locations.
If they are not placed correctly what happens is this: You get a string in tune but when you put your finger on a string it then sounds out of tune. Poor intonation is when the strings that have fingers on them are out of tune with those being played open. This can be expensive to fix so I would say that if you suspect a ukulele has poor intonation don\'t buy it!
2) Beauty
To make beautiful music it is important that our instrument have a beautiful sound. (It also doesn\'t hurt if it looks nice).
Ukuleles have a reputation for being \'plinky\'. What is \'plinky\'? In scientific terms some ukuleles sound plinky because they only produce a narrow range of frequencies. (When you adjust the bass and treble on your sound system you are adjusting the low and high frequencies). In a poorly made uke the strings vibrate but the vibration is not supported by the body of the uke and so the sound dies off very quickly. A better ukulele will vibrate longer and more richly thereby creating resonance.
To quickly describe resonance I would ask you to think of a mighty organ note being played in an old European cathedral. Every bit of sound bounces off every wall to every other wall. When the organ stops playing the sound continues for several seconds more as the sound waves, settled in their harmonious rhythms, dance back and forth. That is resonance and your ukulele is your cathedral.
Listen to some different ukuleles and decide what sound you like before you buy one. Beauty is in the shell-like ear of the beholder and what sounds good to one may not always sound good to an other.
Generally, I would say that the more resonant your instrument, the more satisfying it will be for you to play.
\"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,\" - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
John Keats May 1819
XTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Make beautiful music and sing your own truth!
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will give you lots of new ideas to help you learn. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn outside of having an actual teacher right there with you. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
Upcoming October Tour: I\'ll be in California (St. Helena\'s Wine Country Uke Fest & Santa Cruz), Oregon (Eugene Uke-toberfest) and Eastern Canada (Moncton and Nova Scotia\'s Ukulele Ceilidh).
Details at: Tour Dates
If you are on Facebook you can join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Why do some banjo ukuleles have great tone and others not? This week\'s newsletter takes a look at this intriguing question! Also we\'ll have a couple of references to songs by the great banjo-ukuleleist George Formby.
You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 742 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE #6 Hey! This Drum has a Handle.
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In last week\'s issue I gave some pointers to help the new ukulele buyer in choosing a ukulele. I compared the qualities of a good ukulele as being similar to those of the Grecian urn mentioned in John Keats\' famous poem. I call this method of choosing a ukulele: \'Play as you urn\'. Ha Ha, thank you folks.
The type of ukulele mentioned was the wooden ukulele, the kind which looks like a miniature guitar. But what of the banjo ukulele? Are the qualities to look for the same?
There are actually some interesting differences. For example: Having exact intonation is paramount with a wooden uke but not as much of an issue with the ukulele banjo. This is because the bridge is moveable so the intonation can be more easily adjusted.
But before going further let\'s take a look at the history of the banjo.
The earliest banjo-like instruments originated in Africa. It was there, probably on the banks of the Limpopo river, where a bored drummer sat outside his hut wishing he could figure out a way to play The Chinese Laundry Blues on his drum. (That and other songs from the George Formby oeuvre).
The solution he came up with was to attach a piece of string (which in those days was probably animal gut or an early form of nylon) across the top surface of the drum. This was extended out to the side using a stick which now made his drum appear to have a handle, like a frying pan. A smaller stick was added as a bridge under the string to transfer the vibration of the plucked string to the surface of the drum.
The sound that this combination produced pleased our Limpopo tribesman so much that he soon added a couple more strings to his creation. Pretty soon he was grinning, winking and bashing out Leaning on a Lampost to his heart\'s content!
It is important to remember that the banjo is closely related to the drum. I discovered this for myself when I first became interested in wanting to play the banjo-ukulele. I bought several banjo-ukes. All of them were fairly inexpensive and they all turned out to be not very good. I could never quite figure out what was wrong with them. They stayed in tune and were playable but none had that glorious sound that I heard in the old 1930s recordings.
It was when I was asked by the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum to perform a set of George Formby songs for his induction into the Ukulele Hall of Fame that I made the decision to finally purchase a reliably decent instrument. I ended up buying a 1926 Gibson UB2 from a store in the USA. The store owner strummed it over the phone and I had a good feeling about it so I bought it.
I was not wrong. My Gibson ukulele-banjo sounded fantastic. But I couldn\'t help wondering why? It seemed to me that all the sound comes from the vibration of the surface of the skin. So why would one banjo-uke exhibit great tonal quality and another sound really poor?
The answer came when I visited a drum store and asked,
\"What makes one drum sound better than another?\"
Their answer was immediate, \"It\'s the pot\", they said.
For a moment, and you must understand I was in Canada\'s foremost hippy region at the time, I thought they meant that smoking certain plants would improve the sound. But that is not what they meant at all. The \'pot\' is the body of the drum. Or in a banjo it is the heavy ring of wood across which the vellum (or skin) is stretched.
It is no accident that some of the finest banjo-ukes of the 1920s were made by the Ludwig drum company. They knew the characteristics that make a drum sound good and transferred this knowledge to their ukuleles.
I mention all this because it is of great importance that a banjo ukulele have a good tone. These instruments have a sound that can really carry so try and make it a nice sound if you can!
If anyone is interested in buying one of my own \'unique sounding\' banjo-ukuleles then please get in touch. Oh, and by the way, just to sweeten the deal I can also throw in a bridge over the Limpopo River!
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 6 2009
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Dear Raimund,
How punctual are you? Punctuality can mean different things to different people. This weeks newsletter explores the idea of being on time and what it means to your playing.You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 702 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE #7 The Importance of Being on Time.
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More than one uptight, city dwelling ukulele player has been frustrated on their first visit to an island music jam. They get to the jam session right at the arranged time only to discover they are the only one there.
Everyone else saunters in over the next hour or so without apology. Some laugh at the punctuality of the visitor and tell her, \"You\'ll learn that we are all on island time here\".
Living on \'island time\' is the same as saying that it\'s better to be late than stressed. It\'s a wonderful way to live. Providing of course that everyone else is in mutual agreement that island time is what we are all setting our clocks by.
I have to confess however that my tendency is more towards the uptight punctuality of the city slicker but not because I grew up in a city.
It was at home in the Yorkshire village of Millhouse Green where I sat one wintry afternoon and watched the 1956 movie Around the World in 80 Dayswith my grandma. For the first time I learned that fanatical punctuality can be fun!
It\'s a long film and I remember very little about it except for the ending. This is when the obsessively punctual Phileas Fogg is back home in London sadly getting over the fact that he has lost his bet. After 81 days of travelling he has lost the wager that he can circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. That is until his valet comes running in with a newspaper showing him the date and they realize that in crossing the international date line they are now a day early and still have a chance of winning the bet.
There ensues a hectic race across London where Phileas Fogg arrives elegantly in the appointed room just as the minute hand reaches the top of the hour. The icing on the cake for me was to watch the fellow who he had made the bet with. He sat in his leather armchair refusing to celebrate his victory until the last minute was passed. Saying something like; \'that Phileas Fogg is the most confoundedly punctual man I have ever met\'. And so it turned out.
As much as I try, and occasionally succeed, to live on island time I have to confess I still get a certain kick out of arriving to an appointment at exactly the scheduled time.
Now you are probably wondering what this has to do with playing the ukulele. Well I\'ll tell you. Live by island time if you wish and if you can. You will be less stressed and mostly happier if you can go according to your inner body clock rather than by the strict regime of the relentlessly predictable tick of the timepiece.
But...playing the ukulele is a different story. Your strums need to be on time. Right on time. Not early, not late. There are no excuses. If every strum is slightly ahead of schedule then you will find your playing getting faster throughout the piece. If you are sometimes early and sometimes late then your audience will begin to twitch and jerk as their foot tapping tries to keep in sync with your erratic time keeping. They don\'t like that.
You see it turns out that, unless we pay very close attention to it, our inner body clock can be pretty unreliable when it comes to keeping exact time. It is possible but it takes work.
The key, is to listen to yourself. Practice playing along with a metronome or a drum machine. You will find that as your mind wanders then so does your rhythm. You discover that you have to keep concentrating on the beat and constantly listening to and adjusting your strum. This is not easy, especially when we have other distractions such as lyrics to remember or an audience that is staring at us.
To sum up: Live your life on island time by all means but when you play your ukulele be as punctual as the obsessive Phileas Fogg. Strive to make every note, every strum, every beat arrive right on time. Neither early nor late but always right on the money!
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Hey Why not jam with me! My DVD: Ukulele Play Along is a great tool for learning to play on time. The chords are shown on the screen and you get to play right along with me. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
October Tour: I\'ll be in California (St. Helena\'s Wine Country Uke Fest & Santa Cruz), Oregon (Eugene Uke-toberfest) and Eastern Canada (Moncton and Nova Scotia\'s Ukulele Ceilidh).
Details at: Tour Dates
If you are on Facebook you can join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
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email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca
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Ich habe eben Übersetzungsdienst ausprobiert und mich eine halbe Stunde köstlich amüsiert !
Allerdings habe nicht alles verstanden. :(
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 20 2009
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Dear Raimund,
We all want to be able sing in tune without going flat or discordant. Today we look at what it means to sing on pitch and how we can prevent going out of tune. You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 814 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #9 Sing On Pitch 1: - Why Bother?
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Those of us who have been in an audience while the singer on stage belts out a series of notes, all of them slightly flat, know the uncomfortable squirmy feeling that it gives us. Just to be clear, for those of you who aren\'t sure, \'uncomfortable\' and \'squirmy\' are probably not the feelings that the singer is hoping to arouse in us.
When you stand before an audience with a ukulele and begin to sing you do your utmost to make it a positive experience for all. Depending on the song the experience for the audience can include; Joyful abandon, peaceful nostalgia, heartbreaking sadness, sensuality, laughter and the list goes on.
A good song sung with care and commitment will carry the audience along. It\'s a form of story telling. And what can really mess it up are distractions. Distractions can include; a smoke alarm going off during the chorus, a dog suddenly biting someone in the front row or the president arriving unexpectedly to listen to you sing.
All these things we have no control over but we must do everything we can to not provide our own distractions.
Singing in tune is not really noticed. It is generally taken for granted that a singer will be in tune. Singing out of tune however is one of the biggest distractions of all. Sing out of tune and most of your audience won\'t be aware of anything else you do. They\'ll be too busy squirming in their seats thinking thoughts like, \"This person sounds awful, why do they do it? Why am I listening to it?! Is that Mr Obama sitting in row 6?\"
Having established that singing out of tune is not good. What can we do about it? Here are some ideas:
Know your song. Be sure of the melody. If you\'re not certain of how much the notes go up and down in pitch then how can you go up and down by the correct amounts?
Sing with confidence. This sounds easy but only for a lucky few can confidence be turned on like a switch. Usually it builds as you become more certain of your own ability. Knowing that you know your material and can present it to a level that satisfies you will develop your confidence. Playing for others and discovering that you may actually have some talent will build confidence too.
Listen to yourself. There is a lot going on when you sing. You have your strumming to think about, you have words to remember and chords to get right. Your mind is constantly switching around attending to these matters. Don\'t assume that your voice can be let loose to do its own thing. Keep listening to it. One idea is to record yourself singing a song and then go back and listen to find the points where you go out of tune. Then you know to always switch on your listening ear at those points.
Always have enough vocal support. Usually when people sing out of tune they sing flat. This is because their vocal technique is not providing enough support and energy to lift the note up to the exact place where it should be. I think of my vocal sound as being like a stream of water coming from a hose. If the pressure to the hose gets turned down then the stream of water just drops off. So keep the pressure constant by having a well supported vocal mechanism.
Make sure you are in the right vocal range for your voice. Example: If you are a male with a deep voice and you are trying to sing higher than is comfortable for you this can cause errors in pitch. You\'ll have similar difficulty if you have a high voice and are trying to sing too low.
Singing well is not an easy skill. There are many factors to be developed. It\'s a skill that involves being in control and letting go at the same time. You won\'t always be in pitch but you can work at it so that the times you go out of tune will be both fewer and farther apart.
It really is worth it to work on this stuff. Most of us like the ukulele because it is portable but nothing is as easy to carry and as rich and sweet sounding as a beautiful voice.
Despite in my youth having been told otherwise, I have learned to love and appreciate my own voice. It is because of the vocal challenges that I have peronally overcome that I believe there are a great many singers out there who don\'t allow their potential to flower.
Next week we\'ll talk some more on this subject in a newsletter entitled either: \'How to Polish a Tin Ear.\' Or: \'Where to Look When the President Sits in the Aisle Seat of Row
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 27 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Sometimes you\'ll hear singers talk about being \'pitch perfect\' or of having \'perfect pitch\'. Most ukulele players just want to sing in tune and todays newsletter suggests some ideas to help improve this important skill.You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 833 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE#10 Sing On Pitch 2: A Bucket to Carry Your Tune In
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So, what is perfect pitch?
One version says that a perfect pitch is when you throw the violin into the garbage dumpster and it hits the guitar!
Does that joke work? It was originally told to me as a ukulele being thrown and hitting a banjo. I never found it very funny so I\'m trying to improve it. OK never mind - On with the newsletter!!!
Let\'s sort out some terminology first. Perfect Pitch is the ability to recognize a musical note in the same way that most people can recognize colour. We are taught as children to know what the colour blue looks like. We are not born with this knowledge. It is said that if we were taught as children to recognize what a D note sounds like we\'d all be able to do that too. Unfortunately so few people can do this that most of us think of it as an almost mystical skill. Supposedly it can be learned. I haven\'t learned it yet but maybe one day...
This newsletter is not about perfect pitch. Rather it is about being able to sing as perfectly on pitch as possible.
Some people claim to be, \"tone deaf\" They say things like, \"I have a tin ear\" or \"I can\'t carry a tune in a bucket\". They claim that they don\'t know how to sing in tune. This is odd because they sure do talk in tune. They express themselves eloquently and in tonally rich voices!
Listen to speech. The spoken language is full of lowering and rising inflections. To make a story interesting it is vital that the tones of our speech go up and down by specific amounts. It is rare to hear a voice that just goes on and on in a flat monotone. Only rarely do we hear someone who speaks like that. People who do usually have to resort to becoming spouses or university lecturers (Ha Ha!).
Therefore I always tell these people: If you can talk without being in a flat monotone then you have within you the potential to sing. This is important. The earliest feedback that most of us receive about our singing comes from our families. As toddlers we get applause for any inane sound that comes out of our mouths but when we get older the reverse happens.
Somewhere in our childhood it only needs one person to tell us that we don\'t have what it takes as a singer to make us give up on the idea for years or sometimes forever. This is very sad. I remember when it happened to me. A boy on the school bus told me, \"You can try and sing Ralph but you\'ll never sound nice because you don\'t have a naturally good voice.\"
The last I heard he is writing for a major British newspaper and I hope that his editorials have improved since his school bus days.
I got back into singing again when I took up hiking on the moors near my home. My friends and I would trudge across the wind-blown peat bogs singing loudly any song that came into our heads. This was the beginning of freeing up my voice. After that came years of refinement.
There are many parts that make up a singing voice. It needs all these parts (diaphragm, throat, lips etc.) to all work together to make your sound as pleasing as it can be. By improving your vocal quality and support you\'ll find that your sense of pitch also improves.
Here are some ideas to help improve your singing:
Sing a lot. If you don\'t live near the Yorkshire moors then sing while cycling. It\'s a great way to sing outdoors and helps with fitness and breath control!
Take some voice lessons. Find a good teacher who can show you how to sing with support and accuracy.
Join a choir. This is a great way to receive inexpensive vocal practice and training.
Always keep an active listening ear while you sing with other people. Notice when you or someone else goes out of tune.
Test yourself. Every time you pick up your uke play a single note. Try and sing that note right back. Then try the same with a series of notes listening carefully to make sure that every interval between notes is just right. There is a tendency when going up the scale that your intervals will be too small and too large when going down the scale.
Practice singing a song all the way through without playing your ukulele. See if you can end in the same or close to the same key. This is a good way to test your sense of pitch but it also helps your self confidence. Why? Because you\'ll know that should you forget the chords to a song you can keep singing and come right back in once you remember the chords again!
You will get better at this trust me. You may not become a Luciano Pavarotti or a Willie Nelson but I believe you will become a better sounding you!
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Want to make your ukulele playing more exciting? The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you can pause and rewind as often as you wish.
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).
October Tour: Details at: Tour Dates
If you are on Facebook you can join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 3 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Home again. Back from my October tour of California and Eastern Canada I remember the enjoyable and rewarding time I had. Yet when I think about the weeks before I set off on my travels there were times when I felt I would sooner remain here amongst the familiar and the comfortable. Here are some musings on the theme of taking a chance on life and coming home again.
You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you like it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 760 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE#11 Home and Away
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Listening to an interview with author Salman Rushdie recently he spoke of how he believed there are 2 kinds of people. There are those who stay around the familiar comforts of home and then there are those who feel the need to travel and explore and immerse themselves in new experiences.
He was talking in the context of novel writing. In other words his characters would have to leave the comfort of home in order to go on an adventure. He is surely right. What a boring novel it would be if all the characters just sat at home eating nachos and watching youtube. What a short book Lord of The Rings would have been if Tolkien had allowed Bilbo and Frodo to just sit and blow smoke rings instead of ridding Middle Earth of Orcs, Gollum and other unpleasantries.
The metaphor of leaving the comforts of home behind in order to follow the path of adventure, with its inherent promise of reward and/or loss, can be used widely.
If you think about it a song can be like that. Somehow a tension is set up and a story is told. Finally the song comes to rest with a conclusion that is both musical and lyrical. As the last note is played we have the sense of having \"come home\". Back to base.
Listening to musicians jamming together over multiple verses of a tune you will often hear one member finally shout, \"Bring her home\" which is the signal for everyone to end the song the next time around.
The Rodgers And Hammerstein song Do-Re-Mi has us singing about a \'female deer\' then basking in a \'drop of golden sun\'. Then we discover that Fa is a \'long long way to run\' but ultimately no matter where we run or what we do we always have to come back home to Doh. (Homer Simpson once said the same thing - Ha ha).
Most songs are like this. As audiences we would probably feel quite challenged if songs left us hanging... unsure as to whether they had actually ended or not.
The same metaphor can also apply to our lives. One day we are happily sitting at home strumming on a ukulele and the next we are breaking out into a cold sweat realizing that we have to perform in front of an audience. It seems crazy! We ask ourselves why do we do it? Why leave the peace of our home to take on the stress of playing in public? No-one is forcing us to put ourselves out like that.
Ooh now - that\'s interesting. Let\'s look at that phrase again. To \"put ourselves out\". Most of us have said it at one time or another. We put the cat out but it seems we can also put ourselves out too!
It\'s a dual personality idea. We push ourselves out of the door and into the cold and unknown, we lock the door behind ourselves and refuse to let ourselves back in until we\'ve done something of note.
Anyone who has ever placed themselves outside of their own comfort zone will know exactly what I\'m talking about here. (and the rest are probably getting a little concerned about my mental health - don\'t worry I think I know where I\'m heading with this!)
Things to remember:
1) Life is a journey and it is also shorter than you think. Often the most interesting and valuable experiences take place outside of your comfort zone. Go there whenever you feel able.
2) When you play a song, make it come alive. Begin the narrative and live the telling of the tale. Express the words and the emotion of the music with every part of your being. When the song is over \"bring her home\" with a clear and defined ending (hey it also helps the audience know when to clap).
3) Just because you don\'t know where you are going doesn\'t mean you can\'t set off. If you have the impulse to do something or go somewhere then seriously consider it. Otherwise you may have to live with yourself knowing that you didn\'t put yourself out when you had the chance. And that could make both of you unhappy!
Well, looking out of my window I see the men in white coats are coming up the garden path. So I\'ll just say toodle-oo while I step into my multi-coloured marshmallow spaceship and set a course for Planet Plink.
Until next time, wherever you may be and wherever you are going - Happy Travels!!!
Ohhh-neeeee! :roll:
Bitte: Allerliebste Spottdrossel, übersetze mal! :|
Mein Schul-Englisch ist wirklich eingerostet... :oops: :( :(
...und Wagner-Opern auf englisch....
Hiiilfeee!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 10 2009
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Dear Raimund,
This week we take a look at the unusual my-dog-has-fleas tuning. How did it get to be that way and why does its popularity persist? You\'re receiving this newsletter because you subscribed. If you found value in it then please consider forwarding it to a friend. (to unsubscribe simply use the link at the bottom).
Word count this issue: 850 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE#12 The My String
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John King tells of the time a boy took his ukulele to the Kamaka ukulele factory and told Sam Kamaka that he needed a new \'flea\' string.
Sam said, \"I think you mean a C string.\"
The boy replied, \"No its the flea string in my-dog-has-fleas\"
my-dog-has-fleas is one of the most famous mnemonics in music. Its right up there with \"do-re-mi\" and \"shave-and-a-haircut--2-bits\". Those famous 4 words help us to remember how to tune our uke when there is no pitch pipe or electronic tuner around.
For beginners and experts alike, the most interesting and perplexing string of all is the \"My\" string. This is the G string for those in GCEA, the A string for those in ADF#B and the 4th string from the floor for those who don\'t play it upside down (don\'t laugh I know people who do exactly that).
Most stringed instruments are tuned from low to high. The guitar, mandolin,
violin, bass, cello, tenor banjo, harp, and lute are all like this.
The ukulele on the other hand is characteristically odd in that its strings traditionally go High Low Low High. The fancy name for this is re-entrant tuning.
If the My string is tuned an octave lower the ukulele then becomes a small guitar (albeit without the 2 bass strings). Tuning the ukulele with a low G gives a bigger range of notes and makes the instrument much more accessible for guitar devotees. So why do so many ukulele players stay with the high My string? It is unusual, quirky, sometimes troublesome and seems to make little sense but its popularity endures. Let\'s take a look at this unusual mode of tuning and find out how it got to be this way.
No one knows the true origin of my-dog-has-fleas. But we do know that the ukulele is descended from 2 instruments native to the Portuguese island of Madeira. The ukulele\'s small size comes from the machete (pronounced mah-SHET) but the tuning comes from the larger Rajao (pronounced rah-ZHOW) which was tuned DGCEA. The Rajao was tuned in the re-entrant style with both the D and the G tuned high. The D was eliminated giving us the ukulele\'s GCEA tuning.
In the mid 1800s even guitars were sometimes tuned with re-entrant strings. This made possible a particularly beautiful style of playing known as Campanela. \'Campanela\' means the ringing of little bells. Campanela playing has the rule that no string may be plucked more than once in succession. Therefore if you want to play an F note followed by another F note you have to find the same F on 2 different strings.
As you can imagine this is a very tricky way to play. It leads to some unusual fingering shapes and requires devotion to the cause to make it work successfully. But boy does it work! Playing by this method allows each note to ring. This leads to an overall sound that I would best describe as being harp-like. Its not easy to do but is incredibly sweet and, because of the necessary overlap of available notes, campanela style playing requires a re-entrant tuning.
To hear ukulele played in the campanela style seek out work by the great musician and historian John King mentioned at the top of this piece who is sadly now departed and dearly missed. When I first heard him play I was struck by the light and angelic music this stolid looking musician produced. At the time it was almost as surprising to me as if a block of granite were to suddenly get up and dance.
So now we know how the my-dog-has-fleas tuning originated but why did it persevere? The bell like tones of campanela were long ago abandoned for strumalong favorites like Five Foot Two Eyes of Blue and Leaning on a Lampost. Still there is a powerful attraction to the jaunty bounce that the high My string provides.
Having a high string on the top and the bottom does seem to work uncommonly well for people who like to strum. Whether you strum up or down you always end on a high note!
Also, and slightly surprisingly, the high 4th string is not a problem for players who play arrangements that bring out both rhythm and melody. This Chord Melody technique can simply be described as a way of playing that gives the illusion of melody and chords being played simultaneously. Because there are no available low strings all lower melody notes must be played in a higher register.
The interesting part for me is that my ear hears this and seems to \'fill in\' the arrangement so it appears as if there are lower notes being played than are actually present. An audio illusion!
The high tuned G also makes the ukulele an ideal and rare candidate for playing in frailing and clawhammer styles usually associated with the 5-string banjo (see my DVD Essential Strums for the Ukulele to learn this technique).
There are also great reasons for using a low G string which I will save for another time!
What with differing tunings and alternate strings it becomes obvious why, when you ask a ukulele player how many ukes he/she owns, seldom do you hear, \"Oh just the one\"!
I wish to acknowledge John King and Dan Scanlan for their writings on the history of the ukulele.
Listen and See John King play Bach in Campanela style
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 17 2009
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Dear Raimund,
As a father and a ukulele teacher I have learned a thing or two about child psychology. This week I have 10 ideas to help make your child choose to pursue a life of music. If you found value in it then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 740 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE#13 Getting Kids Interested in Music
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Music has been shown over and over again to be the most beneficial thing for a child to learn. Forget math, languages, sport and science. If you really want to develop your child\'s brain you need to get them hooked on music.
The understanding and presentation of the musical art develops the brain/body connection in ways that no other school subject can. There is the mathematical understanding of the musical rules as they pertain to melody, harmony and rhythm. Then learning to superimpose on this the artistic nuances of dynamics and feeling adds a multi-dimensional aspect to the skill.
At the same time all this mental work is going on the body is also performing astounding feats. Fingers, arms and even feet move independently of one another to make the necessary sounds. Playing music is a full mind/body workout leading to tremendous and satisfying rewards which, if not financial, may be spiritual or personal in nature.
Musical people generally live longer, are less stressed and live healthier lives than any other kind of people. I can also personally attest that musicians as a whole tend to be kind, warm, intelligent and inclusive people.
Now that I have established how vital the study of music is for your child/ren I want to offer help that will make certain that they lead a full and happy life in the glorious pursuit of music!
Tip #1 DON\'T ENCOURAGE THEM WHATEVER YOU DO!!!
This is most important. As soon as your child gets the merest whiff that music might be good for them nothing will turn them off faster. Trying to convince your child that because mom and dad think its cool they should find it cool too WON\'T WORK!
Tip #2 Find ways to punish them if they appear to be enjoying anything remotely musical.
For example. Put on some classic 60s rock music with a good beat. If you notice them tapping their feet in time to the music you should get angry and send them to bed without dinner. Let them figure out for themselves what they did wrong.
Another example: Johnny comes running in saying that he tried Timmy\'s trumpet. Even if he says he successfully played a tune resist the temptation to look up. Instead just sneer and say, \"Whatever.\"
Tip #3 Take time to expose your children to live music.
While doing so make derisive comments about the musicians on stage. Remember to exaggerate the poverty, loneliness, substance abuse and other miseries that belie their apparently carefree and joyful stage demeanor.
Tip #4 Get a good ukulele. Then remove the strings and use it as a plant pot.
Tip #5 Cut down their allowance any time you catch them humming, whistling or table-top drumming.
Tip #6 Positive reinforcement of miserable and soul-destroying jobs is an excellent idea.
But be careful with this one. It can backfire. For example your lawyer daughter may get interested in musical copyright law. Your politician son might decide to use the saxophone to help his political career. And we all know what happened to Bill Clinton...
Tip #7 Sit down and instruct them in the many drawbacks of a musical life.
These include all the things kids hate most:
Late nights, the attention of many admirers, nutrient poor meals eaten in fast food joints and the vague eventual possibility of great financial reward.
Tip #8 If they do take up a musical instrument be sure to maintain a constant stream of negativity any time the subject comes up.
You want your child to rebel. So it is very important to give them something to rebel against. Make sure they see you visibly groan every time the instrument comes out of its case.
Tip #9 Make fun of them in conversation and make sure that they hear you.
In your best Homer Simpson voice say, \"My son is learning the uku-ma-lele. He thinks he\'s gonna be a BIG star someday Haw haw\"!
Tip #10 Buy The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids DVD by Ralph Shaw and leave it next to the garbage.
Chances are they will sneak the DVD into the house and secretly teach themselves whenever you are out!
On the other hand... If you are fortunate enough to still have a reasonably sane relationship with your child - then give them a ukulele and one of my instructional DVDs this holiday season and learn to play joyful music together. Now that\'s more like it!!
I hate to talk about Christmas so soon. Its still only November aargh. But I have learned that shipping can take a while. If you do want to order any of my instructional DVDs or CDs now is the time to do it!
(PS. For those of you wanting more realistic tips to encourage your young prodigy - help is on the way. I\'ll have some (sensible) ideas for you next time!)
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 24 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Children love music. And they can be easily discouraged if their early interest is not thoughtfully nurtured. This week I look at helping your child and you get started on a successful musical life. If you found value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 784 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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UE #14 Growing Musical Children
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1) Use Good Quality Soil
My DVD: The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids begins with a short demo showing the difference between a good quality uke and an inferior model. I demonstrate how a badly made ukulele will play out of tune and sound awful even when properly tuned.
Shortly after its 2004 release I was approached by a mail-order company. They wanted to sell a Children\'s Ukulele + Instructional DVD combo in their catalogue. They thought my DVD would be perfect for this package.
However... After viewing my DVD they decided to drop the project because, as they candidly told me, my demonstration of a \'bad\' ukulele was exactly like the one they were hoping to market!
Gone was an opportunity to make some extra money but on the other hand I was proud to do my bit towards creating some awareness around ukulele quality.
I started playing ukulele in 1990. At that time ukuleles were generally thought of as starter instruments for children. The thinking was that if a child showed interest and ability in the ukulele only then would it be worthwhile to invest in a \'real\' instrument such as a guitar, piano etc.
The problem with the \"try a cheap instrument first\" approach is that a bad instrument will always sound bad no matter who plays it. What possible chance does a 9 year old beginner have with something like that? They end up placing the blame for their awful sound on their own meagre abilities. I wonder how many thousands of kids have been put off playing music for life all because of their initial failure with a useless uke?
Get the best instrument you can afford. A ukulele with a sweet and resonant sound is FAR more likely to be picked up and strummed.
2) Spend Time With Your Children in the Garden
Every grown up musician I know plays music because they enjoy it. It is vital that the spirit of enjoyment, love and fun of music be fostered in our children.
Think about this: One of the most difficult life skills that many of us learn is the ability to talk. Yet who teaches us this? No-one! We hear our parents and siblings talk and slowly we figure it out. We all want to be participants in our surroundings.
When parents (who don\'t sing, dance or play music themselves) vigorously enforce a daily practice regime on their offspring how are their kids supposed to take that? Will music feel like a timeless activity or like a chore?
I run a ukulele club and parents often bring their children along. The little ones delight in being surrounded by happy people who sing and play music. Seeing the happiness that is on those kids faces I just know they are going to be musical adults.
3) Add Food, Sunshine and Water
So much of our kid\'s time is spent either watching screens (games/TV/computer), doing homework or on out-of-school activities that there is little room for idle dreaming. A free flowing imagination is the wellspring of genius.
So think about how you live. How much screen-time do you and your kids have compared to other occupations? Do they really need to be doing 4 different out of school activities?
and...If you think your child is getting too many frivolous homework assignments discuss that with the school. Tell them Ralph Shaw sent you!
4) Allow Time for Growth
When I was 8 years old there was a knuckle-headed boy who was way behind in his reading. While most of us gobbled up one book after another he was sounding out every syllable. It was painful to watch. A few years later he was surpassing the rest of us with his reading and other intellectual abilities (though not all were school approved)!
His brain had just taken longer than most to develop the myelin sheathing necessary for full brain functioning. I didn\'t know all this then but apparently its very common. The lesson here is to stay positive and let your kids develop in their own time.
Many children don\'t have the coordination that it takes to form chords and strum. Some kids can do this at age 6 but others might be 11 or 12 before they are ready. Just keep introducing them to music in all its wonderful forms. Let them watch you struggle and strive to master your art. Let music be a natural part of life.
Remember: You won\'t make a plant grow faster by pulling on the stem.
My Ukulele Course for Kids DVD shows young students of all abilities doing their stuff. A child too young to play can still watch and listen and learn. That is how it starts!
It\'s a great price. Less than $20 for over 90 minutes of material plus booklet. Order now in time for the holidays!
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Want to improve your ukulele skills?
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you 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 Playalong 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/ren 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.
All the above DVDs are available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 01 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Want to do more than just play the same old boring strum over and over? Here are some ideas for you to try. Btw. Did I ever mention that I have a degree in Physics?!
If you found value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 830 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #15 Create New Strums - Digitally!
(or The Complete Guide to Playing the Computulele)
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Listening to a skilled player you may wonder at the amazing complexity they achieve with their strumming. Maybe you yearn to play new and vibrant rhythms that will make people want to tap their feet and move their bodies.
The truth is that Strumming is actually very simple. There are basically only 3 possible strums. That\'s right just 3!!!
They are:
1) The Down strum. This strum is achieved by strumming down the strings.
2) The Up strum. You do this one by strumming up the strings.
3) The...erm no sorry I was wrong. There are only 2 strums (see above).
Therefore all that rhythmic complexity you hear when you listen to Brudda IZ, George Formby or Ralph Shaw (ta daa!) is all just variations of Down and Up strums.
Simple eh?!
This reminds me of computers. We use computers so much in our every day lives that we forget the exquisite simplicity that is behind their mindblowingly rich variety. Every computation done in a computer\'s brain is based solely on 1s and 0s.
While studying for the aforementioned Physics degree at Liverpool Polytechnic I actually built some very simple electronic computer circuits.
The circuit functions like a switch. If there is electricity flowing through it then that registers as a 1. No electricity flowing through reads as a 0. Getting millions and millions of these circuits all working together on a tiny silicon chip gives us the massive computing power needed to operate the phone system. Which we use to call the \'Dial-a-Geek\' repair guy who rushes over when our PC crashes yet again.
I hope that by comparing your ukulele to a Hewlett Packard Pavilion Elite m9340f Desktop PC with 22\" Monitor I am not confusing you with unecessary technical jargon. Nothing could be further from the truth! I am merely pointing out that if you can strum Up and you can strum Down then you have already got what it takes to play any kind of rhythm.
So how do we go from the simple Down Up Down Up strum to playing something more interesting? Let\'s have a look!
A key element in strumming is where you put the accents. By \'accent\' I am talking about a heavier than usual strum. A main beat. Without these accents our strums would sound endlessly repetitive. Akin to a ticking clock.
Example: In 4/4 time there are 4 beats in a bar. The most common strum used while singing in 4/4 is the \"Wimpy-Strong\" strum. Its a weak strum followed by a strong strum. (note that \'strum\' can mean a single stroke or a combination of strokes).
Wimpy-Strong goes like this:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & (etc.)
down up DOWN up down up DOWN up
The above strum shows heavier DOWN strums on the 2 and 4 beats. Many songs are played in this way but there are countless more ways to play.
Classical Music usually has the main accent on the 1 beat like this:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
DOWN up down up down up down up
African music tends to accent the 3:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
down up down up DOWN up down up
Why don\'t you try putting accents in different places and see what you come up with?
Example: Putting accents on the 1 and 3 has a forward driving feel (like a train getting up steam!):
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
DOWN up down up DOWN up down up
Don\'t forget that you can also put accents on UP strokes too:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
down up down UP down up down UP
This one is slightly unorthodox but may be perfect for certain songs. Just keep trying more accent variations for yourself.
Wait there\'s more!:
There is no rule that says Downs and Ups always have to follow one another.
Try the Syncopated Strum (aka. Split Stroke) it goes like this:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
DOWN up down DOWN up down DOWN up
This one can be tricky to do. The strum is not really hard to do but it confuses many people because it has a DOWN accent on an \'&\' beat (after the 2). Btw. If you need help with this one you can hear and see this strum in both of my DVDs: The Complete Ukulele Course and Essential Strums for the Ukulele.
Not only that!:
There is no rule that says you have to strum on every beat. You can miss strums out.
Here is the Samba strum:
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
down down down down down up up down
(This strum is also featured on the aforementioned Essential Strums DVD)
By now you should be getting the idea! There is a huge amount of computer-like strumming complexity to be had. You can create and discover a host of strums for yourself.
Just remember these 4 rules:
1) Accents. Try putting accents in different places and use them on both Up and Down strums.
2) Ups and Downs don\'t have to follow one another. A Down can follow a Down and Ups can follow Ups.
3) It is OK (more than OK) to miss out strums altogether. This creates a nice feeling of space within the strum.
4) Don\'t forget to erm...actually there are only 3. Sorry I did it again.
Now take your digits off your computer keyboard, put them on your ukulele and start playing!!!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 08 2009
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Dear Raimund,
Hold that Tiger! This week I have 3 suggestions to help recognize and release some of that unwanted tension.
If you found value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 698 words
Estimated reading time: Less than 3 minutes
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UE #16 Just Relax
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How quickly things change. Morning in the village started out like any other. Men and women sat outside their huts. Some repaired fishing nets while others prepared the breakfast of fish and flatbread. The children played nearby but not near enough. A woman looked up and saw the tiger. She drew in a gasp that alerted everyone to the danger. Faces looked up to see the animal moving towards the children with deadly grace. Slow and powerful.
The children played on, joyfully unaware of the threat. No-one stirred but everyone was ready to move. Some were mentally prepared to jump up and grab their children. Warriors slowly reached for weapons determined to pounce and engage the tiger. Others were ready to run and find safety for themselves. Everyone held their breath. Watching, silent, tense...
Perhaps a distant sound or a strange smell caused the tiger to stop and gaze around. He looked back at the children and then at the crouching figures of the adults. Quickly he turned and loped away.
The danger passed and everyone breathed deeply. All relaxed with one big sigh. Aaah! One of the women called the children home and breakfast was served. The tiger was never mentioned. The children didn\'t need to know how close the danger had been!
I tell this story to illustrate that becoming tense at the right moment has enabled our ancestors to survive since our very beginnings. It\'s a fact that with life comes stress. For many of us however stress can lead to body tension. We learn habits of tensing ourselves during our childhood and subsequent development.
The only problem is that this undercurrent of tension has become chronic in our modern society. Everyday decisions involving family, friends, work etc. set up this muscle tightening. But whereas the tigers of the past would eventually get caught, killed or chased away our modern causes of tension stay with us all day long.
Different people hold tension in different places. For some it is the stomach area, others tighten their jaw. A very common place to hold tension is in the neck and shoulders which often leads to headaches. Tension, wherever it may be, is not very helpful.
Unless you are dealing with the modern urban equivalent of a rogue tiger, such as a prowling boss or a runaway Rottweiler, you don\'t need to be tense.
Ukulele playing and bodily tension do not go well together. Keeping parts of yourself tense can really handicap your playing. It doesn\'t feel good, doesn\'t look good and the resulting music doesn\'t sound so good.
So take my advice: \"Just Relax!\"
Hmm. This is a lot like telling an insomniac to \"just go to sleep\". Easier said than done.
It actually takes some effort and work to get truly relaxed. Here are 3 things you can do:
1) Become aware of where you hold tension. Many of us are unaware that this is even going on. I thought I knew what my own body was doing until I took some classes in the Alexander Technique. My Alexander teacher showed me that the way I imagined my body to be when sitting or standing was quite different from the way it looked to others. It seemed I had pockets of tension all over the place! Get to know where you are holding tension in your body. Especially after encounters with your modern-day tigers!
2) Notice where you have tension and then think about letting it go completely. Remember to breathe deeply. While working at the computer there is a tendency to shallow breathe. Find a way to remind yourself to take fuller, deeper breaths.
3) When you play ukulele your movements should be fluid and relaxed. While strumming on a simple chord try doing a mental internal body check. See if you can notice where unnecessary tension resides. Consciously let it go. Again and again. Old habits die hard and it takes persistence to chip away at them until they dissolve completely.
Interesting fact for the day:
About twice as many tigers are kept as pets in the USA than live wild on the rest of the planet.
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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\"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast...\"
William Congreve
Now that you\'re nice and relaxed let my DVDs show you how to play Ukulele!
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you 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 Playalong 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/ren 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.
All the above DVDs are available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
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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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 15 2009
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Dear Raimund,
This week I want to tell you about a wonderful project that really is changing lives. If you found value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 880 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE #17 Ukuleles for Peace
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The lyric goes Happy Christmas (War is Over). Well how about it?
I think it\'s safe to say that most of us want peace in the world but how many of us really do something to make it happen?
Paul Moore does. Let me tell you about him. He\'s a British ex-pat in his late 50s or thereabouts. A professional entertainer, he made Israel his home many years ago.
One day, frustrated at the ongoing strife that seems to have always been a part of that region, Paul came to a decision. He finally figured that Peace, if there is such a thing, will not soon come about by political means. It has to begin with people. So 6 years ago he approached a Jewish school and an Arab school in his area and proposed the idea of a ukulele orchestra.
The musicians in the orchestra would be Arab and Jewish kids. The schools agreed and Paul\'s \"Friendly Monster\" was born. Paul had no idea what an all-consuming task he was taking on.
Practices and rehearsals were set up. Paul had to find playable ukuleles. He gave up his free time to travel and organize. Evenings and weekends were all given up towards getting these keen, bright-eyed young children their first musical education. The kids loved it. Not wanting money issues to hinder participation Paul began raising funds to pay for things such as instruments, strings, travel to shows etc.
Pot-luck picnics in public parks were organized. Trips and holiday celebrations were set up. Of course the parents had to come along too, so did siblings. Age old prejudices and fears were laid aside. So began the rituals of Arab and Jewish families sharing food while their children played games and made joyful music together.
If you have any doubt about the power of music take a look at this video of 2 of Paul\'s students and then tell me you don\'t believe in Paul\'s vision!
As much fun and benefit as this is on a local scale Paul Moore has kept his eye on a greater goal. He wants the world to see what can be done. Paul has long said that he wants the Ukuleles For Peace Orchestra to play before the United Nations.
As a step towards this goal I am helping him with something that could potentially place his Orchestra before a world-wide audience.
The Winter Olympics will be here in Vancouver in February (only 2 months away). Hundreds of Thousands of people including athletes, spectators, politicians, royalty, the media and performers will descend on this city for a vibrant and colourful celebration of winter sports and culture.
Just over 1 year ago I helped arrange a meeting between Paul and an Olympic organizer. The upshot is both good news and bad news. The good news is that the 2010 Winter Olympics have agreed to allow Ukuleles for Peace to come and perform during that time. The bad news is that the Olympics are unable to allocate any budget for either their performance or travel.
Coming to the Winter Olympics could be remarkable in many ways. Not only would it go a long way toward Paul\'s dream of showing the world how unity, friendship and peace are there for the taking. It would also be a life-changing experience for these children of whom some have never been outside their native land.
Help so far has come from several sources. Accomodation will be with the families of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble. Think of that! Arab and Jewish kids from Israel being able to hang out with Canadian kids who are also in a ukulele orchestra.
A Vancouver Rabbi, known for his work in bringing Arabs and Jews together has offered time and fund-raising to help bring Ukes for Peace to Vancouver. Other organizations here (like the Jewish Federation) are also raising money. Oh, and don\'t forget the families who are over in Israel running around trying to gather money for this project so dear to their hearts.
The financial mountain is a large one however. The costs of flying 15 to 20 kids plus a few parents could be as much as $50,000.
I promised Paul that I would support him in this. Which is why I am reaching out to you now. The Ukuleles for Peace Project has always been run on a shoestring. Every year Paul wonders if he can continue. Then he looks into the faces of young children eager to join their older brothers and sisters in the Ukulele band and he cannot say no. Paul calls U.f P. his \"Friendly Monster\". It has taken over not only his life but also that of his wife Daphna who runs the necessary administration. Often it gets in the way of him making a living for himself. Basically he needs some help!
Financial Donations: You can donate to Ukuleles for Peace at their website. There is a donation button at the top left of the page.
Air Travel: Some help is coming from El Al Airline for flights between Israel & Toronto but the portion from Toronto to Vancouver needs to be dealt with. If you know of some way of obtaining cheap or free flights between Toronto and Vancouver that could be most useful.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 22 2009
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Dear Raimund,
It is no accident that well written songs have the tools built into them to make them easier to remember. Our survival as a race has depended on it.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 748 words
Estimated reading time: under 3 minutes
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UE #18 How to Remember Lyrics part 1
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Human beings are relative newcomers to the written word. For most of our history we have relied on our memories to accurately pass large amounts of knowledge down through the generations. For those of us who can\'t even remember what we did yesterday this seems an extraordinary feat.
Our clever ancestors knew that our memories were not perfect so they put the information into song form.
This ability still remains. Most people when asked how many days there are in October have to run through the poem 30 Days hath September to find the answer. As children we learn the alphabet song which puts the letters in little clumps that mostly rhyme with the \'ee\' sound.
When I wrote my song: How to Build a Ukulele Case (view the video here) I had no idea that I was following a tradition that went back to the beginnings of civilization.
Our ancestors had songs to help them remember volumes worth of information: historical events, names of forebears, which plants were dangerous to eat, which animals might eat us, which tribes should be avoided, which were friendly, myths, legends and suggestions for healthy and happy living.
For the knowledge to be transmitted accurately the words were put into a form that kept mistakes to a minimum. Songs were composed chock full of techniques that kept the words intact over countless exchanges.
Using rhyme is one great way to remember words. We know the last word in this Dorothy Fields lyric must be Street:
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the ____
Knowing the tune, the beat and the context there are no other words that reasonably fit. In this example the use of alliteration also makes the words very easy to remember.
Alliteration describes a sequence of words which begin with the same sound eg. Peter Piper Picked...)
Let\'s look more closely at the song On the Sunny Side of the Street and see if we can spot songwriting techniques that help us to remember the words.
Here is the 1st line:
Grab your coat and get your hat
[Strong visual of leaving the house. Note the repeating hard G in grab and get]
Leave your worry on the door-step
[Notice the rhyming \'or\' sound in the underlined words. These internal rhymes are known as Assonance]
[The \'ah\' sound is used over and over in:]
Can\'t you hear a pitter-pat
And that happy tune is your step
[Notice the internal rhyme of \'Can\'t you\' with \'happy tune\'.
Though she hardly uses the letter p in the rest of the song look at how she puts all her \'p\' words together with pitter-pat and happy creating a veritable soundscape! This technique called Onomatopoeia.
Onomatopoeia describes words that sound like the thing they represent. eg. tick tock for the sound of a clock].
I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
[Assonance of used and blues]
If I never have a cent [ne-ver rhymes with have a]
I\'ll be rich as Rock-e-fel-ler
[Alliterative \'R\' words in rich and Rock-. Also the continuing \'eh\' sound in nev-er, have a, cent, as, -e-fel-ler]
Gold-dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street
[Another strong visual to end with. Lots of golden light here and dust and sunny are another internal rhyme]
The skill of Dorothy Fields in her songwriting made her songs very memorable. Rhyme, Assonance, Onomatopeia, Visual Imagery and her use of Alliteration made sure that her lyrics would remain timeless and unforgettable.
The above kind of dissection can be an important memory aid when we use it consciously.
Next time you commit a song to memory look for all these little tricks that the songwriter has deliberately put in just for you!
Memory is not one single skill. It is a collection of tricks and techniques. Some of these are innately learned in childhood and others are discovered later in life.
You may not have noticed but Fields\' masterpiece: On the Sunny Side Of the Street is another \"How to...\" song. She is clearly and cleverly helping us learn that life is happier, richer and more golden if we remember to keep a positive attitude and a cheerful disposition.
I have actually written an incredibly good song called: How to Remember Song Lyrics.
It lays out in crystal clear terms every single memory technique you will ever need. With this song you will never again forget another song lyric. I have it here somewhere. Now where in tarnation did I put it?...
\"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.\"
J.M. Barrie
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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and don\'t forget!!!....
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs is the best way to learn by yourself. You get to see and hear everything you need to know and you 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 Playalong 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/ren 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.
All the above DVDs are available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2009
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 05 2010
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Dear Raimund,
The start of a new year can be a time of doing familiar things in new ways. Today a lesson from golfer Jack Niklaus which is worth bearing in mind for all of us who enjoy getting to grips with the ukulele.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 776 words
Estimated reading time: around 3 minutes
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UE #19 A Ukulele Tip from the Best Golfer Ever
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Before I begin I just want to say: I have never understood golf. Why anyone would spend so much time and money developing a skill of such non-existent value is beyond my comprehension. Ukulele playing on the other hand is an entirely different matter.
Now that I\'ve got that off my chest and alienated all my golfing friends we can continue!
During an interview sometime in the mid-1970s Jack Nicklaus allowed us, the golf-adoring public, to hear some of his training tips. The only part I remember is this:
Once a year Mr Nicklaus would have his coach show him how to hold a golf club and hit a ball.
Bear in mind that Jack Niklaus is regarded by many to be the best professional golfer ever. He competed at the highest level of the game for 25 years. Competing in 100 major championships he came 1st or 2nd an astonishing 36 times.
At the time of the above interview while at the top of his game he was still being shown how to hold a golf club! So, with a new year just beginning and in the spirit of getting back to basics, let\'s look at ways to hold a ukulele.
How you hold the uke depends on your playing style, your body shape and whether you are sitting or standing. Therefore I am not going to tell you that there is one correct way to hold a ukulele.
So many variables are involved that I often change how I support the uke several times during the course of a song. Watching me play someone once told me that the ukulele seemed almost to \'float\' of its own accord.
You can experiment with new ways of holding your ukulele.
(please note - I am right handed, lefties will have to reverse the instructions)
Try these:
1) My basic hold is to place the ukulele on the upper part of my chest. The body of the uke is in the crook of my arm leaving the right hand free and flexible. The left hand supports the neck of the instrument. Sometimes the neck sits in the valley between the thumb and index finger or it may be held with the pressure of the thumb on the back and the fingers on the front. In this way I can strum using my fingers or a pick. Important: Keep the left hand in a straight line with the arm - this makes finger movement easier and prevents wrist problems later.
2) Now bring your right fingers under the body of the uke to support it and use your thumb to strum or play single strings.
3) Hold a chord and bring your left elbow towards your side. Now turn up your left palm and see if you can support the whole weight of the instrument with your left hand. Obviously it is now difficult to change chords but this technique is good should you need to free up your right hand for a short while. (Be careful trying this with heavy instruments such as banjo-ukes).
4) Lower the uke so it is at a level just above your hips and play it there. (This can be useful for people with breasts many of whom tell me they prefer to \'wear\' their ukulele using a strap).
5) Using a strap. I rarely use one now but when I made my Complete Ukulele Course DVD I was almost exclusively wearing a strap.
As well as solving the above breast issue a major advantage of a strap is that it leaves your hands free for other activities such as: playing other instruments, hand-clapping and waving at the waiter to bring another pina-colada.
The down-side of using a strap is that it forces you to play the ukulele in the same position all the time. This can limit your playing and over the long term can even lead to neck/shoulder problems. (Similar to kind of upper-body tension that can arise from carrying a shoulder bag).
6) Playing finger-style or clawhammer style makes it difficult to support the uke with the right arm while playing with the right hand. In this case you can either: use a strap, play while seated or stand on one leg with your other foot on a chair or stool.
If you want to see some different ways to hold and play a uke then watch this 2 minute video of Roy Smeck - The Wizard of the Strings. After he tells his story you get to see him perform. He was in his 80s at the time.
On the other hand. If you\'d rather see someone parading around in a pimped-up polyester outfit, while delivering a small white missile towards its very boring destination, then go watch golf!
Happy New Year From Canada!!!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 12 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Question: What activity is: more fun with 2 or more people involved, completely free, usually done indoors but can be done anywhere and at the end leaves the participants slightly breathless and with big smiles?
Answer: Playing music in your very own ukulele club! This week I\'ll tell you all about how to start and run such a club.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 915 words
Estimated reading time: around 3½ minutes
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UE #20 Dare to Start a Ukulele Club
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I never thought of myself as either a leader or a follower. When someone says, \"Follow me\" my instinct is to walk the other way. If a movement is popular I don\'t want any part of it. In fact the ukulele attracted me because I saw nobody else playing it.
It looks as if the ever growing popularity of the ukulele should leave me in a paradox. You probably think, \'If the ukulele continues to be in then Ralph will have to find a new, obscure activity to partake in.\'
Not so. I have always upheld the view that the ukulele is truly democratic. It is a means by which anyone with a modicum of musical talent can exhibit their individual self expression. A ukulele club is a way that many individuals can show off this uniqueness, together, as a group.
Stay with me on this I know where I\'m going.
Being part of a ukulele club is quite different from supporting any of the abstract human inventions that have arisen for profit and/or power. These include: major sports teams, the hollywood movie and pop music industries and most countries.
We are constantly being told that those things are real and important: but from my aeroplane window I don\'t see the border lines that divide countries. I just see the faces of my fellow passengers. Hey and if they happen to all be ukulele players then I know everything is going to be OK!
Visiting Britain\'s Yorkshire Ukulele Circle in 1996 I witnessed the ebullient joy that arises from a getting together of ukulele enthusiasts.
In the summer of 2000 I mentioned this to a friend. She spontaneously offered to pay for the newspaper advertisement if I would run a similar club. I agreed.
The Vancouver Ukulele Circle is now in its 10th year and meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month.
If you don\'t live in a place that already has a ukulele club you may want to start your own. Its not hard. Here\'s how...
1) Let people know. Newspaper ads are good but the free way to do it would be to advertise online. You can use craigslist or social networking sites to bring people in. Put a notice in your local music store. Someone in your club may create a website. Here is ours: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vanukes/ Wendy runs it by putting up information and pictures. I contribute by writing a short blog after every meeting.
2) You\'ll need a venue. We began with 9 of us in the common room of my apartment complex. You can use a community or church hall, local pub or coffee house (ask first)! If you only have 5 members then do it in someone\'s home. If you live in a warm country then play outside: You are sure to bring smiles to the faces of passers by.
3) You\'ll need a musical leader. In our case this was me but you don\'t need to be an \'expert\' to lead a song. You just need to establish the beginnings and ends of songs and decide the route that songs will take (repeats, instrumental breaks etc.) The leader should practice songs at home first to develop some proficiency.
If strong musicianship is lacking you can try playing along with Youtube performances on computer. You\'ll need to find written music with the correct chord changes to do this. My Ukulele Playalong DVD was also created for individuals or groups to use for this purpose. The DVD and songs from it can be found on my website: www.RalphShaw.ca
4) Format. My club has grown to around 70 strummers. We meet once a month. Starting at 7:30 we play together for about an hour. We take a break to socalize and then come back for performance time. This is a chance for individuals to show off 1 song. We used to allow 2 songs but had to cut back as performers became more proficient and keen! We finish by playing songs together until 10pm. We even have certain songs to begin and close every meeting.
5) Repertoire. In the early days members would bring copies of songs to share. For convenience we eventually compiled 100 songs into one book. Music sheets show the lyrics and chord changes. The songs must be fairly generally known but repertoire can come from any era. Have fun discovering which songs work for you.
6) Objectives. Some clubs turn into proficient performing groups. However this format necessitates exclusion of weaker players. The Vancouver Uke Circle has no goals other than to play music and have fun. It doesn\'t even have to sound good, but if it does... Hey Bonus! Together you can decide what objectives you want your group to fulfill.
7) Other things to do. You don\'t have to fill the whole time playing music. Get inspiration from watching video clips of great players. Bring in guest musicians. Have a teaching component taught by one of your better players. Some groups even tell me that they sit and learn something from one of my DVDs as part of their sessions.
These ideas are a basic framework to which you can add and change anything you want.
Interestingly I find that as its popularity increases I am indeed drifting away from the little four stringed fellow that we hold so dear.
Here\'s why: Stan in my uke club gave me a thrift store Baritone ukulele last year and I can\'t keep my hands off it. Thus I find myself in a sub-group of a sub-group of music and happily back on the fringes of society once again!
\"I don\'t know how to solve the problems of the world but I have a feeling it has something to do with the ukulele.\"
Marianne Brogan - Organiser Portland Ukulele Festival
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 19 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Everyone has their own story of what initially attracted them to the ukulele. \"I was drawn by the sound\". \"A certain performer inspired me\". I was given one as a gift and thought I\'d give it a whirl\".
But admit it. One of the reasons we took up the ukulele is because a part of us just wants to show off!
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 798 words
Estimated reading time: around 3 minutes
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UE #21 The Joy of Music Theory
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Truly. If you could magically and instantly be highly skilled at any musical instrument would you still choose the ukulele?
What if you could play: The plaintive oboe or Mozart\'s Eb concerto on the french horn? How about boogie woogie piano, jazz harmonica or the bass sax in a doo wop group? Wouldn\'t you rather be good at one of those? If your answer is still ukulele then jolly good for you.
As for myself I would give up ukulele instantly if I thought I could make it as the dumbek player for a troupe of belly dancers. There are several reasons why that ambition of mine will probably never happen. Not knowing what a dumbek is might be one of them.
Wanting to make \"easy music\" (quotations added because music is never easy so long as we continually stretch our abilities) goes hand in hand with a reluctance to learn music theory. This makes sense. Many of us take up music simply to entertain others.
The Oxford Dictionary of Music (and I\'m not making this up) famously and bizarrely defined the Ukulele as:
Ukulele: An instrument for people whose desire to entertain exceeds their musical ability.
I have to wonder about the person who composed that definition. Here is what I think happened:
A trained classical musician. One evening, at a birthday party, he is asked to play Happy Birthday.
Much to his supreme embarrassment, through not having sheet music available for that song, he is unable to play it. The moment is saved by the mother of one his friends who grabs the ukulele from a nearby shelf. She leads a raucous round of Happy Birthday followed by a medley of songs that gets everyone singing, laughing and kicking up their heels.
From then on our highly trained concert performer harbours a certain grudge towards ukuleles and those who play them. So, when he is offered the job to help write the Ox. Dic. of Music he gratefully accepts. But he never forgets the humiliation that the ukulele brought him...
I imagine that\'s how it went anyway.
Its easy for us ukulele players to feel a little smug at the above situation. Maybe it has happened to you, when, for a moment everything clicked and you and your uke were the life of the party.
So: If we can be this entertaining with a handful of songs is there any need for us to learn classical techniques? These could include: Music theory, scales, finger exercises, harmony, chord structure and more.
My answer is yes. You should definitely be spending time studying theory and technique. I never do it myself but I think you should. In this regard I\'m like the TV evangelist who goes back to his life of sin as soon as the cameras turn off.
I learned ukulele by figuring out one song after another. If I know any theory at all it has happened by accident and osmosis. As for finger exercises and scales. Nope. Never bothered. But you should. Definitely. Hallelujah and pass the hat.
The act of performing is not necessarily the best way to enjoy playing music. Sure its nice to be the centre of attention once in a while. But performing is like making love. People that do it often look like they are having more fun than they actually are. It can also be stressful and, when you add up the total amount of time spent doing it compared with the rest of your life, it\'s not all that much really.
For most people the best times they ever have playing music is with friends. There are few things more fun than playing music with someone you\'ve known for years or have just met.
Ironically, considering what happened to our Ox. Dic. guy, it is in the making of spontaneous group music that knowledge of theory and scales can really be extremely helpful. (I know what I said about making love but please try and keep your mind on music right now).
Sometimes your musical get-together will have others playing songs from your repertoire. But how flexible are you able to be? For example would you be able to play your songs in different keys?
What if there is no written music available and the song being played is unfamiliar to you?
In this case being able to figure out the song\'s key and recognizing patterns of melody, chord and harmony will greatly assist you in being able to join in quickly.
I have worked hard to be a good stage performer but it is in those group jam sessions that I wish I had more knowledge of the basic nuts and bolts of music. Those are the times when people who understand musical mechanics really shine.
In recent years the writers of the Oxford Dictionary of Music changed their entry for the Ukulele. Since they are making an effort to be less elitist in their outlook perhaps we could consider being a little more classically minded in ours.
©Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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 Playalong 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/ren 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.
All the above DVDs are available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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.
© Ralph Shaw 2010
You can Contact me by...
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email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 26 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Our media are constantly bringing us \'overnight success\' stories. Reality for most of us is not like that at all. Successful enterprises take time to develop. Today I also want to bring you up to date on the Ukuleles for Peace project plus tell you about my upcoming ukulele strumming class coming up soon in Vancouver.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 749 words
Estimated reading time: around 3 minutes
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UE #22 Quit Your Day Job and Follow Your Dream (In 7 Quick Years)
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Around the age of 17 I was firmly convinced that I was going to be a famous.... something or other. I wasn\'t sure what. Only that my master plan would have me floating effortlessly over the traps and pitfalls of everyday life.
I would be an amazing...what? A Musician? A Rock Star? I wasn\'t sure. In those days all I could do was play a few songs on the harmonica. But I was so delusional that I firmly believed I could make a life as a professional entertainer and be a household name by the age of 22. Imagine!
And that\'s what happened (except the household name part). I have now been a self-employed entertainer for nearly 20 years. In my case delusion really helped. I don\'t think I could have succeeded had someone taken me to one side to talk seriously about my becoming a professional ukulele player.
In 1990 I took some acting classes to help me achieve my goal. The Breck Academy was owned and taught by Peter Breck and his wife Diane. (A big-jawed man of confidence Peter starred as Nick Barkley in the 1965 TV western: The Big Valley alongside Lee Majors and Barbara Stanwyck).
When Gene Hackman came to Canada to film his movie Narrow Margin Peter Breck invited him to come and talk to his acting students.
Someone asked Mr Hackman how long it took before he got his big break. He thought for moment and said, \"7 years\". There was an uncomprehending pause of shock from the audience of 40 or so actor students. Each imagined that he or she would be heading for stardom within a year.
Mr Hackman continued, \"It took my room-mate 8 years to get his break.\" His room-mate was Dustin Hoffman.
And that folks seems to be a reality of life. The magic number of 7 years seems to pop up over and over again.
The average time for a new restaurant to start turning a regular profit is 7 years.
I found that figure hard to believe too. Then I thought about my sister-in-law who opened a restaurant in Greece. There was so much to learn. Employees drank the soft drinks and liquor, the clientele had to be built and systems of working needed to be established. Her first healthy year in business was the 7th.
A friend of mine used his inheritance money to buy a paper-recycling business. He was cursed with years of mental and physical labour, breaking equipment, difficult employees and more. The worst was that the price of paper was so unreliable that he never knew if he\'d make money. Mostly he didn\'t. I was always telling him to get out of the business but the delusional fellow continued. In his 7th year paper prices went up. By then he was experienced enough to make the most of it. He turned a tidy profit and eventually sold his business for 6 times what he\'d paid for it.
When people say to me, \"You\'re so lucky to be doing the thing you love.\"
I just smile and say, \" Why yes I am. Thank you for noticing.\"
But...what I\'m thinking is, \"Luck has nothing to do with it baby. I\'m Delusional!!!\"
Following your dream, musical or otherwise, is a wonderful thing but it\'s not easy. It requires dogged persistence, long hours of low paying work and great personal investments of time and money. All of which brings me to Paul Moore and the Ukuleles for Peace Orchestra. Here\'s what I wrote about them in December.
I\'m sad to report that they won\'t be making it to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics this year.
Many of you sent donations which were gratefully received but it wasn\'t enough. The clincher came when a vital donation fell through because of bureaucratic Israel/Canada tax reasons.
Thankyou so much to those who donated money to bring them to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Those donations will be well used in their ongoing work. To contact Paul or find out more about Ukuleles for Peace go to:
http://www.ukulelesforpeace.com/
Paul, Daphna and the kids have been working incredibly hard for 6 years. They deserve their big break. Maybe their 7th year will bring them to wider public attention.
A steady income is a valuable resource to have. I don\'t encourage you to quit your day-job without good reason. But if, like Paul and myself, you have a dream plus a tendency towards creative self-delusion then start planning now. Its later than you think!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 2 2010
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Dear Raimund,
There used to be very little choice in what you could buy for ukulele strings. Nowadays there are numerous varieties available. So today we\'re going to look at what part the strings play in sound production.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 697 words
Estimated reading time: less than 3 minutes
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UE #23 Ukulele Strings - Do They Matter?
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My grandfather played a banjolele back in the 1920s. In those days if you wanted portable music you got yourself a ukulele and took it with you. Almost anyone could use a uke & play a few chords to accompany a sing-song.
As I told a Florida news reporter last year: \"The ukulele was the ipod of the jazz age\"!
By the time I was a young child my grandad had forgotten how to play. Even if he had been able to remember; playing that particular uke would have been impossible.
This is because my dad decided to help my ukulele career by stringing it with sisal. You don\'t hear much talk about sisal any more. Its that rough hairy string that you reach for when tying up old sacks. It is also great for gardening work since it is perfectly biodegradable. Its not necessarily the best string for obtaining sweet sounds from a quality instrument.
To be fair to my dad I was only 3 years old at the time and would rather have had a drum. My own preference would have been to remove both the strings and the fingerboard.
Years later when I finally got grandad\'s banjolele fixed up with a nice vellum and good strings I discovered that it was a dog of an instrument.
Moral: Just because it is vintage doesn\'t mean it can\'t be junk!
However...many an average sounding instrument can be enhanced to a surprising degree by finding the most suitable set of strings.
When you think about it the string IS the sound. The plucked string vibrates. This vibration causes the bridge to move up and down which in turn makes the whole front of the uke move back and forth. In this way your skinny strings go from moving a teeny tiny amount of air to moving a much larger amount.
The sound also bounces around inside the body of the uke before coming out through the hole. This adds to the duration of the sound.
It is the vibration of air that our ears pick up as sound. Without air there is no sound. Which is why; in space no-one can hear you strum.
Its easy to imagine that strings that are saggy, baggy and overly flexible (like elastic bands or Richard Simmons - Ha Ha) will produce less sound than tight strings. Therefore it is generally a good idea to increase the string tension.
Besides the instrument design (e.g. neck length) the 2 Things that affect string tension are:
1) The Elasticity of the String Material itself. Nylon strings, for example, tend to be more stretchy than gut strings. There is also a newer man-made patented string material called Nylgut. This stuff manages to have similar tension/acoustic properties of gut while being quite stable under temperature changes. Metal strings (which aren\'t usually used on ukuleles) are very inflexible.
(Note that I don\'t say catgut. For 600 years violin strings were traditionally made from sheepgut in the Italian village of Salle. The wily old string-makers, knowing it to be extremely bad luck to kill a cat, protected their secret method by spreading the rumour that they used cat intestines for their strings.Interestingly 2 of the world\'s leading string manufacturers: D\'Addario and Mari are still run by Sallese famillies. And Aquila, the company which provides the world with Nylgut, is also Italian).
2) String Thickness. Thicker strings create more tension.
(Say you have 2 strings of identical material but one is thicker than the other. Tune them to the same note and the thicker string will feel tighter).
In practical terms all of this means that a way to get more power and volume from your uke is to use higher tension strings.
Note: If your strings are too tight this creates other problems. Extra tight strings are harder to play and can damage your instrument as well as your fingers. They can even cause your tuners to turn in their holes making tuning difficult.
If you want to read more of my thoughts about string choices for various ukuleles you\'ll have to wait until next week. Sorry to keep you in suspense and hanging by a thread but I do enjoy stringing people along!
Ever-flexible exercise guru Richard Simmons shows where he keeps his ukulele strings!
©Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Upcoming Events:
Feb 13th 11:45 to 3pm Winter Olympics Celebration: 2:30pm Main Stage show. Holland Park, Surrey. BC. (King George Hwy & Old Yale Rd.)
Feb 19th & 20th Gorge Uke Festival. Hood River, Oregon: http://www.gorgeukuleles.org/
Great weekend of concerts and ukulele instruction from Canada\'s and America\'s finest.
Can\'t make it to the festival? Then try my DVDs! The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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 Playalong 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/ren 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.
All the above DVDs are available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 9 2010
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Dear Raimund,
This week I share my experiences of how different strings can change the sound of a uke. I also want to tell you about my brand new custom-made baritone ukulele!!
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 876 words
Estimated reading time: about 3½ minutes
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UE #24 Give Yourself Some Extra Oomf
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Ever had someone build you a custom-made ukulele? Its an interesting experience. You can tell the luthier exactly what you want, but, until the moment when the finished uke is finally strung, you can\'t be sure of how it\'ll sound.
Last October I played some concerts at Napa\'s Wine Country Ukulele Festival using my thrift store plywood baritone ukulele (made by Arrex).
I\'d never had any complaints before, but more than one person approached me to say that I should be playing a better quality instrument.
My friend and fellow ukulele entertainer James Hill asked me,
\"Have you thought of getting a better baritone?\"
I told him that I had but I really liked the sound of my Arrex. He said,
\"Yeah I used to have one of those too. The neck broke off\".
\"It is a bit of a worry.\" I agreed.
The trouble was, I didn\'t feel the need to upgrade, since I happened to enjoy the lusty bark of my Arrex. However...
...2 hours later. Enter Gordon Mayer of Mya-Moe Ukuleles who said,
\"We\'d like to build you a baritone ukulele. I\'ll give you some time to think about it. Just let me know. Okay?\" He started to walk off. I said,
\"Wait a minute - I\'ve already thought about it!\"
Over the next few months we discussed the qualities I was looking for in a baritone uke. It boiled down to this: I wanted one with the sort of big sound that my Arrex plywood uke puts out. Gord later coined it: Arrex the Wonderdog.
My new instrument was completed on Jan 1, 2010 . This was also my aunt\'s 83rd birthday so I named the ukulele after her. Brunhild the Baritone was born!!
The instrument was beautiful but when I played it I could tell that something in the sound was missing. And that something is what I call Oomf.
The sound was sweet and warm but did not project anything close to the power that the Wonderdog could put out. I packaged her up and returned Brunhild to Gordon. Through email we discussed what changes needed to be made to achieve the elusive Oomf factor.
Gordon knows his instrument technology very well and I know a bit about acoustics from my physics studies. We looked at scale length, saddle height and body construction but I learned from him that one of the most important factors affecting Oomf is the strings.
Gordon did some measurements and found that the strings he had used on the 1st uke had 42 pounds of tension. Whereas the D\'Addario baritone ukulele strings that I often use have 60 pounds. Almost 50% difference!! I never got to hear the difference on that uke because Gordon showed it to a customer who quickly bought it. My slight regret is that I didn\'t try out other strings when I had the chance.
Therefore I encourage you to do some experimentation with different strings and see which you like best.
On my Larrivee soprano I like the soft feel of black nylon strings. This bugs the instrument maker John Larrivee jr. He says black strings make the instrument look cheap. Indeed!! Heaven forbid that our ukuleles look cheap eh? I totally disagree with him. Black strings on a guitar may look cheap but on a uke they look just fine.
More recently however John L. Jr. was very pleased to see that I had put white strings on my Larrivee. They were Nylgut strings. I had put them on not for their colour but because they deliver more sound.
The older Martin ukuleles are famous for being great sounding instruments but put on some Nylgut strings and you\'ll hear the sound pop into another zone altogether.
Its not always for the better. I tried those same Nylgut strings on my Ludwig banjo-uke. The instrument went from being loud to almost obnoxiously brash.
Another string material is fluorocarbon. Gordon tells me it is denser than Nylgut but because of the way the strings are designed Nylgut still produces more tension.
Here is an idea of what to expect:
nylon = warm sound, larger diameter string
nylgut = bright, medium diameter
fluorocarbon = wide (think of a broad, full sound), smallest diameter
I urge you to try sets of strings from different manufacturers. It\'s a bit of work but it will be so worthwhile to find which strings give you the sort of tone that makes you go, \"Hmm - Me like!\"
If you want to get really fancy then you can try buying individual strings. Find a store or manufacturer that let\'s you do this. Or mix and match sets of different uke strings and/or classical guitar strings. Try coming up with your perfect combo.
New Brunhild arrived last week and she is really something. The sound is full and resonant, warm and powerful. The body of the instrument palpably vibrates like a living thing. And yes. She has all the Oomf anyone could need.
What of the ever-loyal Arrex the Wonderdog? Well, he is back on the shelf and not being played much anymore. I hope he realises that even though he was cheap and old and slightly rattley he managed to set a very high standard. His big loud bark was the inspiration for helping us hone and perfect Brunhild - a superior baritone ukulele.
Brunhild
Sycamore back & sides. Bearclaw spruce top. D\'addario strings (for now!)
mya-moe ukuleles
©Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Learn to play any ukulele like a pro! The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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 Alonghas 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/ren 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.
DVDs available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
Feb 13th Winter Olympics Celebration: 11:45 to 3pm 2:30pm Main Stage show. Holland Park, Surrey. BC. (King George Hwy & Old Yale Rd.)
Feb 19th & 20th Gorge Uke Festival. Hood River, Oregon: http://www.gorgeukuleles.org/
Weekend of concerts and ukulele instruction.
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 16 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Do you ever have the feeling that people just aren\'t listening to you? This is bad enough at home but when it happens while you\'re on stage it can be - how shall I put this - irksome.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 866 words
Estimated reading time: about 3½ minutes
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UE #25 Hi there! Hello - tap tap - Is this thing on?
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Your very first time performing music in front of people is probably not such a bad experience. For many, the initiation into making music in public is to sing 1 or 2 songs at an open mic evening in a pub or coffee house.
The anticipation of the event can still be quite terrifying. But, more often than not, you will find yourself before a group of sympathetic and supportive peers who understand what you are going through.
It is after that, when things get tough.
If you persist on the path of being a musical entertainer it won\'t be long before you find yourself before audiences of people who are completely ignoring you.
There you are. You\'ve gone to all that trouble to learn your songs and play your instrument. You\'ve endured sleepless nights and had nightmares about forgetting lyrics and being onstage without your trousers on.
Finally you get in front of the audience and they repay you by giving you as much attention as if you were a blob of chewing gum.
Why do they do this?
The main reason can be summed up in one word: DISTRACTIONS
Distractions can take many forms, though the effect they have is pretty much the same.
- You\'ve been asked to perform at a reunion. Trouble is that everyone is getting reacquainted. They talk and talk and talk.
- You\'re at an outdoor celebration. It took you 3 weeks to write a special song for the 90 year old birthday boy. Suddenly his niece\'s Shih-Tzu dog decides that now would be a good time to attack a runaway balloon. This causes great hilarity for all except you as you reach the most heartfelt part of your song.
- You\'re performing in a long narrow room. The people at the back can barely see or hear you. They talk amongst themselves. As they get louder other people give up trying to listen to whoever it is onstage. They talk and talk and talk. Eventually the only ones still listening are your 3 pals at the table directly in front of you.
- You have been asked to entertain at the Postal Workers annual dinner. The first couple of songs go great. Then, while you are telling an anecdote that has a simply terrific ending, a lady in a pink pinny wheels out the dessert cart. With one mind almost everyone in the room jumps up to get in the coffee line-up. They hustle and jostle and bustle and talk and talk...
- Saturday afternoon performing for beer-drinking veterans in the Legion. You are singing a beautiful WWII 1940s love ballad when over the crackly loudspeaker system come the words,
\"We\'ll be doing the Meat Draw in 10 minutes. Last chance to get tickets. Meat Draw in 10 minutes.\" Pretty much everyone is now patting their pockets and looking in wallets for their chance of scoring a lump of flesh.
You get the idea.
The problem is that sheeple, sorry, I mean people, are very easily led astray. They bleat and baa and drop things and arrive late and have pets and children. They are scattered and unfocussed and unruly. They need a leader to keep them quiet and attentive.
More often than not, that someone will have to be ewe , sorry, I mean YOU.
When you think about it you can see why theatres are the way they are. They are a practical way of reducing distractions to a minimum.
As you go into the theatre; what does the sign say? NO Food or Drink in the Theatre.
Are they trying to help you lose weight, is that the idea?
No! The sign is there because they don\'t want the sounds, smells and spills that would inevitably distract other theatre-goers.
Think about it. How can you possibly see the action when you are hunting around your Pirate Munch Burger Barrel for the straw that\'s supposed to go with your Cutlass Jack\'s Ooh-Aaarh Strawberry Milk Shake?
Once inside the theatre don\'t try asking for a seat that is facing away from the stage. There aren\'t any. Tried and tested theatre design has it so that all the seats face in the same direction.
If at that point you are still not sure what you are there for, don\'t worry! They will soon turn off all the audience lights.
This is so you, and the rest of the flock, can now sit in the dark with bright lights shining onto whatever it is they want you to look at.
Talking during the show is definitely frowned upon. There are no dogs, no alcohol is served, no meat draws take place and, most of all, there are no women in pink pinnys wheeling dessert carts.
For a new performer the idea of a theatre performance can seem daunting, but the lack of distractions actually make it a great luxury. Unfortunately it is a luxury that doesn\'t come around too often.
Next week: By hook or by crook... I\'ll talk about how to prepare yourself for the types of situations I described above. And, you\'ll get some pointers on how to get control of an unruly flock of sheeple!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 23 2010
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Dear Raimund,
You\'ve prepared your songs and you are ready to perform. The problem is; how do you get people to pay attention? Today we look at how to grab onto and hold your audience.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 790 words
Estimated reading time: about 3 minutes
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UE #26 The Power of No
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Unfortunately some of the most difficult performing situations also happen to be the places where beginners will play in public for the first time.
Fortunately there are some things you can do to help your performance succeed.
Here are 2 of them:
1) Minimize Distractions.
This begins before you even show up at the event; actually before you even accept the gig.
In the past I have been the sort of foolhardy type to say yes to almost any offer that comes my way. Thus I have had many \"useful live-performance experiences\" at gigs that I probably should have turned down.
My friend Les Finnigan is a brilliant fingerstyle solo guitarist. He is however quite careful about what bookings he says yes to. For example, having learned that his music doesn\'t work well for New Years Eve parties he chooses not to take them. With a nod to self-help guru Eckhart Tolle he calls his technique of turning down gigs: The Power of No!
Before accepting a gig ask some questions. Do this conversationally rather than running down a checklist. Help the host to nudge and sculpt the plans so that you both look good.
When will you be performing? At the beginning of a party people tend to walk in late. There is also a lot of chatter. If the host wants people to actually listen to you then suggest to be moved to a later time.
Who will be there? Get an idea of the age range and number of the audience. If you know there\'ll be quite a few kids and/or elders you can plan accordingly.
What else will be happening while you perform? Will they be serving food or drinks? Suggest to perform before or after food but not during (unless they require dinner music). Find out if there\'ll be other competitors for audience attention (mariachi band, bouncy castle, hip hop dance troupe etc.)
2) Be in Control.
This is a big one. You need to find your way to MAKE the audience pay attention.
Developing your \'presence\' can be a quick or slow process depending on how much work you\'ve already done in this regard.
What can you do that will engage an audience and make a roomful of chattering people shut up and listen?
First of all you\'ll need to have, what some people call, balls. And I don\'t mean for playing ping pong. Jewish performers call it Hutzpah. Others refer to it as brazen self-confidence.
If you don\'t have it then fake it \'till you make it!
Should you be at the microphone saying,
\"Its great to be here\" While your body language is eloquently crying,
\"I kind of planned to sing for you but I\'m not really all that good and you most likely won\'t enjoy it and besides I\'m a complete fraud and shouldn\'t be here....\"
Your audience will pick up on that. So -
Be sure of your show. Know that you have something to communicate. Make your show as engaging as possible.
Be sure of yourself. Practice being confident. Look at confident people, especially other performers. How do they move and talk?
I once saw a striking looking performer get up on the stage of a somewhat rowdy bar-room and simply raise his hand. He stood there slowly looking around the room until he had everyone\'s attention and then he began to play. For him - it worked.
Some performers get attention by verbally connecting to the crowd. This can be done by being loud and feisty or equally with quiet power. American comedian Steven Wright presents his humour in a quiet and lethargic drawl. I once heard him refer to it as the silent roar. People have to shut up if they want to hear him.
Your degree of \'Presence\' has to do with your aliveness. The self-help books talk about \'Living in the Now\' and \'Being in the Zone\' or \'Staying in the Moment\'. And its true. If you are onstage constantly tuned in and adapting and reacting to life as it is right now then people will watch.
But no matter how much you develop this ability your presence will probably never be a match for that kitten who stands near you on the stage. What a performer she is! All eyes are on her as she simply watches a piece of fluff floating in the air...
There is so much involved in giving a successful performance. My Musical Performance Seminar is something that I teach to help people with all aspects of performing. With enough students I can be brought into your community to teach.
Otherwise please consider signing up for one of the following events where I\'ll be performing and facilitating my Musical Performers Class:
Augusta Swing Camp West Virgina August 1-6
Wine Country Ukulele Festival - St Helena, California Sept 11-12
©Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a ukulele playing star! The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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 Alonghas 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/ren 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.
DVDs available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
March 5: In The House - All ukulele house concert in Vancouver
7:00pm. 3238 Fleming St. Vancouver BC.
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 02 2010
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Dear Raimund,
The Winter Olympic games has created a warm unity between all Canadians that I have never seen in 21 years of living in this country. Now that\'s all over; We can go back to Canada\'s #1 pastime - Making fun of Toronto! Today I\'ll be doing that as well as talking about the technique of playing Tremolo.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend! btw. If your friends are in Toronto please send them my condolences...
Word count this issue: 832 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3 minutes
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UE#27 Get to Toronto
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It was 1998 and my 1st CD: King of The Ukulele had just been released. A guy named Colin phoned me to introduce himself. It seemed we had a mutual interest in ukuleles. Colin told me,
\"I have your CD. My brother picked it up at a garage sale.\" Surprised I replied,
\"But its only been out for 2 weeks!\"
Colin still loves to bring up that little story. I later discovered that his brother happened to work at one of the radio stations that I sent promo copies of the CD to. Somewhere along the way he must have mixed my CD up with some garage sale items. (That\'s the story I prefer).
Colin happens to be a collector of resophonic instruments. You know those loud and shiny metal guitars? I always imagine they\'d be handy in a bar-fight. He has documented his remarkable collection on his notecannons website.
It was through Colin that I briefly met the famous Bob Brozman; a guitarist and ethnomusicologist who is also a collector of resophonic instruments. We had gone to watch him play a concert with Okinawan musician Takashi Hirayasu.
After the concert Colin introduced me to Bob saying,
\"This is Ralph Shaw. He\'s a local performer known as the King of the Ukulele.\"
The environment was very noisy; so when Bob said,
\"Get to Toronto\" I had to ask him to say it again. He said it again,
\"Get to Toronto\"
\"Really?\" I asked, puzzled.
He enthusiastically continued to talk. I listened hard but could only pick out occasional words. I tried with all my might to figure out the gist of his narrative but found it impossible to tell what it was about ukuleles in Toronto that was such a big deal.
For those not geographically inclined - Toronto is a city in eastern Canada. (Torontonians will say they are in \'central\' Canada but that\'s ridiculous. If they are in central Canada then so is Calgary which is about the same distance from the west coast as Toronto is from the east coast).
Unable to understand what Bob Brozman was saying I nodded my head and watched the shapes that his bearded mouth made. I laughed when he laughed and said, \" Ha Ha. Yes!\" whenever I thought it appropriate to do so. Mercifully the conversation was soon over.
We were halfway home in Colin\'s car when, in a flash of illumination, I understood what Mr Brozman had been telling me.
In the middle of the show he had played a song on a small Latin-American instrument made from an armadillo shell. Its called a Charango.
Of course!
He\'d been saying,
\"Get a charango\"!
\"Phew\" I thought to myself. \"For a moment there I thought I was going to have to go to Toronto. That was a close one!!!\"
The charango has 10 strings set up in double rows. It is not unlike the ukulele. The strings are tuned GCEAE. This is similar to the ukulele but with an additional doubled E string.
I had met a charango once before.
It was around 1993. I had become fairly proficient at playing the ukulele but was on a quest to discover the technique behind the thrilling strumming style of George Formby. No-one seemed to play ukulele in those days so I was learning from every other string playing musician I could find.
One of them was charango player Rene Hugo Sanchez. Unable to show me what I wanted to learn he instead instructed me in the tremolo technique. Tremolo is the fast vibrating sound that you hear when strumming very quickly up/down on one or more strings.
He showed me how to do a fast tremolo: On your strumming hand have the fingers wide and extend them in line with your hand and arm. Now bend the middle knuckle of your index finger so that the end of this digit points towards your strings.
The fast up/down action should be done as economically as possible. The arm is kept still. The only part that moves is the forearm. The forearm rotates at the elbow causing the thumb and pinky to move toward and away from you while the centre of the hand remains quite stationary. The effect of this is to cause the index finger to move quickly up and down over the strings.
But you\'ll need to do this in time. Start slow, 1-2-3-4 and then double it to do 8 beats in the same amount of time. Then double it again. 16 beats. Double it again? Rene could do that. 32 beats. For that one I think it helps if you were born in the Andes.
The triplet tremolo is a teeny tad trickier. It goes down-up-down, up-down-up. Its like a very fast waltz strum. Try it slowly at first and then build the tempo.
The good news is: Tremolo is a perfect technique for ukulele, eliminating any need for you to purchase a charango.
But the best news of all is that you never have to go to Toronto!*
*Toronto is probably a very lovely city and all the jibes and insults it receives are most likely completely uncalled for. However should anyone feel offended by today\'s newsletter please send your letters of complaint (postage free) to:
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, K1A 0A2
Canada
A Dobro \'Cyclops\' Resophonic Ukulele:
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 09 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Music has rules. It is governed by a theoretical system that tells us which sounds are allowed and which ones aren\'t. Have you ever wondered why it should be this way?
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 898 words
Estimated reading time: About 3½ minutes
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UE#28 Why Music Is the Way It Is
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Its like this. Many hundreds of years ago a musician, we\'ll call him Johann Amadeus McCartney, is lucky enough to be hired by The King to make music. He\'s a talented fellow but he knows full well that there are hundreds of equally, if not more, talented composer/musicians to take his place.
Understandably he wants to hold on to his job.
He notices that The King is pleased when he hears certain chord progressions and particular melodies. Kingy also tends to frown on hearing other combinations of chords and notes. Johann McCartney notices this and keeps careful jottings in his scroll. He continues to compose original pieces but they are all written with the biased intent of pleasing His Highness and keeping the royal sovereigns flowing into his own purse.
Over time, and many composers later, these jottings become formalized into what is now musical theory. All of it based on earning cash by pleasing a few individuals.
It is interesting how different Asian music is to Western music. In fact the only common feature that all musical systems contain is the octave. The octave is the repeating of the same note when you go up or down in pitch. The number of notes within the octave range varies depending on which culture you happen to be in.
The invention of popular music or \'pop\' came about when men & women who weren\'t kings could now pay for music themselves. This was done in the form of sheet music, and later, records. It then became important for songs to have mass appeal.
In 1912 with the song Alexander\'s Ragtime Band; Irving Berlin discovered the trick of dividing a song into 4 sections. The 1st, 2nd and 4th of these had exactly the same tune but the 3rd section broke up the pattern by being distinctly different. Moving along into Rock & Roll this method of repetitively quoting the same musical phrase over and over with a short break or bridge was the major structure for songwriters.
By the 1950s and 60s Elvis, and later, The Beatles, worked for a new king. Who was the mysterious benefactor who supported them and filled their bank accounts with cash?
It was teenage girls. The Beatles triumphantly used the time tested techniques of tin-pan-alley and early rock music to appeal to this market. They had looks, charm and musical ability.
They were careful to write songs in the 1st person so that every 14 year old girl thought the song was just for her: Please please Me Like I please You, I want to hold Your hand, Love love Me do - You know I love You, 8 Days a week I lo-o-o-o-o-ove You and so on. With songs of love they emptied the wallets of young women everywhere.
Their music grew slightly more experimental as their drug-taking increased and their need to please the audience decreased. But by then the fab four could do no wrong. They had already obla-daa\'d their way to musical indelibility.
Thanks to the massive success of pop music the huge majority of listeners have been trained to believe that; good music equals songs. Furthermore they must be delivered in recognizable 3 minute bursts, have a steady beat, familiar chords and unchallenging melodies.
There is nothing wrong with that. It just doesn\'t have to be that way.
2 weeks ago I performed and taught at the Gorge Ukulele Festival in Hood River, Oregon. I was outside the home of Will Richards. He was lamenting the fact that although he plays ukulele every single day he finds the idea of playing songs completely boring.
Will has been a professional and successful potter since the early 1970s. We stood talking in front of one of his works; a 4 foot ceramic plate which hung on the wall. It was decorated with red and green glazes and incorporated several \'found\' objects. These were bits and pieces that he had picked up, kept and added to his art.
We spoke of music but I was focused on his visual art and then I had something of an epiphany.
I realized that here was an artist who had never made 2 identical pieces of work in his life. Now that he is turning his interest towards music it seems everyone is pushing him to play songs. Songs that, by definition, are played the same way over and over again.
I thought to myself why should he? He could use his uke skills differently. The snippets of music that he plays can be likened to the found objects that adhere to his pottery.
After thinking on this I eventually suggested that he consider making music of his own creation. Every time he plays he could create a piece of no fixed length or meter, with no particular rhyme or rhythm and which contains his favourite found musical objects.
Why not? Will Richards, unlike Johann Amadeus McCartney, has the supreme advantage that he is not doing this for cash. He needs to please no-one but himself. If he ends up playing his music in public and the public happen to like it then hooray.
There\'s a pretty good chance the public won\'t like it because they are too conditioned to listening to music created for kings and teenage girls. But, for those who still know how to listen, there is a rich and beautiful world of music out there waiting to be discovered.
Above: Plates created by Will Richards
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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You\'ll discover a host of musical \'found objects\' in my ukulele teaching dvds. They\'ll provide you with ideas and choices to enhance your music.
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
May 8: Kootenay Kids Fest, 25th anniversary. Cranbrook BC Canada
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 16 2010
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Dear Raimund,
The technique of not playing is not used nearly enough. Today I describe how to do it - or not do it...
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 713 words
Estimated reading time: Less than 3 minutes
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UE#29 Silence Is Music
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Night-time in a cottage on the Gulf Islands can be very hushed.
Lying in bed at night I marvelled at the beautiful and eerie quiet of the night. There was literally no sound.
As I lay there listening I became aware of a machine in the distance. It bothered me that somewhere out there was a man-made source of booming, echoing noise that could be heard by so many people around. Without it, whatever that sound was, I felt that the silence would be absolute.
The sound wasn\'t loud but it was regular and continuous and was starting to annoy me. I put earplugs in my ears. The pounding sound continued.
I gradually realized that the pounding was in time with my own heartbeat. I had been listening to the blood coursing through my own head.
The quote: \"Music is the silence between the notes\" is one of those sayings that doesn\'t seem to mean much at all. Yet, at the same time, if you choose to ponder it longer, you can find an infinity of meaning in those 7 short words.
Its actually quite rare to have silence in any piece of music. There is almost always something going on.
Even a solo instrument playing alone has an overhang of sustained sound even when there is nothing being strummed, struck, pressed or plucked.
The above quote is by Claude Debussy. Since there is really no such thing as silence (not inside my head at least) one has to wonder what exactly he was getting at.
I\'m thinking that when he said \'silence\' he was actually talking about a pause of activity. A piano-note is struck but before playing the next note there is a moment of nothingness. Musician and listener hang together in the same space before the next note comes along to guide their thoughts and feelings.
You don\'t hear much silence when a typical ukulele player is happily plonking his or her way through a song.
There is great joy to be had in that regular beat. The thrilling strum strum strum that provides the background sound of a well known ditty. The on-going never-ending rhythm that goes on and on and on all the way to the end of the song. A rhythm as relentless and unceasing as my heart; beating as it does to keep the life-giving blood flowing through my head.
I\'ve heard it said that musical rhythm at a basic level imitates the beating of the heart. Perhaps this is why so many ukulele players feel as if they will actually keel over and die if they stop playing in the middle of a song.
I suggest to you that not playing your ukulele is a valuable and much underused playing technique. In my earlier article: Make Your Ukulele into a Piano-Forte I talked about how changing the volume of your playing was probably the simplest technique of all.
To not play at all has to be simpler still.
Try it.
Pick a song you know well and start strumming and singing. At some point keep singing but stop strumming for a little while. Then, start strumming again. Repeat. What do you notice?
Maybe you noticed that you lost the beat. That\'s a simple fix. Keep the beat going with another part of your body (tap your foot, wiggle your shoulders, jiggle your butt etc).
Maybe you started to sing out of tune. Having the instrument playing along can be a great help for keeping the voice in pitch. If you found that your singing was sounding a bit \'off\' then you probably need to work on that. I used to sing in a choir that was all voices no instruments. I trained myself to stay pretty well in tune even without instrumental backing. Its not that hard to do but it might require a bit of self or professional training.
One other thing you may notice is that the sound of the strumming ukulele is so much more welcome after it has been allowed to pause. If you stop playing for a few seconds then the return of the ukulele rhythm can be like the return of a dear friend.
I\'m no Claude Debussy but here\'s my quote:
\"Make your ukulele playing sound better - Stop strumming!\"
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Fortunately my dvds will teach you so much more than merely suggesting that you not play. Here\'s some info about them:
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
May 8: Kootenay Kids Fest, 25th anniversary. Cranbrook BC Canada
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 23 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Today I discuss the musical usefulness of breaking routine once in a while.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 620 words
Estimated reading time: Less than 2½ minutes
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UE#30 Taking a Break
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When I was a student I had a friend who was a brilliant up and coming clarinet player. Many of us know the feeling of what a chore it can be to have to do regular music practice. This friend of mine had no such problem. She practiced for 2 hours every single day. She loved it all. Scales, jazz, Bartok - you name it, if she was playing her clarinet she was as happy as a toddler in mud.
I was therefore as surprised as she was one day when she told me that her teacher had told her to not practice. Have you honestly ever heard of that? It\'s something I\'ve never heard of before or since. Furthermore her music teacher told her to not play for 21 days. He said she should take 3 weeks off from playing the clarinet.
That was many years ago and I have long since lost touch with my friend. It is with regret that I must report that I have no idea why this music teacher prescribed such an unusual instruction.
I remember that she greatly admired and revered her teacher and I wish I could have met him. I think he was a wise teacher of the old school who was sensitive enough to know just what was best for his student.
I play my ukulele nearly every day and I perform several times a week on average. Its good to keep the musical mind and muscles working. \"Use it or lose it\" is a saying to which there is a lot of truth. I have also noticed however that having a break can inspire profound change.
Don\'t ask me to tell you exactly what that change is and please don\'t quiz me on how and why it comes about. I don\'t know. But there is a tangible newness that taking time off can inspire.
I think that part of it is down to forgetfulness. A 3 week break is enough time for our muscle memory to forget some of its ingrained little habits. Motor skills that our mind-body system has begun to take for granted are transformed and transmuted. Suddenly we find ourselves approaching familiar things in new and original ways. We discover that a piece of music can be given nuances or changed completely.
Maybe on your return to work or school after a holiday you might have discovered an effect similar to the one I am describing.
My reason for writing this right now is that after having managed 30 weekly newsletters without a break (nearly 7 months) I feel it is time to take a short respite.
3 weeks sounds like a good period of time to take off so that is what I\'ll do. My dad also happened to mention that it might be a good idea. So I am finally going to show some maturity by actually doing something he suggested. It took a few years but I got there in the end. Cheers Dad!
I shall return to these newsletters on April 12th.
For those of you who only recently signed up and who would like to have more to read right now; all my previous newsletters may be found on my blog-page: http://theukuleleentertainer.blogspot.com/
I look forward to writing to you again once my nodes and synapses have been reconfigured and revitalized through rest, relaxation and rehabilitation when they\'ll once more be ready for redeployment in the real and rewarding pursuit of reaching out to reeducate, resuscitate, revive and revolutionize the dreams of reams of readers through the remarkable powers of music.
I hope that sounds reasonable.
Regards until later,
Ralph Shaw
Question: How do you grow a successful garden?
Answer: Weed \'em and reap!
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just because I\'m having time off doesn\'t mean you can! \"The Complete Ukulele Course\" DVDs will help with your musical creation while I\'m busy with my re-creation. Here\'s some info about them:
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will help you to play and perform better. The use of teaching DVDs 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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
May 8: Kootenay Kids Fest, 25th anniversary. Cranbrook BC Canada
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
On Facebook? Then join the Ralph Shaw Fan Club
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
April 13 2010
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Dear Raimund,
I\'ve discovered what is wrong with the world. It turns out that May Singhi Breen (one of the world\'s most influential ukulele players) does not have an entry in Wikipedia but Rose Marion Tyler does.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 783 words
Estimated reading time: slightly over 3 minutes
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UE#31 Wiki Wacky Who?
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May Singhi Breen & Rose Marion Tyler: Which of these amazing women do you think is more worthy of an entry in the online encyclopedia: Wikipedia?
Let\'s compare them.
May Singhi Breen: Born: New York, 1895. In 1923 she was given a ukulele as a Christmas gift. The department store wouldn\'t allow her to return it so she taught herself to play and discovered she had a remarkable affinity for the instrument. Her musical group \"The Syncopaters\" performed on radio and there she met composer Peter de Rose (he wrote: On a Little Street in Singapore, Deep Purple, A Marshmallow World and Louis Prima\'s famous hit Buona Sera). They married and together they started a radio show called \"Sweethearts of the Air\". Peter played piano while she played ukulele. The show ran for 16 years.
Rose Marion Tyler: A working class shop assistant from London who only exists in fiction. She was the assistant to British TV\'s sci-fi character Doctor Who who saved her from an Auton invasion of earth. She went on to assist him in defeating the Nestene Consciousness.
May Singhi Breen: Became known as \"The Ukulele Lady\". Her enthusiasm for the instrument led her to teach both children and adults. She published books on how play melody as well as strumming chords. She came out with the first recorded ukulele lesson. This was a 78rpm Victor record that gave a 6 minute ukulele tutorial. She was also a pioneer of using bad ukulele puns. Her slogan was, \"Uke Can Play the Melody!\"
Rose Marion Tyler: Doctor Who gave Rose a \"superphone\" so she could stay in touch with her mother, Jackie, and her boyfriend, Mickey, as she traveled through time and space.
May Singhi Breen: Convinced music publishers to add ukulele chord symbols and ukulele arrangements to sheet music. This is a remarkable achievement when you think that the number of songs of the 1920s to 50s era that bear her arrangements are believed to total in the 1000s (I heard over 10,000 but I can\'t verify it) this supposedly makes her the world\'s most published arranger. Nowadays guitar tablature is what you\'ll mostly see on sheet music. But it mightn\'t be there at all were it not for the vision of May Singhi Breen.
Rose Marion Tyler: On her travels through time and space Rose learns the importance of not tampering with history when she attempts to save the life of her deceased father, Pete Tyler, who died when she was a baby. (btw. the characters of Pete Tyler, Jackie and boyfriend Mickey all have Wikipedia entries)
May Singhi Breen: On discovering that the ukulele did not come under the definition of \"musical instrument\" according to the American Federation of Musicians she campaigned to have the ukulele recognized. This was a major battle. At the hearing they wouldn\'t even listen to her play. The AFM representative told her that the ukulele was a \"fun toy which isn\'t allowed in orchestras, and anyone can make a noise on it in a matter of days...it was simply a novelty contraption...\" Herald Journal of 3 January 1932
Eventually Breen succeeded in having her 4-stringed friend classed as a musical instrument. Though evidently she was not immediately successful. Some vocal groups used ukulele in recordings during the AFM strike in the early 40s when musicians were banned from playing on recording sessions. btw. During the time the musician\'s union did not recognize the ukulele it did recognize the harmonica, snare drum and triangle.
Rose Marion Tyler: On their journeys Tyler and The Doctor were haunted by the words \"Bad Wolf\" written everywhere they went. This turns out to be a clue to an enormous Dalek invasion that threatens the entire universe. At one point Tyler forces her way into the TARDIS console and after staring into its heart becomes suffused with the power of The Time Vortex (yes there\'s a Wikipedia entry for that as well). She uses her power over time and space to spread the words \"Bad Wolf\" over its entirety to lead herself to this moment when she can save the earth from the Dalek invasion. Which she does. The doctor then saves her life by kissing her to drain away the harmful energy. Nice work if you can get it.
Number of words in their Wikipedia entries:
Rose Marion Tyler= 2,218
May Singhi Breen = 0
I\'ll admit that Rose Marion Tyler\'s credentials are not shabby. She has performed numerous acts of courage in defending the universe from various alien species.
But and however, May Singhi Breen does have the singular and, I believe, important advantage of at least having been a real person who actually existed. And I think that should count for something.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
April 20 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Today I have 5 things that a modern day polar explorer can teach us about success with our musical ambitions.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 923 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes
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UE#32 Performance Tips From an Extremist
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Last week I went to a slide show at my daughter\'s school. I\'ll be honest. I didn\'t want to go. Some people may relish the idea of sitting in a school auditorium for 2 hours but I don\'t. I grumbled as I bought the tickets.
As you may have guessed... I loved it! Kevin Vallely talked about his life as one of the world\'s top explorers. I don\'t expect you\'ve heard of him but he happens, along with Richard Weber & Ray Zahab, to hold the record for the fastest time to the South Pole. 1130 km in 33 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes. They achieved this on foot and without outside support. They pulled their own sleds while carefully navigating crevasses, snow drifts and blizzards.
All well and good. But what does jogging across Antarctica pulling a 110 pound sled have to do with the ukulele? Not a lot, but, I was drawn to his 5 ingredients for a successful expedition.
I found myself hanging on his every word. All of us set off on journeys in our personal and professional lives but how well do we plan? How much thought do we put into every decision along the way? Most of us trundle along in an ad-hoc fashion dealing with what comes up and hoping for success. Fortunately, for the majority of us, our decisions tend not to be of the life and death variety.
Many polar explorations have led to the demise of those involved because of poor preparation. Vallely however likes to quote Roald Amundsen (the 1st person to reach the South Pole) who said \"Adventure is just bad planning\".
I came away from the talk realizing that many of us would probably plan things better if our lives actually depended on the decisions that we make. His 5 ingredients for a successful expedition can be adapted for whatever goal you have in mind.
Maybe your goal is just to get started on the ukulele. Perhaps you have a loftier vision where you see yourself performing for an audience of 1000s. Wherever you want to take your uke you may well benefit from Kevin\'s 5 tips for success.
You will need:
1) Desire
This seems a no brainer but it is important to check in with yourself to see that your desire is true. Once on the path of playing music it can be very easy to let ego or fears take us in directions that we never intended to go. Other people may belittle or exaggerate our ability. Life\'s decisions are easier to make if you are clear about your desire.
2) Preparation
A lot of preparation can be spending time thinking! I\'ve seen many people make expensive and time consuming mistakes because they just didn\'t put enough thought into what they were doing. I should rephrase that last sentence: I have seen ME make expensive and time consuming mistakes etc... Do you spend 15 minutes a day thinking about the creation of your dream or vision? 15 minutes a day is not a lot but so many \'intelligent\' people just don\'t do it.
3) Teamwork
Whether you think you are or not you\'re always part of a team. Even as a solo performer you make temporary partnerships with say, the client who books you to perform, the designer of your website or your ukulele teacher. It is in everybody\'s interest to have a successful outcome. Working with other people is a process involving communication and trust. It also helps to have a sense of humour so you can all enjoy the mutual journey.
4) Expect the Unexpected
Things always come up. Sometimes you can have contingency plans ready but often we have to deal with whatever comes when it comes. Sometimes I get the comment that my shows seem off-the-cuff and unrehearsed yet there is a distinct connectivity to my presentation.
People ask me whether I use a set list of pre-planned songs, jokes and anecdotes. I tell them yes I do but I don\'t stick to it. I have learned that rigidly sticking to the format of a performance can work against me. When something comes up in a show, be it a song request, a heckler, an idea or unusual circumstance I gain connectivity to the audience by dealing with it then and there instead of staying with the plan.
5) Seeing It Through
If you give up before you see your dream or desire unfold then how will you know what you can achieve? I keep thinking about Kevin Vallely waking up in Antarctica in his tent at 30º or 40º below and realizing that he has yet another excruciating day of difficult physical and mental endurance ahead of him.
I dare say all of us have woken up with that feeling (sometimes even in our own homes) but we\'re still here and still going. The times when I\'ve seriously considered giving up on my dreams are usually after a performance that didn\'t go so well. \"It was the worst show ever!\" I cry. But just like the darkest part of the night is just before dawn I find myself performing in wonderful circumstances and having the \"best show ever!\" soon after I was ready to quit.
In show business it is often assumed that those who succeed do so because of their particular constellation of good fortune. I found it particularly noteworthy that in his presentation Mr. Vallely never talked about having to rely on blind luck.
Perhaps show business and snow business are not so different after all.
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Explore new ways to play ukulele.
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. (btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
May 8: Kootenay Kids Fest, 25th anniversary. Cranbrook BC Canada
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
April 27 2010
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Dear Raimund,
This week I received an email from Tom who writes,
\"...I\'m nursing a sore left thumb joint from too much pressing against the back of the uke neck with the thumb, I thought maybe you have some ideas about how to prevent that and other injuries... \"
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 671 words
Estimated reading time: just over 2½ minutes
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UE#33 When Music Hurts
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Tom goes on to say,
\"My therapist recommends alternating warm and cold water soaks, 1-3 min each to get the blood circulating, or hot or cold packs, vibration, careful stretches after heat is applied, and actually built a small brace to keep my thumb from being forced too far back.\"
Tom also says,
\"I wish I\'d taken it more seriously when it just started to ache - too easy to ignore pain when you\'re having fun.\"
Will you look at that. He just answered his own question!
Why do humans persevere with pain? I don\'t believe that evolution has provided us with a sense of pain just so we can ignore it. If that were true it would strike me as being a very unusual character building mechanism.
Sure, there are times when we have no choice but to temporarily ignore our hurts in order to get a job done. After all the show must go on. But the general rule of thumb, and its a very sore thumb in Tom\'s case, is: If it hurts - Stop Doing It.
Even animals know this. But somehow human beings believe that if they keep pushing onwards, the pain will just go away. No it won\'t. Don\'t be silly.
I admit it\'s a little tricky for beginner players to avoid pain. At that tender stage almost everything you do seems to inflict one kind of punishment or another. The strumming finger can hurt, so can the arm and always there are sore finger-ends caused from fretting the strings. But if you think your fingers hurt now, try playing the abrasive low strings of a guitar for a while and see how that feels! Therefore initially, as your hands get used to the new tasks it has to perform there is bound to be some soreness. However, if you notice that pain is not going away or is getting worse then you may have a problem developing.
Here are 4 suggestions:
1) Keeping part of your body in a tense state doesn\'t help. Your best music is played if your body is as relaxed as can be. Read more on this topic in an earlier article: Just Relax.
2) If something you are doing is giving you pain, find a different way to achieve the same sound. This could be as simple as changing the angle of your hand slightly, use a different finger to strum with, cradle the neck of the uke between your thumb and finger instead of pressing with your thumb. The point is to find whatever way you can to give the hurting part a rest. Wherever you are pressing or gripping your ukulele use only the pressure needed. Don\'t press harder than that.
3) Practice more often but for shorter periods. Doing this will ensure that your aching digits get the rest they need.
4) Practice in your mind. Give yourself a break from playing. Lie down and close your eyes. Imagine that you are playing a song. Visualize your hands on the strings and practice like that. I once heard of an imprisoned man who learned to play the piano on just the scratched drawing of a piano keyboard. Take note: If Nelson Mandela had used his prison-time more wisely he could be a very competent tuba player by now.
Proof of this effect was an experiment using 2 basketball teams where one team practiced for real and the other lay on mats in a gym and practiced through visualization. After 1 month they had improved by the same amount. It\'s a powerful technique which shouldn\'t be underrated.
There have been moments, after obsessively working on a new strum, that I found myself starting to hurt. This has happened in my fingers, my hands, my wrists and my shoulders. The early twinge of pain is a red flag. Your body is letting you know that it is not happy and it wants you to do something about it.
In other words: Ow is the symptom of our discontent.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 04 2010
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Dear Raimund,
What does it mean to be a \'good\' player. Every musician has certain standards they expect of themselves. But how do you get to be \'good\'?
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 776 words
Estimated reading time: about 3 minutes
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UE#34 Getting Good
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I\'ll admit right now that I\'m not about to provide an instant and magical technique to dramatically improve your playing. If there were such a technique, then everyone would be syncopating the minuetto allegretto on their ukuleles just as easily as walking (btw. don\'t be baffled by jargon; \"walking\" is just an old English verb. Most now use the word \"driving\" instead).
I am in the middle of teaching a 3 week Beginners Ukulele class. The class is taught one evening a week in the back room of a coffee house here in Vancouver. The room generally has several students busily staring into laptops and working on their studies; and we usually have to move one or two of them to make room for myself and the 11 ukulele beginners; most of whom have never played a musical instrument in their lives.
It surprises me that many of the laptop gazers actually choose to stick around. My assumption would be that they come to the coffee house to work quietly and not be distracted by a load of wannabe musicians and their tryintabe teacher. Yet they continue studying while my intrepid group goes about the serious business of learning G7.
I enjoy teaching beginners but I also find it a challenge. When I started out (circa 1990) I didn\'t have a ukulele teacher of my own. There were no other ukulele players around for me to emulate. Nobody to show me what to do; I had to figure it out for myself.
For the first couple of years of playing uke I stuck to songs with simple chord changes. This gave me lots of practice in holding a steady rhythm and keeping everything in time. Eventually, after upgrading to a better instrument I was then ready for trickier chords and faster changes. In other words I learned to play at my own speed and didn\'t compare myself to anybody else.
How different things are now. Just typing the word \"ukulele\" into Youtube reveals 1000s of ukulele performances. Such variety too! You can watch incredible players. Some make music on their ukes that you\'d swear was physically impossible. You will also view players who apparently have no sense of how awfully inept they truly are. And, most annoyingly of all, there is an amazing 3 year old kid who sings and strums in his home. He seems to have been born with the ability to play ukulele like a fiend. Although, with such a premature burgeoning of talent he will likely be a washed up old has-been by the time he\'s 6. We can only hope.
Frankly I am very glad that Youtube didn\'t exist when I was learning. Even now I tend to avoid it unless I want to hear a specific song that I\'m working on. Don\'t get me wrong. Youtube is a useful tool and how are we to learn if not from observing others? It\'s the comparing of ourselves to others that is destructive.
I can think of 3 live musicians that I heard as a young child: Mrs Eleanor played piano for the songs we sang at school assembly; my dad, a teacher, played a repertoire of mostly folk songs on his guitar, and then there was my grandad who just liked to sing. Btw. If you want to hear a wonderful home recording of my grandad and his pal Albert singing My Blue Heaven then get hold of my CD: Table for Two. He\'s on near the end. It\'s totally classic.
When I was old enough to attend professional concerts it didn\'t make Mrs Eleanor seem any less \'good\' to me. She was always a perfect singalong pianist. My dad was an ideal performer for his school classroom where his rendition of The Little Fly was second to none. My grandad, you\'ll agree when you hear the recording, was a living-room crooner par excellence.
If a player only knows a handful of simple 3 chord songs they can still be \'good\'. It all depends on context.
In the beginner class one of my students commented that she wasn\'t going to be playing ukulele in front of other people until she was \'good\'. Here\'s what happened:
I taught the students their very first song. It had 2 chords and we played it all the way through. At the end, to everyone\'s surprise, there was the sound of clapping. Looking around the room we saw the smiling and impressed faces of the laptop people. They were applauding the very first song of a group of beginning musicians who could already do something, that they, with their fancy laptops, could not. I think that\'s alright. In fact; I\'d go so far as to say they were actually quite \'good\'!
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now you can get good too! Here\'s how:
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. (btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
May 8: Kootenay Kids Fest, 25th anniversary. Cranbrook BC Canada
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 11 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Ask a ukulele player when they last changed their strings. Usually it\'s so long ago they can\'t remember. Those nylon strings can go on and on. Well I have a way to make them last even longer!
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 758 words
Estimated reading time: about 3 minutes
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UE#35 Make Your Ukulele Strings Last Forever (and why you shouldn\'t)
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Back in the days when I was a childrens entertainer I bought myself a microphone stand. The bass player in the band took one look at it and said, \"I got one of those things and it fell apart within a year.\" That was 20 years ago. My mic stand still works fine.
I have an amazing ability to make my possessions last way longer than they should.
I don\'t think its because I\'m particularly cheap; it\'s more of a habit really. You see my parents were of the European World War 2 generation. They lived through the scarcities of food and other commodities that characterized life in Europe during that time. They knew how to do a lot with very little and any possessions that might come their way were treated with intentional care.
If it is possible to inherit such a habit; then I have. Valued items that I care for include expensive stuff like my bicycle and instruments but also include cheaper things like CDs, shaving razors and of course, ukulele strings.
My reluctance to change strings is not so much the cost as it is to do with the time and trouble of actually changing them. Even when strings have been changed one also has to wait for them to stretch to their final, stable tension. It can take a day or more before they are no longer going flat in the middle of a song.
If you play a lot you\'ll eventually find that a string will break. In the case of baritone strings the wire winding around the low strings doesn\'t take long to break and unravel.
Want to make your ukulele strings last way longer than they should? Here is how to do it:
First, take a string and attach it to the bridge. Usually the string goes through a hole in the bridge. Then loop the string back around itself and wind the string around itself 3 or 4 times. This makes a slip knot in a similar way to a lasso (for all you cowboys who are reading this). Pull the string tight and then wind the other end around the tuning peg. Make sure it goes around the peg at least 5 or 6 turns.
After a couple of months or so of playing, run your fingernail under a string. You\'ll notice indentations under the string above where it makes contact with the frets. When this happens the common wisdom is that now is the time to change your strings. And I suggest you do.
But; if ya wanna keep those strings trucking on, do this: Loosen a tuner by a few turns and pull the string down through the bridge by about half an inch (or 1 cm). When you retighten the string you\'ll find that the indentation is no longer above the fret. It is now way less likely to break. This is a special reprieve for baritone strings which seem to start fraying almost as soon as you put them on. Its good for other strings too and if you repeat this every few months you\'ll find you can make your strings last forever (nearly).
Here is why you shouldn\'t do it:
Over time, doing the above will make your ukulele sound badder and badder (note: I am using the word \'bad\' in its old-fashioned usage of actually meaning \'bad\', as in \'not good\').
Your strings will loose their elasticity. They won\'t feel as good to play and you\'ll notice that they hurt your fingers a little more than before. They\'ll sound & feel less bouncy and more dead.
More importantly and perhaps surprisingly, is that old strings actually lose their intonation. I discovered this the hard way when I suspected that my previously excellent Kamaka ukulele had become warped or damaged. Chords no longer sounded right. Strings were out of tune with each other. My lovely instrument was sounding like one of those coconut ukuleles that one finds in Hawaiian novelty boutiques. When a guitarist friend suggested I change my strings I thought this was a folly; but it worked. It totally solved my intonation problems and had the ukulele sounding as sweet as it ever did.
Nylon ukulele strings can seem to last a long long time but you won\'t be doing yourself any favours by using them to the very end of their life. Think about changing them more often than you do and learn to notice when that time has come.
Just because you can make your strings last forever doesn\'t mean that you should.
© 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. (btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 18 2010
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Dear Raimund,
It is somewhat ironic to be performing for people whose memories have all but disappeared. They haven\'t heard a particular song in ¾ of a lifetime yet they are the ones reminding me of exactly how a song goes. Thanks for the Erm, oh... damn, wotzit called again?
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 a tad over 3 minutes
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UE#36 Thanks for the Melodies
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I have entertained in Seniors Facilities for almost as long as I\'ve been playing ukulele. My repertoire of songs from the 1920s to 1940s has been perfect for those people who actually lived and loved throughout those years.
As a child we referred to them as \"Old Folks\". I still prefer that term to the newer and somehow vaguely condescending; \"Seniors\". Whatever you call them I am now 17 years closer to being one than I was when I started entertaining them.
Why don\'t I do so many of the Seniors gigs anymore? One reason is I\'m less available these days; and they pay next to nothing; but mainly, as I get slowly older there is the nagging thought that one day I\'ll be leaving a facility when a nice young nurse will grasp me firmly by the elbow and lead me back inside with the kind words, \"Not that way Mr Shaw, you live here now, remember?\"
\"But I was just doing a gig with my ukulele.\"
\"Yes that\'s right Mr Shaw, now let go of that frying pan and I\'ll put it back where it belongs.\"
\"When do I get paid?\"
\"Don\'t worry about that Mr Shaw, we\'ll sort that out later.\"
\"I\'ve heard that one before.\"
It is always an education to meet audience members, no matter what their age. But I am especially fond of hearing the memories that are stirred up from those citizens whose nostalgia synapses have been reawakened by a song they haven\'t heard in over 60 years. I\'ve been told family stories, tales of the war years and, my favorite; reminiscences of meetings with famous performers. The ones who originally sang the songs now in my repertoire.
Those are the lucid people.
It can be equally enlightening to meet those whose memories fall far short of what they once were. The Alzheimer\'s patients. \'Alzheimers\' is another term that troubles me. It is a very real disease of the brain but I have also known of more than one person whose memory magically returned when they were taken off the cocktail of pharmaceuticals they had been prescribed.
One time I was introducing the Formby song; When I\'m Cleaning Windows when an old fellow got up to leave. The entertainment supervisor said, \"Where are you going Mr Clegg?\"
He replied, \"I don\'t need my windows cleaning\"
The most remarkable thing to witness, and I\'ve seen it several times, is when people, whose severe memory loss has robbed them of the ability to speak, are suddenly able to sing. Sometimes they know the words, sometimes just the tune. But sing they do. Not only that, they do it remarkably accurately.
When elders start to raise their voices in song my ears prick up and take notice. The reason? Its my chance to relearn the tune.
You\'d think that having performed these songs thousands of times I would know them extremely well. Not so. What happens over time is that bit by bit, note by note, a word here and a word there the song starts to change.
When I sing songs over and over there is a tendency to want to do something a bit different. Maybe I improvised a bit of melody one time and liked it enough that it stuck. Slowly it came to take the place of the original melody.
Its a shame when this happens. The tin-pan-alley songwriters really knew what they were doing. Their songs are known as standards. The crafting of melody, lyrics and chord structure that made those ditties so emotionally appealing is why they are still memorable now.
It is important to stay with the true melody and lyrics. There was such care taken in the writing of those songs that almost anything you or I could do to change them will be for the worse.
Irving Berlin (the guy who wrote: White Christmas, Puttin\' on the Ritz and God Bless America) was very protective of his songs. He liked them to be performed the way they were written. His favorite singer was Fred Astaire who he felt expressed the songs exactly the way they were intended. On the other hand he despised the way Jazz musicians, for all their incredible skill, would mess around with his precious melodies. After hearing Benny Goodman play a scintillating improvised rendition of his 1927 song Blue Skies, Irving approached him and said,
\"That was incredible.\" Then added, \"Never do it again.\"
If you perform a lot then I suggest that you go to the source of your songs from time to time to remind yourself of the true lyrics and melody. If you\'re not so lucky as me, and don\'t have friends with Alzheimer\'s to remind you of where you are going wrong, then get out the old records and take a listen.
I have a Story to Tell about this Picture. Remind Me to Tell You Some Time!
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will be a constant reminder of 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. (btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 25 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
I want to say how touched I am and thank all of you who have emailed me to say nice things about my newsletter and the help you have received. Some of you have even indicated that you would like to support the newsletter financially. Well now you can! I have added a link in the EXTRA! EXTRA! section where you can safely contribute using Paypal or credit card. btw. I had not planned on making this addition and I consider it a great compliment that some of you have asked for it. Thanks again.
Most people who play ukulele, also sing. Today I give you 5 pointers to help make sure your lyrics are clearly understood.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 886 words
Estimated reading time: about 3½ minutes
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UE#37 Classified Information
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During the Winter Olympics the people of Vancouver were treated to musical showcases from all over the world. One such event featured performers from Eastern Canada.
Included in the showcases were friends of mine: Chuck and Albert, a wonderful fiddle playing, clog dancing comedy duo from Prince Edward Island. At the venue I was very surprised to see a long line-up consisting solely of teens in the 15 to 19 year age range. My wife and I had VIP tickets and were allowed into the pre-show lounge for refreshments.
The mystery that had started in my mind was suddenly solved when it was explained that, amongst the traditional east coast acts there would also be a Rapper from Nova Scotia; a famous Canadian Rap artist called Classified no less. Apparently famous, I hadn\'t heard of him.
The organizers, thinking they would treat us to a variety of East Coast entertainment, had not reckoned with the line-up-endurance power of teens. The show was free and no advance tickets were available. Many had been waiting for 6 hours to see their hero for a ½ hour performance.
When the front doors opened; all the VIPs, my wife and I included, were seated together in the back 8 rows as the slack-jawed, baseball cap wearing throng flooded into the room. There was a slight air of tension in the room but the excellent emcee put everyone at ease and asked the horde of young Rap fans to have respect for the other entertainers. Which they pretty much did. They sat patiently looking at their phones and smoking joints while a young female fiddler from New Brunswick played her tunes.
By this time I was eager to hear what Classified would present. I admire Rap as a sincere and energized form of performance poetry. However, I was disappointed.
The singular identifying feature of Rap is the words. When Classified rapped I could not understand what he was saying. I tried. I tried very hard but I couldn\'t do it. Call me an obsolete old fuddy duddy but if you listen to Rap and can\'t hear the words... honestly what is the point?
By now we all had to stand up to see. Around me other \"VIPs\" were moving and shaking their thang. Everyone looked to be pretending to have a really good time.
I decided I knew where I could definitely have a better time. The bar. My partner and I headed there with our VIP free drink tickets clutched in my hand.
The police, fearful of a drunken teen mob, had closed the bar. I protested,
\"But I only want a glass of Chardonnay for my wife.\"
I gave them my word of honour that I would take full responsibility for any disorderly consequences.
The police woman said,
\"I\'m sorry sir the bar is closed.\"
\"What, even for Chardonnay?\" I whimpered, \"Surely they should be allowed to sell Chardonnay.\"
I\'d never heard of a Chardonnay-fueled mob causing violence and property damage, but I guess the cops know more about these things. However, I was delighted to discover that it pays to whine for wine! The policewoman looked around and then said,
\"Come with me.\"
The bartender informed the constable that it was beyond his power to reopen a bar, even for Chardonnay, once given the order to close. Oh dear. It seems even the police have limits on their power. How very annoying.
And how annoying it is to not be able to hear lyrics. Whether your lyrics are original or written by someone else I would assume that they are worth hearing; or why sing them?
Many singers are so familiar with their songs; they hear the lyrics nice and clearly inside their own head. But it doesn\'t follow that the information is getting across to the listeners. Here are some tips to make sure your lyrics get heard:
1) Over enunciate. When forming words move your mouth more than you would during everyday speech. If you sing in a group, each singer should over-enunciate to, what will feel, an unnatural extent. The audience will hear a much more natural sound than you\'ll think you are making.
2) Open your mouth wider than you normally do. Take a tip from the teens! Let your jaw be relaxed and hanging open.
3) Using a microphone? Then stay close to it. Turning your head away will make words inaudible.
4) Sing to the person farthest from you. That way you can be sure everyone closer than them will hear you.
5) Communicate the meaning of the words. Give more expression to the important words in a line of song. Eg. Don\'t give equal emphasis to the word \"it\" as you do to the word \"love\".
Minutes after Classified ended his non-understandable examination of urban teen-hood we returned to the now ½-empty theater to see the rest of the show.
I felt sorry for those kids who had come and gone. They had lined up for hours and were now missing the opportunity to experience some fine and verbally coherent entertainment. A woman near me grumbled,
\"They think its Macdonalds. They just take what they want and leave.\"
True, or maybe they just don\'t understand our generation and its music. What a bunch of young fuddy duddy\'s.
Heartwarming Entertainers: Chuck and Albert
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make a financial contribution to support the work of creating this newsletter: Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card
Want to make your playing more coherent?
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.
(btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
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).
Upcoming Events:
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 01 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Going electric can be a mixed blessing, just ask Bob Dylan. Today we look at the pros and cons of playing an instrument with volume control.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 859 words
Estimated reading time: less than 3½ minutes
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UE#38 Four Reasons to go Electric
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A couple of years ago I got a phone call telling me that Hawaiian ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro would be performing that same evening in a local furniture store, for free. Not a hoax, it turned out to be quite true. A sponsorship deal he had with a Hawaiian home furnishings chain meant that his west coast tour included a free furniture store show here in Vancouver.
It wasn\'t exactly widely advertised and those present sat comfortably on sofas and easy chairs with price tags hanging from them. It was the first time I had ever seen Jake play and as I sank sleepily into my $899 cushioned recliner I was struck by his obvious virtuosity. The other thing that struck me was, as I inevitably relaxed and closed my eyes to listen, there was no way I could know that he was playing a ukulele.
Most of his songs were played through electronic effects. I think anyone walking into the room would have assumed he was playing an electric guitar.
The intimacy of the venue would have lent itself very well to a purely acoustic performance on a non-electrified instrument.
So why do we have electric ukuleles; what is the point?
Non-musicians are often, and understandably, mystified about what an electric instrument is. When they see someone pull out a little wooden ukulele it can be surprising to watch a ¼\" cable being plugged into the end of the instrument.
What this means is that the acoustic ukulele has had a \"pickup\" built into it. The pickup \"picks-up\" the vibrations of the ukulele and converts them to an electrical signal.
Many players play their whole lives on ukuleles that are 100% acoustic; the way ukuleles were meant to sound. The modern term for this is \"Unplugged\".
If you don\'t have a pickup in your uke and can see no reason to change, then don\'t. An electrified ukulele can have benefits but it will also become a gateway into a world of technological complications that you may be well content to live without.
There have been electric guitars since the early 1930s and I\'m certain someone was tinkering with an electric uke soon after. Indeed I have been told that May Singhi Breen, who I wrote about several weeks ago, performed her 16 minute Rhapsody for Ukulele with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra around that time.
Here are 4 benefits to playing an electric ukulele:
1) It makes it louder. An obvious but important point. If Ms Breen had played an unamplified uke with the entire Whiteman Orchestra it may have been a real challenge to hear her.
2) It allows for amplification and movement. The disadvantage of playing in front of a microphone is that as soon as your ukulele moves towards or away from the microphone then the loudness level coming out of the speakers is going to change. With an electric ukulele the musician is free to move around at will. Without electric instruments we couldn\'t hear Hendrix play behind his head and we could never have had Chuck Berry\'s \"Duck Walk\". Imagine the loss to humanity.
3) Electrification prevents feedback. If you\'ve heard of feedback but don\'t know what it is: Imagine you are playing a ukulele at a microphone. The strings vibrate and the mic picks up the sound which goes to an amplifier and then out through the loudspeakers. When the speakers vibrate, this air vibration returns to the ukulele where it vibrates the strings. The mic hears the extra string vibration which is then amplified and goes to the speakers and so on. This \"feedback loop\" can happen many times in a second and results in that high pitched electronic scream that sends sound-guys lunging for the volume dial. Electric pickups tend to be far less prone to feedback.
4) You can use all kinds of cool effects. Once an electric signal is coming along that wire out of your ukulele your sound can be manipulated in an infinite number of ways. There are effects available that provide your sound with: Echo, Reverberation, Distortion, Vibrato, Tremolo, Chorus, Phaseshift, Fuzz, Flange, Squidge, Plopp, Bungy-Flatulence and more (only the last 3 are made up by me). These sounds can be combined in any number of ways. My experience is, that most of this kind of manipulation loses the essence of the ukulele sound. But, if you want your uke to sound like an electric guitar then they are great.
Larry Adler, the famous harmonica virtuoso, was still performing well into the 1990s. He\'d reminisce how, in the 1920s, he would regularly play harmonica in front of a full orchestra without any amplification.
How was this possible?
First of all the orchestra musicians were sensitive enough to play at volumes that allowed the small solo instrument to be heard. Secondly the audiences knew how to be quiet and listen to natural sound.
Technology offers us much, but is it always necessary?
Next time: I\'ll talk about the different kinds of electric pickups that are available, should your interests lean towards becoming \"Plugged\".
Larry Adler in Action
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Improve Your Ukulele Playing:
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.
(btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card
Upcoming Events:
Ralph Shaw on the Silver Screen!!! (maybe) \"The A Team\" Movie will be released in June. I was filmed singing a Led Zeppelin song with my banjo-uke in a scene involving Bradley Cooper. If I\'m in the movie at all it\'ll be very brief but I just wanted to give you a heads up!
June 3&4 Surrey Kids Fest - Stage + Roving performances. BC Canada
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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 + tour of the USA midwest.
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 08 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Today I offer some information to help you understand the mysterious world of electronic pickups.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 895 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes
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UE#39 Picky About Pickups
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You\'ve decided you want to play electric ukulele. Now what?
One option is to buy a ready made electric uke. Fully electric models have almost no acoustic sound. They can only be heard through headphones or amplifier with speaker. Or you could get an acoustic instrument with an electric pickup already built into it.
If you want to convert your existing ukulele into one that can be played through a stack of Marshall Amps, at your next stadium gig, you\'ll need to install a pickup.
First, here are some things you need to know:
1) Its rare for a pickup to put out a sound that is exactly like your instrument. The sound you hear from the speaker may sound generically like a ukulele but it will usually be different from the acoustic sound you normally hear.
2) Pickups come in a wide range of prices. The price does not always reflect the quality of the sound. Meeting musician John Rutherford at a folk festival he told me how he had explored many pickups for his banjo-uke. He got the best sound from a $5 computer-microphone.
3) Pickups are great, when they work. However they can be a real pain when they suddenly don\'t. Sooner or later everything breaks down and pickups fail for many reasons. They come unstuck, batteries die, wires fray and break.
4) Because many pickups are attached to the vibrating surface of the instrument they supposedly can affect the acoustic sound. However if they do change the \"unplugged\" sound it is to such a small degree that I\'ve never been able to hear it.
5) You\'ll need gear. Your electrified uke will only serve you if you have the gear to bring the sound out into the acoustic world. Soon you\'ll be looking into getting cables, amps, preamps, effects pedals and all that other stuff.
Here are the main types of pickup and their advantages.
A) Magnetic pickups These are rare for use with ukuleles because they only work with metal strings.
B) Internal Microphone Strictly speaking not a pickup but it is, as the name suggests, a tiny microphone placed within the body of the instrument. This gives an accurate sound of what you\'d hear if you were inside a ukulele.
C) Contact Pickups Are often made of piezoelectric material which converts physical vibration to electrical signal. Contact pickups attach to the vibrating surface of the uke. (In case you don\'t know where that is - its the front). They can be temporarily stuck with putty to the outside (great for occasional use).
Contact pickups can be permanently installed on the inside. A hole is usually drilled in the end of the instrument to install the jack for plugging in. To get the best sound it is important to find the ideal placement for the pickup aka. the \"sweet spot\". Contact pickups are usually circular. They vary in size from about a dime to a quarter. For Brits that\'s a 5p piece to a 10p coin. About 10 Euro cents to 2 Euros. They can also come as a flexible strip 1 or 2 inches long.
D) Under the saddle pickups The saddle is the strip of wood (or bone or plastic) that sits on the bridge holding up your strings. An under-saddle pickup is a very thin, often piezoelectric, strip sandwiched between the bridge and the saddle. It picks up vibration and sends the signal through a thin wire into the ukulele coming out again through the \"plugging-in\" hole in the end.
E) Combination or Blender Systems The above types by themselves, are not always completely satisfactory for the playing professional. Therefore it is possible to get systems that incorporate more than one pickup. The sound is then \"blended\" to produce the desired tone. An example might include using a piezoelectric pickup in conjunction with an internal microphone.
As if that weren\'t enough, you\'ll also need to think about a preamp. A preamp is basically a box containing a battery and electronics. It affects the volume and tone of the sound before sending it to the amplifier. Preamps often give you control of EQ (sound frequencies) and volume. Therefore if your pickup is giving you a high, thin sound your preamp may be able to boost the mid or bass frequencies to give you the tone you want.
The preamp can be an external unit or it can be built into the instrument itself. Internal preamps are usually installed at manufacture otherwise it entails cutting a sizeable hole into the side of your ukulele. Most people don\'t like to do that.
The good news is, once you have your pickup + preamp configured to give you a pleasing quality, you\'ll have a consistent tone that you can plug into any sound system. This can be preferable to relying on the varied and often dubious quality of other people\'s microphones.
Now you have some basic information, you can set out on the road to Ukulele Rock and Roll glory. The work of researching the many available pickups begins. Its not easy. Everyone seems to have different ideas about what constitutes \"good sound\".
Indeed, some musicians are more concerned about getting the right pickup than they are about the instrumental itself. It\'s a crazy world. Are you sure you wouldn\'t just be happier twanging some elastics wrapped around an old shoebox?!
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ralph Shaw on the Silver Screen!!! (maybe) \"The A Team\" Movie will be released in June. I was filmed singing a Led Zeppelin song, with my banjo-uke, in a scene involving Bradley Cooper. If I\'m in the movie at all it\'ll be very brief so keep your eyes peeled!
Improve Your Ukulele Playing:
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.
(btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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.
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Make a financial contribution to support this newsletter:
Make a Donation using Paypal or Credit Card
Upcoming Events:
June 10 to June 13 Winnipeg International Childrens Festival - 5 Shows
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 15 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
On the release of my new Children\'s CD: \"Birds of a Feather - Unplucked\" I want to talk about making music for children and their families.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 920 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3½ minutes
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UE#40 Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked!
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When my daughter was young I read a book about raising children. One of the chapters was titled: Children\'s Music - Why?
I love that sentiment. Children are just like anyone else. They recognize just 2 kinds of music; good music and bad music. Furthermore they often have a highly developed sense of criticism.
Most adults, finding themselves in an auditorium watching a poorly executed and boring performance, tend to sit and quietly bear it. Children don\'t. They become restless. They shout and they cry. In fact they\'ll do almost anything to get out of the same room as Michael Bublé (oh Michael, don\'t pout I\'m just kidding).
In 1989 I joined up with Fred Faulkes and Trish Miller, a couple of musically talented childrens librarians. We formed a band known as The Crows which we soon changed to Birds of a Feather. It seemed less menacing.
We had enough success to consider going professional. But in the end we broke up when Fred and Trish decided that they enjoyed having reliable incomes. I was gung-ho to continue the band since I\'d never had a reliable income and didn\'t know what I would be missing. Still don\'t. But a band of one isn\'t really a band. That\'s when I became \"The King of the Ukulele\". Well, someone had to.
The legacy of our time together is recorded on, what I think, is a stunningly good children\'s album: Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked!
I hadn\'t heard the album in about 15 years when, 2 months ago, I made the decision to re-release it on CD. Listening to the remastered work I was blown away by the artistry involved throughout the recording.
Sometimes a project comes together where everything works. I am proud to have been a part of it. The experience I have gained since those days helps me to recognize how the combined efforts of studio musicians, engineer, producer and band have created something unique and finely crafted. A whole that is greater than the individual parts.
Our goal was always to create entertainment for the whole family. I still believe that to be a worthy ideal. I love looking out at an audience and seeing young and much older family members enjoying music together.
We can ask ourselves the question: What makes good family entertainment?
Some of the main ingredients that you\'ll find are:
Use good material. For ukulele players this means get yourself really fine songs that have memorable melodies, lasting lyrics and cool chord changes.
A great song will have different levels of meaning for different people. A perfect example of this is the George Formby favourite: My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock. As a child I was highly entertained by Formby\'s song about the hard, pink confection known as Blackpool Rock. Little did I know that the song had an entirely different connotation for adult listeners. Not that Birds of a Feather sang songs like that!
Sometimes the difference in meaning can be more subtle. A seemingly happy song for a child may be a bit of a tear-jerker for the parent because it also expresses lost youth and times gone forever. Terry Jacks wrote: \"We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun\". As a kid I could not understand why my mum got a bit misty eyed when this came on. Now I do.
Participation songs are a great idea. Get the audience involved. This can be in the form of physical actions or singalong choruses. Kids love to be occupied and, truth be told, many adults like to join in too. In the 1920s, as young adults, my grandparents would hold hilarious parties full of participatory games. People knew how to have a good time and I believe that spirit still holds true.
Put some variety in your show. Mr Dressup was a staple for 25 years on childrens TV here in Canada. Mr Dressup was always engaging. He used all his skills to entertain his audience of 3 to 6 year olds and their parents. He\'d sing a song and then talk to his puppets. After that he\'d draw a picture of a mystery object and then make a whale out of a milk carton before acting in a short play with his puppet friends. It was riveting stuff! The point is that he didn\'t just rely on one skill set.
Take stock of your own skills and see how they might lend themselves to entertaining your audiences. Are you good at telling stories, jokes? Is physicality more your thing? Perhaps dance, other movement or funny facial expressions. If you have some mask-making, costume or acting ability your musical performance could incorporate other characters.
Are you good at building imaginative props that could enhance your show? To see how this idea can be taken to the extreme check out the great Al Simmons. I recently performed with him at the Winnipeg International Childrens Festival and his inventiveness in the creation and use of props is nothing short of sublime.
Al Simmons in one of his Many Amazing Hats
I guess I\'m a Vaudevillian at heart. The old Vaudeville variety shows were a powerful form of entertainment that also happened to be family friendly. Think about how comforted a child must feel when she looks around and sees parents, brothers and sisters smiling and relaxed.
And if you want to relax and smile while listening to an exquisitely produced album, not just for kids; I urge you to check out this latest release on CD: Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 22 2010
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Dear Raimund,
Perhaps you\'ve looked at someone playing a small part on TV and thought, \'That looks easy, I wonder how I could get a job like that?\'
I did get a small part recently, playing ukulele in the new movie: The A-Team released last week in North America. Here\'s what happened.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1078 words
Estimated reading time: nearly 4 minutes
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UE #41 I Touched Liam Neeson\'s Wig
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A Tuesday morning last October. I\'m in my pajamas. Home from an event in New Brunswick I am looking forward to 2 days of packing before leaving for festivals in California, Oregon and Nova Scotia. The phone rings.
1) When Opportunity Comes - Say Yes
\"Are you the ukulele player Ralph Shaw?\"
\"Yes.\"
\"I\'m calling from the set of The A-Team. They want you in the movie. Can you come to the set right now?\"
\"Er, sure, I think so. My wife has the car but as soon as she\'s done I\'ll drive over.\"
\"Bring all the equipment you need to perform and get here asap.\"
There followed 20 minutes of me grabbing my gear and hopping from one foot to the other while I waited for the car. It was a 1 hour drive and when I arrived I saw a perfect Baghdad desert military base complete with sand, palm trees, tents, armoured vehicles, helicopters and lots of dust.
They quickly put me in a uniform. Wardrobe had a hard time deciding on insignia because although I\'d be playing a low rank I look too old to be a private or corporal. Thanks ladies. They made me a staff sergeant. I even had a cloth name badge that said Shaw. This detail was important because my suitcase drum, which has my real name on it, might get seen. Product placement!
Hair and make-up was next. While there I saw the actor who plays BA (Mr T in old TV show) having his mohawk glued on. Yep its not real, sorry.
Wigs belonging to Liam Neeson\'s character, Hannibal, were on 3 styrofoam mannequin heads by my chair. I stroked one of them with the back of my hand. A sort of brush with fame.
On my face they applied make-up to give me a tanned look, and baby oil to make me look sweaty. Then I had lunch and waited 2 hours with over 200 camouflaged, gun-carrying extras all looking unnervingly warrior-like.
Soon I was given my own small dressing room in a trailer. I sat and reflected on how I came to be there.
2) Get Noticed.
Getting in movies usually involves taking acting classes and finding an agent to send you for auditions. But I got this part through doing street performance. I regularly do street shows in our local tourist haven known as Granville Island. A few weeks previously a couple of guys had approached me saying they liked my stuff and were in town filming The A-Team. Maybe they could use me.
Not taking them seriously I joked around with them and then forgot all about it.
3) Show Them Your Best Stuff
A knock on my trailer door.
\"You\'re needed on Set right away.\"
I grabbed my banjo-uke and we hustled across the sand. I was told to wait in front of a tent. About 15 people came out of the tent including Director, Assistant Director, Cameraman, Sound-guy and the 2 guys who had seen me on the street. They stood before me in a semi-circle and someone said, \"Sing us a song\".
I ummed and ahhed for a moment pretending to think about it but I already knew I was going to sing an original song of mine: Movie Stars, High Rollers and Big Shakers. If they decided to use it in the film it could mean royalties!
I sang and played. All around I could see movie folk stopping to listen. I expanded the net of my performance to include them too. I finished and was loudly applauded by the host of US and Arab military personnel. As I stood there smiling in my fatigues I thought, \'How odd\'.
Someone said, \"Nice job. Be here tomorrow, early\"
4) When you have the Chance to Speak Up - Do So
Next day, 7am. Into makeup & uniform and straight to set. They were preparing for a major scene that would involve all 200 extras plus vehicles, helicopters and Bradley Cooper (who I didn\'t know of at the time). I was brought to the director who said,
\"Hey, do you know the Led Zeppelin song, Kashmir?\"
\"You want me to play Kashmir on a Banjo-ukulele?\"
\"Don\'t worry we\'ll find it for you\"
I had read somewhere that Led Zeppelin rarely allow their music to be used in movies or TV. However I was sufficiently awestruck by the situation to not mention it to the director. In retrospect I should have.
5) Use Your Experience and Fake the Rest
A couple of assistants were sent scrambling to download the song. While the complex 8 minute scene was being rehearsed I listened to the song over and over. I felt close to falling apart. Not only could I not figure out the chords but the timing was weird. The guitar played in 3/4 time and the drums in 4/4. Within minutes I needed to figure this out, learn it and play a one-man-band version with cameras rolling. Great.
Someone got a print-out of the chord changes. The first chord was a D5. D5?!! Never heard of it. Apparently \'5\' chords are known as power chords and often used in Rock music. Ignoring the fact that I didn\'t know what \'5\' chords were I worked quickly to figure out a version of the song that was easy to play and sounded kind of recognizable. The director looked over at me, smiled and nodded,
\"Yeah, you got it.\"
6) Enjoy The Moment
The rest of the day entailed filming the same long scene over and over again. My reworked Kashmir, adapted for one-man-band and ukulele was fairly easy to play. I had fun entertaining the troops gathered around me as they reclined with their snacks, magazines and sudokus.
The scene felt strangely reminiscent of the photos you see of George Formby entertaining soldiers in the second world war.
It was one of the most surreal episodes of my career. Suddenly it was over. 8:30 pm and dark. Everyone left. The lights were turned off and I was left standing cold and alone on a Baghdad military base with more gear than I could carry by myself. I thought, \'I\'m going on tour tomorrow morning and I still need to pack\'.
The Details...
What You See: Ralph, his red ukulele case and a view of the suitcase with his name clearly readable on the front.
Screen Time: 3 seconds
Can You Hear Him: Hardly, if at all.
Number of Andy Warhol fame-minutes remaining: 14 mins 57 secs
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DVDs, CDs and Flea ukuleles available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\" CD = $14.95
By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers. CD = $14.95
Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some wonderful originals. CD = $14.95
King of the Ukulele Ralph Sings his favourite songs of the Tin-Pan-Alley era.
CD =$14.95
Improve Your Ukulele Playing:
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.
(btw. for those of you in far-away places eg. Australia, Europe, Africa and Asia I have very reasonable shipping rates just use the Paypal \'Add to Cart\' button on my website to buy your dvds).
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:
June 25, 26, 27 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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
Ralph Shaw CDs? Buy them here!
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
July 06 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
July 13 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca.
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca.
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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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.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
September 21, 2010
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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
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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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 05, 2010
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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
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UE #49 The Sacred Path of the Worrier
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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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
October 19, 2010
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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
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UE #50 Paper View
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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.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 2, 2010
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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!
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 16, 2010
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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.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
November 23, 2010
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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
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 7, 2010
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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
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 21, 2010
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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!!
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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)
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email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web: www.RalphShaw.ca
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 29, 2010
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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
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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
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
December 30, 2010
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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
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UE #56 In With the Old
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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.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 11, 2010
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Dear Raimund,
There are many things you could think about while performing; but you can only ever really think about one thing at a time. Today we look at the single most important thought to have in mind when playing or singing for others. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 885 words
Estimated reading time: 3½ minutes
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UE #57 Serving Beauty
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Winter in Canada. The phrase invokes images of bitter cold, hardship and skiing. Trees hung heavy with snow; water everywhere frozen as hard as a prospector\'s mukluk. The hardy, frostbitten daredevils who brave such a brittle climate are invariably wrapped in thick furs. They live in igloos, have no sentiment when it comes to baby seals and invent wonderfully obscure phrases such as \'you hoser\', \'just givin er\' and \'eh\'. They occasionally resort to sleeping alongside their dogs for warmth thus giving us another great phrase: \'a three dog night\'.
The above may be true in some parts of Canada but not on the west coast. Here in Vancouver we are rich enough to obtain our snow in liquid form. Our Christmas days aren\'t quite so Hallmarkesque but our cars start and shovelling is something we only do with dessert.
We get rain and lots of it. Drab, dreary and incessant; soul soaking rain.
Its a grey and rainy Vancouver day. I turn the corner of a colourless suburban back-street and I notice a mother and her 7 year old daughter on the other side of the road. They are African. The young girl, in school uniform, is carrying an enormous black umbrella in both hands. She is dry and she grins. The mother is draped in clothing of bright fabrics. The orange and purple robe covering her body hangs down to her ankles. A substantial scarlet and yellow headscarf covers her head, neck and shoulders.
She also carries an umbrella. Hers is pink; but it\'s not in her hands. Her umbrella lies flat and unopened on top of her head. She carries it in the same fashion as I imagine she might carry a basket of fruit through a Kenyan market. The simple scene jolts my senses alive. It is so surprising and so colourful I can\'t help but stop and stare. The mother, if she sees me, ignores me. The young girl does see me and her grin becomes bigger than ever.
There is beauty all around us, all the time. But you have to seek it out. Slow down and look carefully. It doesn\'t always smack you into wide awake attention as in the above example.
My wife Kathryn is a great one for seeking out beauty. Many times on an outing I\'ll be daydreaming about something or other when Kathryn says, \"Come and look at this.\" I dutifully go and stand in the spot where she indicates. And I look. I find I am gazing upon a scene of postcard-like perfection. I drink it in with my eyes; which are the only camera I have since my ability to take photographic images somehow disappeared with the digital age.
There are few places left on earth that remain untouched by humans; therefore any beauty that most of us experience comes as a result of mankind working with nature.
Take the ukulele. 100% of its construction materials are found in nature. How could they not be. The wood grows as trees, metal parts are mined. The plastic parts, such as nylon strings and tuner knobs, come from oil; and so on. The physical form and unique voice of the instrument then come into being by virtue of the luthier\'s almost alchemic skill.
Then the ukulele becomes yours.
And with it comes a certain responsibility. Your instrument has descended from a long lineage of beauty; trees have grown and died, stone bearing iron has been forged and formed in the bowels of the earth wherein the mysterious creation of oil has also taken place. Centuries have gone into the development of strings and tuners. All of it is finally combined by the luthier\'s hand to become an instrument of music. An \'ukulele, as the Hawaiians call it.
Ask yourself. Is it fair, after such an epic journey of creation, that the beauty should end with you?
Of course not. You took up the ukulele because you wanted to create something awesome, not awful. Didn\'t you?
Say \'Yes Ralph\'.
Thank you.
Although beauty surrounds us, it still needs our conscious attention if it is to be noticed. The creation of beauty requires a similar dedication of focus.
Ever watched a plant grow in a time-lapse movie? Its fascinating to see a vine move, sway and coil; more like animal than vegetable. Every growing tree consciously and constantly strives for beauty. The luthier\'s attention to beauty must also never waver. If it does the finished instrument will tell of it.
And so, when you pick up your instrument and start to play, you too need to focus on the beauty.
It\'s impossible to make true music any other way. There is far too much to think about. At any given moment you will not be able to think about the chord, the word, the strum, the vowel shape, the volume and vibrato all in one go. You have to give it all up and aim for one thing: Simple Beauty.
If every moment of your song is delivered with the conscious intention of serving beauty, then the result is bound to be beautiful.
I can\'t guarantee that everyone will notice your efforts. Perhaps only someone like Kathryn; but if your creation is colourful and surprising it will shine like a mother and her daughter walking home together in the rain.
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Learn to play better in 2011. 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:
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.
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
January 25, 2011
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Dear Raimund,
There are many techniques to help conquer stage fright but sometimes all it takes is a change in attitude. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 944 words
Estimated reading time: over 3½ minutes
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UE #58 Stage Fright part 1 - Getting the Job Done
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A nurse who had recently begun a singing career was being interviewed on the radio. She spoke about how her singing and nursing worlds had collided powerfully one day in such a way that it solidified her decision to pursue singing as an alternative vocation. Her tale was an important lesson in thinking about performance; in particular the phenomenon known as stage fright. I\'ll get back to her story in a moment.
Stage fright is a puzzling affliction. It affects speakers, singers, job interviewees and others who have to get up in front of an audience. Debilitating though it can be, the exact nature of the problem is not easy to understand. Terrifying thoughts about an upcoming performance can happen just before going out to face the crowd; or they can occur days, weeks or even months before the dreaded event.
Degrees of stage-fright can differ markedly. The fear can manifest as a slight fluttering in the tummy lasting only a few seconds. Or it can be a black mind-numbing terror that overwhelms all thought and is strong enough to rid the body of its stomach contents.
We should also remember that it is possible for a performance to be entirely free of anxiety. At such times the engagement is met with a sense of peace, calm and even happy anticipation. Everything goes swimmingly well and the time spent with the audience is a delight. Such moments can provide useful clues about how do to do it right.
The nurse being interviewed, said she had once been attending a dying Italian man. He was in a great deal of pain. His family were in the room, and as they stood around talking quietly amongst themselves there was a general feeling of helplessness.
Meanwhile, the nurse, who was holding the man\'s hand, suddenly found herself moved to sing. Softly she sang the hymn Ave Maria. Continuing with the song she soon observed the man becoming calmer and noted that his breathing slowed. The furrows on his face relaxed and smoothed, as his tension and pain dissolved.
Slowly the man\'s family became aware of what was going on and quietly observed the transformation and healing that was taking place.
The nurse went on to say that whenever she performs, she uses her memory of the anguished patient for guidance. When she sang Ave Maria that day, she was not nervous. Not even the merest concept of stage fright crossed her mind. Far from it; she was simply doing her job.
That is how she now approaches every singing performance. If she has thoughts other than those required to deal with the task at hand then she knows something is wrong. Her attitude is, \"I\'m just doing my job and I don\'t allow any other thoughts to get in the way of that.\"
Its a very practical approach and one that can serve us well.
When you think about your job, or whatever the responsibilities are that you deal with on a day to day basis, ask yourself if they generate stage fright. For the most part I would guess probably not. Performing for people by singing, dancing or speaking doesn\'t really need to be any different.
Street performance used to be terrifying for me. But I have now performed outdoor solo shows at Vancouver\'s Granville Island so often that the act of setting up my gear and putting on a show has become as routine for me as the job of librarian or carpenter is for others. That\'s not to say I don\'t get stage fright in certain situations; I do, but at least I have become aware that it doesn\'t necessarily have to be that way. Stage fright is not a given, we create it for ourselves.
One day I was setting up and getting ready to perform. Visitors to Granville Island were sitting, waiting for the show to begin. A friend of mine, another performer, interrupted me as I plugged the last few cables into my amplifier. He nonchalantly sidled up to me and whispered, \"Jamie Lee Curtis is watching you\".
Just as he said those words I happened to look up towards the audience and my eyes locked with those of the actress who had starred in A Fish Called Wanda. At that moment I could have cursed my friend. One second earlier, I had been happy, relaxed and ready to entertain the expectant crowd. One second later I was nervous and jittery, just as surely as if it had been my first time out in public.
I began my show. Then I had to stop and start over because, in my newly conceived panic, I\'d forgotten to plug the microphone in. My entrance now ruined I spontaneously chose a different opening song which I soon realized was a mistake because it lacked the drive & energy to really get things going. I continued on. Slowly I dug myself out of the hole that I\'d managed to get into. By then however, Ms Curtis, who had probably sensed that her presence was problematic for me, had already gone on her way. I didn\'t even see her get up to leave. After that my show picked up and was soon successfully back on track once again. Only now without a celebrity in the audience.
I am not normally of a violent nature, but I was so annoyed with my blabbermouth friend for breaking my stride in the way that he did, I could have happily kicked him all the way around the Island and back again. Should he have wanted to know why I was kicking him, I would have replied,
\"Never mind, I\'m just doing my job!\"
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Learn to play better in 2011. 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:
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
CD Birds of a Feather - UnPlucked! CD of Music for Children
\"..one of the best albums of family music ever made.\"
CD By George!Collection of Ralph Shaw singing his favourite George Formby numbers.
CD Table for Two 1930s and 40s hits plus some Ralph Shaw originals such as I Just Wish I Was In Love.
CD 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
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 8, 2011
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Dear Raimund,
There are several ways to play Triplets on a ukulele. Today I offer you a trio of triplet techniques. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1093 words
Estimated reading time: just over 4 minutes
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UE #59 A Bathful of Triplets
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Regular readers of these columns may have noticed that the \'powerful pointers\' I purvey in order to \'perk up your playing\' are not always about specific ukulele techniques. I tend to favour giving instruction for other aspects of playing such as technical help and performance skills; these being so much easier to put in writing.
It is so difficult to teach musical skills using words alone.
At school, during a computer class, we were once given the exercise of describing how to run a bath. It sounded supremely simple. However it was only after writing it that we discovered how easily the simplest instructions can be misinterpreted. The teacher showed us that almost every instruction we wrote could be taken the wrong way; the lesson was that writing inexact language would be disastrous in the case of computer code.
The lesson was partially lost on me. I couldn\'t stop obsessing about what sort of a person would have sufficent education to read detailed written instructions, yet, by the same token, was so ignorant they couldn\'t even begin to work out how to operate a bathtub. Our computer teacher, Mr Donaldson-Wood (known as Quack to at least 2 generations of cruel schoolchildren), claimed that there were indeed places in the world where people never take baths because they only ever have showers. He didn\'t say specifically where those places were and to this day I don\'t know.
Be that as it may, I will now attempt to describe three different ways to play Triplets. There are several ways of strumming Triplets. Each method has its own particular advantages and disadvantages.
First we need to answer the question: What is a Triplet?
A Triplet is the sound of 3 strums played over 2 musical beats.
For example: Begin by playing evenly spaced down-strums like this:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Strum Strum Strum Strum Strum Strum Strum Strum
Now let\'s put a Triplet in the middle so it looks like this:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Strum Strum strum-strum-strum Strum Strum Strum Strum
Those 3 strums near the middle are the Triplet. If you are new to this and unsure of the rhythm, think of the children\'s rhyme: One Two Buckle My Shoe. The syllables of \'Bu - ckle - my\' are the Triplet. Like this:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
One Two Bu - ckle - my Shoe Strum Strum Strum
Or:
Three Four Knock - at - the Door Strum Strum Strum
Or, continuing the British bath analogy:
Right Chaps Turn - on - the Taps Strum Strum etc.
For it to sound like a proper Triplet those 3 strums all need to carry equal weight. Some people find it helpful to sound the word: \'Tri - Pel - Let\' when they are learning this.
If you are playing along you\'ll notice that strumming 3 times, where before you were just strumming twice, means that when playing Triplets you have to strum faster. It also means that for up-tempo songs Triplets become harder to achieve using down-strums alone.
Here are 3 ways to play Triplets:
Triplet No.1 = Down-Up-Down , Up-Down-Up
In the above example: You can replace those 3 down strums (strum-strum-strum) with: a Down strum followed by an Up strum followed by a Down strum. This works to make a perfectly agreeable Triplet sound. It also leads us to a bit of a problem since the sequence ends on a \'Down\' strum. The chances are very great that the next strum we want will also be a \'Down\' strum. You\'ll find it is difficult to impossible to get the hand back above the strings in time to strum down again.
Solution: Follow the Triplet with another Triplet. The second Triplet begins on an \'Up\' strum and goes: Up-Down-Up. You are now playing 2 Triplets in succession: Down-Up-Down , Up-Down-Up. Your strumming finger is now poised above the strings ready for the next Down beat. Although this Triplet technique is great for playing a series of Triplets its not so good for just playing a single Triplet. To do that you\'ll be better off using one of the following techniques:
Triplet No.2 = Finger-Thumb-Finger
For this one the index finger strums Down all 4 strings. The thumb follows the finger to do an exactly similar Down-strum. We complete the Triplet with an Up-strum of the index finger.
Its important to note that the first strum is done by flicking the index finger down over the strings. If your finger starts off curled, as mine does, by the end of this part of the strum it will be straightened and pointing, at an angle, towards the floor. Meanwhile it has now separated from the thumb which rests momentarily on the 4th string. The thumb then does its Down-strum. Finger and thumb then rejoin one another as the index finger strums up to finish off the Triplet.
Does that make sense? If not then perhaps taking a relaxing bath will help.
My standard \'default\' strumming style is to use the tip of my index finger to strum the strings. The thumb rests on the end joint of that finger. Strumming in this way makes it quite simple to separate the finger and thumb whenever I need to play a Triplet.
Remember: Keep the 3 strums of the Triplet of equal spacing. Its OK for the Triplet strum to look robotic as you work to attain that exact rhythmic evenness of sound.
Triplet No.3 = The Flash-Hander
This one looks cool. The sound you produce should be the same as Triplet No.2; but its the way this strum looks that is the real reason for its existence.
If you are using a standard strum similar to my \'default\' strum mentioned earlier; you will notice that most of the fingers are curled into the hand like a fist. The exceptions to this being the index and thumb which stick out in order to do the strumming. The Flash-Hander involves the opening of the whole hand so that all the fingers are fanned out and extended.
The way it works is this: At the moment of playing the triplet open your hand into a five-fingered-fan. As you do this the pinky finger strums down the strings. The thumb comes to wait, briefly poised on the 4th string, ready to strum the next part of the Triplet. The thumb strums down the strings. The fingers of the hand curl in once again as the index finger strums up to complete the Triplet with an Up-stroke. It goes: Pinky-Thumb-Index and repeat, with the hand opening and closing in a circular motion.
As with all new techniques; work on it slowly, building your speed bit by bit. When you are able to play several of these Triplets in succession, the effect of your hand opening and closing is quite dramatic and exciting to see.
Now: be careful stepping out of the bath and be sure to dry your uke before placing it back in its case. If you were playing in the shower, be sure to drain all the water out of the sound hole.
© Ralph Shaw 2010
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you find it easier to see and hear how to play rather than just reading about it? Then take a look at: 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:
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.
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
February 22 2011
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Dear Raimund,
For such an innocuous little instrument the ukulele seems to carry more than its fair share of controversy.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 983 words
Estimated reading time: Over 3½ minutes
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UE #60 How to Pronounce \"Ukulele\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ukulele players are used to having friendly disagreements over which tuning is superior (GCEA or ADF#B), whether it is preferable to use a high or low 4th string, or even, whether a banjo-uke is a ukulele at all.
Heck, we can\'t even agree on how to pronounce the thing.
For most of my life the pronunciation of ukulele was never in question. It was spoken like this: Yoo-ka-lay-li :with the i sounding like the i in, well, in in. I never heard anyone pronounce it any other way. That is, until I went to California. Which, by far, sends more tourists to Hawaii than any other State.
I should mention: although I did visit Hawaii before I had my first California visit, I never noticed that Hawaiians spoke the word \'ukulele\' differently to myself; this was probably because almost every word they uttered was different than in my South Yorkshire brogue.
In California I found it slightly surreal to walk into a room and see several dozen uke players all dressed in colourful Hawaiian shirts. Do other musical instruments inspire their own dress codes?
I wondered: what had given these people the strange and identical need to dress in such a way; Have they been brain-washed by some strange Tiki-Guru into joining a bizarre Polynesian cult? Are Hawaiian shirts and leis a secret fetish clothing that enthusiasts like wearing in group situations? Do loudly patterned fabric prints help dull people to feel more interesting? The answer to all these questions is, in most cases, No.
The people who bedeck themselves in colourful shirts just happen to have been caught up in the wondrous spirit of all that is Hawaiian (that, plus the fact that a carefully chosen flowered print instantly takes between 10 to 25 pounds off the wearer). The Aloha spirit is reflected in Hawaii\'s music, food, clothing, attitudes and words. Travelers can\'t help but bring some of these cultural keepsakes back to the mainland. Ukuleles, Leis, Macadamias and Mahalos are all part of a cultural oneness. Their presence is what keeps the visitor\'s Inner Island Spirit alive.
But, I have to confess, when I heard people pronouncing ukulele as \'Oo-koo-lay-lay\' it bothered me.
My thinking was (note the past tense) that saying, \'Oo-koo-lay-lay\', while being correct in Hawaiian, sounds somewhat pretentious when used in an English language context. It is similar to hearing an English speaker refer to the capital city of France as \'Paree\' or the capital of Germany as \'Bearrr-leen\'.
The English language is full of words that have been taken from, or imposed on us by, other cultures. Over time the pronunciations of these words have adapted and changed, often becoming quite different from their origins.
Conquerors are loathe to learn the language of their defeated subjects: which is why Hawaiians now speak US-English. Similarly, after the Normans defeated the army of King Harold near Hastings in 1066, French became the language of successful English-folk. It was the language spoken in English Parliament (a French word) and for 300 years French was the language of the English Legal system. That is until the great plague killed so many people that there were no longer enough French speaking judges available.
The English language was flooded with French words. Crafts people maintained their anglo-saxon job titles: Fisher, Shepherd, Weaver, Baker and so on. But the skilled artisans were known by French trade names: Plumber, Carpenter, Butcher, Mason. And, if you know an Irishman with Fitz as part of his name, then that too is French - it comes from \'fils de\' meaning \'the brother of\'.
We also get a myriad of words that are pronounced quite unlike their French counterpart. Take the following French words that all take the same ending: voyage, plumage, pillage, village, cage, bandage, mariage, image and visage. All of those words rhyme with \'nuage\'; the French word for cloud. In English however, not only do we not pronounce those words like the French, but, with the exception of village and pillage, the words don\'t even rhyme with each another.
What would we think of an English speaker who insisted on saying all the above words with their original French pronunciation? I imagine it would sound a little pretentious. Or, we might wonder what obscure upbringing had caused them to develop such a mannerism.
But if that person also happened to wear a beret, carried an accordian and had a Joann SFAR comic book poking out of his pocket, perhaps then we\'d say, \"ah, I understand, this person is embracing French culture.\"
Several years ago it hit me how much of a fluid state all language is in. An erudite compiler of a British Dictionary said that the word \'ask\' was now being pronounced \'aks\' by so many people around the world that \'aks\' has become an acceptable pronunciation. As he talked about this, in his rich Oxford tones, I was struck by how this fact didn\'t bother him at all. He took the organic, ever developing, nature of language quite for granted.
It seems to me that the ukulele has travelled so far and so widely that it is no longer an instrument of a single culture. To a Californian (and countless others) the ukulele speaks to them of Polynesia, particularly Hawaii. To a Brit or a Baltimorian it might be the era of Music Hall or Vaudeville to which the ukulele transports them. To a Japanese teenager it\'ll be something else again.
It\'s a wonderful thing that the ukulele has been a part of so much cultural diversity. Surely this diversity ought to be reflected in all the ways people choose to pronounce it.
\'Oo-koo-lay-lay\' and \'Yoo-ka-lay-li\' both sound so right to me now; both are perfect ways to pronounce the name of the petit chordophone that has been instrumental in creating so much cultural togetherness.
All I ask, is please don\'t call it, as I have sometimes heard, a \'Yoo-kyoo-lay-lee\'. That is just plain wrong!
source: Singers & the Song Gene Lees, 1987
© Ralph Shaw 2011
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 08, 2011
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Dear Raimund,
X, the anonymous member of a ukulele club that does gigs in pizza parlours and nursing homes, writes: \"I am the only one of us practicing each week that tunes before and occasionally between songs. We play/talk/play/talk for two hours. It would be helpful to send a nudge from YOU rather than me about the value of tuning, that is if you value such a thing.\"
If you find value in this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 839 words
Estimated reading time: Under 3½ minutes
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UE #61 Tuning Avoidance Techniques
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I love that X says, \"...if you value such a thing.\"
...If? ....IF?!!!
By suggesting that I, Ralph Shaw, a ukulele player of 20+ years, might consider the act of tuning to be of negligible importance, X has put his/her finger on an attitude which is far too common among uke players:
Its only a ukulele, why bother tuning?
Ukulele is associated with leisure: hammocks, porches, beaches and blenders. Nobody wants to hear that playing ukulele will create more work. We, the promoters of the fab 4-string, have long extolled its easy-to-play virtues. I am as guilty as others in perpetuating this view; sometimes boasting of being able to get a novice playing in under 5 minutes...
... that is, if I gloss over the awkward and inconvenient truth about tuning.
We want results as soon as possible. It looks good for everyone if the student arrives home from lesson 1 already playing a recognizable song. In the process we have created an assumption that real learning begins only after the ukulele has been tuned.
Tuning by ear needs to be practiced. Some people take weeks, months or years just to learn which of 2 notes is the higher one. Ear-tuning can seem an inconsistent and nebulous skill. If you currently have trouble tuning to a piano, tuning fork or a pitch pipe (essentially a circular harmonica) try tuning to an instrument that sounds similar to your own: say another uke or a guitar.
Tuning by \'eye\'. Electronic tuners give a visual indication of when you are in tune. With conscious use they help develop your ear tuning too. Try a few out before you buy one. Some work better than others. Each has a built-in sensor that picks up vibration either by \'hearing\' the sound through the air or by \'feeling\' the sound through the instrument\'s vibration. They are remarkable devices. They tell you the note you are currently plucking and whether you need to tune up or down to get the string into pitch.
The importance of tuning cannot be overstated. If you remember only one thing from this column, it should be this: If your ukulele is not in tune to begin with, nothing you do from that point on is going to sound all that good.
Unfortunately, tuning is a hassle. And so, legions of uke players the world over have invented a host of Tuning Avoidance Techniques:
1) \"I can save time by not wasting it on tuning\"
For anyone who isn\'t used to tuning an instrument, the time involved can seem grossly exhorbitant. The poor beginner with a new instrument is treated to a double whammy because, once tuned, new nylon strings continue to stretch out of tune. The process of tuning and retuning new strings can take a couple of days till the tensions within the instrument are balanced and stable. Keep trying. The more you work on it the faster you\'ll get.
2) \"I don\'t have a tuner\"
The investment in music doesn\'t end with buying the instrument. You\'re also going to need learning materials such as DVDs or lessons. You also need to be in tune. Make sure to rent, redeem or revive whatever gadget you need to make that happen. In 1990 I paid $120 for my first electronic tuner. You can now find perfectly good ones for under $20.
3) \"The audience will be amused by my hilarious fumblings if I wait to tune until I\'m actually onstage\"
No they won\'t. Please allow time to tune before going up there.
4) \"The sound of many ukuleles playing together hides any tuning inconsistencies\"
This is true. Sort of. I\'ve often likened a large group of ukes to being like the wash of the ocean. On average, a roomful of ukuleles, each slightly out of tune, will sound quite sweet. But there will inevitably come a time when you are heard to strum alone...
5) \"I don\'t wish to annoy others with the sound of my tuning\"
That\'s nice of you. But ultimately others will be far more annoyed by being trapped in a room with your dissonant offerings.
6) \"What\'s the point if my uke keeps going out of tune anyway?\"
Have an instrument in solid condition that gets in tune and stays in tune.
The tuning finally ends when:
a) When your instrument is in tune.
b) When you\'re close, but, to continue tuning will detract from the musical experience you and others are having. It\'s a judgment call. For example: in an informal jam session it is overly persnickety to aim for consistent perfection. Sometimes \"close enough\" is better.
There are people who still think of the ukulele as a toy or joke instrument. If we don\'t work to be in tune we\'ll do the instrument and our own musicianship a great disservice.
To X and his/her uke club friends I say this: Please take individual responsibility to keep your instruments in tune whenever possible. If everyone does this your group will be uplifted with a superior sound.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
Corrections to previous column; How to Pronounce \"Ukulele\":
When I wrote that: in French, \'fils de\' means \'brother of\' I should have written \'son of\'. I knew this perfectly well; why my 2 typing fingers, in a moment of self-sabotage, took it upon themselves to write \'brother of\' is a mystery.
Barbara, a Hawaiian reader, says a more correct Hawaiian pronounciation of ukulele uses the softer sounding \'oo-koo-leh-leh\' rather than \'oo-koo-lay-lay\'. This is an important distinction which I did not make clear; possibly because in my Yorkshire accent \'leh\' and \'lay\' are pronounced exactly the same.
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DVDs to help you learn ukulele:
1 The Complete Ukulele Course gets you started with tuning and strumming. Then learn left and right hand techniques such as rolls, triplets, ornament notes, the Formby split stroke, waltz and jig time, playing chords up the neck and the basics of melody chording.
2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele gives 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. People tell me they come back to this DVD again and again.
3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. A fun way to practice!
4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids- Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Ukulele is a joyful introduction to music education.
Upcoming Events:
March 18-20th 2011: Reno-Tahoe Ukulele Festival, Reno, Nevada
March 25-26th 2011: Vancouver Ukulele Festival, Vancouver, BC
April 9 2011: Winnipeg River Family Festival: Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba
April 15 2011: Victoria Uke Fest, Victoria, BC.
May 13 2011: Kootenay Children\'s Festival, Cranbrook, BC
June 17 2011: North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta
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:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
March 29 2011
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Dear Raimund,
Continued from last week. Further exploring the many reasons for the resurgence of the ukulele.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 858 words
Estimated reading time: Less than 3½ minutes
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UE #63 Ukulele - From Unique to Ubiquitous (part 2 of 2)
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There is a school of thought that human beings are \'hard-wired\' for music. Our evolutionary process has depended on music to uplift, calm, educate, entertain and energize us. This has gone on since someone first decided it sounded good to repeatedly clonk a stone upon a hollow log.
But eventually, with the advent of Rock and Roll, melody and rhythm making was taken out of the hands of the many and put into an elite realm of the few. Only those with the capability, and desire, to form bands comprised of electric instruments plus drumkits could participate. Although the folk movement of the 1960s provided a home-based reaction to the mass selling of Rock music: ukulele might well have taken off then; instead, it was the banjo that came into its own, largely thanks to Pete Seeger.
But anyone who has carried a heavy banjo for any length of time will appreciate what a ukulele has to offer. It can go anywhere. You can make music anytime: campfire, party, sleepover, boat ride or wedding. Its easy to carry on the bus and unobtrusive enough to play in an airport lounge.
Ukulele provides an easy way into song for musical people who are intimidated by more difficult instruments. Perceived as an instrument on which a modicum of success seems readily attainable, it fulfills the need that many people have to make their own music; especially within groups of friends and acquaintances. These days it seems that ordinary folks are more willing than ever to get up and perform even though they know they\'ll never sound like Mariah, Shania, Manilow, or Willie.
Ukulele groups continue to spring up everywhere. Andy Andrews, another ex-hippy, or freak, as they were once known and founder of the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz (California) says, \'There\'s a ukulele wind blowing across the land.... Here and there a vortex whips up; and where it touches down that\'s where a ukulele club begins.\'
I think he has something there, and he wasn\'t on drugs or alcohol either!
Ukuleles are powerful in bringing communities and generations together.
My own Vancouver Ukulele Circle is one of the oldest of the modern clubs. Members include everyone from tiny toddlers to 20 year olds to old codgers nearly double my own age. Since the year 2000 I have seen hundreds of people go from shy beginner to grinning stage performer.
Chalmers Doane taught scores of Canadian teachers to play uke and as a result of his work generations of children have learned an instrument with which one can sing, and, is gentle enough on small hands. His work continues thanks to James Hill, himself a product of Doane\'s work, whose ukulele teacher certification program will ensure future crops of young ukulele enthusiasts. While this is going on, older generations are taking it upon themselves to meet up in community halls and retirement centers, learning uke and singing together.
Innovative are the ways that the internet can be used. For example; When a group of facebook friends want to meet and play music they may find themselves without a strong musical leader. The solution? Have everyone sit around a computer and play along with their favourite performances on Youtube. All it takes is some pre-work to find words and chords in the same keys as the Youtube songs. It should also be noted that advances in electronic tuner technology have made it far easier for beginners to keep in tune with each other.
A huge boon has been the access to good learning materials. It took me years to learn the tricks of my troubadour trade. After 12 years of self-learning, I brought out my 1st DVD: The Complete Ukulele Course. I held nothing back. I taught everything I could think of in the best way I knew how. Nearly 10 years on, it gives me a thrill to think that my DVDs have helped to teach 1000s of new ukuleleists, often in faraway places. These days you\'ll find books, dvds and teachers galore. You can learn to play uke in just about any style for about the cost of a haircut and sometimes for free (thanks to volunteers and online tutorials).
Ukulele is fast losing its status as a \'joke\' instrument. It is poised to join mainstream instruments like the saxophone. The sax was once a musical device associated with clowns and vaudeville comedians until the persistent virtuosity of Coleman Hawkins brought it securely into the jazz fold.
There is no longer any need for ukuleles to sit on the musical fringes. The quality and numbers of musical converts, plus inspired luthiery, mean that the ukulele is about to find its rightful place alongside the list of \'approved\' instruments which include violins, guitars, mandolins and harps.
Many years ago the Harmony company produced a ukulele on which was inscribed: Music self-played is happiness self-made. That is as true now as it was in the 1920s.
In predicting the present pervasiveness of ukulele it turns out I did pretty well; albeit for reasons I could never have foreseen. Therefore I now draw on my proven powers of premonition to offer the following statement:
Ha! you ain\'t seen nothing yet.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DVDs to help you learn ukulele:
1 The Complete Ukulele Course gets you started with tuning and strumming. Then teaches you left and right hand techniques such as rolls, triplets, ornament notes, the Formby split stroke, waltz and jig time, playing chords up the neck and the basics of melody chording.
2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele gives 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. People tell me they come back to this DVD again and again.
3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. A fun way to practice!
4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Ukulele is a joyful introduction to music education.
Upcoming Events:
March 25-26th 2011: Vancouver Ukulele Festival, Vancouver, BC
April 9 2011: Winnipeg River Family Festival: Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba
April 15 2011: Victoria Uke Fest, Victoria, BC.
May 13 2011: Kootenay Children\'s Festival, Cranbrook, BC
June 17 2011: North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
April 12 2011
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Dear Raimund,
Most suggestions I get for this column appeal to me right away. I instinctively know that I can find something to say that may prove useful or entertaining to a fair percentage of readers.
Then there is the other kind of suggestion: the sort that makes me want to respond, \"No-one will be interested in that!\"
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 863 words
Estimated reading time: Less than 3½ minutes
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UE #64 Stringing Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three people have asked me to write a piece about how to put strings on a ukulele. The suggestions came after I wrote a column about the importance of having the right type of strings in order to get the best sound out of your instrument. Although 3 is more suggestions than I have ever received for an individual topic I pretty much dismissed them out of hand. I have been putting strings on my ukes for 20 years. One forgets what it is like to be a beginner. Nowadays putting strings on a ukulele is, to me anyway, such a rudimentary and common-sense skill that I couldn\'t imagine anyone having much trouble with it for long. But some people apparently do.
At a recent festival I attended an excellent workshop given by luthier Gordon Mayer. Entitled: Make Your Uke Sing! Gordon spoke about the various elements that go into making our ukuleles sound bad, good or great. When he got onto the subject of strings he told the story of his first guitar. When it came time to put new strings on the guitar; Gordon took it back to the shop where he\'d bought it in order to get the strings changed. He approached this in the same way as one might take an instrument in for repair.
I was shocked to hear this. It occurred to me that if a practical craftsman and accomplished luthier such as Gordon Mayer once felt fearful of changing his own strings perhaps this might be a suitable subject for a newsletter after all.
I think it all comes down to individual fears. The same person who has no trouble making a speech may on the other hand be terrified of driving a car. Someone who is unable to look after small children may have no problem at all calmly helping the victim of a heart attack.
Many fears are due to a simple lack of knowledge. Once we understand the knowledge and skills needed to do a task we can then look back and wonder what all the fuss was about.
So, if you\'re ready to change your uke strings, let\'s begin:
a) Gordon\'s 1st instruction in his workshop handout: Don\'t be afraid!
b) Removal of old strings. Replace 1 string at a time. Removing all the strings will cause the tension in your instrument to relax. Unfortunately it will take longer for your instrument to reach a stable tension if you do this.
c) Tying the new string. Most ukuleles have what is known as a tieblock that is right behind the bridge. To tie the string securely to the tieblock the string goes:
i. Through the hole
ii. Back over the top of the tieblock.
iii. Around the string
iv. Through the loop twice (see diagram below)
(Less common are the ukes that have a notch in the tieblock. For those you need to tie a knot in the end of the string and simply slip the string into the notch).
d) When you wrap the strings around the post of the tuning peg they should look like the diagram below. Notice how the strings wrap around from the inside of the post. Strings 1 and 2 wrap clockwise and strings 3 and 4 wrap counter-clockwise (btw. string #1 is closest to the floor when you hold your uke in the playing position):
First make sure there is some slack in the string. Then put the string through the post-hole 2 times if possible (this may not work for the fatter strings). This gives a good grip on the string so that when you start turning the peg the string is held firmly in place. Then continue turning the peg to tighten the string. Make sure that the string wraps 3 or 4 times around the post.
Notice how the string wraps from the top down so it ends near the bottom of the post. This is important. It makes sure that there is downward pressure on the nut to prevent buzzing.
e) Stretching the strings out may take a while. You\'ll notice that the strings keep going flat. You\'ll probably feel like you are re-tuning for days. Eventually the strings will stay in tune.
To speed up the stretching process put 2 fingers on one side of the string about 1 inch apart. Put the thumb on the other side of the string in between the fingers. Now squeeze your thumb and fingers together as much as you can and twist sideways hard. This stretches the string quickly to get it ready to play. You may feel that you are dangerously close to breaking the string. Don\'t worry; the pain of the string digging into your digits will deter any desire to continue squeezing and twisting long before there is likelihood of string breakage.
This string stretching technique is specifically given as an alternative to pulling on strings to stretch them: which Gordon does not recommend because you may tear the bridge off the uke that way.
f) The remaining ends of the strings need to be snipped, shortened or curled so that they don\'t snag on clothing and otherwise become distracting.
g) Enjoy the sound and feel of your new strings.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DVDs to help you learn ukulele:
1 The Complete Ukulele Course gets you started with tuning and strumming. Then teaches you left and right hand techniques such as rolls, triplets, ornament notes, the Formby split stroke, waltz and jig time, playing chords up the neck and the basics of melody chording.
2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele gives 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. People tell me they come back to this DVD again and again.
3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. A fun way to practice!
4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Ukulele is a joyful introduction to music education.
Upcoming Events:
April 15 2011: Victoria Uke Festival - Larsen Music, Victoria, BC. Canada http://www.larsenmusic.ca/
May 13 2011: Kootenay Children\'s Festival, Cranbrook, BC
June 17 2011: North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta Woodstock of the North!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
April 26 2011
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Dear Raimund,
Banjo-ukuleles are so similar and yet so different from wooden ukuleles. Today I offer some pointers to help banjo-ukes co-exist peacefully within the modern ukulele family.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1034 words
Estimated reading time: About 4 minutes
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UE #65 The Sensitive Banjo-Uke Player ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mirfield, Yorkshire, 1996. I\'ll never forget the broad smiles on my mum and dad\'s faces after walking into a meeting of the Yorkshire Ukulele Circle. I was there thanks to an invitation by Dennis Taylor, then president of the George Formby Society. My parents had come to drive me home. It was the end of the meeting and the YUC members plus myself were playing the closing \"Thrash\" (a raucous and cacophonic medley of Formby songs with about 30 to 40 banjo-ukes all playing at once).
There are some individuals to whom my description of a \"Thrash\" befits a grievous punishment from one of Dante\'s circles of hell. But my parents and I were carried away by the tidal wave of exuberant joy that is produced by a roomful of smiling banjo-ukulele players. Unforgettable and inspirational. Its why I started the ukulele circle in my own town.
I had arrived there with wooden ukulele in hand. One of the kind members examined it and said,
\"That\'s a very nice instrument,\" before adding, \"its no good here of course\".
He meant that any instrument other than a banjo-uke would soon be rendered inaudible once the serious playing began, he handed me his own instrument and said, \"Use this for tonight\".
I don\'t remember what make of instrument it was; it may have been a \"Ludwig\"; but I\'ll not forget the feel of its substantial heft in my arms. It was beautifully set-up too. I could sense its well-balanced tension; one strum and the thing just rang.
Fifteen years on and everything has changed. Ukulele clubs featuring wooden ukuleles are everywhere now. At these gatherings banjo-uke\'s are about as welcome as a rowdy and uncouth uncle who noisily invades and ruins every conversation but who continues to get invited to dinner because he is \"family\".
There\'s a time and place for everything and the flamboyant shout of a banjo-uke is no exception. But playing with others requires special care; so here are some tips to help ensure that you and your banjo-uke continue to get invited to ukulele family dinners.
1) Make Your Banjo-Uke Sound as Good as it Possibly Can.
You\'d think that banjo-ukes would all sound pretty much the same being that each one consists of 4 strings whose sound is amplified by a vellum (vellum is the name for the skin or head) - but you\'d be wrong. The structure of an instrument is critical in having a good sound (see: hey this drum has a handle). However there are things you can do to optimize the tone of any Banjo-uke:
i) Make sure the vellum is nice and tight. You don\'t want a \'boggy\' sound. Tighten the tension rods in small increments: a ¼ turn at a time, going all the way around. Always tighten opposite rods to keep the tension even across the head. Test the tension by bouncing the handle of a small screwdriver on the vellum. If you hear \'Top Top Top\' tighten it some more. When you hear \'Tap Tap Tap\' you\'re getting close. When it sounds like \'Tip Tip Tip\' you can stop tightening.
ii) Placement of the bridge. Unlike with wooden ukes the banjo-ukuleleist gets to decide where he wants to place the bridge. Unfortunately there is only one correct place. The distance from the bridge to the 12th fret should equal the distance from 12th fret to nut. A misplaced bridge makes for poor intonation. A useful tip: If you find that your bridge keeps sliding around by itself while you play don\'t glue it down to the vellum. Instead get yourself some rosin (the stuff violinsts put on their bows). Crumble a small fragment and put the powder under the feet of your bridge.
iii) Use warm sounding strings. For most wooden ukes I would not hesitate to recommend Aquila\'s Nylgut strings. However I find that they sound far too brash on most banjo-ukuleles. I use black nylon strings instead. Make sure to buy strings that are long enough such as GHS strings. I notice that some of the Hawaiian manufactured strings are cut too short for banjo-ukes (unlike wooden ukuleles, whose strings are tied at the bridge, the strings on a banjo-uke get tied at the very end of the instrument).
iv) Try different vellums. The Vellum type can make a difference to the sound. Available vellums include calf skin, goat skin and man-made. Calf skin has been traditionally used by most banjo-uke players but try different ones to see what works best for you. The fitting of a natural-skin vellum is a bit of a process but its not hard. I learned to do it using Dennis Taylor\'s instructions on how to fit a vellum.
2) Play With Care and Sensitivity.
I was once playing my 1920\'s Ludwig banjo-uke in a music festival parade. An audience member afterwards commented that he could clearly hear me from several hundred yards away. Awesome!!! Unfortunately that sort of power is not so welcome in more intimate gatherings so we need to be very sensitive in our playing style:
i) Strum lightly. A single banjo-uke player in a group of 30 wooden ukes will be as unobtrusive as an orange penguin. Don\'t strum as you normally would. Be as light as a dieting fairy. Use the fleshy part of the thumb to strum. Listen to the overall sound and aim to be an integral part of it.
ii) Strum less often. Not just the volume but also the quality of a banjo-uke\'s sound is what makes it stand out. The very difference in sound type that the banjo-uke projects will ensure that it still comes through. Think of it as a percussion instrument akin to a clave or cowbell. If played all the time its sound will smother all the other sounds. Therefore don\'t play every single \'up\' and \'down\' beat. Try playing just \'down\' beats. Or every other \'down\' beat. Or every fourth \'down-up\' beat. Sparse playing is cool and can provide a welcome addition to the group sound.
They say you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. So when Uncle Ludwig comes to tea its nice if he can be welcomed with smiles and embraces. If you are that Uncle Ludwig then try bringing some sweet sounding honey to the party.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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DVDs to help you learn ukulele!:
1 The Complete Ukulele Course gets you started with tuning and strumming. Then teaches you left and right hand techniques such as rolls, triplets, ornament notes, the Formby split stroke, waltz and jig time, playing chords up the neck and the basics of melody chording.
2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele gives 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. People tell me they come back to this DVD again and again.
3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. A fun way to practice!
4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Ukulele is a joyful introduction to music education.
Upcoming Events:
May 13 2011: Kootenay Children\'s Festival, Cranbrook, BC
June 17 2011: North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta Woodstock of the North!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 10 2011
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Dear Raimund,
How many people do you personally know that you can honestly say is a living legend? I know one. You may be interested to know that the person to whom I am referring could very well have been responsible for your birth, or, if you\'re somewhat older, the conception of your children.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1314 words
Estimated reading time: Over 4 minutes of enjoyment!
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UE #66 Lyle Ritz\'s Role Model ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He\'s called Lyle Ritz. Even his name is cool and laid back. A razzle dazzle name like that must surely conjure up images of a smiling gold-tooth Lothario; a smooth talking, slow walking son-of-a...but wait you\'ve got it all wrong. Lyle is a humble bass player and he is cringing right now (I happen to know he reads these newsletters).
It was the Portland Ukulele Festival; the same year that Lyle was inducted into the Ukulele Hall of Fame. Piper Heisig (producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist) was on stage about to play Lyle\'s bass. Its an instrument whose body displays the dents and dings resulting from decades of work. Piper leaned over it and spoke to us,
\"Do you realise how many people have gotten pregnant because of this instrument?\"
To prove her point she played a classic bass riff from a Righteous Brothers hit. The audience understood immediately. Lyle has probably played on more recordings of \'make-out\' music than anyone on earth.
In the 1960s through to the mid-\'80s Lyle played in over 5000 studio sessions. He and the musicians he regularly worked with were known as The Wrecking Crew. You\'ve heard their work many times; most of it uncredited. If you ever listened to The Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Herb Alpert, Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner, Johnny Mathis, Ray Charles or the records that contain Phil Spector\'s \'wall of sound\' then you have heard Lyle\'s bass. But that\'s just one reason for his legendary status.
In the world of ukulele Lyle is best known as the musician who:
1) plays the song \"Tonight You Belong To Me\" in the movie \"The Jerk\". Although an excellent banjo player Steve Martin was uke-syncing as he strolled with Bernadette Peters.
2) made 2 albums of jazz instrumental ukulele music called \"How About Uke?\" and \"50th State Jazz\". This was back in 1957 and they were unique and innovative pieces of work.
His jazz-ukulele albums were not platinum sellers but they were highly influential to numerous Hawaiian and mainland ukulele players. Lyle was well enough known that even in the mid-1990s, well before the present ukulele boom, my audience members in Canada would occasionally approach me to say they owned one or more of his LPs.
When I first met Lyle we didn\'t say much. I guess neither of us are the greatest when it comes to networking. But I sure watched him. I found him hilarious. I never expected him to be so physically funny.
His knack for wordless expression carries far beyond his music. We were performing in a Dusty Strings concert in Seattle. After being introduced by the emcee each performer had to work their way through the audience to get to the stage. Lyle was having all sorts of trouble; shuffling between chairs in a curmudgeonly way, muttering to himself and asking audience members if they knew the way to the stage. He finally made it and sat in the brightness of the stage-lights: shading his eyes and scowling at the audience. Then he noticed the microphone that had been carefully placed for him. Glaring at it with utter distaste he pushed it to one side like a mouldy offering. Then he began to play.
It was wonderful showmanship. Without words he had made us laugh and at the same time clearly showed us that instrumental music was the only thing we\'d be getting from him. After that I always found myself checking out the part of the room that he was in. To others Lyle may appear quiet and low key but I began to think of him as a physical clown par excellence. I was always on the lookout for his comic gems. Once in a cafeteria food line; he picked up a plate and did, what to me were, small but wonderful bits of improvised business.
However, it was my thinking of Lyle as a comedian that eventually got me scratching my head in confusion. It was after one of the Portland Saturday night shows. I was standing at the audience meet and greet when Lyle came up to me and said,
\"I really like your playing.\"
All I could think was, \'Gosh. Lyle Ritz is complementing me!\' I said, \"Thank you very much\".
Lyle continued, \"I love the way you strum. Its amazing how you do that.\"
\"Thanks again\" I said.
Lyle continued, \"Gee I wish I could strum like you.\"
Now I was thinking, \'enough already with the compliments Lyle\'. Then he added,
\"Do you think I could learn to do that?\"
This was getting too much. \'He\'s making fun of me\' I thought. So in defense I responded a little sarcastically,
\"Well I do teach workshops you know.\"
Obviously I teach workshops; we were both there to teach workshops. Therefore I was further taken aback by his reply,
\"You do! Really, would I be able to take one of those?\"
It was a twilight zone moment. I thought, \'now he\'s really taking the piss\' as we say in England.
These days, I know Lyle a little better; and I know he was being sincere. But what can happen, and it happens to me fairly often, is that having a reputation as a funny guy means that people don\'t take you seriously when you say something genuine and heartfelt. In fact they are usually waiting for a punchline; a kicker to undo the earnestness of the setup. No punch-line came and I was perplexed at the situation. It seemed impossible that ukulele jazz master Lyle Ritz could want to learn anything from me. Even supposing he did, all our workshop sessions were now completed anyway.
As a way of solving my conversational crisis I went over to the nearby merchandise table and removed one of my own \"Essential Strums for the Ukulele\" DVDs. I handed it to Lyle. He in turn behaved as if I\'d provided him with the answer to his prayers. It was getting more surreal. I think I may have signed it for him.
In the years and festivals that have followed it is always a joy to meet up with Lyle. I still watch his antics closely. And Lyle usually lets me know how his strumming work with the DVD is coming along. It turns out that although his left hand ability is nothing short of masterful his right hand style wasn\'t developed to the same degree. For years he has used the sort of felt pick that was thought to be a necessary accessory with ukes sold before the 1970s.
I still shake my head in disbelief when I consider the idea of Lyle Ritz learning from me. But it has taught me a great lesson.
No matter who we are; whatever our status and station in life; there is something we can learn from everyone. Lyle Ritz didn\'t get to be one of the Wrecking Crew by practicing a few notes and riffs and leaving it at that. He has proven that he is a life-long learner and he is not ashamed to show it. He continues to strive; always moving forward; improving his art and enriching all our lives to the very end.
Lyle has since created his own ukulele teaching DVD where he shares many of his playing techniques. There\'s a heck of a lot in there for me to learn. I may be an Okay strummer but jazz chords are not exactly my main strength.
Lyle Ritz\'s DVD is called \"Lyle\'s Style \". When it was released he mailed a copy to me. I have it in front of me now. He has written on the front cover:
\"Hey Ralph - Thanks for being a Role Model & Pal! Lyle Ritz
You\'re welcome Lyle. But I want to thank you too. You have taught me that we are all each other\'s role model.
If I may say so that is a far more valuable lesson then any of the strumming tricks you may have gotten from me.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ralph Shaw DVDs to help you learn ukulele:
1 The Complete Ukulele Course gets you started with tuning and strumming. Then teaches you left and right hand techniques such as rolls, triplets, ornament notes, the Formby split stroke, waltz and jig time, playing chords up the neck and the basics of melody chording. Updated version of this DVD includes extra playing and performance tips plus original footage.
2 Essential Strums for the Ukulele gives 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. People tell me they come back to this DVD again and again. Just ask Lyle Ritz!
3 Ukulele Play Along has the chord changes up on the screen and you get to strum and sing along. A fun way to practice!
4 The Complete Ukulele Course for Kids Get this dvd for the child in your life and it could change their life. Ukulele is a joyful introduction to music education.
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
May 13: Kootenay Children\'s Festival, Cranbrook, BC
June 17:North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta Woodstock of the North!
May 4: Cottage Bistro with the Swing Sisters. Evening of nostalgic musical fun. 4470 Main St.Vancouver. Show starts 8pm.
October 7 and 8: Uketoberfest, Eugene, Oregon
October 14 and 15: Langley Ukulele Workshop. Langley BC
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
May 24 2011
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Dear Raimund,
This week I\'ve got some ideas to help you put your songs in order when you\'re creating a set-list. Also...The Ukulele Entertainer Book is now underway. A collection of wit and wisdom from the first 18 months of this newsletter plus new material too. If you haven\'t yet pre-ordered there is still time! Go to: Ralph Shaw Book pre-order info
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 958 words
Estimated reading time: about 3½ minutes
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UE #67 Seven Suggestions For a Superior Set-List
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If you don\'t know what a Set-List is it\'s probably because you have never performed in public. The Set-List is a list of songs chosen and placed in, what the musician hopes will be, the ideal order that they can be played. The songs are written down and the finished list is placed where it can be seen during the show.
That\'s it. Sounds easy, yes? In a way it is simple and most beginners have no problem writing out a list of songs before performing them. However it seems
that with experience the task of writing a set-list becomes more and more difficult. The performer acquires the notion that a show should \"flow\" and that there must be a way to optimize the impact on the audience.
Set-Lists are tricky things. A set that rocked the house last night can fail miserably for the next crowd. There is never a guarantee of success. However there are some elements worthy of keeping in mind when creating your set list:
1) The First Song
This is your introduction. It\'s where the audience gets to check you out. They are looking at your clothes, your face and your instrument and don\'t necessarily have their full attention on your music. You, on the other hand, are meeting the audience with a sense of nervous anticipation and its during the first song that you are most likely to make mistakes. So make it one of your best songs but also one that you can play with ease. The band Led-Zeppelin began many of their concerts with the energizing \"Rock and Roll\". You\'d think they\'d chosen this song because of its high-energy and familiarity. Yes but less obvious is the fact that its easy playability helped the band to get comfortable on stage. Yep. Big stadium stars get the jitters too.
2) The Second Song
Unless the second song NEEDS an intro then consider not talking at all. Many performers are still somewhat nervous at this point and they have a tendency to talk in cliches: \"Hi I\'m so and so, its great to be here, how are you doing, here\'s a song I wrote when I was breaking up with my boy/girlfriend, I hope you like it, it goes something like this.\" Yada yada yada...
You\'ll create more curiosity and anticipation by being a silent presence than by spouting drivel. Find a song that is strong enough to tell its own story and, ideally, is quite different from your intro song.
3) Make the Show Flow
Think about the concept of taking your audience on a journey. Your musical mystery tour should contain as many elements of variety as possible: Alternate fast and slow songs or put them in groupings; e.g. follow two or three fast songs with a couple of slower ones. Change keys from one song to the next. Alternate major and minor keys. Look at the song themes. Avoid singing 3 songs in a row about breaking up with your girl/boyfriend unless the intent is to relate the unfortunate episode as an epic trilogy.
4) Bring it Down
Before growing the show to a crescendo it\'s a good idea to mellow things out so that the crescendo will be as pronounced as possible. Pick your most beautiful \"quiet\" song. This is the time for the audience to get introspective.
5) Build to a Crescendo
Think about raising the energy for the last few songs; whatever that means to you. Create a sense of letting-go. Even without being told, the audience should get the idea that the set is building to a climax.
6) Finish Strong
There is a reason for the showbusiness adage, \"Always leave them wanting more.\" End your set while the audience is still enjoying themselves and END STRONG. Avoid ballads and songs about breaking up with your boy/girlfriend. Consider putting your best song here. Let the audience know when to applaud by giving them a strong finish.
7) Encore!
Even if you don\'t expect to be asked for an encore it\'s a good idea to have something prepared in advance. Think of it as the cherry on the cake; an extra treat for the good people with whom you have shared time. So judge their mood. You may want to continue playing more of the same style; especially if people are dancing. On the other hand you can use the encore as an opportunity to do something quite different to what they\'ve seen so far. For example: If you\'ve been singing all originals you might want to try a well known cover song or a singalong. If all your other songs were backed by ukulele now\'s a good time to try that quirky thumb-piano number you\'ve been working up. This is your chance to have a bit of fun; and fun is much more likely to be had if, before the show, you already took some time to prepare for this moment.
Ready-Set-LIST
I may be large I may be small I may be short I may be long.
Most performers write me out before they sing a song.
Sometimes I don\'t exist at all \'cept in the singer\'s head
But usually I am placed at the singer\'s feet instead.
I\'m always being perfected though I\'m very rarely seen
A map to show the band where its going, where its been.
They could try to sing without me but I\'m afraid they\'d have to wing it
A song might not get sung at all without my showing when to sing it.
Some think that I\'m essential, others not so much
I could be consequential or considered just a crutch
After the show I\'m left behind, never to be missed
Taped to the stage by the microphone stand; a lonely forgotten Set-List
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Become involved with my exciting new Book and CD projects: Receive various benefits (signed Book and/or CD, your name in the credits, a personalized song and more). Please go to: New Book and CD by Ralph Shaw
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
June 17:North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta Woodstock of the North!
May 4: Cottage Bistro with the Swing Sisters. Evening of nostalgic musical fun. 4470 Main St.Vancouver. Show starts 8pm.
October 7 and 8: Uketoberfest, Eugene, Oregon
October 14 and 15: Langley Ukulele Workshop. Langley BC
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 07 2011
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Dear Raimund,
What I\'m about to say to you may sound somewhat strange; a tad creepy, or deliciously blasphemous, but I assure you that it\'s irrefutably real. I, Ralph Shaw, have the ability to channel the spirits of long-dead performers. And I\'m going to tell how you can do it too!
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1185 words
Estimated reading time: just over 4 minutes
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UE #68 How to Channel the Dead for Fun and Profit!
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Less than two hundred years ago theaters were regarded with extreme public distaste. In North America, only ne\'er-do-wells were found within the walls of theatrical establishments. Theaters were places for men to drink and smoke and meet ladies of ill-repute. Not for decent men and women folk.
This presented a problem for the show-biz entrepreneurs of the day; if only they could find a way to make theater palatable for the well-bred, church-going families who might attend. It was P.T. Barnum who made it happen.
Barnum was a veritable wizard of public relations. In 1841 he created Barnum\'s American Museum. On several floors and occupying almost an entire city block his museum was the Disneyland of its day. Under the guise of \"education\" Barnum cleverly constructed an atmosphere that attracted both the worldly and the innocent to come together under one roof. He achieved this with a certain amount of lying and trickery; albeit done in such an entertaining way that few minded. After watching a lecture or a temperance melodrama in one room you might go on to the next to meet George Washington\'s 161 year old nurse (as if!) or view the Feejee mermaid (actually the head of a monkey sewn on a fish\'s body).
This innovative use of pseudo-education to bring entertainment to the masses is what eventually lead to the creation of Vaudeville. Vaudeville theaters were palaces of variety entertainment suitable for the whole family. But there was another off-shoot of the mid-19th century dime museums which retained its educational roots and whose rise paralleled that of Vaudeville. It was known as Chautauqua. Chautauqua had its own circuit and delivered entertainment and culture to communities via teachers, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.
One of the intriguing things I learned about Chautauqua (forms of which still exist today) is that its presenters teach history by embodying historical characters. They become the character and address the audience as if they really are, say, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain or Marie Curie. It is the mark of their art to truly convey the persona of the figure they wish to represent.
I first heard about Chautauqua while in Reno to present a one-man-show about the life of George Formby. During the show, whenever I went into the character of Formby, I experienced the curious feeling that I was becoming a vessel for Formby\'s spirit. I was fascinated to discover that proponents of Chautauqua make an occupation of this phenomenon.
In the attempt to portray a person who once lived and breathed a performer can happen to find him or herself in somewhat spooky territory. To dismiss the technique simply as acting does not quite do it justice. It is the total embodiment of a persona. Sure, one can say, it\'s a technique that actors use all the time. But that still begs the question, \"What exactly is going on?\" Any of us who have been present to see the milli-second transformation of an actor as he becomes an entire other person is both eerie and miraculous to watch.
On the other hand, to call it \"channeling\" seems somewhat over the top. But I\'ll tell you something: whenever I turn on that little switch inside myself that tells me to become someone else, \"channeling\" is the only descriptive word that seems to fit. But really...channeling? And then I remember this:
I once met a 52 year old woman, called Susan, in a bar near where I lived. On any given day, after work, you\'d see her sitting at a table having a couple of drinks, before heading home on the bus. She never looked happy. As I got to know her I learned she worked in the Post Office Complaint Department; all day every day she dealt with customers whose mail had gone missing. No wonder she never appeared to be imbibing the joys of life along with her draft lager. I learned that in her Twenties she\'d been a drummer. A pretty good one, she\'d idolised the Led Zeppelin drummer: John Bonham. I asked her why she quit. She couldn\'t remember, and said, \"I guess it was no longer a part of my life\".
As she talked about her love of drumming I ventured to suggest that she might want to take it up again. She became quite gung-ho about the idea. Whenever I saw her I persisted in encouraging her to buy a drum-kit. I felt it would be good for her to play again. Eventually she did. She reported to me how her skills were coming back and of her re-ignited joy of playing. Then, about two months later, she told me she had sold the drum-kit. I asked why. Her reply was very, very unexpected. She said,
\"I sat down to play one evening after a bad day at work. As I played I thought about John Bonham and, it sounds crazy I know, but all at once I felt his spirit take over my body and I played the drums like I\'ve never played before. I don\'t even fully remember the experience but I played non-stop for two and half hours. At the end of it I was exhausted.\"
Susan had been through a profound experience. It changed her. In a curious way it emptied her of the need to play drums. She became released from thinking about what might have been and instead was ready to take on the future on its own terms. Did Susan, the 52 year old postal worker, really channel John Bonham? She wouldn\'t insist that was the case but on the other hand she had no alternative explanation, and, she noted, alcohol had not been a factor.
Some famous performers have been convinced that the channeling effect is real. Early in her career K.D. Lang felt she was the reincarnation of Patsy Cline. She hasn\'t mentioned this recently. It\'s clear that she is a talented mimic. Watch her stage moves and tell me that you don\'t see some Elvis in there.
Whether you call it channeling (for dead people) or mimicry (for alive people) it\'s a common performance technique. Used effectively the ordinary ukulele entertainer can go from ho-hum to a dazzling, electrically-charged showpiece.
Some Channeling Basics:
1) Build your skills. Develop your vocal/instrumental technique and movement sense to such a degree that you can adapt them to different styles. You won\'t get taken for Marilyn Monroe if you only walk like a trucker and your only vocal sound is a nasal twang.
2) Find the switch. It helps to discover a mental trick or physical movement to trigger the persona. Usually a small movement is all it takes (impersonators of Rodney Dangerfield always adjust their tie-knot). Find a mannerism that is integral to the personality of the performer.
3) Become the whole person. Its all or nothing. If you are thinking about all the individual elements that comprise the personality then you\'re not doing it.
4) Commit fully. Believe you are the character then the audience will want to believe it too. You\'ll break the spell if you perform with any sense of self-consciousness.
The idea of invoking the spirits of the dead as part of the panoply of performance skills may not sit well with everyone. But don\'t worry, it happens all the time. You may have done it too. And why not? Its actually rather good fun!
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Pre-order the new Ukulele Entertainer Book:
Go to: New Book and CD by Ralph Shaw
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
June 17:North Country Fair, Musical and Arts Festival. Alberta Woodstock of the North!
October 7 and 8: Uketoberfest, Eugene, Oregon
October 14 and 15: Langley Ukulele Workshop. Langley BC
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers to Perk up your Playing
June 15 2011
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Dear Raimund,
I\'ll be taking some time off from writing to work on summer projects. Before I go I\'d like to tie up a few loose ends...
btw. If you\'re wondering why you are receiving this its probably because you are a friend of mine who is not normally a subscriber to my Ukulele Entertainer Newsletter. You\'re getting this as a one-off; I just thought you might like to see the video.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 693 words
Estimated reading time: just over 2½ minutes
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UE #69 Tying Up Loose Ends for the Summer
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1) Its been a while since I put any videos up on Youtube. To remedy that here\'s a performance piece of my song \"Movie Stars, High Rollers and Big Shakers\" that I shot while taking a break from adding new footage to my Complete Ukulele Course DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e64O5AklB4I
Feel free to send to any friends who might like to see musical madness as cooked up by one guy with a ukulele and no editing!
2) If you have already participated in my Book and CD fundraiser by pre-ordering then THANK YOU! I\'ll be in touch with you presently to let you know how things are going. If you\'ve been meaning to get involved and haven\'t you still can...but time is running out. Go quickly to: http://www.ralphshaw.ca/New_CD_and_Book and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your participation.
3) Some regular readers of my newsletter/blog may have wondered what happened to the \"used-ukulele strings contest\"; the one where I offered prizes for the most creative use of old ukulele strings? Well here it is:
Picking a winner from the many fabulous suggestions was not easy. To narrow it down a little I decided to exclude suggestions that involved merely substituting a ukulele string for regular nylon string.
The winner was Flynn who wrote, \"My idea would be to crochet the old strings into a strap for your uke. Recycled and useful.\" Flynn has been working on the item and has promised to send me a photo.
I liked this one because: a) it keeps the old strings still connected to the ukulele and b) it took a heck of a lot more commitment than the simple writing of an email.
Other notable suggested uses for old uke strings include:
Using old strings to hang things: such as pictures, photographs, driftwood mobiles and festive ornaments,
I got several suggestions for creating jewellery: necklaces, bracelets, earrings (use an old uke pick as a pendant). You can even use a string as a clear retainer for piercings. For example, \"your boss may frown on your eyebrow ring but you can keep the hole open invisibly with a clear string while you\'re working.\"
Some ideas for tying and fixing included: use strings as fishing leaders, stitch up old pillows or the seats in your car/boat/covered wagon. Use them to tie to garden stakes or as a support for a climbing plant. Try making dream-catchers or thread one through your zipper to use as a zipper pull. Tie them together for an emergency clothes-drying-line.
Some were funny: With reference to my short-lived cat-toy idea, Tom said, \"Banded together, a used set of nylon ukulele strings would make an extremely strong, yet narrow support tether, with which to attach an endoscopic camera, for the sole purpose of detecting string or yarn in a cat\'s stomach.\"
This one was naughty: \"Tie all the strings together at each end to create one really really really long piece. Get a friend to hold one end, and you the other. Crouch down at each side of a doorway and wait for an enemy to walk by. Pull the string tight and watch them fall!\" I won\'t say who suggested that but she\'s a ukulele player and her initials are V.V. My advice: stay friends with her!
Some suggestions were just ridiculous:
Beach Fashion: Wear a g-string as a g-string.
Religion: Throw a bunch of them onto the floor. If one curly string happens to resemble Jesus (or Buddha or Krishna or any other iconic icon), build a shrine and start a cult.\" Thanks Bartt for the element of surrealism.
Old strings can be used to cut up all kinds of things: such as rolls of cookie dough, cinnamon rolls, cheese, soap and pottery clay, \"The more bent and crinkly they are the more interesting facets you can create.\"
Uke strings can be used for art: Judy from Vancouver took my original cat-toy picture and made a digital collage using sheet music and a photo of a Vancouver Ukulele Circle member.
Finally, I notice, they are fantastic when it comes to tying up loose ends.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this and to all who took time to send me thoughtful, heart-warming and inspiring comments over the past year and a half.
Have a wonderful summer. I\'ll be back in the saddle when the days grow cool and the leaves begin to fall.
Sithee with Aloha,
Ralph Shaw
© Ralph Shaw 2011
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
October 18 2011
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Dear Raimund,
I\'m back! The Ukulele Entertainer has returned for a fresh bout of musical musings to pump up your strum, reform your performing and supersize your vocalizing. I want to welcome all the new subscribers who joined this summer. I have teaching ukulele DVDs available (see below or click here) and there is a new book in the works to tell you about in the coming weeks. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1033 words
Estimated reading time: about 4 minutes
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UE #70 Five Ways to Become a Ukulele Genius
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Genius is something we\'re born with, right? How else could Einstein, a simple clerk in a patent office, have changed our world-view with his visionary insights? What else could have enabled Mozart to write his first pieces of music at such a young age? (At two years old? - get away.) Tiger Woods\' innate \"genius\" for the game was frequently used to explain the almost supernatural way that he roared onto the pro-golf scene and tore apart his more experienced opposition.
But what is genius? Those who have studied it have no doubt found many interesting things, but it\'s what they haven\'t found that is most notable. So far researchers have been unable to find a set of characteristics in brain makeup that conclusively gives away the fact that its owner is an Einstein, a Mozart or a Woods.
Our brains develop from birth and change according to environment and activity. Thus the brains of taxi drivers, history teachers and air traffic controllers all end up exhibiting their own special characteristics. But the defining qualities that signify genius are still mostly speculation at this point.
One thing that researchers do know is that every acclaimed genius has put in an extraordinary amount of work. At least 10,000 hours and some suggest up to 50,000 hours of dedicated practice. To put that in perspective: they are saying that every genius you\'ve ever heard of did the equivalent of at least twenty hours of practice per week for a period of ten years in order to get good enough to be recognized as a genius.
But hold on a moment, I hear you cry. How was Mozart able to put in 10,000 hours before he was two? Well here\'s the thing about Mr. Mozart. He was the product of an extraordinarily gifted teacher: his father. Wolfgang Amadeus\'s dad created and developed innovative music teaching methods that were used with enormous success on both his son and his daughter. (That young Wolfgang became the big success and his sister didn\'t is due to the small matter of gender - girls didn\'t become music stars in those days. By the way, if you think our culture has grown beyond such attitudes: Quick, right now, name three female geniuses. Possibly because of our current social conditioning that\'s not quite so easy to do.)
Nowadays, thanks to clever teaching methods, we are used to the sight of six and seven year old violin and piano prodigies. Mozart was not much different from today\'s Suzuki school graduates except that he happened to be doing it a few hundred years earlier. But wait! I hear you bleat. He wrote music when he was two!
Have you heard the music he wrote as a toddler? Has anyone listened to it lately? No they haven\'t. And do you know why they haven\'t? Because it was crap that\'s why. Mozart\'s first major success was at the age of twenty-one and it was his 271st composition. Before that his education followed a trajectory much like anyone else\'s: first he copied other composers and then slowly introduced original concepts into his work as he diligently refined and improved his art.
When The Beatles landed on American shores they seemed to come out of nowhere. In truth they\'d spent years honing their skills, both individually and as a group, performing for eight hours a day, often seven days a week (sometimes even eight days a week - ha ha) for months on end in some of Hamburg\'s dingiest night-clubs. In the process they covered countless songs and cultivated their song-writing technique to an extremely high level. When the Fab Four burst onto the public scene it was no accident that their chops were tight and their confidence ran high.
Of course the total amount of time spent working is not the only key to success. I\'m sure that if most of us had been opera school classmates of Pavarotti we might have soon felt discouraged. Pavarotti\'s talent would have taken him more quickly to a place that we, lesser divas and divos, found unattainable no matter how many hours of ear-bending, glass-breaking fa-sol-la-teeing we put in. Nevertheless, my drift is yours for the getting.
If the greatest musical talents had to practice for the equivalent of a shrew\'s lifetime (about 10,000 hours) to reach their potential, what makes us ukulele players think it\'s enough to strum for half an hour every three days? Sadly, at least for those of us who took up ukulele believing it was an easy option, the only conclusion to be drawn is this: If you want to be a good ukulele player, you need to practice.
So what can we do to make sure we put in as many ukulele playing hours as possible? Here are five suggestions:
1. Practice daily at the same time each day. Make your ukulele practice a part of your everyday routine, like brushing your teeth in the morning and answering telemarketing calls at dinnertime. This makes your practice period easier to remember and less easy to skip.
2. Find a length of time that works for you. Set a timer. Knowing that you have a fixed amount of time available to practice can help you use that time to the fullest. Even if it is short, aim to maximize whatever time you\'ve set aside for yourself.
3. Practice often. Sometimes life doesn\'t permit us to take longer breaks. Play when you can. Say, between tasks or seeing clients. Ten three minute practice sessions is the same as one half hour session. If you take your ukulele to work this tip will be useful for all you taxi drivers and air traffic controllers. No planes coming in right now? Strum a few bars of Lady Ga Ga.
4. Perform and jam as often as possible with as many people as you can. Playing live adds a layer of intensity that helps the mind to focus. Much learning will come about by playing for and with others.
5. Reward yourself. The work will be so much more bearable if you know there will be a movie, a pleasant beverage or a banana coming to you at the end of it.
There. I\'ve finished. Now for that banana. Mmm, mm, that\'s good. Its hungry work being a genius.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn ukulele? or improve your ukulele playing? My Complete Ukulele Course DVDs shows you how. DVDs for adults and kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series
Essential Strums for the Ukulele. Learn ukulele in the following styles: Samba, Bossa Nova, Bo-diddley, Reggae, Blues, Swing, Syncopation, Frailing - clawhammer and Waltz. Available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
Coming soon: The Ukulele Entertainer Book - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 1 2011
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Dear Raimund,
If my school had given out grades for looking gloomy I would have been a glowering A+ student. I still get the richest mirth from a hilarious zinger delivered without the hint of a grin to telegraph the coming devastation; however, times change...
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 768 words
Estimated reading time: about 3 minutes
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UE #71 Smile dammit, Smile!
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Although it pains me to admit it, I have finally accepted that smiling is smart. My early life near Barnsley in Yorkshire is possibly what led me to believe that anything worth doing was worth doing dourly. It seemed to me in 1970\'s Barnsley that smiles were saved for special occasions; not wasted on frivolities like good jokes, acts of kindness or major celebrations.
In primates the baring of teeth demonstrates a readiness for violence. In some Asian cultures the smile is a sign of embarrassment or confusion. Other cultures reserve their smiles for friends and family. They wouldn\'t think to smile at strangers. An American may state that Russians don\'t smile enough, your average Russian will be quick to respond that Americans smile too much and in the wrong places.
From a ukulele entertainer\'s point of view I have to grudgingly acknowledge that it\'s those \"over-smiling Americans\" who have the right idea.
Smiling has many advantages. For one it makes people more attractive to others. And get this: economics professor Daniel Hamermesh (author of Beauty Pays) has demonstrated that ugly people earn less than attractive ones, are less likely to receive bank loans and if they are running for office get fewer votes than those with above-average looks.
It has been shown that people who smile receive greater trust and more help from others. Apparently your smile even helps others to remember your name more successfully. People in service and hospitality work are trained to smile. How big would your restaurant tip be if the maitre d\' looked like a rainy day, the bar staff were miserable and the waitresses looked like their underwear was on back to front? Not very big, unless you happen to be Russian, in which case you\'ve probably had the time of your life.
For some activities a smile should be a given; playing ukulele for instance. Who wouldn\'t rate ukulele strumming as the happiest occupation ever invented? Ukulele players should be high in the category of people most likely to be constantly smiling. Sadly this is not always the case.
Picking, strumming and singing is great fun when you can do it. But becoming skilled requires hours upon hours of focused concentration. With minds intent on wrapping fingers around an F#m7 chord many people unknowingly train their faces to become quite gargoyle-like. Harpo Marx used an extreme case of this condition to create a comedic face that he named a \'Gookie\'. Gookie was a real person who rolled cigars in a tobacconist\'s window oblivious that his neglected face was being carefully studied by the young Harpo Marx.
We know the saying practice makes perfect. But many players also hold onto the belief that the stage will magically improve their playing. Others are certain that their live show is always inferior to the rehearsal. The truth is that our public performances are very similar to what we do when we play alone. Unfortunately this is also true for the expression we wear while playing. I have seen many otherwise worthy musical performances be quite undermined by the player\'s tortured facial contortions.
As well as making you look more appealing the right kind of smile can improve your singing. Smiling can brighten the quality and expression of your voice. A slight lift of the cheeks plus aliveness in the eyes brings more sound to the front of the face; which is what you want. To see how this works make a relaxed, neutral face and let your jaw hang. Sing the following words on one note, \"We are playing now\". Repeat the phrase a few times. Now, while keeping your voice the same, lift the corners of your mouth into a smile and sing the words again. Listen for changes in tone. Is it darker and muddier or brighter and clearer; probably the latter. Do it a few times. Listen carefully to the quality of your vocal sound.
When you practice: Consciously relax your face and smile while your fingers strive to attain their desired degree of dexterity. As the playing gets trickier, smile more! Your performances will benefit immeasurably if your audience perceives that you take delight in attempting trickier passages. Avoid showing grief, worry, tension and other unhappy emotions that your listeners are hoping to be lifted away from.
Watch the faces of your favourite players and singers. Decide how you want to appear to others when you are in the limelight and keep that intention whenever you play. Twisting your face to resemble Quasimodo\'s uncomely cousin won\'t improve your music.
Remember: Practice makes permanent - so be careful what you practice.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
Harpo Marx Throwing a \"Gookie\".
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn ukulele? or improve your ukulele playing? My Complete Ukulele Course DVDs shows you how.
DVDs for adults and kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series
Essential Strums for the Ukulele. Learn ukulele in the following styles: Samba, Bossa Nova, Bo-diddley, Reggae, Blues, Swing, Syncopation, Frailing - clawhammer and Waltz. Available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
November 5: McGill Library 10th anniversary (Burnaby BC) Events all day. Ralph Shaw performs at 6pm
November 15: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
December 11: Cool Yule Christmas show at the Cellar Jazz Club with the Swing Sisters. (3611 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC: Reservations 604 738 1959)
December 20: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
Coming soon: The Ukulele Entertainer Book - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 11 2011
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Dear Raimund,
It was once a part of everyone\'s life that has all but disappeared. The good old-fashioned singalong.
If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 778 words
Estimated reading time: about 3 minutes
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UE #72 The Art of the Singalong
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The last great group of singers was the World War II generation. They kept the rickety pub pianos vibrating with song and laughter well into the 1980s. But since the pubs were renovated and those cranky pianos cast out along with the battered cigarette machines and charred lampshades we turn our heads only to discover that those old songsters are mostly gone. Some survive, but the ones that do are now into their nineties and unlikely to gather for a singsong at happy hour. As each one passes away so do more memories of that generation\'s great moments. It was an age when every event was marked with music.
Sure, there are still a few places where one can stand around the piano with like-minded veterans of song - perhaps to croon hits by the likes of Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby or Al Jolson - but they are rare now. One example is Vancouver\'s Billy Bishop Legion. Their regulars still drink pints and sing songs every Friday until midnight when they all link arms for the final medley. Their pianist, Bea Blackwell, has played an almost unbroken line of weekly singalongs and annual Remembrance Days for many decades.
One obstacle to the modern singalong is that even amongst those who can or would like to sing there is no common repertoire. Let\'s say we had an opportunity to get together and sing - what then? How would we choose the songs? I can imagine much vying over whether to sing Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Ragtime, Rockabilly, Reggae, Religious or Rap.
The demise of the family piano is also partly to blame for the decline in singalongs. Once it was the family\'s entertainment system but now the piano\'s place has been taken over by the large, black, rectangular void known as the big-screen TV.
Thoughts of all this came very strongly to me recently when I was booked to visit the family home of a prospective client. Her brother had mentioned me to her. She told me,
\"My father is going to be ninety years old and he loves to sing and I can\'t think of a better birthday gift than a family singalong. I hear that you lead singalongs and even do house calls.\"
This was a misunderstanding and I could see how she had come to this conclusion. Yes, I have been known to entertain in people\'s homes and yes, I do lead a monthly ukulele get-together, essentially a singalong for strummers. However, a family singalong with people I\'d never met was a new idea for me. But I liked the concept and went with it.
Right away I realized that with an age difference of eighty years between oldest and youngest, deciding what to sing would be the first puzzle to solve. My solution was to suggest to my client that she create a songbook especially for the occasion. I emailed to her a number of song suggestions from my own repertoire. Armed with these songs, plus additions of her own, she came up with a selection of ditties. Hopefully they\'d cover the tastes of everyone at the party. The book she made was spiral bound and had a picture of her dad on the front. She sent a copy for me to work with.
Before too long I found myself, in the hour before dinner, standing on a fireplace rug leading a boisterous family singalong. It struck me what a rare privilege this was. The ukulele had taken the place of a piano but the unique feeling that comes from a group of voices singing happily together was still there. In unison we crooned, amongst others: Blue Moon, For Me and My Gal, With a Little Help from my Friends, Rubber Duckie and a song with particular meaning for me: Edelweiss.
As we sang of the alpine flower that greets us every morning and whose snow-white petals we urge to blossom and grow forever, I found myself thinking back to past singalongs in my life. Many of the participants are no longer around but I suddenly remembered them clearly. Along with an almost painful ache of nostalgia came a barely remembered sense of tender belonging; a nearly forgotten feeling of warm togetherness that I\'m sure used to be more commonplace. My memory suddenly felt sharper and richer thanks to the words and melodies of the songsmiths whose strange powers have the ability to conjure up long neglected senses and recollections.
Every November 11 we are reminded of the phrase: \"Lest we forget.\" As we remember the lost, the brave, and the good let us also spare a thought for the humble singalong whose very presence in our lives gives us something to live for.
Next week: Some hints on how to lead an awesome singalong!
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn ukulele? or improve your ukulele playing? My Complete Ukulele Course DVDs shows you how.
DVDs for adults and kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series
Essential Strums for the Ukulele. Learn ukulele in the following styles: Samba, Bossa Nova, Bo-diddley, Reggae, Blues, Swing, Syncopation, Frailing - clawhammer and Waltz. Available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
November 15: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
December 11: Cool Yule Christmas show at the Cellar Jazz Club with the Swing Sisters. (3611 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC: Reservations 604 738 1959)
December 20: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
Coming soon: The Ukulele Entertainer Book - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 22 2011
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Dear Raimund,
People\'s access to all kinds of music has increased enormously thanks to the internet and portable music players. Now, with ukuleles in the hands of many, it is possible to provide chords and rhythm in almost any situation. The potential for group singing is limitless and today I offer ten tips to help make it great. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 952 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3.5 minutes
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UE #73 How to Lead an Awesome Singalong!
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To simply sing with others is a basic human need as essential to our social lives as eating and drinking. But, although they were once as natural as the afternoon nap, singalongs don\'t happen by themselves. They require a special person: someone to organize and motivate a group of wary screen gazers and transform them from being habitually passive observers into shining pillars of song. If you think you might be one such person here are some hints to help you get it right:
1) Attract willing people. Ideally folks should know ahead of time that they are going to be singing. That way they can bow out gracefully if they so wish. If your crowd contains too many arm-folded non-participants then you\'ll be fighting an uphill battle.
2) Be a leader. Being a leader means several things. Its up to you to put across the idea that singing in a group is a completely natural and acceptable thing to do. Be confident and enthusiastic. Be more outrageous and silly than you normally are. If others see you letting go perhaps they\'ll be more willing to unshackle their spirits and free their voices. A good leader is there to serve the group by keeping things fun and flowing. This means creating a plan but also having the flexibility to stray from the plan when inspiration takes the group in unexpected directions. Avoid being over-controlling and pushy.
3) A singalong is not a performance. In our world where everything musical is presented as something to be observed by others, the philosophy of unwatched group singing can seem a very foreign concept. The listeners are the same people making the music so there should be no fear of outside judgment. As a leader it is up to you to find every way you can to make the singers understand this. Whenever anyone comments that they will sing quietly because their voice is no good, firmly and kindly tell them that there are no bad voices. Nothing matters except to do your best and have fun doing it.
4) Get others to lead. Spot the stronger singers in the group and offer them the chance to lead one song or more. This is an especially good idea if you are a better organizer than you are a song leader.
5) Choose well known songs and stay close to the original. Your singalong will be a very quiet one if people don\'t know the words or the tunes. I recommend you pick songs that are known by at least a slim majority of your fellows (say 60%.) Popular songs have famous recorded versions that most people know. It can be helpful for cohesiveness to keep reasonably close to these arrangements. Fancy phrasing and stylizing make it harder for others to follow. This is not a fast rule however. It can be a lot of fun to play a song completely outside the genre in which it is usually heard. I recently led my group in a high speed rendition of Amazing Grace that clipped along at breakneck pace while still suiting the song.
6) Know your material. Practice the songs before venturing to lead them. Make sure you know the beginnings, endings and the starting note. You\'ll make mistakes as you go but keep remembering the mantra: do your best and have fun.
7) Kill the video and photo. The recording of sounds and images implies that someone will eventually observe and judge our efforts. This creates tension no matter how polite the camera person may be. No-one likes to have their image taken while eating so why allow video and photos while singing? You\'re in a group but it\'s still private time and just because someone owns an expensive piece of gadgetry made by slave labour in a far off part of the world doesn\'t automatically give them the right to use it. For the most part our wannabe paparazzi think they are far better at photography than they actually are. They believe that pressing a button is an art form. It isn\'t. Next time one of these bottom feeding lowlifes starts \"taking\" your picture without permission tell them you\'d prefer that they set up an easel and paint your image instead. See what kind of an artist they truly are. Seriously though, let your group decide the culture they want. For example, they may choose to allow video and photos for one or two songs only but I strongly advise against unlimited recording.
8) Include variety. Most songs are repetitious and singing a song the same way twice can get boring. Find ways to vary the music: Get the crowd to sing sections by themselves. Change the strumming style and the volume level. Play with the phrasing a little. Do what you can to make the same words and chords seem interesting all over again. If you have several short songs that are fun but which don\'t bear repetition then make them into medleys.
9) Encourage without compliments and critiques. Offering words of encouragement like, \"sing louder!\" and \"oh yeah, you got it now!\" loosens up voices without inflating and deflating personal egos that individual remarks can do. Conversely, pay close attention to what the group is telling you. React to their comments and gestures. They may provide wonderful inspiration that you can draw on to make the experience spontaneous and exciting.
10) The singalong is made and enjoyed in the immediate moment. It is never the same way twice. It is timeless. Compared with such a reality, the production values of even a space age high-definition 3-D holographic camera are as empty and worthless as dry dust. It\'s a precious time. Be fully present and remember, because it can\'t be said too much: do your best and have fun!
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn ukulele? or improve your ukulele playing? My Complete Ukulele Course DVDs shows you how.
DVDs for adults and kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series
Essential Strums for the Ukulele. Learn ukulele in the following styles: Samba, Bossa Nova, Bo-diddley, Reggae, Blues, Swing, Syncopation, Frailing - clawhammer and Waltz. Available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
December 11: Cool Yule Christmas show at the Cellar Jazz Club with the Swing Sisters. (3611 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC: Reservations 604 738 1959) dinner from 6:30, 8pm show.
December 20: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
Coming VERY soon!: The Ukulele Entertainer Book - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
December 6 2011
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Dear Raimund,
My new book The Ukulele Entertainer is in the final stages of production. Order soon and you should receive your copy in time for the holidays - it\'s down to the wire I know! In a day or two I\'ll email your ordering information so that your copy can be sent out as soon as they come in. Btw. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 860 words
Estimated reading time: less than 3.5 minutes
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UE #74 Longevity Tips from the World\'s Oldest Ukulele Entertainer
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The ukulele community has learned that Bill Tapia passed peacefully away on December 2, 2011 aged 103 years. His incredible professional career spanned over ninety years. At ten years old he was already playing \"Stars and Stripes Forever\" on his ukulele at USO shows for the World War I troops. Amazingly, he\'d learned the song directly from the composer, after hearing it played by John Philip Sousa\'s own band. By age twelve he was playing in Vaudeville. He later moved on to play guitar as a jazz sideman. He had some notable highlights too, including occasions when he got to accompany Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday and Bing Crosby. It\'s even said that he was the one to introduce legendary broadcaster Arthur Godfrey to the ukulele.
Towards the end of his life the remarkable centenarian was touring again, performing live shows, recording CDs and signing them for countless fans of all ages. He is said to have been the oldest unionized performing musician ever.
Words like \"remarkable\", \"amazing\" and \"incredible\" come easily to mind when thinking about Bill Tapia. Such superlatives arise from a rare combination: his spritely old age plus his renowned talent as an entertainer. In a world where great music is often associated with youth cut short in its prime it can feel both surreal and slightly overwhelming to contemplate the human scale of time that was traveled by Mr Tapia and his uke.
As for me, I already feel old! I seem to bruise more easily now and my joints don\'t bend with the flexibility that they did in my younger days, when they said I was the spitting image of Michelangelo\'s \"David\" (well, one person said it anyway.) I\'ve also had my share of root canals, strained ligaments and grey hairs. My eye-sight is very good but it\'s clear to see that it\'s not everything it was. I\'m not complaining but here\'s what gets me: to reach Bill Tapia\'s final resting age I will have to live my whole life again and then several years on top of that. And quite frankly I find it very hard to imagine.
To gain some perspective on the length of his career, consider this: when Bill Tapia was a little boy there were no cars, radios or refrigerators. Or if there were he wasn\'t aware of them. As a young Hawaiian boy in 1915 he bought his first uke from Manuel Nunes, inventor of the ukulele, for 75 cents. And was already strumming ukulele chords when the instrument was just being introduced to the United States mainland. The roaring twenties hadn\'t even started.
We now think of \"hapa haole\" that is, \"part-white\" Hawaiian songs, like Ukulele Lady, My Little Grass Shack and Sweet Leilani as being substantially older than \"Golden Oldies\". They were popularized in the 1920\'s and \'30s and now seem positively archaic to us. Bill Tapia was playing those songs when they first came out of the sound cones of wind-up gramophone players. And he was hearing and playing jazz right when jazz was invented. It\'s nothing short of astounding!
Shortly before Bill Tapia\'s 100th birthday he and I performed on the main stage at the Southern California Ukulele Festival in Cerritos, California. We\'d both completed our sets and, as musicians often do, we were standing around at the back of the concert hall watching the rest of the show. Probably to be near our respective merchandise tables when the show ended.
A thought occurred to me that this was a unique opportunity to speak with Bill. Perhaps I could glean some secrets that might help me survive the rigours of musicianship for as long as he had done. I strolled on over and said, \"I want to be doing this when I\'m ninety-nine. Do you have any hints or advice to pass on?\" He thought for a moment and then answered me in four words, \"Just keep doing it.\"
I almost left it at that but felt to push the matter a little further. I said, \"No, come on Bill, there\'s got to be more to it.\" He thought for a spell and said. \"Well I always took pretty good care of myself. I didn\'t do drugs and I wasn\'t a drinker except for a social drink. I exercised by riding my bike every day until my doctor said I had to stop because of angina but even now I walk daily. The only bad thing I did was to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day until I was eighty-seven. I quit smoking because of the angina.\"
Here then, as far as I can surmise, are Bill Tapia\'s seven rules for a long and healthy musical life:
1) Have the good fortune to be born with long-life genes.
2) Be born into a time when everyone eats natural organic food and there are no unhealthy petroleum or corn derived products. Neither is there electromagnetic radiation from cell-towers, nuclear power stations, radio transmitters or X-rays. (There could still be the occasional World War or flu epidemic to survive but hopefully, with luck and some help from No. 1 you\'ll sail through all those.)
3) Exercise daily.
4) Don\'t do drugs and only drink alcohol in moderation.
5) If you smoke heavily it\'s a good idea to quit, at least by the time you\'re in your late eighties.
6) Play ukulele and sing.
7) Just keep doing it.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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Thinking to buy a ukulele teaching DVD in time for the holidays? When you purchase from my website we try to ship within 24 hours.
Find learning DVDs for adults and kids here: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series
New Book Coming VERY soon!: The Ukulele Entertainer - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Essential Strums for the Ukulele. Learn ukulele in the following styles: Samba, Bossa Nova, Bo-diddley, Reggae, Blues, Swing, Syncopation, Frailing - clawhammer and Waltz. Available from: www.RalphShaw.ca
Upcoming Ralph Shaw Performances + Workshops 2011:
December 11: Cool Yule Christmas show at the Cellar Jazz Club with the Swing Sisters. (3611 W. Broadway, Vancouver, BC: Reservations 604 738 1959) dinner from 6:30, 8pm show.
December 20: Vancouver Ukulele Circle monthly meeting
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
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email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
December 12 2011
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Dear Raimund,
Tell your friends - The Ukulele Entertainer is here!!!
\"The collection of Ralph Shaw wisdom we\'ve been waiting for. Keep it in your ukulele case, under your pillow, in your car... anywhere you might need a little inspiration from a true entertainer and a gifted teacher.\"
-From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
The New Book by Ralph Shaw (click pic to order from website!)
My new book is ready and I\'m taking orders now...
Click here to order your copy immediately!
It\'s an exciting time in the Ralph Shaw household that\'s for sure. The book looks great and is everything I wanted it to be.
Here\'s what will happen:
Books get to me by Wednesday December 14. And mailing begins right away. First ones to be sent out will be to the supporters who already contributed towards this project. If you also want to have an excellent chance of receiving yours before the holidays order right now to make sure your book/s are sent out in the very next shipment. (If it\'s a gift for someone else you can use their shipping address so the book goes direct to them.)
Here\'s what you\'ll be getting:
The Ukulele Entertainer is a must have guide to improve your skills as a player and as a performer. With this book you\'ll learn how to:
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum,
Know where to look when you sing,
Tackle nerves and stage fright,
Start and run a ukulele club,
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch,
Create a killer set list and much more.
Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself. This book is the definitive collection of top tips from the Ukulele Entertainer newsletter series and is surely for you!
This book is only available directly from me, Ralph Shaw. So click here to Buy Now and be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be for only $19.99!
Note for international customers: Only orders from USA/Canada are sent by airmail. Other international orders are shipped by surface mail (approx. 6 to 10 weeks.) If you\'re a faraway customer who would like airmail please contact Ralph directly to place your order.
About the Author
Ralph Shaw is an \"uber-talented performer with the soul of a teacher\" who brings, along with his ukulele, the best of British Music Hall to the stage. The wit, charm and comic energy of his live performances are also evident in his writing. His original songs have been featured regularly on CBC Radio and can also be heard in movies and TV shows. Ralph lives in Vancouver, Canada, and travels widely to perform and teach at ukulele festivals and other events. This is his first book.
You can Contact Ralph Shaw by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
To subscribe to the regular newsletter: just visit my Newsletter Signup page where you can also link to the Archive of previous newsletters.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
December 26 2011
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Dear Raimund,
I wish each and every reader a very Happy Christmas and a Peaceful Holiday Season. Btw. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1233 words
Estimated reading time: Under 5 minutes
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UE #75 How to Build a Ukulele Case
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Do children still get home-made Christmas gifts? I certainly did. I don\'t mean to infer that I come from a particularly poor family. It is true that money was pretty tight in those days, but so it was for most young families in the little Yorkshire village of Millhouse Green. I\'d gaze through my bedroom window at the frosty garden hoping for snow and wishing for toys from the toyshop. Oh, how little did I know. My future playthings were not residing on store shelves waiting to be bought. Neither were they at the North Pole undergoing construction by Santa\'s undergrown munchkins. Neither were they hidden; wrapped and ready in the mid-morning of my childhood, lying dormant in secret coves known only to my parents. In fact, they were not so very far above my head.
For many years the weeks leading up to Christmas would find my dad up in the attic making gifts for me. I was asleep. Either that, or too young to be curious as to why my father spent so much time up above the trapdoor. Now I am older I remember those secret gifts with far more clarity than I do any of my shop bought toys.
There was a fort or \"castle\". Its formal name changed depending on whether it was occupied by small plastic cowboys repelling equally small plastic \"indians\"; or knights in armour, fighting, what else, but American G.I.s who were the only other adversary available to me at the time. I also remember a black policeman\'s hat. My dad even made me a flyover (or overpass) for me to push my toy cars over and under. I had no roads, just a single go-anywhere bridge. It worked. It was also quite bumpy. The fort was lumpy and bumpy too; so much so that my weapon waving warriors would rock precariously at the battlements anytime the fortress was nudged. This is because my toys were made from paper maché: my father\'s chief medium when it came to my Christmas gifts. In case you\'ve never come across it, paper maché is a porridgey mixture of wallpaper paste and torn scraps of newspaper that becomes quite solid and substantial when dry.
One year I clearly recall a wondrous sight in the window of the toy shop at the top of Shambles Street in Barnsley. It was a glorious thing to behold. A bright red rock \'n\' roll drum-kit. I thought about it, I longed for it and I must have talked about it. For on Christmas morning I had my very own set of bright red drums. My dad had taken two plastic plant-pots, one small, one large, and, attaching them together, he cleverly transformed them to make a very credible pair of bongo drums. Their tops were painted silver and trimmed with gold braid. When I think about it I can still smell the paint we used in those days.
I would be lying to say I wasn\'t disappointed. Bongos did not make the cut. I wasn\'t interested in \"hand\" drums. It had to be sticks. My disappointment was slightly alleviated when my dad hand-carved two wooden drumsticks for me. However it wasn\'t long before my sticks pounded through the paper maché drum-tops and my bongos went back to being plant-pots once again.
My goal in relating to you these tales of unusual, and uniquely undulating, gifts is not to elicit sympathy. Neither is it to make any claim that my dad was any cleverer, kinder, more frugal or resourceful than your or anyone else\'s dad. Though he could be all those things at times. My only goal is to suggest that the objects we make for ourselves are immensely cooler than anything you can ever possibly buy. I played with those attic-born gifts more than any mass-made factory fare you could mention. They were magical objects, and though they\'re now long gone, the memory of them is burned into my consciousness.
I make my own things now. I use a technique not unrelated to paper maché. It was shown to me by the great Tomas Kubinek who learned it from the legendary Al Simmons. Here\'s what you do: Take some corrugated cardboard and cover it with canvas and carpenter\'s glue. You\'ll discover that it hardens to become an extremely strong and light material. The product is very tough and happens to be perfect for making ukulele cases. It is also light, strong and always fixable. I wrote a song that describes the technique in detail and I\'ve been singing it for some time. The lyrics are below and I offer them to you now. All I beg in return is that you please send me a photo of your home-made ukulele case or any other object that you make using this technique.
If you want to see and hear the song being sung here it is on youtube.
How to Build a Ukulele Case by Ralph Shaw
Use corrugated card for the top and base
But the sides should be of the none-corrugated kind
Use half-inch foam to pad your case
A sleeping mat from a camping shop is fine
The handles, clasps and hinges can be rescued from a knackered old doctor\'s bag
Or make-up box or satchel ready for the dump
And buy some paint, of a suitable hue
And a great big bottle of carpenter\'s glue.
It can be a lot of fun when you know what to do
Using cardboard, canvas and carpenters glue
You can do it by yourself you can put it on a shelf
You can tell the neighbours, \"I did that my-self\"
Be-gin by drawing \'round the thing you want inside the case
Add one inch around then cut it out and that will be the base
Do the same for the lid, then measure for the height,
Add one inch then cut the cardboard for the sides.
With a sharp sharp knife score the board on the bends
Then attach the sides to the base with sewing pins
Do the same for the lid as what you just did
Doubling up the sides to make a little lip
With hot glue you can hold the edges firmly in their place
Re-move the pins then smother glue on the top and sides and base of your case...
Cover with cloth, thin canvas is best
Shmear more glue and while it dries......have a rest!
Once it dries, good and hard
It should sound like knocking on wood and not like card
Paint the whole thing, with the second coat on
Add the handles, clasps and hinges now you\'re done
You can buy a case for thirty eight dollars or less in an average store
But the one I made excluding time cost me quite a bit more...
But I\'d do it all a-gain \'cause I know what to do
Using cardboard, canvas and carpenters glue.
The things we buy today are made in China and Taiwan
But you can build things just as well as a Szechuan manufacturer can.
Check it with your eye does it all look true
Made from cardboard, canvas and Carpenters glue.
© Ralph Shaw
It\'s been more than a delight to receive, in my email, photos of ukulele cases that people have made after attending one of my concerts; their only aid to construction was the words of my song. I can\'t describe how unutterably wonderful it is to think that people have made these things using only song lyrics as guidance.
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 03 2012
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Dear Raimund,
There are many ways to play a roll on a ukulele. Today I will attempt to describe the most economical way of all.
Btw. If you find value in this newsletter then please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 735 words
Estimated reading time: less than 3 minutes
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UE #76 How to Do the One Finger Roll
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One of the great advantages of not using a pick is that having your fingers and thumb available gives you access to a wider variety of playing techniques. One such technique is \"the roll\".
What is a roll? A roll is what you hear when several individual beats happen so quickly that it sounds like a continuous vibrating sound. I often call it a \"thrum\". For example if you flick through a deck of playing cards slowly you\'ll hear flak-flak-flak. But do it quickly and it sounds more like: fl-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r (the rolling r-r-r-r sound being like the front-of-tongue vibration of the \'r\' when a Spaniard says \"Burro\").
The roll is also one of the signature sounds of Spanish flamenco guitar. The sound is achieved by strumming down on the strings, one finger at a time, using some or all fingers of the strumming hand. You can try it right now. Find a level surface and drum the pads of your fingers on it as if you were impatiently waiting for something. Try it using three fingers. Do it slowly at first making sure to keep all the beats evenly spaced. Speed up the roll. Now add another finger and then the thumb until all five digits are making a nice \"thrumming\" sound. Now reverse it: if you began the roll with your pinky now start it using the thumb.
Playing a roll on the ukulele is very similar to drumming on a desk except that instead of using the pads of the fingers you\'ll more likely be doing it with the fingernails or sides of the fingers. Experiment with the three and four finger roll. Always aim for a clear rolling sound and incorporate it into your playing. I show the technique on two of my DVDs: The Complete Ukulele Course and Essential Strums for the Ukulele.
As any baker will tell you: there is more than one way to bake a mole, erm that is, make a roll. Most players favour starting a three or four finger roll with the pinky finger. Others, like myself, begin the roll using the index finger and ending with the ring or pinky fingers. The former method has the advantage that it allows you to do a five finger roll, ending with the thumb, if you so wish.
Ever heard of the six finger roll? It sounds like the start to a joke but it actually is a real technique. I first heard of it as being taught by Bob Brozman. It involves changing the direction of the roll so that one or more fingers are being used more than once in a seamlessly continuous sound. This leads us to the highly improbable but very real ten finger roll. Matt Dahlberg showed me this extraordinary technique. It involves the five digits rolling first in one direction and then immediately rolling back the other way. The slinky movement of the hand while doing this is an effect I call \"the ukulele double helix\". The ten finger roll sounds exciting, is visually stunning and musically pretty useless. Even Matt admits that the technique, though highly cool, is not one that fits comfortably into most musical situations.
Myself, I prefer simpler techniques. You can get an excellent roll by having the finger strum down immediately followed by the thumb. This \"thumb-roll\" is shown in the syncopated strum section of my Essential Strums DVD.
But for sheer simplicity nothing can beat the one finger roll.
This is an unusual technique. My usual policy is to instruct learners to practice new techniques slowly before gradually building up speed. Unfortunately I find that the one finger roll only truly sounds like a roll when played at speed. So you\'ll have to figure it out on the fly. Also note that it is effective if you strum with your finger-end like I do. But it may not work for thumb-strummers.
Start by playing one of your faster numbers. As you strum, put in a quick shake of the finger and then return to the regular strum. That\'s all there is to it. Technically what you\'re doing is inserting a very short and fast tremolo. Keep a nice loose wrist as you strum down-up-down-up then quickly add some additional down-ups at double speed. But it is far easier to simply think of it as incorporating an added finger-shake.
A bonus of this technique is that, if you do happen to strum with a pick, you can now play a fast roll without having to use any additional fingers.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New book by Ralph Shaw
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"The collection of Ralph Shaw wisdom we\'ve been waiting for. Keep it in your ukulele case, under your pillow, in your car... anywhere you might need a little inspiration from a true entertainer and a gifted teacher.\"
-From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Ralph Shaw Australia Tour in March and April:
I\'m pleased and excited to announce that I\'ll be at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival March 8 to 11. After that I\'m going to visit ukulele clubs and other venues in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra (so far.) Plans are still under way. If you\'d like me to visit your bit of Australia to perform and/or teach then please let me know. I\'ll do my best to fit you into my schedule.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 17 2012
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Dear Raimund,
What is Your Passion? With so much going on in our lives it can seem pointless to even consider it. I can almost hear the reply, \"Huh? You want me to work full-time, raise kids, make meals and follow my passion? Sure thing buddy!\"
Btw. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend. Oh, and while you\'re here, check out the brand new Ukulele Entertainer book!
Word count this issue: 884 words
Estimated reading time: about 3.5 minutes
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UE #77 Find Your Passion
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I complained to a friend of mine recently. She\'s a singer named Kristie. I griped that my life has become too diverse and I muttered that my activities have increased to the point where they\'re not so enjoyable anymore. Extra pressures include paperwork and endless online communication. But it\'s also from taking on new projects without letting old ones go. The result, I grumbled, is that I\'m juggling more objects and it\'s becoming less fun.
I felt mean-spirited to complain in such a muttering, grumbling sort of way. To display a lack of gratitude for opportunities in life seems churlish; especially when compared with the miserable lot of all those clapped in the shackles of grinding servitude. But instead of chastising my selfishness Kristie took me in a surprising direction. She asked, \"What is your passion?\"
\"Erm, why?\" I replied, \"What\'s that got to with anything?\" She said, \"If you know your passion then you can devote more time and energy to that and less to the other things.\"
I was stunned. This was a new way of thinking for me.
Some things were easy to cross off my passion list. They included taxes, house-hold chores and anything involving a computer or phone (basically life\'s unavoidable duties.) Much harder to choose from were my various work related roles: making music, live performance, teaching uke workshops, singing, creating songs, recording, and writing. All these things I take pleasure and pride in. If I had to drop all but one of them which would it be? This spurred me on to a new round of griping, \"I can\'t possibly...it\'s too hypothetical...how can I choose just one?\"
With further urging I narrowed down my top passion contenders to two choices. Kristie then asked me to imagine placing one of these in each of two corners of the room. As I closed my eyes she reminded me to visualize the choices I had made and the parts of the room where they resided.
Kristie said, \"Do you feel a pull towards one of the corners?\"
Yes I did. The attraction to one corner was unmistakable, and slightly overwhelming. Moments before this my mind had been a confused swirl over what to do. Now it was clear. Apparently this was my passion. The other trivialities in my life paled in comparison and I felt a surge of deep feeling; an abiding sense that this experience was profound and true. It was actually enough to stop me grumbling for several minutes.
Many take up the ukulele with some idea that it will lead them to their passion. Which they believe must be to perform onstage. But I disagree with this thinking. When I travel to ukulele clubs I meet a wide cross-section of people who all happen to play the ukulele. But look more closely and you\'ll see the instrument is but a conduit to many possible passions. The uke players come together to make music but their natural roles soon become evident:
Some are leaders: they express themselves by forging a vision for the group.
Some are carers: they scan the group looking for those in need of assistance and come to their aid.
Others are teachers: they strive to develop their own understanding in order to pass the knowledge to others.
Some are communicators: they develop the threads of interconnection that bind everyone together and help to disseminate information.
Some are stage entertainers: they shine in order that we may connect with our own spirits.
Some are social entertainers. They may never go near the stage but are always ready to share a song or a story that will crack you up.
Some are hosts: they offer their homes and time to accommodate visiting entertainers from far away (Indeed I am presently being humbled by the kindness of several Australian strangers who are going out of their way to make my upcoming visit there possible.)
If you don\'t know what your passion is, perhaps this can help: Figure out what you enjoy doing most of all. It has to be something that you feel strongly about. It should be nearly as vital to you as food, air and water; something that you\'ll always want to do no matter where life takes you.
If your answer is unclear then sit in a quiet room and place your two most fulfilling activities in each of the far corners. Then close your eyes and notice if there is a pull of attraction towards one part of the room. You may experience this as a sense of peace or another feeling that draws you. If this works but seems incomplete it could be that you need to define your passion in more detail. Try using the technique more than once to refine your choice.
Knowing your passion helps focus your energies and decision making. Do newly presented choices further your life\'s purpose or are they mere sidelines and distractions? Cut out the things that no longer serve you. It\'s good for us to be diverse, for as author and waterbed inventor Robert Heinlein said, \"Specialization is for insects\", but enough is enough.
Figuring out what you don\'t want is important. And imagine the joy you\'ll get in doing what you love, in the place where you want to be. It\'s certainly nothing to grumble about.
© Ralph Shaw 2011
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer by Ralph Shaw
My New Book!!!: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Calendar
Feb 25/26 Vancouver Ukulele Fest Vancouver, BC. Workshops only.
March 2/3 Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon. Friday Show and Sat workshops
Australia Tour (March/April):
March
8 to 11: Melbourne Ukulele Festival
Weds 14: BUMS Brisbane Uke Club
Thu/Fri 15/16: Northern Rivers (to be confirmed)
Sat/Sun 17/18: SCUM Sunshine Coast Ukulele Club
Mon 19: BUK Balmain Club.
Tue 20: Balmain workshop at Guitar Factory. (to be confirmed by John Penhallow)
Wed 21: Swingaleles Wollongong.
Thu/Fri/Sat 22/23/24: Canberra events.
Sun/Mon 25/26: Milton
Wed 28: Newcastle (to be confirmed)
Thu 29: Uke-East/Petersham.
Sat/Sun/Mon 30th/31/April 1 (or part thereof) Blue Mountains events. T.B.C.
April 2nd: SSCUM South Sydney Uke Club
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 31 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
First of all let\'s get one thing straight: there is no \"Big Time.\" The term dates back to Vaudeville days when a phenomenal performer might make it onto the Big Time Circuit: a tour of high class Vaudeville theatres. Performers came from all walks of life and were paid thousands when average working wages were measured in tens of dollars. A modern equivalent of Big Time are television talent shows. Typical of these is the [your country\'s name here]\'s Got Talent franchise, such as Britain\'s Got Talent and America\'s Got Talent. I auditioned for Canada\'s Got Talent and got a first-hand view of how the TV talent game works. Here is my report on what I experienced with the hope that you\'ll do better than I did: Btw. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend. Oh, and while you\'re here, check out the Ukulele Entertainer book!
Word count this issue: 925 words
Estimated reading time: over 3.5 minutes
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UE #78 Seven Tips to Make it Into the Big Time
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tip 1) If you don\'t try then you\'ll never know
I heard about Canada\'s Got Talent from my friend Geoff who insisted I was \"just the sort of thing they\'re looking for!\" At first I dismissed the idea. From what I\'ve seen of TV Talent shows they are overdone to the point of obnoxiousness but I figured there could be benefits: money, fame, material for one of my newsletters and pacifying people like Geoff.
Tip 2) Register for your audition time as soon as you hear about the contest
Don\'t put this off until the pre-registration deadline passes. Or, like me, you\'ll stand in line from 8am until 6pm. The majority of other hopefuls were young singers (aged twenty-one and under.) The females had that warbling, semi-yodel style that one hears so much of these days. They did it well. But after listening to their clone-like vocalizing all day, distinctive and unique are not labels I would hang on any of them. I learned that my style of singing is now referred to as \"old school\". Other acts included a large synchronized-skipping troupe, two guys balancing soccer balls, a roller-blade artiste with an arm in a sling and Canada-guy (bedecked in red tights, red hat & glasses, flippers and a Canada flag; he stood on his head to play the national anthem on a kazoo.) During the whole day I never saw another ukulele player. That surprised me.
Tip 3) Choose the right song
Picking the right audition song was a puzzle wrapped up in an enigma within a pain in the arse. What would they be looking for? I figured my song should grab the judge\'s attention quickly. Getting attention can be achieved by being louder, faster, flashier or by being unusual, say, mellower, sweeter or from a different era. Choosing the latter tactic I picked the bitter-sweet Inkspot\'s song \"Every Night About This Time\" (recorded on my album Table For Two.) Side-musicians with huge repertoires don\'t know this one but I thought its obscure nature might be a plus. However, the warbling clones suggested otherwise, \"You\'re more likely to win with a well-known song\" they all agreed. Following their advice I changed my audition piece to the better known Brazil. I also decided that doing Brazil as a one-man-band might give me an edge. I phoned Kathryn and asked her to bring my one-man-band gear. Not hard to do since I was still roadside at this point.
Tip 4) Don\'t over-practice on the day
With hours spent waiting you may feel like working your audition piece. While it\'s important to be warmed up, don\'t overdo it to where the song gets routine and your voice gets sore.
Tip 5) Have fun, keep your perspective
Eventually we moved indoors to the hotel lobby, then on into a large conference room. Each of us got a large number sticker to stick on the front of our bodies and we each signed a contract promising to attend future auditions wearing the exact same clothing and hair style (this news momentarily troubling the W.C.s.) Waiting in the final holding area a young guy with an earring played his original song over and over again. His guitar technique was childishly basic and his song was dreadful. I felt embarrassed for him. Yet he thought he was fantastic. It was wrong to judge him though. Every person there (including myself) truly believed against all odds that we had as good a chance to win as anyone else. So much self delusion all in one place. Fortunately the real music business is not like that at all - Ha ha.
Tip 6) Show your best stuff and do it asap.
Five of us entered the audition room where a kind looking gentleman sat behind a table with a video operator alongside. The kind man explained: \"Give your name and town. I\'ll ask some questions then you show me what you\'ve got. Perform as if you were in front of hundreds of people. No more than ninety seconds each please.\"
Considering we\'d been waiting around for close to ten hours, ninety seconds may sound a bit chintzy. But I\'ll tell you now - it is ample. In fact thirty or even twenty seconds would have been enough for most acts. The show is all about talent discovery. Your singular ability must be strikingly identifiable within seconds. There is no time to get acquainted with the audience. You have to be instantly brilliant. Be clear what your talent is and demonstrate its glory as soon as you can.
Tip 7) Try and look ordinary
I quickly set up my gear and the interviewer asked me what I do for a living. I wanted to tell him I had a boring day job. However Googling my name would show organizers that I\'m an established ukulele entertainer. I reluctantly told the truth that I\'ve performed for many years. The unspoken implication hung in the air: \"Why hadn\'t he heard of me?\"
My decision to change audition piece had been a mistake: the audition room made my drum sound so boomy my singing was obscured. I also regretted wearing my suit and bow-tie: too polished perhaps? I was learning that the show has a strong \"rags to riches\" component: witness the ridiculous hysteria that erupted when dowdy talent contestant Susan Boyle began to sing.
All in all, my years of performing couldn\'t get me past the first round of a national TV talent show. No surprise really. I was up against thousands of participants from all over the country. But I\'ll try again next year (maybe) and I\'ll be better than ever!
So if you\'re thinking of having a crack at the modern day Big Time I suggest you hit them with your best shot, dress down and don\'t forget to mention your boring day job.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer by Ralph Shaw
My New Book!!!: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Calendar
Feb 25/26 Vancouver Ukulele Fest Vancouver, BC. Workshops only.
March 2/3 Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon. Friday Show and Sat workshops
Australia Tour (March/April):
March
8 to 11: Melbourne Ukulele Festival
Weds 14: BUMS Brisbane Uke Club
Thu/Fri 15/16: Northern Rivers (to be confirmed)
Sat/Sun 17/18: SCUM Sunshine Coast Ukulele Club
Mon 19: BUK Balmain Club.
Tue 20: Balmain workshop at Guitar Factory. (to be confirmed by John Penhallow)
Wed 21: Swingaleles Wollongong.
Thu/Fri/Sat 22/23/24: Canberra events.
Sun/Mon 25/26: Milton
Wed 28: Newcastle (to be confirmed)
Thu 29: Uke-East/Petersham.
Sat/Sun/Mon 30th/31/April 1 (or part thereof) Blue Mountains events. T.B.C.
April 2nd: SSCUM South Sydney Uke Club
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
Tuesday 14 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Memorizing a song for a performance can be somewhat stressful. Today I offer some ideas to help you with the first (and second) time showing of a new song. Btw. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend. Oh, and while you\'re here, check out The Ukulele Entertainer book!
Word count this issue: 736 words
Estimated reading time: under 3 minutes
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UE #79 Memory and Performance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mystery
I really wish I could give you one easy method to help you memorize songs but I can\'t. The human mind is a mystery even to those who study it in detail. Our minds all work differently from one another. The way I learn a song may be entirely at odds with how you do it. As if that weren\'t enough, the stress of performance can change everything. It\'s common to find ourselves unable to remember even the first word of a song we sang flawlessly at home.
Allow time
Through trial and error I\'ve found that I learn songs slowly, but well. If I have to perform a song without music in front of me I make sure to be working on it at least three weeks beforehand. Although I\'ve been known to memorize songs quickly, sometimes in just a few hours, it generally culminates in missing chords, words and even whole sections of the song. Having a longer lead time does two things for me: First it allows the song to become a part of my being: I want the song to sit comfortably in my psyche so I hardly need to think what word or line is coming next. Secondly it helps enormously with confidence. It\'s stressful to sing a song onstage that was only committed to memory a day ago. I\'m much calmer if I\'ve already been singing a song for some time.
A photographic memory doesn\'t always help
Although it would be nice to instantly commit lyrics to memory I would not want to do so at the expense of performance quality. One player I know has a photographic memory. He can quickly store any number of songs in his memory banks. He\'s also a very musical person and has no problem with stage fright. Sounds ideal, yes? His performances are technically well executed but woefully uninspiring. He doesn\'t make eye contact with listeners. His eyes are up in the air and appear to move from left to right. It\'s as if he sees the song lyrics inscribed above the heads of the audience who, for the most part, sit bored and unmoved. Enjoy the process of learning great songs; research and mine their hidden depths to seek new meanings in the words.
Develop a process that works for you
Figure out how long it takes you to fully commit a song to memory. Collect techniques that help you to learn. Try these:
- Work on the song often and for short amounts of time.
- Get away from using the paper as soon as you can.
- Sing the song to yourself when not playing ukulele (leave your music devices at home next time you go for a walk. Instead, sing your song over and over.)
- Practice the song last thing at night before going to sleep and then again first thing next morning.
- Rehearse creatively: Play the song for an imaginary live audience, again and again.
The big night
Eventually you\'ll know how long it takes you to get a song ready for that nerve-wracking initial presentation. As with first impressions you only get one chance to sing a song in public for the first time. Sometimes the result is a disaster. But here\'s something interesting: if you\'ve done your work well then it is possible that the first time out with a new song could be the best performance of it you\'ll ever give. I\'m not completely sure how this effect happens. It seems that the product of the work plus heightened focus and raw awareness that the stage brings often contributes to a performance that a crowd finds completely captivating. It\'s like a high wire act. You don\'t need to tell the audience that you\'re unveiling a new song. Their animal instincts sense the fact that you are stepping on the edge and could fall at any moment. It\'s a thrill for them and a powerful moment for you. And oh what a relief it is to get to the other side and step onto solid ground once more!
Beware
The most dangerous performance is not the first one, it\'s the second one. Don\'t be lulled into a warm feeling of security that the worst is over. I tend to make more mistakes on the second outing of a song than the first. So I urge you to prepare for the second performance as if the first one had not even happened.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer by Ralph Shaw
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Calendar
Feb 25/26 Vancouver Ukulele Fest Vancouver, BC. Workshops only.
March 2/3 Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon. Friday Show and Sat workshops
Australia Tour (March/April):
March
8 to 11: Melbourne Ukulele Festival
Weds 14: BUMS Brisbane Uke Club
Thu/Fri 15/16: Bangalow, Northern Rivers
Sat/Sun 17/18: SCUM Sunshine Coast Ukulele Club
Mon 19: BUK Balmain Club.
Tue 20: Balmain workshop at Guitar Factory. (to be confirmed by John Penhallow)
Wed 21: Swingaleles Wollongong.
Thu/Fri/Sat 22/23/24: Canberra events.
Sun/Mon 25/26: Milton
Wed 28: Newcastle
Thu 29: Uke-East/Petersham.
Sat/Sun 30th/31 Blue Mountains events.
April 2nd: SSCUM South Sydney Uke Club
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
February 28 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
After judging a video song contest I came away with some basic ideas to make your Youtube efforts more watchable. Btw. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend. Oh, and while you\'re here, check out The Ukulele Entertainer book!
Word count this issue: 879 words
Estimated reading time: 3½ minutes
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UE #80 Make Better Youtube Videos - Please!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These days I hardly watch Youtube at all. Unless I have an extremely compelling reason to go there it\'s simply a resource I use for learning songs. Much of my disinterest in Youtube\'s enormous, and ever growing, content stems from the poor quality of so many homemade musical videos.
In the run up to a local festival I helped judge about two dozen entries in the categories of Best Original Song, Best Cover Song and Best Ensemble Song. It was my first time judging such a competition and I found it surprisingly difficult. Separating the qualities of songwriting, singing ability, performance and videography to come up with a grade that fairly represented the videos was a challenge.
In congratulating the contestants I found myself saying, \"All the videos were so good it was hard to know which one to pick.\" Indeed, there were many talented performances but the truth is that nearly every video contained flaws that could so easily have been avoided. So I\'ve come up with a list of things you can do to make your videos, if not great, then at least more watchable:
1) Beware of hats. When Britain\'s Prince William came to Canada he was presented with a beautiful white cowboy hat. Did he put it on his head right away and grin for the cameras? No he did not. And there\'s a good reason for that. Hats can make you look odd, foolish, creepy or just plain crazy. This is especially true with low quality videos shot with bad lighting so they cast shadows to hide your eyes. Hats can work, but make sure your chosen titfer (cockney rhyming slang) supports your performance rather than serves as a distraction. Later on in their Canada tour William, Kate and the coach driver wore cowboy hats for a carefully planned photo op. and they looked great.
2) Find good sound balance. In many of the contest videos the ukulele was so loud it overpowered the vocal. Since many singers aren\'t enunciating too well to begin with, this makes it very hard to hear lyrics. Think of the ukulele as your backing instrument. Got an electric uke? Avoid using it. The sound of cheap pickups through computer speakers comes through with a lot of treble and not enough lower frequency tones. It sounds poor and tinny and usually way too loud. Position the recorder so your voice is the primary feature and use the natural acoustic sound of your instrument.
3) Sing clearly and well. You may think it\'s cool to mush up the words but I, and some others, have little tolerance for a song whose lyrics can\'t be made out. Use vocal techniques such as dynamics, vibrato and phrasing to make the song more interesting to listeners.
4) Think about your location, wardrobe and camera angles. There are many ways to look weird and eccentric and you probably want to avoid that. Imagine how your video will look to others, and ask yourself, \"Is this how I want the rest of the world to see me long into the future and possibly after I\'m dead?\"
5) Make eye contact. Communicate. Looking away to one side, up in the air or down at your feet sends a mixed message. It\'s as if you\'re saying: \"I have something important to tell you so excuse me while I focus my attention somewhere else entirely.\" Relate to the camera as you would to a person.
6) Create emotion and playfulness. This is what makes your video worth watching. As viewers we\'re not expecting a flawless performance. But as we gaze at your work we do yearn for a glimpse, however brief, of your humanity. So show us who you are. Entertain us: make us laugh, cry or wonder. Exactly how you achieve this is your call but work on it before you power up the camera. Don\'t believe for a moment that the camera will create the magic for you. Take a risk and do something a little outside your comfort zone (but keep your clothes on. Sheesh.)
7) Do many takes. Be honest with yourself. Notice any problems your video has. Solve the issues and try again.
8) And... SMILE!! Remember, you\'re making a Youtube video, not defusing a bomb.
To back up some of my points I\'d like to show you the winner of the Solo Cover Song category. Her name is Jessie McNeil. Her video which you can see here on Vimeo (a similar site to Youtube) is all the more remarkable since the song she sings, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, is one I bet you\'ve heard hundreds of times. But look at what she does right: The video clearly shows her face and ukulele; not a pile of background clutter. The sound is clear and balanced. I admit she doesn\'t make much eye contact but that isn\'t a problem here because of her introspective performance style. See the many small ways she subtly conveys the emotion of the song.
You\'ll also note that she sings with rare grace and a natural charisma. It\'s the sort of voice that most of us could spend a lifetime struggling to achieve and still not get there. Despite her obvious talent she could easily have spoiled her video. But either through good luck or careful planning she didn\'t. Oh, and did you notice? No hat.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Calendar
March 2/3 Gorge Ukulele Festival, Hood River, Oregon. Friday Show and Sat workshops
Australia Tour (March/April):
March
8 to 11: Melbourne Ukulele Festival
Weds 14: BUMS Brisbane Uke Club
Thu/Fri 15/16: Bangalow, Northern Rivers
Sat/Sun 17/18: SCUM Sunshine Coast Ukulele Club
Mon 19: BUK Balmain Club.
Tue 20: Balmain workshop at Guitar Factory. (to be confirmed by John Penhallow)
Wed 21: Swingaleles Wollongong.
Thu/Fri/Sat 22/23/24: Canberra events.
Sun/Mon 25/26: Milton
Wed 28: Newcastle
Thu 29: Uke-East/Petersham.
Sat/Sun 30th/31 Blue Mountains events.
April 2nd: SSCUM South Sydney Uke Club
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zitat von: UketeufelAfter judging a video song contest I came away with some basic ideas to make your Youtube efforts more watchable.
1) [size=18]Beware of hats.[/size] When Britain\'s Prince William came to Canada he was presented with a beautiful white cowboy hat. Did he put it on his head right away and grin for the cameras? No he did not. And there\'s a good reason for that. Hats can make you look odd, foolish, creepy or just plain crazy. This is especially true with low quality videos shot with bad lighting so they cast shadows to hide your eyes. Hats can work, but make sure your chosen titfer (cockney rhyming slang) supports your performance rather than serves as a distraction. Later on in their Canada tour William, Kate and the coach driver wore cowboy hats for a carefully planned photo op. and they looked great.
OK... kein Hut mehr.... hehehe NIEMALS!!!!!!!! :twisted:
BTW - Ich habe sein Buch gekauft und es ist ausgezeichnet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
May 22 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Here is the final part of my Australian tour travelogue. I hope you\'ve enjoyed coming with me on my journey. To read the same thing with pictures Visit my blogpage Btw. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1761 words
Estimated reading time: seven minutes max
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The Ukulele Entertainer Downunder Part 5: Hey, the Sun is Going Backwards!
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Newcastle, Australia, boasts more ukulele players per capita than anywhere else in the country: no-one\'s sure if the claim is true but if so it\'s surely due to the combined energies of Mark Jackson, his partner Jane Jelbart, and their friend Danielle Scott. Between them they teach classes for adults and kids, lead ukulele groups and do gigs with their own small combo. Newcastle is also a first class surfing location. Mark and Jane live close to the beach and though my time was limited we promised me some beach-time before I moved on.
My workshop and performance took place at The Royal Exchange Theatre. Let me tell you about this venue. It calls itself a Hybrid Theatre and is the sort of spot I could imagine myself running had I gone the path of putting on shows instead of being in them. Part of its bohemian character is down to longevity. Small theatres start up all the time but they usually don\'t last long. It\'s remarkable that Dean Winter has been running this place for eleven years. One night you could be there watching a comedy cabaret, the next you might find yourself in a picture house specializing in \"cinema for the soul\", the next a concert venue, or a life drawing class featuring a contortionist.
Places with limited seating can only exist with low overhead costs. To this end Dean operates his theatre mostly as a one-man show. I saw him single-handedly set up the room, lights and sound for both myself and the opening act (The Newcastle Ukestra.) During intermission Dean was in the bar pouring wine and beer for thirsty customers; not licensed for alcohol he invites \"donations\" in exchange for \"free\" drinks. I informed Dean I would make my entrance through the main door of the theatre. When the time came Dean was right there following me with a spotlight.
His years of hands-on experience have brought him the sort of journeyman\'s facility which enables him to play his theatre as if it were some big musical instrument. And a touch I especially appreciated: at the top of the stairs, within a massive ornate frame, hangs a huge poster of Tiny Tim.
Next morning I was with Mark down at the beach. After a few questions about my swimming experience he established that I wasn\'t ready to ride the big rollers, so he surfed while I spent an idyllic hour splashing around in the shallow waters and jogging on the beach. And that was pretty much it for my entire beach time in Australia. Next time remind me to plan for more.
John Chandler was an invaluable asset to me whenever I was in or near Sydney. He\'s pretty well known in those parts thanks to his work as a ukulele teacher and uke dealer selling instruments from both the Magic Fluke and Boulder Creek companies. Not only did John help me with introductions and travel to many of the local uke clubs such as Balmain, Gladesville and Petersham, but he was also the consummate tour-guide making sure I saw everything of note while in NSW.
A day out in Sydney was organized by John and Evelyn Chandler. We rode on the Manley Ferry and saw the Opera House, Sydney\'s Luna Park and the Zoo. We visited touristy shops and, since this was my first chance to shop for souvenirs, I suddenly found the impulse to purchase so strong that I ravenously bought trinkets at every stop. At days\' end I looked in the bag and it was full of absolute crap. I\'d bought A PVC place-mat showing a pictorial map of Australia, a hand-painted melamine plate with its own plastic display stand, a bottle opener, two tea towels, some postcards and a hat. Actually, in retrospect, the hat is great, I wear it regularly; and the tea towels aren\'t bad either; and the bottle opener is useful; in fact the plate looks fabulous on our mantle-piece at home. But the PVC place-mat, that is still crap.
Evelyn is a wonderful cook and we were joined by Cameron Murray and uke-luthier Steve Taylor for an extremely enjoyable evening meal. I had crossed paths with Cameron several times on this visit but never really got to know him. I learned that he is one of the rare folks who, like myself, was already plonking a uke back in the 1990s. Having initially inherited and learned the instrument from his grandfather his personal interest and journalistic background have conspired to produce Kamuke magazine. It\'s a colourful and informative periodical that I\'m sure you will enjoy [especially issue Four - coming soon - which features a tall man with bow-tie and English accent. Offstage whisper: Ralph Shaw!]
John, Evelyn and I took a most memorable trip to the Blue Mountains stopping first at Springwood: The town was holding a street festival to celebrate something or other; of the three locals I asked no-one knew what was being celebrated. I was delighted to join the legendary Blue MUGs (Blue Mountain Ukulele Group) on the main stage. The Blue MUGs are another ukulele band except they have taken the art of having a bunch of ukulele players onstage to full-on professional-level entertainment.
Several factors have contributed to their highly entertaining show but it seems to mostly be down to personnel. Every aspect of their show has got people with expertise and energy to make things go as well as they possibly can: Rob Weule is the chief musical engine that drives the show. Assisting him are a couple of lads - James and Taylor - on bass and drums, plus several others eager to take on lead vocals. \"Dancin\' Dean\" provides an eyeful of reckless abandon as he enthusiastically boogies his aspects off at stage-front; yet thoughtfully managing to do so without totally hogging the limelight. Steve Roberts heads the organizational team that communicates, books gigs and, yes, even obtains permission for the songs that the group sings. Steve is rightly proud of the fact that he and his team personally got permission from Australian supergroup AC/DC to perform their song It\'s A Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll) both onstage and printed in their ukulele club songbook. Quite spectacularly they got permission to use every one of the approximately 250 songs in the songbook; a massive undertaking that was extremely worthwhile, renders them fully legal and quite frankly makes the rest of us look bad! This video of The Blue MUGS was taken on ANZAC Day, April 25. It\'s not a typical show but cool for the fact that it features bagpipe accompaniment.
My Blue Mountains workshop and show took place on the stage of the venerable Alexandra Hotel in Leura. It\'s a genteel pub with refined dining during the day and wall-thumping disco on Saturday night. I took a nap in my hotel room one afternoon. Since the sun had already passed I left the curtains open. Shortly thereafter, the sun was shining in my face. How could this possibly be? It took me a moment to realise the sun travels from right to left in the southern hemisphere. Wow. Nearly every day in Australia provides me with something to blow my mind.
My forty-five minute evening show went on for at least an hour and a half. It was a little long but I can only blame the Blue MUGS whose enthusiasm as an audience easily equals their onstage drive. It was a bloody good time and I\'ll never forget the spontaneous collaborations on Viva Las Vegas and Stairway to Heaven.
Next day John, Evelyn and I were up bright and bleary to see the sights. You\'d think the extra hour of sleep caused by the autumn time change would have seen us in tiptop shape but unfortunately the DJ felt licensed to run the Saturday disco, thumping away below our rooms, until 3am instead of the usual 2am.
As we approached our first destination, the renowned Echo Point, John regaled me with happy childhood memories of visiting this place. I asked, \"So what is the echo like then John?\" He replied \"I never thought to try\".
Tourists milled about, looking through binoculars and such while I marvelled that people could come to a place called Echo Point and not bawl their tonsils out to appreciate every feature of the locations\' sound bouncing qualities. It was up to me. I cupped my hands around my mouth, filled my lungs, and bellowed \"HELLOOOOO.\" I waited expectantly. Nothing. I waited some more; still nothing. The other tourists were staring fixedly at the view to avoid any eye contact with crazy shouting man. I turned to them uttering, \"There\'s no echo\". Then louder, \"It\'s a sham. You\'ve all been tricked. There\'s no echo. Go home\". A few laughed but nobody left. I suppose they all felt that a world class view rivaling the Grand Canyon was enough. Besides, it was free, so what\'s to complain about?
The only distant sound I could hear up in those lofty heights was the call of the Bell Bird. Actually its penetrating squeak is rather more like a loud rusty axle than any kind of bell. It\'s amazing to hear nature produce such an industrial sort of sound. Comparable, I suppose, to the pneumatic rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker echoing through the British Columbian forests.
We had an enjoyable day poking around local shops. I was thrilled to find a perfect Balinese Aloha shirt in Leura. And later I scored, not one, but two toast racks! This was in a magical and dusty antique shop in Lawson run by a woman not a day under 147. Folks in Canada have never heard of toast racks and have no concept of the need for crisp toast. What is wrong with these people?
My final evening in Australia was a workshop/performance at St. George and Sutherland Community of Ukulele Musicians (SSCUM), John\'s own uke club in Gymea. The crowd was fabulous and it was a perfect evening with which to end my tour of Australia.
In order to keep these newsletters as concise as possible I\'ve left out so many stories, impressions and meetings with friendly Aussies. Memories include train travel, trying to figure out what sort of socks work best with sandals (I am part British after all) and learning the history of the song Waltzing Matilda. I experienced tropical humidity, torrential rain, blistering sun and an electrical storm never to be forgotten. It was a wonderful time in so many ways and if you\'ve never been, I urge you to visit Oz!
Heading home. As my plane approached Vancouver the satellite TV came on and I saw Canada\'s Got Talent, a show I\'d auditioned for in September 2011. The judges, including comedian Martin Short, were reacting to everything in that ludicrously over the top manner which one expects from these programs. Since I never got a call back from my audition I was curious to see what I\'d missed out on.
The acts, nearly all non-musical, although on audition day probably 90% were singers, included a fire twirler, some acrobats and a bicycle balancing duo from Vancouver. When they eventually did get to a singer it turned out she was young, female, pretty and had given up a kidney to save the life of her brother. Jeez, I thought, it\'s no wonder I didn\'t make the grade if those are the standards they expect!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Calendar
June 23/24: Seattle Workshops and Concert at - Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 5, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
If you\'ve been playing for a while you may be getting to the point where you need to supply your own Public Address system, or P.A. This can be a daunting prospect if knobs, buttons and blinking lights generate a cold sweat. Today some help from one non-techie (that\'s me) to another (that would be you.) on using a basic P.A.
And I have Workshops and Concerts coming later this month in Seattle WA and Courtenay BC - See the end of this email for details.
Word count this issue: 910 words
Estimated reading time: over 3.5 minutes
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UE #81 Your First P.A.
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Being at the mercy of other people\'s bad sound systems can be funny but is rarely fun. A friend of mine Paul Latta runs a Las Vegas style Polynesian dance company. His tales of bad PAs that his clients have supplied (usually to avoid renting professional sound gear) are quite hilarious. My favourite is the time he arrived at a gig and the client handed him a childs\' my first Sony CD player. In order to avoid such situations it can be beneficial to get your own gear.
What Is a PA Exactly?
PA, Sound System and Amp are fairly interchangeable terms meaning: equipment that makes you louder.
PAs/Sound Systems can have multiple components including: microphones, a mixer, an amplifier, monitor speakers and main speakers which all connect by cables. You don\'t really need all that stuff. An Amp (shorthand for amplifier, but it also includes a speaker and inputs for a couple of microphones) is a single device that does the job.
What Do I Need?
Think about your requirements. The average ukulele entertainer needs a P.A. that is:
- Loud enough to be heard at most of the gigs you expect to be doing.
- As natural sounding as possible. What comes out of the speaker should be like your acoustic sound only louder.
- Reasonably portable. Think about how you travel to gigs. Will it fit in your vehicle? Can it be carried by bike, bus or on the plane?
- Reasonably priced. Generally, the more you pay the better you sound.
- Simple to use. Forget any piece of equipment that is so complex you feel you need a Masters degree in acoustic sciences to work it.
What\'s Available?
The good news is that many PA companies now sell portable amps tailor-made for independent small-scale performers. Just plug in your microphones, adjust the sound controls and sing. They require little expertise, are reasonably priced and sometimes have a built-in battery for outdoor gigs where no electricity is available.
How Much Should I Spend?
An \"okay\" sounding amp can cost two or three hundred dollars. That was my budget twelve years ago when I went shopping for an amp at my local music shop. Rob, the owner, insisted on showing me an amp that had just come in-German-made by AER-it could be lifted with one hand. The sound was clean and powerful and without distortion at loud volume. It was also five times over my budget but I knew right away I had to get it. To pay for it I sold all my multi-component gear-a purchase I never regretted-the new amp was an improvement over the old PA in every way. I\'m not necessarily saying that AER is what you should get. Look around, these days there are more choices and prices have come down. Try some out and see what works for you.
What Do All Those Knobs and Buttons Do?
To illustrate this I\'ve grabbed a picture of the control panel of a guitar amp (cross out the word guitar and put in ukulele if it makes you feel better.) You can see it has two main sections called Channel 1 and Channel 2:
Channel 1 - If your instrument has an electric pickup plug the ¼ inch cord from your instrument into the Channel 1 \"input\". If your uke doesn\'t have a pickup you\'ll need to play it into a microphone.
Note: Most microphone cables have an XLR connector - that\'s a chunky connector with 3 pins inside. You can buy an adapter to take your XLR so you can plug into the ¼ inch socket.
Channel 2 - This is for your vocal microphone. You can see that this input takes the XLR 3-pin connector from a standard microphone cable.
Gain - Each channel has a Gain control meaning that your instrument and voice each have their own volume knobs. When turning on the amp always start with each Gain and Master volume set at zero. Increase the levels slowly so you don\'t blow your speaker. Turn up the Master a little and then adjust each Gain so voice and ukulele are in good balance. Then turn up the total volume to the required level using the Master.
Clip - If a red Clip light is coming on then your Gain is set too high. So turn down the Gain and increase the master volume. If your master is turned up full, your Clip lights are on and you\'re still not loud enough - it\'s time for a bigger amp.
EQ Controls (equalization) - Bass, middle and treble are used to adjust the frequencies of your sound. Set them to center position. Listen to your sound. Is it too tinny? Then turn down the treble a little (or turn up the middle). Too boomy, then turn down the bass. Different rooms and different crowds require different EQ settings. If possible get someone with experience to stand in the audience and inform you what adjustments should be made. If you\'re not sure, keep them centered.
Effects - Some amps have effects built into them. The most common two are reverb and echo. I never use echo but reverb is useful. It fills out your sound (like singing in the shower) and that\'s good, up to a point. The Return knob gives you more and more reverb. But keep it subtle. If it\'s turned up to where people notice you\'ve added reverb then it\'s too high. The eff. (effects) pan allows you to put more effect either onto your voice or your instrument.
Not all amps are exactly as described. You\'ll find every PA has its own idiosyncrasies to figure out, so don\'t be afraid to learn on the job.
Having your own gear will add to your performing confidence. Many facilities, such as community and old folks centers, for example, will boast that they have a PA for you to use. But be wary - it may be a my first Sony!!
Next time: Some microphone basics for you.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Saturday June 16, Comox Valley Uke Club (Courtenay, Vancouver Island, BC)
Workshop and Concert.
Workshop = The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns-is for experienced Beginners and up. Workshop and Concert are $15 each or $25 for both. For details: email Richard.
Friday June 22 to Sunday June 24 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival, Seattle WA
Friday night concert. 7:30 pm $23
Saturday workshops: The Music and History of Tin-Pan-Alley + The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns
Sunday Workshops: Strummed Solos Using the Syncopated Slit-Stroke + Melody Licks for Strummers (Workshops $35 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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca |
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 12, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Last time, I gave you some basic tips when getting and using your first PA. Today we\'re looking at important choices to be made when purchasing microphones to plug into your PA.
I have Workshops and Concerts coming later this month in Seattle WA and Courtenay BC - See the end of this email for details. And if you got value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend.
Word count this issue: 685 words
Estimated reading time: just over 2.5 minutes
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UE #82 Your Microphones and You
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before we discuss microphones I feel it is important to first say a few words about:
The Microphone Stand
Tall, thin, silent and elegant; the presence of a microphone on a stand adds focus and gravitas to a performance. Think of the singer who walks out and stands at the microphone. The seemingly inanimate mic. stand, as it is usually called, is a pedestal for an object that makes humans sound like gods. Somehow it draws the audience focus as much as a bright spotlight. For sheer charismatic appeal, a friend of mine, singer/guitarist Josh Minsky, equates the presence of a microphone stand to having a second performer onstage with you. The microphone and its accompanying stand are seldom pondered but they\'re as vital to the performers\' stage presence as the costume and the smile. I urge you to consider this phenomenon if you are considering getting a headset microphone. Such a microphone may be suitable for dancers, clowns, evangelists and anyone else who needs to jump around and wave their arms about. But unless you absolutely need to be fully mobile I\'d suggest staying with the traditional setup.
The stand can have a weighted base or tripod style with folding legs. I prefer the latter as it\'s lighter and easier to store. In order to make room for your ukulele plus strumming arm you\'ll want to stand back a little from the stand, so you\'ll need a microphone boom. This is a rod that attaches to the top of your stand and holds your microphone exactly where you need it. If you\'re also using an instrument microphone then you don\'t need to buy another stand. You can get a clamp which attaches to your existing stand. The clamp supports a second boom which holds your instrument microphone.
The Vocal Microphone
The industry standard for vocal microphones is the Shure SM58. It\'s the cardioid, dynamic (ice cream cone shaped) microphone you always see performers using. There are better sounding mics. in the world but this is a reliable and robust microphone that rarely lets you down. For optimal sound quality you need to sing close to the microphone; say about three or four inches. In other words your mouth needs to maintain a distance from the microphone equivalent to the breadth of a hand. Your body can gyrate all it wants but your head needs to stay still if you don\'t want the sound to get louder and quieter.
The Condenser Microphone
A different way to go is to use a condenser microphone. With this microphone the performer, or performers, can stand up to several feet behind the microphone. If you use a condenser microphone to pick up the total sound from both your voice and the ukulele then positioning is very important. The microphone needs to be placed in such a way that the voice and ukulele volumes are in balance. This microphone is more forgiving with movement than the dynamic microphone and the sound quality can be excellent. Sometimes whole bands will stand around a single microphone to play. But it doesn\'t work in all situations. Condenser microphones pick up more external sound than you expect, so watch your mouth when you turn away to say things that you think the audience can\'t hear. Feedback can also be a problem with these mics. especially in group situations. They also usually require a power supply such as a battery or 48V phantom power (usually supplied by the amplifier). Before buying a condenser microphone make sure it\'s what you need and that your amp can supply the phantom power if necessary.
The Instrument Microphone
If you want to plug your instrument directly into an amp then your uke needs to have a pickup either built into it or stuck onto it. For information about ukulele pickups read my earlier newsletter or buy my book.
Truly though, you\'ll usually get a better sound by using an external microphone. Once again the Shure company can claim the most widely used instrument microphone of all. The Shure SM57 invented by Shure engineer Ernie Seeler, is a microphone you can use onstage or in the studio. It shouldn\'t let you down, in fact, It\'s been used to amplify speeches by every president since its introduction in 1965. Mr Seeler, expected his microphone to be used for classical orchestras. He despised rock music which, ironically, is where his microphone has been most used for the last four decades. There is no word on what he thought of ukuleles.
When buying sound equipment: Remember that being louder does not equate to sounding better. Seek equipment that retains as much of your natural acoustic sound as possible.
(Does anyone remember the 1980s Michael Keaton comedy Johnny Dangerously? The title of todays\' newsletter is an oblique reference to something in that movie, perhaps only amusing to me!)
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Saturday June 16, Comox Valley Uke Club (Courtenay, Vancouver Island, BC)
Workshop and Concert.
Workshop = The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns-is for experienced Beginners and up. Workshop and Concert are $15 each or $25 for both. For details: email Richard.
Friday June 22 to Sunday June 24 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival, Seattle WA
Friday night concert. 7:30 pm $23
Saturday workshops: The Music and History of Tin-Pan-Alley + The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns
Sunday Workshops: Strummed Solos Using the Syncopated Slit-Stroke + Melody Licks for Strummers (Workshops $35 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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca |
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 26, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Ukulele players who are starting to perform in public tell me they wish their performance skills were better and they wonder what to do about it. Today I offer some important, yet playful, suggestions to help you put on a show that your
audiences will enjoy. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 929 words
Estimated reading time: about 3.5 minutes
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UE #83 Play and Have Fun!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once a month I run the Vancouver Ukulele Circle. It\'s a roomful of 90 or so people who come along with ukes and pack the Our Town Café well beyond the point of \"standing room only\". They come for the enjoyment of playing music with like-minded friends. But it\'s obvious from their faces, and the laughter that comes out of those faces, that they also get very entertained. While at the ukulele circle their hearts get lifted, problems get forgotten and smiles get broader. You might ask who or what is responsible for this phenomenon? Well, and I say this with all humility, much of it is due to me.
When I head off to run my ukulele club I leave home with the desire, aim and commitment to put on a great show. It\'s no different from every other gig I do. When my fellow ukers and I start to play you might notice, if you could do some sort of a clever brain scan, that my mind is fully on the job of making every moment count towards entertaining my fellow strummers.
People love the variety. The off-the-cuff comments, the humorous asides, my improvised singing, my hot dance moves and the way I pick on individuals--in a good natured way of course--all adds up to an evening where folks don\'t really know what is going to happen next and anything is possible. If I had to sum up what I do with just one word I\'d call it playing.
Although we are used to saying that we play music and play the ukulele the lightness and easiness of the word gets forgotten somewhere during the practice stage; so, by the time we actually get to perform, this thing we do has become a serious business indeed. So serious, in fact, that the dread of performing can lead to paralyzing stage fright. For most though, the seriousness of playing music in front of others is a somewhat staid ordeal. You\'re so busy trying to \"get it right\" or \"not screw up\" that there is no time for the extra fun stuff. That is the actual parts of your performance that make it engaging and worthwhile.
Whenever I leave the house to go to a gig the last words I hear from my wife Kathryn, as I go out to the car are \"Have fun!\" It has become something of a ritual for us. There is always a moment, just as I step in the car that I take mental pause to contemplate Kathryn\'s words and consider their importance. When people see me perform they do indeed want my show to be of a satisfyingly high musical standard. But deep down inside they want to be entertained. It\'s always been this way since the beginning of humanity.
Before Shakespeare\'s time actors were known as players. I saw Ricky Gervais interviewed on David Letterman\'s talk show, just before Gervais was to host the Golden Globe acting awards for the third time. He was asked to justify his somewhat sharp mockery towards the actors present in the theatre. Letterman wondered if Gervais was perhaps being a little too cruel. Gervais replied saying, Give me a break, they\'re not wounded soldiers. We\'re talking about people who pretend to be other people for a living. Of course I\'m going to make fun of that.
People love Gervais\'s irreverence. And the ratings for the Golden Globes went up every year that he hosted them. But what does it mean when we say that musicians and actors are players? And how do we improve our spirit of playfulness? Well, if we want to be better players I suggest we learn from the experts: kids. If you ever get a chance, try and eavesdrop on some children who are in the middle of free play. Listen to the ease with which ideas flow. You were a child once. Cast your mind back to a time when you had the sort of easy facility to create a mental playground with your friends. Any room in which you found yourselves could, in your imaginations, become a cave, a palace, a hospital or a bus.
Once, when about six years old, during recess at school, my friends and I were playing at being knights in armour. One of our number, Richard Pratt, had an air of authority about him. We honestly believed that he knew everything. I tired of being a knight and called to Richard to ask, \"Were there dinosaurs in those days?\" Richard thoughtfully considered my question for a moment and answered, \"Yes.\" With glee I became a tyrannosaurus and attacked my armoured foes by breathing fire on them. That is play and that sort of thinking is what we need to cultivate and cherish. We need to be like Richard Pratt and say, \"Yes!\" to the silly, the abstract and ridiculous, and make it seem real enough that our audience will come along for the ride.
Improving our performance with playfulness, irreverence and spontaneity has the magic effect of bringing those same qualities out in others. However, such playfulness shouldn\'t come by sacrificing the quality of the music we\'ve worked so hard to achieve. It\'s important, therefore, to perform pieces that are within our skill level. Avoid performing songs that are musically over-ambitious. If you want to improve your performance you\'re going to have to relax and get playful. You can only do this if you truly have confidence in your music.
And one final suggestion: Since it helps to be constantly reminded of the value of having a childlike sense of play; get your spouse, parent, kid or neighbour to yell out, \"Have fun!\" every time you leave for a gig. It works for me.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Book available from www.RalphShaw.ca (Also find great DVDs to help you, and the child in you, with your ukulele playing.)
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Friday June 22 to Sunday June 24 Dusty Strings Ukulele Festival, Seattle WA
Friday night concert. 7:30 pm $23
Saturday workshops: The Music and History of Tin-Pan-Alley + The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns
Sunday Workshops: Strummed Solos Using the Syncopated Slit-Stroke + Melody Licks for Strummers (All Workshops $35 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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
July 24, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Today some suggestions to put more variation into your strumming.
You will need: 1) a Paper Bag (or piece of card) 2) You.
I\'ll be in Ontario and Quebec, second half of September. Keep checking my website for tour dates: www.RalphShaw.ca btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 847 words
Estimated reading time: less than 3.5 minutes
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UE #85 Uke-less Strumming Practice
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It\'s very common for beginning players to get into a rut with their strumming. After learning the basics, the beginner often adopts a default, or one-size-fits-all, strum which they use for every song. We all know it shouldn\'t be that way. Recorded songs have a particular feel, or groove, and the essence of that rhythmic feeling, plus the variations within it, is what we want to capture when we strum.
The \"feel\" of a song refers to the basic quality of a song\'s rhythm. There are two main types of strumming feel: Straight and Swing. To illustrate this, pretend to strum a ukulele:
Give the up strums equal value to the down strums so that the timing of your down-up-down-up goes: da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. This is \"straight\" playing. Now try strumming again. But this time hesitate briefly after each down strum so as to make each up strum come slightly late. It should sound something like: daa-da-daa-da-daa-da-daa-da. The down beats are all right on time but up beats are a little late. This is known as \"swing\".
Most songs that most of us tackle are played either straight or with some degree of swing feel. But, as you listen to any recorded piece you\'ll notice that, as well as the basic feel of a song, there are other rhythmic nuances that can also be added to the mix. So the question becomes: how do we retrain ourselves to strum in new and interesting ways?
I teach many different strumming patterns in The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series. But the drawback to teaching specific rhythms is that it\'s often necessary to get quite analytical, even mathematical, about the structure of each strum. This can be helpful to a point but a more natural and effective way to develop new strums is simply to listen and copy. And you don\'t even need a ukulele to do this!
Improve on air-strumming by making your strums audible. You can achieve this with a paper bag or a piece of light card. If you\'re using a bag: scrunch up one end and hold it in your left hand while your right hand strums the body of the bag. There\'s a wonderful old Youtube video of British ukulele entertainer Two-Ton Tessie O\'Shea at the Wheel Tappers and Shunters Club. She uses this technique to great effect as she leads the audience singalong using only a paper bag. Alternatively, get a small (playing card sized) piece of flexible card or stiff paper. Hold the card parallel to the floor in your left hand at about the position where your strumming finger makes contact with the strings. Every time you strum, your finger brushes the edge of the card. My music teacher friend, Guido Heistek, has developed paper-strumming into a very effective teaching tool. His DVD--Hear the Strum--puts these ideas into action.
Step 1: First, just listen. And I really mean that. One of the reasons that beginners get stuck in the rut of a single strum is that they don\'t actively listen to what they are strumming along with. Put all your focus on listening to the rhythm and beats of the music. When you feel ready, then and only then, pick up your paper bag or oblong of card and start to strum along.
Step 2: Get the feel. While still listening, allow your finger to strum your paper to match the feel of the song. Focus on the listening and let your strumming hand discover its own way to find the groove of the music. The feel may swing or be played straight; or be mostly straight with perhaps a flavour of swing in it. Any combination is possible. Let your innate musicality find the rhythm. If you find there are too many rhythmic elements within the music to fit your strum, try doubling the strumming speed and see if that helps.
Step 3: Put in extra beats, missing beats and other variations. Once you\'ve settled into the feel of the song it\'s now time to add or remove any other beats you can hear. There\'s no rule exactly how to go about this. Keep listening to the rhythm section; usually drums, bass, piano, guitar but could be other instruments too. As before, I want you to keep intent on the listening while you allow your finger to put in any extra accents (accents are more pronounced strums) or miss out certain beats altogether by deliberately missing the paper on the beats you don\'t want to hear. Then take it a step further: include variations to the basic strum while still being faithful to the song\'s feel.
Using a paper bag or cardboard rectangle in this way removes us from all the parts of ukulele playing that aren\'t strumming related. It helps us to break old, unhelpful patterns while creating new ways to play.
And, should you arrive at your gig to discover you left your instrument at home, you can always take a tip from the great Tessie O\'Shea and entertain the audience using only a paper bag. Who knows, they might enjoy it even more than your uke playing!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Book available from www.RalphShaw.ca (Where you\'ll also find great DVDs to help you with your ukulele playing.)
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
July 30th, 8pm: The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns: In this workshop Ralph teaches the techniques of accents, damping, ghost strum, tremolo, rolls and triplets to vary your strumming styles in an endless variety of ways. Learn how to play styles from reggae, waltz, bo-diddley, samba and more.
at: Gandharva Loka, Granville Island, Vancouver. Pre-registration recommended as space limited. Contact the music store to book your place at 604.683.7733, or email them at: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
More workshops will be announced for August and September.
September 14-16: Dock Street Uke Camp, Nova Scotia
19: Ottawa
24: London, Ontario
25: Dundas
26 and 27: Corktown
28 Port Dover
Montreal t.b.a.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca |
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
August 14, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
There is a lot going on when someone sings well. It seems effortless and natural. And just as a champion surfer makes riding the peak of a wave seem easy and graceful, getting your voice to float effortlessly upon a column of regulated airflow can be equally beautiful and relaxed. But how do we achieve that ability? btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Also I have some more local ukulele workshops coming up. And I\'ll be in Ontario for the second half of September. Keep checking my website for workshop/tour dates: www.RalphShaw.ca
Word count this issue: 816 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3 minutes
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UE #86 Catch the Wave and Sing!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless you happen to fall into the, sparsely populated, category of pure ukulele instrumentalists, singing well is a vital part of being a ukulele entertainer. I often have to remind new performers that the voice is the star, and the uke, no matter how skilfully played, plays the role of backing band.
Unfortunately many self-taught singers use vocal techniques that don\'t support their voices. The result is poor quality singing and likely eventual vocal damage. I know this because I used to be one of those singers. I\'ve had to work hard to make my voice deliver itself in a natural way; through a process far more laborious than that which some, in their well-meaning ignorance, have described as a \"gift\".
My voice suffered in the past. Poor vocal technique meant that I\'d get hoarse if I sang too much. I admired people with big voices. They could fill their lungs and sing and shout for hours without hurting themselves. Babies, I noted, were especially talented in this regard. If I should have chosen to bawl and scream like that for more than a moment it would have done me irreparable harm, yet newborns could keep it up for hours. But, no matter how I tried, whenever I attempted to project a big or beautiful sound it just came out sounding somewhat strained.
This fact did not stop me performing in semi-professional shows and amateur musicals however; that is until I actually damaged my voice to the point of needing an operation to have a nodule snipped off my vocal folds. The recovery process led me to try several singing teachers and to join a barbershop chorus. Over time I learned to reconnect my voice to my airflow--something that we all did naturally as babies--so that I was eventually able to truly sing; with power and with ease.
One of my teachers, Reid Campbell of Nova Scotia, described a process of \"catching the wave\" where he likened singing to surfing. I don\'t surf, but the analogy of catching a wave at just the right moment was so good that it worked to show me for the first time what true singing was supposed to feel like. I\'ll describe it to you and perhaps it will help you too:
1) Lie down on the floor. If you need to raise your head use a cushion or a book under your head to bring it an inch or two off the floor. Close your eyes. Take some deep breaths and sigh them out. Relax. Notice where your body is touching the floor and imagine all those points being in those same relative positions when you stand and sing. The straightness of the spine and the alignment of the vocal mechanism is the reason many people sing better when they are lying down (there\'s a Simpson\'s episode where Homer Simpson becomes a famous opera singer, but only for as long as he\'s lying on his back.)
2) Keep your chest expanded. Place your fingertips on your chest and take a deep breath in. Feel the ribs expand. Do it again. Now this time when you breathe out, don\'t let your chest drop. Keep it big, like an opera singer. Use the muscles in your chest to keep the chest big and barrel-like. Continue to breathe. You may notice that keeping the chest expanded in this position means that your breathing has to come from the diaphragm (the muscle below your lungs) and other abdominal muscles.
3) Make a vocal impulse. While continuing to breathe, gently place your hands on your belly. Feel it rise and sink as the air goes in and out of your barrel-like chest. While this is going on imagine that a friend has just given you some news. It\'s neither good news nor bad news, so you react in a non-committal sort of way. You have no comment to make. All you can offer is a \"Hm\" sound. When you say, \"Hm\" your belly moves impulsively inwards. Catch yourself by surprise. Imagine the news being given and feel the subsequent inward jerk of your belly as you go Hm. Do it again and again.
4) Catch the wave. That simple Hm may seem rather inconsequential right now but this is analogous to the moment that surfers call catching the wave. The wave is your airflow and your voice rides that wave in direct connection to your belly. Now all you need to do is lengthen the \"Hm\" and you\'ll be singing.
5) Ride the wave. This time do three Hms and on the fourth time let the sound continue for as long as you can: \"Hm Hm Hm Hmmmmmmmmmmm\" If I have described this well, and you are following the instructions, you are now making a nice long vocal sound that connects directly to the muscles producing the breath control, way down in the belly.
6) Practice every day. Get used to doing this. Quite soon you can replace the hm hmmms with vowel sounds: Mah, May, My, Mow, Moo etc. Try changing the pitch of the notes: sing higher and then go low. Eventually go on to sing song lyrics. And when you stand up to sing remember to keep the chest expanded, the neck long, the chin tucked in slightly, and everything else nice and relaxed.
Connecting the voice to the flow of air is the very basis of singing. If you don\'t have that happening for you then nothing else is going to sound all that great. Of course there is a lot more to learn in becoming a good singer but if you feel confident in doing the above then you\'re off to a great start, and you didn\'t even get wet!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Book available from www.RalphShaw.ca (Where you\'ll also find great DVDs to help you with your ukulele playing.)
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Ukulele Workshops at Gandharva Loka World Music Store on Granville Island
August 20 Monday -- The Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns (Ralph teaches the techniques of accents, damping, ghost strum, tremolo, rolls and triplets to vary your strumming styles in an endless variety of ways. Learn how to play styles from reggae, waltz, bo-diddley, samba and more.) 8pm Cost=$20. To register: Tel: +1 604 683 7733 or email: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
September 6 Thursday -- I Just Got a Ukulele, Now What Do I Do? Beginners Ukulele Workshop (Everything you need to know to get started, if you don\'t have a uke yet the store can lend you one.)
8pm Cost=$20. To register: Tel: +1 604 683 7733 or email: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
September 11 Tuesday -- Melody Licks for Strummers (Use the well known arrangements of the songs you love to play to help you provide embellishments for your music. Students learn how to create their own arrangements by paying attention to various elements of famous songs.)
8pm Cost=$20. To register: Tel: +1 604 683 7733 or email: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
Gandharva Loka World Music Store is at 1650 Johnston St. Granville Island, Vancouver
Nova Scotia and Ontario Tour
September 14-16: Dock Street Uke Camp, Nova Scotia
19: Ottawa
24: London, Ontario
25: Dundas
26 and 27: Corktown
28 Port Dover
Montreal t.b.a.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to sper@online.de by bowlerhat@shaw.ca |
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.
Ralph Shaw Entertainment | 105-1035 Pacific St. | Vancouver | BC | V6E4G7 | Canada
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
September 4, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Knowing your melody is very important. So are good neigbours. Especially the ones that can teach you a thing or two. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Also I have two local ukulele workshops coming up (see below). And I\'ll be on tour in Nova Scotia and Ontario for the second half of September.
Need some help with your ukulele skills? The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
Word count this issue: 935 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3.5 minutes
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UE #87 How to Build a Musical Shed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neighbours can be handy things. Take my neighbour Doug. Whereas I make my living as a musical performer, who also tries practical skills such as carpentry from time to time, Doug is a carpenter who also enjoys singing in musical theatre. We get along great. He is of a similar turn of mind to myself in that he\'s always quick to make light of the serious, take seriously the ridiculous and burst into song with the merest encouragement.
He\'s fairly new to the neighbourhood so I invited him over one afternoon to try some of my U-Brew cider and to tour him around my shed. As I explained to Doug, the unnecessarily large and half-built shed I inherited has been a source of perplexity for some years now. It\'s basic construction is solid but the details leave a lot to be desired. For instance its four windows were big old glass sliding doors which still resided in their bent and scratched aluminum door frames. The door itself was non-existent; just a formidable 9 foot by 10 foot hole where there really ought to be something. But in the last four years I\'ve never been able to decide what. Doug had an answer.
Two days later he came by clutching a flapping sheet of grid-paper showing a drawing of my shed, but which now included a pair of over-size french windows. It looked terrific. The french windows, essentially large glass doors with wooden frames, would be constructed by Doug using the glass from two of the ugly sliding doors. After making approving noises for several minutes I told Doug that I would do the rest of the work, such as filling in the old windows and so on. Inevitably we gradually got onto the subject of singing. Doug asked, \"Does Kathryn sing?\"
Over the years, Kathryn, my wife, has made several attempts at singing but never got anywhere. As I explained to Doug, along with some eye rolling on my part, \"She doesn\'t seem to understand that in order to be able to sing you first have to know both words and melody to at least one song.\"
Doug laughed. And so, warming to my theme, I began a lecture, \"You know, without that bit of key knowledge it\'s kind of difficult to sing. Acapella harmony groups often spend several weeks with all members singing just the melody of a new song together. This has at least two benefits: One is that every singer becomes intimately acquainted with the rhythm and the phrasing of the words, so when they do split off into harmony they will be tightly synchronized. The second is that harmonizers need to know exactly what they are harmonizing with.
Most people don\'t realize this but melody singers and harmony singers are doing very different jobs. Melody singers sing the part that everyone recognizes as the tune. The only reference they have to tell them what the next note will be is the last note they sang. The job of the harmonizer however is to be in harmony with the melody, whether right or wrong. The sparkly bits of harmony have to hang from the tune like stars in the firmament. So, if the melody voice strays to a slightly flatter or sharper key, the harmony voices don\'t stick rigidly to what they know to be correct; instead they behave like good harmonizers and adjust--no matter how wrong it might be--to whatever the melody voice is singing.
As a ukulele player you may think that the playing of an instrument gives the singer a reference point to ensure accurate tuning. But I would argue otherwise. If you are using your ukulele to locate the tuning of your next note then it probably means that you don\'t truly know the melody.
Not being au courant with the melody can have pretty dire consequences. If part of your attention is always on listening to the uke for your next note then there\'s a far greater chance of that note being flatter than either you or your audience would find ideally desirable. Plus, the declining confidence arising out of not fully knowing your melody often leads to yet more wrong notes, and, subsequently, to forgotten lyrics, as it dawns on you that this performance is not going as well as planned. So, know your melody!\"
Over the next few days I removed one of the remaining windows from its aluminum door frame and endeavoured, without any knowledge or previous curiosity in window construction, to make a proper window frame. I took my time and measured everything carefully and banged the nails in hard once I knew I was correct. Of course, I botched it. My idea of what I thought a window frame was supposed to look like was in several ways quite at odds with what proper carpenters think.
Doug was kind, \"It\'ll be okay.\" He said, \"You can paint stars on it and people won\'t notice.\" I wasn\'t going to be doing stars. And at the thought of undoing my mistake and pulling all those nails out I moaned, \"I\'m so used to being inventive and doing things my own way, I really thought I could do this.\" Doug replied, \"No-one ever regretted taking the time to make sure something was done well.\" And, as an afterthought, he added, \"Always learn the melody first.\"
That\'s a low blow don\'t you think? I mean it\'s one thing to invite a person to correct their misdeeds with daubs of asteroids, comets and suchlike. But to take someone\'s story and then use it in metaphor against them; well, I mean to say, it\'s downright unneighbourly!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Book available from www.RalphShaw.ca (Where you\'ll also find great DVDs to help you with your ukulele playing.)
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Ukulele Workshops at Gandharva Loka World Music Store on Granville Island
September 6 Thursday -- I Just Got a Ukulele, Now What Do I Do? Beginners Ukulele Workshop (Everything you need to know to get started, if you don\'t have a uke yet the store can lend you one.)
8pm Cost=$20. To register: Tel: +1 604 683 7733 or email: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
September 11 Tuesday -- Melody Licks for Strummers (Use the well known arrangements of the songs you love to play to help you provide embellishments for your music. Students learn how to create their own arrangements by paying attention to various elements of famous songs.)
8pm Cost=$20. To register: Tel: +1 604 683 7733 or email: vancouver@gandharvaloka.com
Gandharva Loka World Music Store is at 1650 Johnston St. Granville Island, Vancouver
Nova Scotia and Ontario Tour
September 14-16: Dock Street Uke Camp, Nova Scotia
19: Ottawa
24: London, Ontario
25: Dundas
26 and 27: Corktown
28 Port Dover
Montreal t.b.a.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
October 23, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
My inbox receives many emails from ukulele teachers advertising their wares. The surprising thing is that their way of teaching ukulele is always the best! So today I\'m going to take a look at the more popular ways of learning ukulele and see if we can find the best teacher for you. Btw. my book: The Ukulele Entertainer - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers is now available as an eBook! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
Word count this issue: 937 words
Estimated reading time: just over 3.5 minutes
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UE #88 The Best Ukulele Teacher of All
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ukulele teachers are no different from anyone else with goods or services to sell. The more they believe in their own product the more likely the public will invest in it. That\'s why uke teachers will generally market their training techniques as The best ukulele method out there! And when I say \"uke teachers\" I am of course including myself in that category because I\'ve been guilty of it too.
When it comes to marketing either my Complete Ukulele Course DVD series (note, blatant advertising) or my group workshops I\'ve tended to extol their advantages. For example, my DVD sales pitch might go something like this:
\"With the DVD you can choose whatever aspect of playing you wish to learn and observe it as many times as you wish. You get to see close-ups of what the hands are doing as well as hearing how it\'s supposed to sound. And the months of learning you get from one relatively inexpensive disc is much more cost-effective than taking one-on-one lessons.\"
You see there, while promoting the advantages of my own products, I also, in a subtle way put the student off trying other ways of learning; in this case private lessons. Now that is all well and good when I\'m doing it. But I have to say it\'s very naughty indeed when others do it at my expense! So perhaps we should all try to be fair and figure out what is best for the student\'s needs.
Here are some (hopefully) unbiased thoughts on the more popular ukulele learning methods:
Group Workshops
Group workshops offer an inexpensive chance to learn a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Often this can be from a top level teacher who may otherwise be unavailable for private lessons. Such teachers, and I\'m one of them, may not offer individual lessons; or, they may live geographically too far away from you. It\'s worth bearing in mind that good workshop leaders are often entertainers too, which can make learning in a group setting both inspirational and fun.
Disadvantages include the possibility that you may become frustrated or bored if the workshop is not at your level. There also exists the chance that, through not getting much personal attention, you may miss a key piece of information and not even realize it..
Individual Lessons (In-person or by Skype)
These give you immediate feedback on whether you\'re playing a particular technique correctly. With a good teacher you will get information and techniques that are applicable to where you\'re at right now as a player. Video-Skype lessons also mean that you are no longer confined to a teacher in your area but can have face to face learning from anyone in the world. In-person lessons however give you the bonus possibility of really getting to know your teacher. For example: my first stringed instrument was the 5-string banjo. My teacher Sara Gray was (and still is) a working folk singer. The pleasure I got from hanging around with her and other musicians at concerts was a huge influence on my future career choice.
An obvious disadvantage of the personal touch is the cost of paying for regular private lessons. Also some people mistake the act of taking lessons for actual progress. Meeting teacher may be enjoyable social time but without doing quality practice it doesn\'t guarantee improvement.
DVD Video Tutorials
These are good because you get to learn a wide range of specific playing techniques from a teacher you trust without ever leaving your home. This system gives you the ability to clearly see and hear what you need to do. You also get to rewind and go over things as often as you wish. You get all this for the low price of a DVD so it\'s very cost-effective.
Disadvantages include the fact that this method won\'t work if you don\'t take the time to watch it! I\'m always interested in stories of people who work regularly with my DVDs or, conversely, bought one and never once tried it out. I wonder why that is. You\'ll need to develop self-awareness and self-criticism (which all musicians must learn) by listening to and watching yourself because no-one is there to give you feedback.
Online Video Tutorials (Youtube lessons)
These are more or less free, which is a big plus. That is except for paying your internet service bill of course. Advantages and disadvantages are similar to DVDs. But whereas DVDs are more likely to be produced by experienced teachers, online lessons can come from anyone so the quality of the teaching may be questionable and incomplete. (I\'ll be the first to admit however, that this is a claim I\'ve often heard repeated but never seen proven.)
Friends
Spending time with others and sharing songs and techniques is fun, free (or cheap at least) and a fantastic way to learn. Ukulele clubs and other get-togethers are a great way to pick up new skills and get, what is hopefully, constructive criticism.
The Best Teacher of All
It\'s you. Every musical performer I\'ve ever known has spent a great deal of time alone working at and thinking about how to get the most from their instrument. You are the one who has the ambition to play and entertain. Decide what you want to play then figure out how to learn the techniques you need in order to express yourself in the way you imagine you can. Use every teaching method within your time and budget. Try different teachers, try different videos. When a ukulele teacher comes to town take advantage of their presence and participate in a workshop.
But then again you may choose to go it alone: deciding instead to generate your own ways to play the sounds you hear, both on records, and in your head. Doing this comes with it\'s own flavour of satisfaction
You are in charge. You get to set your own goals and you get to do the work. You also get to reward yourself for occasional successes and take pleasure in the daily routine of practice. And, since no-one is judging you, you can do no wrong.
But if you\'re serious about wanting to play better, then you had better do something!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills? The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Book available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Not much right now. Staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
\"Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers\"
Das Buch von Ralph Shaw habe ich im Urlaub als eBook gelesen und kann es
sehr empfehlen!
Der Mann kann schreiben und hat Humor & plaudert vergnüglich - oft auch anekdotisch -
über Ukulele und verwandte Themen.
Herz, was willst Du mehr?
Ich hab das Buch auch (im Urlaub) als Paperback gelesen und seehr genossen. Allerdings ist das auch sehr anspruchsvolles Englisch, ich musste jedenfalls ordentlich nachschlagen.:) Hat sich aber wirklich gelohnt!
Zitat von: Uketeufelich musste jedenfalls ordentlich nachschlagen.:)
OT: Ich auch :-)
Das war der erste Urlaub mit einem eBook und ich habe es
gerade deshalb sehr genossen: Nachschlagen der schwierigen
Begriffe blitzartig auf Knopfdruck: genial!
Zitat von: UketeufelAllerdings ist das auch sehr anspruchsvolles Englisch, ich musste jedenfalls ordentlich nachschlagen.:) Hat sich aber wirklich gelohnt!
Ich habe das Buch am letzten März mit dem Zug gelesen. Sehr lustig. Er lebt in Keiner da langezeit aber er hat immer noch einen sehr britschen Sinn für Humor. Er verspottet gern. hehe
Leider habe ich sein Workshop in Ottawa verpasst. Ich war zu müde nach meiner Berliner Reise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 6, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
We take our voices for granted. From birth we manufacture sound with the same unconscious ease as we produce spittle, piddle and poo. However it helps to understand how the voice works if we wish to refine its expression for more subtle uses. Btw. my book: The Ukulele Entertainer - Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers is now available as an eBook! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
Word count this issue: 986 words
Estimated reading time: about 4 minutes
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UE #89 Sing Like a Rubber Ukulele
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In UE #86 Catch the Wave and Sing I gave instruction on how to achieve good breath support. Another step in becoming a better singer is to improve the quality of sound you produce. If you presently feel that your voice sounds somewhat thin or insubstantial then today\'s column is for you.
Few people have an accurate mental picture of exactly where their voice hails from. Common knowledge tells us that our throat contains a \"voice-box\", or larynx, within which the \"vocal chords\" reside. Such language gives an imperfect picture of the vocal mechanism. For one thing: \"voice-box\" sounds altogether far too rectangular for what you actually see when you look in there. And the so-called \"vocal chords\" don\'t so much resemble chords as they do a folded piece of rubber tubing. Hence the more correct term: vocal folds.
The vocal folds are connected to the sides of the air passage by muscles that we unconsciously control to make sounds. Other uses of the larynx include closing off the air passage to stop food being inhaled and reflexively coughing in order to eject foreign particles. The physical size of the vocal folds determines to a large extent how high or low your voice can go. Men have weightier folds and therefore sing deeper, women\'s lighter folds enable them to sing higher. But other than that the vocal folds are limited in what they can do for you as a singer. They control pitch and volume, but that\'s pretty much it.
Your larynx and vocal folds don\'t affect the quality of your voice. In fact the quality of your sound is pretty much all in your head. And I mean that literally. If you\'ve heard the terms head voice and chest voice forget them, they are very misleading. Your vocal resonance is not affected by your chest. Anyone who has heard Toronto singer Alex Pangman can attest that her beautiful vocal sound remained essentially unchanged even after a double lung transplant. Head voice is often used to describe falsetto singing; this technique of singing unnaturally high is actually achieved by a pinching together of the vocal folds (or by the, now thankfully archaic, practice of testicular removal). It\'s the air spaces inside your head and throat that determine vocal quality.
The ukulele and guitar each have a resonating chamber giving the instrument its distinct sound. This is why ukuleles generally tend to sound plinky and guitars more boomy. Human beings however have the interesting advantage of being able to change the size and shape of the resonant cavity inside their head. The degree to which we can vary our vocal resonance is akin to having a rubbery ukulele that can be stretched to guitar-size and shrunk back again at will. Developing the ability to do this however takes practice and playfulness (by the way, all practice should be playful. If it isn\'t ask yourself why not.)
Few complain that their voice is too resonant. The only exception I know was a childhood friend of mine whose playground voice carried so well that teachers always picked him out for unwanted attention. The fact is that most people\'s voices are thinner and reedier than they would wish. The need is to create more resonance. How to do that? Simple. Create more space inside your head.
Start with the mouth. Going in through the point of entry we first notice inflexible material: teeth, gums, hard-palate and so forth. We can\'t do much there. But the tongue is soft, so play around with ways of flattening it, bringing it back, making it wide and low and so on. The back of the mouth is flexible too. Try enlarging both the throat and the softer palate at the rear of the mouth. One trick is to open your mouth wide and react as if someone has thrown a baby hot-potato into the back of your throat. Imagine the sharp intake of breath and note especially how the back of the throat and soft palate reflexively expand. Alternatively, imagine swallowing a tennis ball. See if you can hold the expansion and try singing with a larger vocal cavity. We\'re so used to how our own voices feel and sound that these techniques will seem odd and unnatural at first, but work with it.
Touch your throat approximately where the larynx is. While singing \"Aaaah\" change the expansion in your mouth and throat. You should feel the larynx drop down as the cavity and resonance increases, and physically rise again as the resonance, and space in your mouth, decreases.
Relax the jaw muscles. Gently massage the point where your jaw meets your head. Imagine chewing on a rubber hockey puck and feel how the distance between the back teeth must expand to accommodate such a thing.
Get rid of mucus. Once you\'ve established expansion in your mouth and upper throat the only cavities left are within your sinuses. Obviously you\'ll get more resonance with clear sinuses. To this end singers prepare for performances by causing their faces to vibrate with all sorts of weird buzzing sounds. This is followed with a significant amount of nose-blowing. All this is done in an effort to clear mucus. Famous singers don\'t advertise it much in their autobiographies but believe me it\'s a common practice.
If your sinuses seem eternally plugged the problem could be dietary. Cow dairy and wheat are the usual culprits in this regard. Both of these modern products have been hybridized to the point where our, still old-fashioned, bodies have trouble digesting them. Look into replacements (goat dairy and low gluten grains for example) and see what works for you. Regular aerobic exercise also helps to clear the airways. Being in good physical shape is great for any occupation but especially singing (Bruddah Iz notwithstanding.)
Play with the concept of expanding your range of vocal qualities. Discover in yourself the characteristics of different types of singers. Mimic them.
As well as improving the overall quality of your voice this provides another tool with which to inflect meanings and emotions. Oh, and did I mention? You never get to the end of this process, so get used to it!
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Not much right now. Staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 20, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Pam, a UE Reader asks, \"I have no trouble memorizing words and melody, but I find myself lost when it comes to playing the correct chord from memory. Is it a matter of instinct - knowing the right chord progressions? Or maybe just spending more time practising without the page? Could it be age-related? Sheer distraction or nerves?\"
This is a great question for which there are several answers. Here is part one:
Btw. Now is the time to think about ordering my book, CDs or teaching DVDs for the ukulele player in your life. I\'ve got something for all ages and abilities. Reply to this email to contact me directly with questions. Or visit my website to find out more.
Word count this issue: 885 words
Estimated reading time: about 3.5 minutes
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UE #90 What\'s the Next Chord? Part 1: Chords at Your Fingertips
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was a first year physics undergraduate we had a senior lecturer whom we called King Richard, since his grey hair was cut in a medieval style that I gather was much in vogue with knights of yore. As well as a peculiar haircut he also had two teaching habits that are worthy of mention. One was to use the word recipe for every mathematical proof he ever wrote on the blackboard. His goal in this regard was to get us to realize that any mathematical formula, no matter how complex, was simply a means to an end. In other words, following the mathematics will lead the student to the correct conclusion as surely as a baking recipe will help him turn out a perfect chocolate cake. It\'s a good lesson. Any major task seems less onerous if we can switch our thinking about it.
However he said recipe a LOT. The word came out of his mouth so often that we invented The Recipe Game! Every time King Richard said the word recipe you had to scratch your head. If you missed one, you had to scratch three times. My physics pals and I resembled a line of chimpanzees in the middle of the classroom. Recipes were coming thick and fast as we simultaneously scribbled formulas, scratched our heads and suppressed a gradually mounting hysteria.
This story alone reveals several things about me including why I loved physics, why I was no good at it and why I have scant hair on the sides of my head. His other habit was to regularly insist that certain equations should always be at our fingertips. It was an ever-present reminder that some categories of knowledge shouldn\'t require thought, research or googling (\"looking things up\" as it was once known.) We should just know them. And it\'s true; to be a successful ukulele entertainer your chord changes need to be at your fingertips.
A good song performance requires that the words and chords be so ingrained within the mind-body memory that minimal effort is needed to recall them. But as Pam--the writer of today\'s question--has discovered, learning lyrics often comes more easily than memorizing chords.
A reason for this is our ability to run lyrics and melodies in our mind at any time of day; even while running errands and pursuing other non-ukulele activities. Unfortunately, without a ukulele in our hand, the chord changes tend to go un-practised at these times. So extra work needs to be done. Here are some practical tips to get those chord changes at your fingertips:
1. Focus on Just the Chords. Sit down with the ukulele and play a song through while just focusing on the chords. Ignore the words and tune as much as possible. If you don\'t happen to have a ukulele to hand then mentally go over the chord changes in much the same way as you run lyrics in your mind. Visualize where your fingers would go.
2. Look For Patterns of Chords. Most songs have repeating chord patterns. Find where these repeating sequences are and where the patterns break down. For example, most standard songs of the jazz, pop and swing eras have four parts to them of typically eight measures each. The first, second and fourth parts share close to identical chord patterns. However the chord grouping in the third section tends to be completely different to the other three parts. Therefore playing the song through once gives us three times more practice on the chord grouping found in parts one, two and four than for the chords in section three. So it\'s wise to isolate the underplayed section and give it extra play to bring it to the level of the rest of the song.
3. Sing the Chord Names As You Play. This will aid memorization. It also helps to connect the sound of chords to the part of the brain that remembers chord names. This proves useful when writing songs, jamming or any other time you need to come up with chords for yourself.
4. Play at High Speed. We should always look for ways to make practice fun. Here\'s a way to do that. Once you think you know a song try playing it as fast as you possibly can. Forget about sounding nice, this is just to get you covering as many chords as possible in the shortest amount of time. As well as being good exercise for your strumming arm this technique also helps you to highlight the areas where you need to slow down and do more work.
5. Start at the End. When practicing there\'s a tendency to commence each song from the beginning. Then, if we get interrupted, we start over from the beginning again. Ultimately this means that the first half of a song gets a lot more attention than the second half. So try working on the last quarter of a song first, then the last half, then the last three quarters and finally play the song from the start. Practicing in this way also gets us used to the idea of dropping into a song in the middle; a useful skill to have when playing with others.
It may seem daunting now, but in time you\'ll discover that, by following the above recipe, scratch scratch, whenever a chord change comes your fingertips will automatically know where to go.
Next week: What\'s the Next Chord? Part 2 will give tips on guessing what the next chord will be when you\'re jamming without chord sheets.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Not much right now. Staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
November 27, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Do music and sport have anything in common? Today we improve our chances of scoring the musical equivalent of a goal, by playing the right chords when jamming with others. Btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Now is the time to think about what to get for the ukulele player in your life. I\'ve got teaching DVDs, CDs and my book based on these newsletters. There\'s something for all ages and abilities. Check out the end of this newsletter, visit my website to find out more.
Word count this issue: 1,237 words
Estimated reading time: under 5 minutes
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UE# 91 What\'s the Next Chord? Part 2: Hitting the Percentages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jocks are good at sport: they hit harder, throw balls further and score more love interests. I was never one of the school \"jocks\". It was a tough school and I was no good at skills like running, jumping, throwing and kicking. And that was just the chess club.
Later in life I was surprised to discover musical jocks: The ones who manage to play something impressive no matter what gets thrown at them. If you\'ve ever floundered around in a jam session; perhaps spending every song just trying to figure out what key everyone\'s in; you\'ll know the people I\'m talking about; arpeggio athletes who always figure out the key and chords in no time at all. You wonder, How do they do that?
Some spent years studying music. They did all the hard slog that most of us thought we could avoid by playing ukulele. Not having benefited from such an education I\'ve instead acquired a somewhat incomplete knowledge of chords to the point where I can now make, shall we say, un-educated guesses about what chords are coming next.
And just like the jocks, who are always looking to improve their percentages in terms of hits, runs, goals etc., I look to increase my chances of landing on correct chords when I\'m jamming with others. Here are some tips to help you do that:
1) Find the Key That Everyone is Playing In. This is challenging but gets easier the more you do it. Try to find the single note that most fits with the song. If a song is in C then C will generally be the name of the last note and the last chord. In most jams the songs tend to be in the keys of C, F, G, D, A, and Bb so try those notes first. When the key note (or root note) is played repeatedly through a song it fits the song better than any other note.
An obvious way to figure out the key is to ask someone. However this doesn\'t always work; others may be even more confused than you are. It\'s also possible that they are one of the special breed of (usually) old-timers who play according to finger-shapes and have no idea what the names of the chords actually are (more about this another time.) So check people\'s chord-fingering. If you notice C, F and G7 chords are being played a lot then you can pretty well bet that the song is in C. Similarly F, Bb and C7 point to the key of F and so on for other keys.
But watch out for minor keys! For example if you\'re fairly sure that the root note is D but the chords D, G and A don\'t sound right it could be that Dm is the key and the chords Dm, Gm and A will work better.
To expand on this idea play these chords: C Dm Em F G Am Bdim C. You can actually hear the C scale right? These are the characteristic chords that help you know you\'re in C/Am. This is a useful framework for figuring out the chords in a particular key. But it doesn\'t give a full picture since it fails to account for seventh chords and for the fact that composers, ignoring musical rules, often put in other chords that sound cool but aren\'t in that key.
2) Notice the Song Style. Certain song styles have predefined structures which help when figuring out chords. Blues songs in C, for example, generally have the chords C, F and G (or G7) and you only need to listen a few times to know exactly where those changes happen. Traditional folk songs also use those same three chords plus an occasional minor chord such as Am or Em. The chords can come in any order so look at some songs and notice common chord patterns. Modern songs--from the last few decades--often use the I V VI IV chord progression (those Roman numerals correspond to the characteristic chords mentioned above.) In the key of C they are C, G Am F. This sequence has been found to produce the greatest emotional impact in western society\'s humans (and believe me, the music business is well aware of this fact.) Part of the emotional appeal of Iz\'s Over the Rainbow is due to this chord progression. If you want further proof visit Youtube to see a hilarious multi-song medley by Australian comedy group Axis of Awesome (warning: there\'s a naughty word near the beginning.) It\'s in the key of E, if you want to play along; the chords are: E B C#m A
3) What is the Circle of Fifths For Anyway? Songs from the pre-Rock n Roll era (jazz, swing and tin-pan-alley type songs) often use a lot more chords than those described above and are harder to figure out by ear. But this is where the \"circle of fifths\" diagram that you often see at the front of music tuition books can come in handy. Look at any song in the key of C. You\'ll notice the last chord of the song is C and the one prior to it is almost always G7. That G7 chord leaves us with a feeling of hanging. And then when we play the C chord it\'s with a feeling of landing. In music theory G is known as the fifth of C. Count on your fingers starting with C as the thumb: D is the index, E is the middle finger, F is the ring finger and G is the fifth finger.
Do this again with G as the thumb. Count up from G and you now find that D, the pinky, is the fifth note. Repeat this with D as the thumb and you discover that A is the fifth of D. E is fifth of A and so on. (You don\'t have to use your fingers but it helps me!)
Many songs use the sequence of fifths and knowing this can help a lot. Take the song Five Foot Two Eyes of Blue. The chords go C E7 A7 D7 G7 C. You can see it\'s all fifths: E is the fifth of A, A is the fifth of D, D is the fifth of G, G is the fifth of C. Not all songs have such a nice string of fifths but if a song is in C and everyone\'s playing an A7 it\'s a good bet the next chord will be D7, after that G7 then C.
4) Transposing. As you work through the above chord changes in the key of C you also need to transfer what you\'ve learned into other common keys. For example take a three or four chord song that you always play in C and play it in the key of F. Now try it in other keys such as G, A, D and Bb. Get used to doing this and you\'ll notice the difference next time you are jamming.
Even a full understanding of all the above will not guarantee that you always find the right chord. But your chances of success will increase as you gain experience. Perhaps from time to time you\'ll play a string of correct chords; the musical equivalent of scoring a goal or hitting a home-run. And what a great feeling that will be!
If you think you\'d eventually like to be one of the special breed of old-timers that play according to chord-finger-shapes then wait in the dressing room for a future newsletter.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Not much right now. Staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
December 11, 2012
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Dear Raimund,
I recently witnessed two things that resonated for me. The first took place on a fall evening while watching Anvil - The Story of Anvil: a documentary film following the misfortunes of a Canadian heavy metal band. The second happened the following day when I took a bicycle ride in the park and noticed a small family spending time together. The two events made me think of an important lesson for all of us who struggle with our art and performance. Btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
My Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list
and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
Word count this issue: 887 words
Estimated reading time: about 3.5 minutes
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UE # 92 Anvil and the Family In the Park
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I want to get the depressing part over with first; so I\'ll begin with the bike ride. A beautiful autumn day; people were dressed warmly as they played, strolled and kicked at the leaves in the park. As long as you were in the sunshine it wasn\'t a cold day; quite pleasant in fact. And on entering the park I slowed my pace down to enjoy the sight of people communing with the outdoors in countless different ways.
My eye was caught by a small boy, about three years old, who was about to kick a soccer ball to his father. The ball seemed half as big as the boy and I wondered how he\'d manage. The boy ran at the ball. His kick connected far better than I ever thought it could. He shouted with joy and I looked at the father\'s face to watch his response. Instead of taking delight in his son\'s achievement he was deeply engrossed in a phone conversation and paid only cursory attention to his son. The boy however continued to kick the ball surprisingly well while shouting enthusiastically to his mentally absent dad.
Meanwhile the boy\'s mother was filming this activity. Her camera followed the two of them as the husband trailed after his son at a pace slow enough to ensure that he wouldn\'t catch up with the boy and thereby have to interrupt his call. It broke my heart to see the boy\'s exuberant enthusiasm so much on display while his parents remained completely disengaged.
I don\'t own a mobile phone and therefore have no temptation to talk, text and take pictures during my every waking moment. This is perhaps why I get so appalled at the increasing disengagement of people from the present. My mind fast-forwarded to a time when the boy\'s unbridled enthusiasm would suddenly halt as he looked around and realized that his efforts were going unnoticed and unappreciated; that others were too engaged in their handheld communication devices to spare any attention for him. I wondered, what will happen then. Will he try harder? Or will he eventually quit the wearisome effort of showing how great life can be and in turn curl up in his own technological cocoon. As I said, it was a depressing moment, but quickly alleviated by remembering the life-affirming message of Anvil-The Story of Anvil.
The band Anvil, a heavy metal combo formed in Toronto in 1978, teetered on the brink of fame when they co-headlined Japan\'s Super Rock Festival in 1984. The other headliners were The Scorpions, Whitesnake and Bon Jovi. All these bands went on to sell millions of records while Anvil--whose name literally means a big piece of heavy metal--sank into obscurity.
The 2008 film catches up with Anvil thirty years from their formation. Steve \"Lips\" Kudlow, on lead vocal and lead guitar, now drives trucks for Children\'s Choice Catering which delivers children\'s meals to schools and institutions. He reflects on why the band, after thirty years and twelve albums, have still made no headway in becoming successful. The film follows them on a European tour where everything goes wrong. They get lost, miss trains, don\'t get paid and when they finally get to Transylvania to play the Monsters of Rock Festival in a 10,000 seat arena, only 174 people show up. With such a description you might think the movie would be a dreary, or at least a farcical, bad-luck story but not so. Part of its charm is the brilliant film-making skill of Sacha Gervasi (Anvil fan and former Anvil roadie) but what really grabbed me was the tireless optimism of \"Lips\" himself. There are many moments in the film where he is dealt severe setbacks and we see him momentarily mourn his ill-fortune. And then, again and again, we watch his spirit rebuild by sheer dint of his own powerful optimism. Seeing him transform his outlook over and over like this we come to realize what has made him, and his close friend, drummer Robb Reiner, hang in for all these years.
Life is worth nothing if we don\'t try to make our dreams come true. \"Lips\" Kudlow knows this instinctively. All musicians, artists and performers understand the power of holding on to the dream, even when things get dire. Sometimes misfortune can take place over a period of years--as in Anvil\'s case--or the misery may be agonizingly brief such as when we perform a disastrous show for an unappreciative crowd; the sort of show that leaves you questioning both your purpose and commitment.
Longevity has its own value. There is majesty in not giving up. Going through the personal fires of soul searing performance agony and coming out the other side really does make us better in so many more ways than just as entertainers. It gives us empathy for the myriad struggles of others and helps us understand what things in life are truly important; and what aren\'t.
The wonderful irony of the film is that its popularity has made Anvil a cult phenomenon; finally giving them a measure of fame that includes (paid!) concert bookings all over the world.
And, as the years go by, I\'ll wonder about that little boy and his talent and enthusiasm for kicking a ball. I pray that, regardless of whether people notice him, he will never give up. May he always delight in the physicality of playing outdoors. And as he grows I want him to keep striving to shoot further, higher and ever more gracefully. Perhaps he\'ll even reach a goal at some point; but truthfully, I really don\'t think that matters too much.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats.
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Vancouver Calling!!: A Tribute to Joe Strummer and The Clash.
I you\'re near Vancouver, Canada, please come to this unique concert featuring Ralph Shaw, Jim Byrnes, Steve Dawson, Ryan Gildemond (Mother Mother), Rich Hope, Cravery, Craig Northey (The Odds) and many more.
This promises to be an awesome concert. The Clash were a celebrated band because of their social awareness and brilliant songwriting skills--London\'s Calling, Rock the Casbah, Should I Stay or Should I Go and many more.)
I\'ll be doing a couple of their big hits, with ukulele of course, and a fabulous backing band led by Steve Dawson.
Even better: the proceeds all go to the Foodbank.
Sunday December 23 Concert at 8pm to 10:30, (doors open 6pm)
at the Electric Owl, 928 Main Street, Vancouver, BC.
tickets: $25 in advance, $27 at door (cash only) Box Office=604 990 7810
Other than that there\'s not much right now. Staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2011
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
December 30, 2012
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Dear Raimund,
As December ends and we count down the seconds into next year we forget the time we once practiced counting backwards until we could do it easily. Counting a song in is a similar sort of skill; appearing quite effortless once you can do it. Btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
At the end of this email are links to videos and reviews from the Clash show that I took part in for charity last week. Who would have known that punk ukulele could be so great!
Word count this issue: 1,074 words
Estimated reading time: just over 4 minutes
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UE #93 andaone-andatwo-andaonetwothree
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First let\'s pause to remember some of the big news events of 2012:
Of course the big highlight of the year for many was the detection of the Higgs-Boson particle. Who could forget where they were on hearing that momentous news! And London had its golden summer hosting both a summer Olympics and the Queen\'s diamond jubilee. Later, while on honeymoon, Kate Middleton was photographed topless which is somehow appropriate given that her name is an anagram of naked tit model. In tainted sports stories we learned how cyclist Lance Armstrong was able to ride so fast it was almost as if his pants were on fire. And Felix Baumgartner jumped from 24 miles up and broke the speed of sound during his freefall. He could have, he should have, and why he missed the opportunity to play a ukulele on the way down we will never know.
Great artists lost to the entertainment world included: Phyllis Diller, Dave Brubeck, Robin Gibb, Levon Helm, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Ravi Shankar, Justin Bieber (actually not true, just wishful thinking), Donna Summer, Doc Watson and Andy Williams. All were wonderful performers who delighted so many with their music and talent.
Meanwhile the rest of us have to keep working on our art. So, let\'s do that! All together now: Andaone-andatwo-andaonetwothree...
If you haven\'t practiced the act of counting-in then it comes as a shock when you\'re suddenly called on to do it--as happened to me many years ago. I was in my first band and had just introduced a new song to the group and everyone looked to me to start the music. Standing there holding my banjo I said, \"What?\" \"Aren\'t you going to count us in?\" they replied.
I had no idea what to do. So it was time for my first lesson in counting-in. It was also slightly embarrassing to interrupt a rehearsal in order that they could teach me such a basic musical skill. Learning how to deliver a count-in before you actually need to do it demonstrates a degree of professionalism and confidence. But first we need to ask ourselves:
Why Do It At All?
The count-in achieves two important tasks: It 1) tells all players the exact start of the song and 2) communicates the tempo of the song (how fast the song will be played.)
If you only ever play alone or if your group doesn\'t mind sloppy beginnings to songs then you don\'t need to count-in. Another way to avoid a count-in is to begin every song by having someone play the last few notes of the melody; just like the church organists of my childhood would always play the verse-ending so the choir knew when to start singing. But this is not recommended. For example it gets problematic in rehearsals when you need to count-in from the middle of a song.
The Two Parts to Doing a Count-in:
1) Decide on the correct tempo. This requires that you get into the head-space of the song you\'re about to play. Take a moment to silently sing a bit of the next song in your mind with the feeling you want it to have. (This is what is going on in the heads of singers whom you see taking a mental pause between songs.) Avoid rushing into the next song or you may start playing at the same tempo as the last song you did. Once you feel you know the tempo of the song: some part of you; an arm, a foot or your head, may move in time to the music you\'re about to play. This is a way of capturing the tempo in your body as your mind concentrates on the next part of the task:
2) Know which beat the song begins on. This is a little tricky at first but it does get easier. The reason for its trickiness is that counting-in a song would be easy if all songs started on the same beat. But they don\'t. Songs can start on the first, second, third or fourth beats. Here are some examples, all in 4/4 time:
A song that starts on the one beat is Blue Skies by Irving Berlin. To count this in you just need to count to four and the word Blue lands on the next one beat:
One-two-three-four: Blue skies smiling on me, Nothing but...
The word \"You\" from You Are My Sunshine happens to come on the two beat. The word sunshine is on the one beat of the next measure. So you count it in like this:
One-two-three-four-one: You are my sunshine, My only...
The Gershwin/Heyward song Summertime starts on the three beat so you count it in like this:
One-two-three-four-one-two: Sum-mer-time and the living is easy...
The song Tonight You Belong to Me (as played by Lyle Ritz in The Jerk) begins on the fourth beat with the syllable Al (from Al-though.) The next part of the word: though lands on the next one beat. So the count in goes like this:
One-two-three-four-one-two-three: Al-though you belong to somebody new...
Practice by going through your song repertoire and try counting each song in. At first you really have to think about it. Eventually you won\'t need to concentrate so hard and it will become as easy as tying laces, mending inflatable punctures and spreading mounds of whipped cream over yourself (all of which are activities featured in the coming sequel to this years blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey - Hee hee)
The count-in can be delivered in many forms: In rock bands the drummer sets the pace by clacking his sticks. When studio musicians get intimately familiar with the process the count-in gets reduced to small bobs of the head followed by an intake of breath. There are many ways to do the job.
And when new year\'s eve comes and people are about to do the final countdown of the year notice how they introduce it. The person leading the countdown often makes sure that everyone starts on time and in the right tempo by counting-in the countdown. Going, twelve, eleven... and then everyone is set to come in together on ten and before you know it\'s next year and we get to do it all again.
I truly wish all my readers a very happy and successful 2013 and look forward to meeting many of you as I continue to travel and perform.
Best wishes to you.
© Ralph Shaw 2012
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
Dec 23 Vancouver Calling!!: This was a sold out Tribute to Joe Strummer and The Clash.
And a fabulous show it was: Read review #1. I was the only ukulele performer and sang two of the Clash\'s biggest hits: London Calling and Hateful. Read review #2.
Here\'s a partial video of London Calling and here is the whole video of Hateful.
Other than that there\'s not much right now. I\'m mostly staying home to write and record. Please check my website for any local shows I\'m doing.
In non-ukulele news: Check out Avaaz (the word means \'voice\' in Urdu, Farsi and other languages.) They achieved a colossal 17 million members in 2012 and use the weight of people-powered democracy to successfully keep government and corporate greed in check.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2012
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 08, 2013
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Dear Raimund,
Today I announce an exciting double-project with one of the country\'s most respected record producers. And I offer you a chance to be part of this exciting new venture. Btw. If you know of others who may be interested please consider forwarding this to a friend!
Word count this issue: 732 words
Estimated reading time: About 3 minutes
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Help Me Create Love and Laughter!
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Nearly two years ago I reached out to you, my treasured newsletter subscribers, for help with two major endeavors: One was the self-publication of my book The Ukulele Entertainer and the second was the recording of a new CD.
Your support enabled me to proudly publish a high-quality book that continues to collect fabulous reviews from all levels of ukulele player; but what of the CD? Well keep reading...
The Challenge: My songs fall into two broad categories: tender love songs and songs designed to stimulate laughter. These two genres are the hallmark of the Ralph Shaw experience. But in conceptualizing what form the CD would take I hit a roadblock. I felt that mixing up the love and laughter songs on a single album could result in a somewhat jarring listening experience.
The Solution: A musician friend suggested that: a) I release two separate CDs: one about love and the other about laughter and b) I talk to the respected Canadian record-producer/musician Steve Dawson. Amazingly, within 48 hours after approaching him with my ideas, Mr Dawson had committed to producing both albums. This was wonderful news; Steve Dawson is a 7-time Juno Award winner (the Canadian version of the Grammys.) I clapped my hands with joyful anticipation: after nearly seven years without a CD my wait was finally over!
The Problem I now face is the major financial commitment of hiring this talented record producer. Although Mr. Dawson has made his part as affordable as possible, it\'s still a huge amount for a self-employed entertainer to consider. This is where you come in!
The total cost will be about $18,000.00 which includes recording, mastering, artwork, manufacturing and marketing. It\'s not for the faint of heart I tell you!
So I\'ve created a page on my website: my Love and Laughter page, where you\'ll find the options listed below along with a secure paypal button by each one inviting you to \"Buy Now\".
You can lend a hand in various ways. Choose the one that suits your level of support and commitment:
1 - Donate an amount of your own choosing and expect nothing in return except wonderful karma & my undying love and gratitude!
2 - $15 gets you a LARGE (9\" X 17\") version of the Complete Ukulele Course CHORD CHART for the wall of your practice room.
3 - $30 gets you a SINGLE SIGNED COPY of either the Love or Laughter CD and the chord chart! (Remember to tell me your choice of CD.)
4 - $60 gets you SIGNED COPIES OF BOTH CDs. And of course the fabulous chord chart!
5 - $100 gets you PERSONALIZED signed copies of both Love and Laughter CDs PLUS an extra copy of each album to give to friends. That\'s four CDs total. And the unforgettable Chord Chart!
6 - $200 makes you a MAJOR SUPPORTER and as such you get YOUR NAME PRINTED IN THE CREDITS of both Love and Laughter CDs. As well as personally signed copies you also get 4 more CDs (wow!) to delight your nearest and dearest. Plus there\'s something else, whatever could it be, oh yeah the super-duper chord chart!
7 - $600 takes you into the LORD/LADY of the MANOR category in which you get all the above plus I come and do a house-concert in your mansion/home/studio apartment for you and your dear one/s. [Note: you also need to take care of necessary travel/accommodation costs, so think about that!]
8 - $1000 makes you a SONGMASTER! I will write a song with your name, or your loved ones name (and maybe both!), in the song. You decide on the theme of love or laughter. It\'s not possible to include the song in this current CD project but I will record the song onto a disc for you and offer the possibility that, if suitable, it may appear on a future album. Plus you get all the benefits offered in the Major Supporter category...and did I mention the chord chart? You get one. Hooray!!
To participate please go to: www.RalphShaw.ca/Love&Laughter
(If you supported me two years ago during my Book/CD project you will still get a CD. However, you\'re also welcome to contribute again if you feel so moved.)
If you\'re a reader who thinks my writing has helped your playing and performance skills, now is the perfect time to give something tangible in return and I thank you in advance for your kind help.
Your chance to be involved ends on Valentine\'s Day (February 14, 2013) So go, do it right now!
Thank you and have an amazing New Year.
Ralph Shaw
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
February 22: Vancouver Ukulele Festival Evening Concert Details t.b.a.
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. More performers too Click here for details.
In non-ukulele news: Check out Avaaz (the word means \'voice\' in Urdu, Farsi and other languages.) They achieved a colossal 17 million members in 2012 and use the weight of people-powered democracy to successfully keep government and corporate greed in check.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2012
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 15, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Today\'s column is for anyone curious about making a living as a musical performer. It\'s a subject that those of us doing it don\'t discuss too much since the reality is often at odds with what we want people to see. It may also help you understand why a seemingly successful ukulele performer would appeal to his newsletter readers to help with his latest creative project Visit the Love & Laughter project.
So! I\'ll just yank back the curtain here... and let the enlightenment begin (swish):
Word count this issue: 1,084 words
Estimated reading time: About 4 minutes
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UE #94 The Economics of Entertainment
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\"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a Society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.\" Albert Einstein.
Why Do We Do It?
The work of an entertainer is too unpredictable to be a job, too ungrounded to be a career and too financially insecure to be a business. It\'s a calling. I have to do this. Sometimes I conjure up more financially stable and mentally less stressful ways of living but in the end I can\'t imagine doing anything else.
I know there are those who graft away in much more arduous professions than mine. But can there be a more misunderstood life than that of a performer? People see me smiling and well-dressed and tell me I\'m so lucky to do what I love. And they\'re right; I do love my work. But here\'s why I don\'t recommend life as an entertainer to anyone:
The pay is less than you think and the work is harder than it looks.
Countless unpaid and unseen hours go into the preparation of each show. So it\'s ironic when, after a successful performance, there\'s a certain look I sometimes get from a client as he hands over the cheque. Slightly resentful; it says, \"You were laughing, playing the ukulele and having such a good time. Heck, we even fed you! Now on top of all that I have to pay you?!\" The client doesn\'t realize how hard it is for a performer to go into an unknown group of strangers and become one of them. Other occupations don\'t depend on cheerfulness but if an entertainer isn\'t having a good time then how can the audience be expected to? I confess I have evenings when staying home would be preferable to cranking up my energy and adrenalin levels. But, as they say, the show must go on.
It costs money to make money.
One evening at Napa\'s Wine Country Ukulele Festival I commented to a local person how lavish the Winery was where I\'d just played. She responded, \"You can make a large fortune in the wine business - so long as you start with a small fortune.\" That can also be said of the music business. I didn\'t start with a small fortune. But I did have ample reserves of naiveté, blind faith and ignorance; plus energy and willingness to learn on the job. Here\'s the thing: when you become an entertainer you need to figure out what sort of performer you\'re going to be. Then you create marketing materials--websites, printed matter, videos, song clips, even a newsletter (ta daa!)--in order to reach the people who pay you. It\'s as if you had to apply for your job every day that you go to work.
It\'s expensive and all kinds of things can mess up your plans. For example: years ago I decided to become a guest-entertainer on cruise ships. Getting this job required a promo video of my show being performed with a 10-piece orchestra. To this end I paid thousands to a band-arranger who wrote musical scores that I could hand to any cruise ship orchestra. Suddenly, with the 2008 financial crisis, the economics of the entertainment industry changed. An insider told me that cruise-ships were laying-off guest entertainers.
But by then I\'d also come to realize my spirit craves variety and life as a ship\'s entertainer wasn\'t for me and I gave up the idea. Money wasted? Perhaps; but I prefer to think it was wisely invested in my own self-discovery. Sour grapes? Maybe so but it\'s a fact that many projects die on the vine. How would you like to have a job where each time you made money a proportion, sometimes all, had to be invested in a gamble on the next creative project? Over time it gets somewhat easier. Mistakes help you understand the territory as you get smarter about investing your energies.
What about time off?
Ha ha. Creativity is never on holiday. Once you get habituated to hustling for each dollar, and, especially if you have a family to support, your mind becomes attuned to putting food on the table. Creative ideas are your stock-in-trade and the flow never ends. I call it the beautiful curse. Creativity is life but it also means the work never stops.
Touring is no holiday either! Last year I spent 3 weeks performing in beautiful Australia and got about 90 minutes of beach time. The rest was spent in the day to day business of finding food, getting to places and show prep. (Btw. A quick hello here to all my Australian friends currently enduring a catastrophic heatwave. I wish I could send you some of the incessant rain pouring down here.)
What about product sales?
Stuff doesn\'t sell itself. The marketplace (internet and otherwise) is full of jostling competitors. You don\'t sell a thing without putting time, energy and money into having good stuff and marketing it well. This opens another Pandora\'s box of do\'s and don\'ts; suffice it to say you need to be a jack-of-many-trades to be master of one. And it\'s not getting better. My teenage daughter tells me that, of all her friends, not one ever thinks to pay for the music they listen to. That\'s the future, folks!
Basically I\'m saying that becoming a professional performer is a lot less fun behind the curtain than in front. You probably shouldn\'t do it. Unless, like me, you have no choice.
I truly believe in myself. Even though I\'m at an age when many performers are winding down (or at least regurgitating) their former careers I still have much to do and far to go.
In times when creativity is so culturally undervalued the only means I know of to continue my work is to appeal to those who understand the struggle of the creative life. So, please, take a moment to look at my most recent project. Simply pre-order a CD or contribute any amount you wish. It means so much.
At the height of World War II it was suggested to Britain\'s Prime minister, Winston Churchill, that funding for the arts be cut in order to support the war effort. Churchill responded, \"Then what would we be fighting for?\"
Support the Love and Laughter Project here
Projected cost of project is approx. $18,000. (includes recording, mastering, artwork, manufacturing.) Big thanks to the 31 people who contributed so far - present total is $2525.
(If the full goal isn\'t reached the project goes ahead anyway, thanks to a bank line of credit. So the more you help the less I\'ll be in debt and penury!)
Thank you!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
February 22: Vancouver Ukulele Festival Evening Concert Details t.b.a.
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. More performers too Click here for details.
In non-ukulele news: Check out Avaaz (the word means \'voice\' in Urdu, Farsi and other languages.) They achieved a colossal 17 million members in 2012 and use the weight of people-powered democracy to successfully keep government and corporate greed in check.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
January 29, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
If you\'ve read my recent columns you\'ll know that I\'ve been gathering funds to help pay for a double CD project: Love and Laughter produced by multi-award winner Steve Dawson.
What I didn\'t tell you was how imminently the recording was to happen. I can now reveal that, after nearly eight years since my last CD, this latest artistic effort is largely recorded and has gone exceedingly well. I\'m glad I waited so long for this because I\'ve never in my life been so ready to tackle something new. Today\'s newsletter is about waiting for the right moment.
Word count this issue: 948 words + a Bonus Photo!!
Estimated reading time: Just over 3.5 minutes
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UE #95 Ripe for the Picking - knowing when you\'re ready
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My recent studio experience required me to be at the top of my game both musically and artistically. I prepared like an athlete heading for the Olympics. Steve Dawson is a producer who believes in capturing great performances in the studio; so instead of multi-tracking every instrument all the bed-tracks were recorded in one shot (mostly myself on ukulele and voice, Steve on guitar and Rob Becker on bass.) Therefore each song had to be played near-flawlessly by every musician. Small errors were tolerated; even welcomed, like the imperfections in fine leather that prove its authenticity, but perfection was our aim.
Performing twenty-one songs with feeling but without mistakes requires great mental and physical readiness and I wanted to be in peak condition.
Here\'s how I prepared for recording:
- Physical Health: Moderate running, yoga/stretching, meditation and cycling. I quit stimulants: caffeine, alcohol, sugar to help sleep and concentration.
- Vocal Health: I sang daily to strengthen my voice and drank water regularly. I also took care to avoid vocal abuse (talking in noisy environments, shouting and coughing.)
- Instrument Prep: Changed all my ukulele strings (I recorded on 5 different ukes so that was 26 strings to change; yeah, some have more than 4 strings.)
- Coaching: Took two lessons with Jennifer Scott, a highly talented vocal coach, who answered some questions I had about singing.
- Song Prep: Analyzed every song to make decisions about intro\'s, endings and where solos should go. Much of this work was changed in the studio; but you have to have things figured out in order to change them, right?
- Practice: Mostly we didn\'t record to a Click (the metronome beat that keeps musicians exactly in time) nevertheless I practiced for hours with a metronome. By the time I got in the studio it was second nature for me to keep a part of my attention always on the other instruments.
- Dealing with personal matters: I didn\'t want my thoughts distracted by outstanding issues; so I answered emails, tidied my work space and erased all concerns that could affect my concentration. I knew a Tai-Chi competitor who wrote his will before a championship so thoughts of his own mortality wouldn\'t disturb his composure. I didn\'t go that far.
- Waiting for the right moment: In my desire to make a new CD I\'ve made several false starts. Each time, although I believed I was ready to record, something prevented me from going ahead. With the benefit of hindsight I\'m now very glad I didn\'t force those projects into happening.
Everything about my recent work has felt right. From the moment Steve Dawson\'s name was suggested to me I\'ve had a gut feeling that things were ready to start working out. Just like fruit gets easy to pick and eat only when it\'s ripe; everything in this project dropped with a sense of inevitable readiness. You can\'t force this stuff to happen, either the timing is right, or it\'s not.
Several times in my career I\'ve been faced with a well-meaning but overzealous parent and her self-conscious teen. The mother, is saying of her son, \"His music is fantastic. But no-one else knows it because I can\'t get him to perform. We go to parties and schlep along his guitar/ukulele but he never wants to play. What do you suggest; how can I get him to perform?\"
I look at the painfully embarrassed boy; his down-turned eyes are fixated on his feet shuffling haphazardly below his awkward frame. For a moment I become him, I know what he\'s going through. I look back at mom and I shrug my shoulders and say, \"He\'s not ready to perform, he\'ll know when it\'s time.\"
The boy\'s feet stop shuffling but he continues to stare at his toes as Mom begins her manifesto of why he needs to \"get out there\" and not \"hide his light under a bushel\". She wants me to back her up, wanting my words to agree and somehow inject a dose of Ralph Shaw magic to transform her reclusive strummer into a denizen of the stage.
I tell her, \"But he wants to get good first.\" The boy\'s eyes snap upwards at this unexpected turn of events. Mom is surprised but continues to argue the point, \"Yes, but isn\'t it better if..., shouldn\'t he..., don\'t you think...\"
I stop her, \"You wouldn\'t want to embarrass yourself in public and neither does he. He\'ll know when he\'s ready. And when he is, people will watch and they\'ll listen and you will be very proud of him.\"
As the concept sinks in mother and son turn to look at each other in a silent new understanding. I find myself supremely touched by whatever invisible force it is that gives us the inner knowing of what it means to be ready. I\'ve been wrong about many things but I do know there are certain feelings to be trusted. There is a time for learning, a time for waiting and preparation and a time when fruit is ripe for the picking.
It\'s been a thrill to spend six straight days doing the most intense musical work I have ever done. I\'m expecting the results to surpass my goals. If you want to help with my work now would be the perfect time to do it as I am already writing checks for musicians and production costs.
Visit Love and Laughter to learn about the available options. Example: $200 gets your name printed on the CD cover as a Major Supporter. I trust you\'ll be proud to have your name associated with my work.
Present total is $4780. towards a grand total of $18,000.
Jan 20, 2013. Hour 3 Day 4. Photo from the Love n Laughter sessions.
L to R: Rob Becker, bass; Steve Dawson, Producer and Guitars; Ralph Shaw, Voice and Ukuleles; CR Avery, Poet and Human Beatbox. Taken after we performed an insanely fun song destined for the Laughter album.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
February 22: Vancouver Ukulele Festival Evening Concert Details t.b.a.
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. More performers too Click here for details.
In non-ukulele news: Check out Avaaz (the word means \'voice\' in Urdu, Farsi and other languages.) They achieved a colossal 17 million members in 2012 and use the weight of people-powered democracy to successfully keep government and corporate greed in check.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soooooooooooooooo...und nun noch das Ganze übersetzt..... :roll: :shock: :roll: .....hab nur russisch gelernt, bin schon froh, wenn ich mit Ralph seiner DVD klarkomme und da muss ich manchmal noch meinen Gatten bemühen, damit er mir den Translator macht :mrgreen:
Ich finde den Ralph aber alles in allem überwältigend.
LG Ukulela
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
February 12, 2013
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Dear Raimund,
St. Valentine\'s Day is in two days time. It also happens to be your last chance to participate in my Love and Laughter Project. So far I\'ve raised $6,570. This amount falls short of the projected $18,000 it will cost me to pay for the project.
What\'s your reaction to this news? Did I succeed or fail? The concepts of success and failure are never far from the mind of the ukulele entertainer.
Word count this issue: 979 words + photo of a Clown to brighten your day.
Estimated reading time: A tad under 4 minutes (+ 10 more seconds to smile at the photo.)
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UE #96 Failing (to Succeed!!)
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By the way: people have participated (by pre-ordering CDs, house concerts etc.) at every level except the Option 8 - SONGMASTER category. Think about having a song written for someone you love. It could be a treasured gift.
Does my achievement of collecting one-third the required amount seem somewhat mediocre? I\'ve gambled on recording two full length albums at a time when CD sales are in major decline as millions of music-listeners access music for free online. There exists a real possibility that, even if both albums garner critical acclaim, I may never see a profit.
It doesn\'t sound like much of a coup does it. But if you want to know how I feel I\'d have to say I am dead chuffed! (a Yorkshire phrase meaning to feel extremely pleased.)
We all try to succeed. And, when it comes to performing, we aim for success all the time. That\'s because failure is so hard to take. I\'ve known people who vowed never to perform again after suffering humiliation through misspoken words, forgotten music or some other embarrassment. Why do we persist in an art-form where errors are made in public and catcalls are as likely as curtain calls?
I\'ve bounced back from more humiliating failures than I care to recall: some so traumatic their memory still dredges a groan from my solar plexus region. Here\'s a reluctantly offered example; excuse me if I shudder:
My career as a solo entertainer began early 1991 as Ralph the Clown. Wishing to be \"different\" I avoided the traditional red nose. Instead my make-up was a light flesh base with red lips and red around my eyes surrounded by large white circles edged in black. I thought it was pretty innovative. My props: magic tricks, juggling balls, a Suzuki ukulele, face paint, balloons and Yorick (a rubber skull with moveable jaw) were all carried in a guitar case. It was my second gig. I was the roving entertainer at a large indoor mall. I was entertaining three young children when a hysterical woman shot towards me. I can\'t remember her exact words but it went something like, \"Who are you? What are you doing with these children only yards from the exit doors? Where are their parents?\"
Explaining that I was a clown hired by the mall only made things worse. Staring aghast at my face she said, \"You\'re not a clown, you don\'t look like a clown and [pointing to Yorick] what\'s that?\" With his bouncing rubber jaw Yorick had been amusing the kids with his take on life as a disembodied skull. But I was too crushed to explain further. She told me to get away from the children and then headed off still threatening to report me to the mall authorities.
Wandering disconsolately back through the mall I looked up and recoiled in further shock as I saw a frightening figure coming towards me. It took a moment before I realized it was my own reflection. My make-up, fine in the bathroom mirror, was morbidly ghoulish at a distance. I recognized how my appearance, my proximity to exit doors, three parentless children and a talking skull gave off a startling constellation of worrying signals. I imagined a newspaper headline: Little Mall of Horrors Woman Warns Parents Beware of Skull Clown. I felt ready to quit. Once home I told this to the agent, who was unperturbed, \"Don\'t worry Ralph, have a beer. Relax, it\'ll be fine.\"
The experience taught me several vital and, in retrospect, fairly obvious do\'s and don\'ts about entertaining. Next day I created a new look. It included a humble red nose and I\'d never again be mistaken for anything but a clown.
Ralph the Clown circa 1994 holding a Dixie Banjo-Ukulele
I see the creation of a performer as being somewhat like sculpting. When the young Michelangelo started carving the, already blocked-out, statue of David he must have sensed the perfection that lay within the marble. But only by chipping away at the excess could he reveal the beauty within. The discarding of unwanted material is akin to the choices made after our performance screw-ups. The removal of that which does not serve us guides us towards greater perfection.
We think of performance success as being perfectly played songs followed by loud audience approval. And that is a glorious thing. But it doesn\'t teach us much. Far richer is the cataclysmic failure: its stark lesson shining bright light on the parts we need to improve, guiding us through the dark to more glorious horizons than our imaginations ever conceived.
In reality most of our shows lie somewhere between all-out success and irrevocable mishap. It\'s up to us to enjoy the highlights while transforming disaster into future applause.
So was my fund-raising successful? I\'m proud of the six-thousand-plus dollars that so far came my way. Seventy-six people donated. It\'s touching and humbling that people from dear friends to unknown strangers have participated. Especially so when you consider that I don\'t even use social media. Every dollar has come from a reader of this e-newsletter.
You could say that my personal choice in not joining Facebook is a failure. I\'m aware that smart use of Facebook could have increased participation. But, rightly or wrongly, I fear that spending energy on social media would have a negative effect on my work and that\'s made me shy of such activity. When people ask why I don\'t use such a proven marketing tool I jokingly reply, \"Facebook? Oh I decided to write a book instead.\"
I\'m fortunate to have the involvement of super-producer Steve Dawson as well as incredible performances from top musical talents, as you will soon get to hear! Any of them could have declined involvement. That my peers have such faith in my success is hugely gratifying. After all, their names will be on the work and no artist wants to be associated with mediocrity.
To sum up: Success is success but failure is a means to greater glory. Confusing perhaps? Let\'s see. I mentioned that I feel dead chuffed. Well, Yorkshire folk have another saying: Where there\'s muck there\'s brass.
Meaning: There\'s glittering treasure to be found in that which appears worthless.
It\'s your last chance to be part of the Love and Laughter project. Learn about the options!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
February 22: Vancouver Ukulele Festival Evening Concert Details t.b.a.
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. More performers too Click here for details.
In non-ukulele news: Check out Avaaz (the word means \'voice\' in Urdu, Farsi and other languages.) They achieved a colossal 17 million members in 2012 and use the weight of people-powered democracy to successfully keep government and corporate greed in check.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
February 19, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Today I discuss the benefits of bringing more precision into your music and also give the final total brought in by my Love and Laughter CD fundraiser. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 603 words.
Estimated reading time: Less than 2.5 minutes.
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UE #97 Improve Your Musical Accuracy
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The single most important thing that most of us can do to improve our music is to play with more accuracy.
This idea may seem contradictory. Music is an expressive art so we generally think of celebrating it with freedom, flow and warm fuzzy feelings and not with a pedantic devotion to precision. In fact I can already hear you asking, But Ralph, will attention to more exact playing really improve my music and make it more beautiful to listen to?
And Ralph says, Yes it will. You want to be a good musician? Then be accurate.
The great thing about working on accuracy is that you don\'t need to learn anything new. Just strive diligently to improve what you\'re already doing. For example if you want to work on your singing then some of things you can practice include: singing every note with exact pitch, making every word clearly understandable, controlling your phrasing, tone, vibrato and so on.
And when you play ukulele think about becoming more meticulous about how you play. For example if there\'s a difficult chord transition, practice it relentlessly until you land on the strings perfectly and right on time. However the most noticeable area where we can forever improve our playing is by making each strum happen when it\'s supposed to.
I recently saw an ad in a musician\'s magazine for a drumbeat analyzer. It helps drummers make their rhythms more exact. The device is a rubber pad that you drum on. The built-in computer then tells if your beats arrive early, fall behind or strike right on time. It appeals to me and I don\'t know if there is something similar for uke players; probably not. However there is a gadget you may already have that can help your playing immensely: The Metronome.
Metronome Avoidance Disorder is a disease (I just invented) suffered by quite a few ukulele players who unfortunately believe that playing to a precise click takes the fun out of playing. If you\'ve tried playing to a metronome and discovered that it\'s really hard to do; it means you should do more of it not less. A guaranteed way to make your strumming sound better is to make it more precise. And there\'s no shortcut to precision other than habituating yourself to a rigorous and regimented beat.
Metronome work is so beneficial because it gets your attention out of yourself; splitting your focus between what you are doing and what is going on around you. It\'s a great brain exercise! In fact using the metronome may soon become like a game for you: both fun and challenging at the same time.
Don\'t worry about overdoing it to the point where your strums become mechanical in their machine-like consistency. That doesn\'t happen. Enough metronome practice will affect your playing in such a way that most people won\'t have a clue what you improved. They\'ll just know they like it better.
For a while: instead of learning some new song or technique, try taking what you\'ve got and making it better than ever.
And...speaking of accuracy. The crowd-funding appeal to raise money for my Love and Laughter project ended rather amusingly. Once my total got to $9,380 I asked my local ukulele club friends to help push it to 10K. There was a last minute flurry of support and unbeknownst to them, for my total wasn\'t yet posted, the last donation hit $10,000 right on the money!
Mixing the albums begins in March. I\'m presently looking at artwork and will let you know how things are progressing. Big thanks to everyone who participated!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
February 22: Vancouver Ukulele Festival Evening Concert.
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. More performers too Click here for details.
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
March 5, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
For those of us who played ukulele before 1995 there were few heroes to draw from. The fresh new internet--a toddler on shaky legs--still grasped the coffee-table of life for support; so any ukulele heroes we did have were known because of their presence in movies, recordings and TV: Tiny Tim, George Formby, Lyle Ritz, Roy Smeck, Arthur Godfrey. The Hawaiian scene was pretty much unavailable except to the comparatively few who actually went there. And as I hunted libraries and thrift stores for tidbits of ukulele knowledge, another name kept surfacing: J. Chalmers Doane. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 953 words.
Estimated reading time: Just over 3.5 minutes.
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UE #98 How to be a GREAT Music Teacher - Part 1
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J. Chalmers Doane is legendary in Canada as the man who, in the 1970s had the brilliant idea of teaching ukulele to children by bringing the instrument to hundreds of schools across Canada. In fact it was his Ukulele in the Classroom method that I kept seeing in music stores. A collector friend once gave me a copy of that book. It was signed on the front: To Arthur Godfrey Best Wishes from Chalmers Doane.
I returned this artifact to Chalmers while attending Nova Scotia\'s Ukulele Ceilidh in 2009. Since then, while at Langley\'s annual Ukulele Workshop, I\'ve been fortunate to teach with Chalmers as well as two more brilliant descendants of his work: Peter Luongo and James Hill. That I, a self-taught player, should get to teach alongside these highly trained teachers is in itself strangely unreal to me. And the fact that I\'m there at all is thanks to James Hill who I presume feels I have something to offer ukulele students that is outside the scope of traditional music teaching.
Whatever his reasons I\'m grateful and indebted to him for giving me the chance to know J. Chalmers Doane.
Seeing his name on so many dusty old music books gave me the impression that the writer, if still alive, was probably clinging to life by a thread and having his dinner through a straw. It was amazing to discover that the almost mythical J. Chalmers Doane was not only very much alive but extremely healthy and energetic. I also found him to have a childlike mind for inventiveness and play. This surprised me because his Ukulele in the Classroom method--essentially a ukulele manual for learning music--was stuffed with scales and basic melodies that to me seemed at odds with the type of enjoyment I was getting from the instrument. So I expected him to be a staid school-teacherly type. That idea of him changed once I\'d made him laugh.
Not everyone gets my sense of humour. I like to amuse people but I couldn\'t tell you why my brain sometimes makes the leaps and connections that it does. Often what comes out of my mouth isn\'t a joke, in the standard sense, but a twisted way of looking at a situation that leaves it up to the listener to figure out the rest. Somehow, for whatever reason, Chalmers and I are a good fit. He likes my sense of the ridiculous. I adore his snapshot life-stories that flash brilliantly with playful inventiveness, love of excellence and care for people. Last October I took him up on his offer to visit his home in Nova Scotia all the way at the other side of Canada.
\"He was twenty-eight when he became head of Halifax\'s school music program.\" His wife Jean was telling me over a cup of tea in her kitchen. \"He worked hard,\" she continued, \"but he made it a rule to have fun every day.\"
I don\'t remember exactly where Chalmers was at the time Jean said this; he might have been keeping a tennis appointment with friends who regularly meet to battle it out on his home-made tennis court. As Chalmers toured me around the house, sheds and fields that comprise his property I learned about other ways that he has fun in his life. He has a home-made Sjoelbak game (Dutch Shuffleboard) in the living room, a ping pong table in the basement (surrounded by floor-length fabric to prevent balls bouncing hither and thither); a pool table in an old barn, and outside on a sloping field there\'s a home-made six hole golf course--without sand-traps--that has never seen the care of a professional greensman but does the job quite adequately.
After dinner the games began. First I lost at Sjoelbak; though, thanks to beginners luck, I almost had an early victory. Then out to the barn we went where he thrashed me eight games to one at pool. By then we were warmed up for the slightly more strenuous gyrations of basement ping-pong. In half a dozen games I didn\'t even come close. The guy is the same age as my mom. Such a losing streak might have been embarrassing had not the whole evening been so enjoyable.
As we sat in his living room, exhausted (at least I was) after our evening\'s jousting, Chalmers innocently asked me, \"What do you do for fun at home in Vancouver?\"
And with that question he had me. I was stumped, flummoxed and at a complete loss. My gut instinct told me that having a beer in front of the TV didn\'t count; reading didn\'t count; cycling, jogging and other exercise didn\'t count--unless they included an element of socializing--which for me they don\'t; solo ukulele practice might count for some people but not for me seeing how it\'s been my occupation for two decades. In that moment I realized that play-time and fun are vital qualifications you need to have in order to pass a full and balanced life. Chalmers assured me I was fine but I felt I was failing somehow.
As you read this do you think you have enough fun in your life? I know that residing in a downtown apartment, as I do, doesn\'t exactly supply the means to create a golf-course. But there\'s a nice pitch and putt over at the park; there\'s a community centre with ping-pong, skating, badminton and a host of other activities: all previously disdained by me as the domain of people with nothing better to do. I\'ve now learned--thanks to Chalmers--that it\'s time to look at play in a new light.
Playful fun is a guiding consciousness that made J. Chalmers Doane into a legendary educator. In Part 2 I\'ll explain how that works.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. Other performers too Click here for details.
April 26/27 Larsen Music, Victoria B.C. Workshop and show. Details are coming.
May 2013: NEW! Ralph Shaw\'s West Coast Love and Laughter Tour (Oregon and California.) Details being organized. Keep watching this space!!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
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email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
March 12, 2013
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Dear Raimund,
You\'d be mistaken to think that J. Chalmers Doane was some sort of 4-string evangelist whose sole mission was to get thousands of Canadian kids playing D-tuned ukulele. It is in effect what happened but that was only one result of a much wider goal: to transmit the love of music to as many people as possible. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1057 words.
Estimated reading time: About 4 minutes.
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UE #99 How to be a GREAT Music Teacher - Part 2
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It\'s astounding to realize that Canadian high-school teachers have to play and teach every single instrument in their high school bands. And Chalmers was no exception. To this day he can pick up and play any one of a dozen or so instruments. Jam with him at a festival and he\'s more likely to play clarinet or double-bass than ukulele. Think about that for a moment. His uke is in D-tuning, his clarinet in Bb and the bass is in, well, whatever basses are tuned in. None of that matters to Chalmers. In fact, he finds the discussion over which ukulele tuning is the superior one, C or D, to be completely irrelevant. You may find this surprising since it\'s because of his use of D-tuned ukulele that kids across Canada still learn on D-tuned instruments.
And believe me, at the Langley Ukulele Workshops, debates regarding C or D superiority have been known to get a little heated. But Chalmers says that so long as you\'re playing the right note or chord it matters not whether you\'re in C tuning, D tuning, strumming a balalaika or blowing bagpipes. End of discussion. You\'ll actually get far more passion out of him if you should happen to ask him how to practice.
I\'ve seen Chalmers talk for fifteen minutes on the subject of real music practice. His thesis essentially boils down to making practice fun. If you\'re going to be playing the same thing over and over again find ways to make it entertaining for yourself so that it stays fresh and interesting. That notion of entertainment is the key to Chalmers\' phenomenal success as an educator.
At one period in his life he taught adult marching bands. The outdoor practices occurred near a military training base where at particular times on certain days they\'d do parachute jumps. Chalmers noted these times so that when he was out with a new group of players he\'d tell them, \"We\'re going to start playing now, but in two minutes you\'re going to see a plane fly overhead and a guy is going to jump out just over there.\"
Imagine the momentary thrill those new musicians got when his prophecy came true. That sense of wonder is something we normally associate with movies. But it takes a mind like Chalmers\' to bring magic to life and his particular genius was to connect that feeling to making music.
Basically Chalmers is a fiendishly clever trickster; as talented as Brer Rabbit, Tom Sawyer and Bart Simpson all rolled into one. But he\'s different. His
evolved form of trickery only results in mutually beneficial outcomes: win-win situations.
Here\'s an example of how that works: He once owned a wood-splitting machine with which he\'d cut wood for his winter heating. Noticing that his neighbour, a somewhat younger fellow was cutting his wood laboriously by hand, Chalmers got to thinking. Eventually they struck a deal whereupon he gave his wood-splitter to the neighbour for free who in return promised to cut Chalmers\' firewood for as long as they remained neighbours. It was a clever little deal that both parties are still delighted with.
A classroom story that I really enjoyed was one where he asked the kids to listen really hard to a short piece of music; for at some point a triangle would sound. On hearing the triangle they should raise their hands. But then, just at the moment the triangle was played, Chalmers had a loud and sudden coughing fit. At the end of the piece he asked \"Who heard the triangle?\" No one had. \"Hmm, that\'s very strange.\" he said, \"Because it was definitely there. I\'ll play it again. Listen more carefully.\"
This time when the triangle sounded Chalmers was over by the classroom door and with perfect timing he slammed it shut. Again the piece ended and he asked if anyone had heard the triangle this time. Still no one had. \"That is really so peculiar because it\'s definitely there, clear as a bell. Let\'s try again.\" So again the process was repeated with some other timely distraction. On the fourth time he played the piece--without coughs, bangs or yells--the sound of the triangle rang brightly around the classroom and every hand shot up.
Listening is the first major skill that a musician must acquire and I have never heard a more brilliant and playful way to get kids to listen over and over again to the same bit of music with full focus and intention. That one lesson was a marvelous education for them. And along with the lesson came a feeling of delight. What child among them could help wondering what the trickster teacher would have in store for them next class?
I believe what makes Chalmers Doane an Einstein of education is that when he chooses to put his mind to a problem he simply refuses to give up until he\'s found an elegant solution. Most other educators just aren\'t thinking that way. But it\'s worth doing. The habit of thinking in novel ways will transport the brain to new and interesting destinations. I feel that, to some degree anyway, I share a similar aptitude for this sort of lateral thinking.
In the lunchroom at the Langley Ukulele Workshop we, the faculty, were eating our sandwiches while Jim D\'Ville happened to mention that in 1964 Buck Owens had a hit single reach number one in the Billboard charts. The B-side then took the place of the A-side at number one: a unique occurrence in musical history. I said, \"But Jim, my understanding is that records reach their chart position according to record sales.\" \"Yes.\" Jim agreed. \"Well surely,\" I continued, \"it was the same record.\"
This simple thought-twist tickled Chalmers and afterwards he mentioned to me that he was entertained by my way of thinking. The following morning the faculty were together again; this time for brunch and to discuss how the workshop weekend had gone. Once again the discussion of teaching with C or D tuned ukuleles came up. And again Chalmers gave his opinion that it doesn\'t really matter.
I said, \"His name is Chalmers Doane, so that can be C or D\". Peter Luongo quickly jumped in saying, \"But it\'s J. Chalmers Doane, what does the J stand for?\" Eagerly Chalmers responded \"It means Just C or D.\" His face lit up as he turned towards me saying, \"See, I\'m getting better at this!\"
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
March 24: Fundraiser for Hawaii Wildlife Sea Turtle Conservation at Arbutus Music, Nanaimo. B.C. Ralph Shaw to do a workshop and concert. Other performers too Click here for details.
April 26/27 Larsen Music, Victoria B.C. Workshop and show. Details are coming.
May 2013: NEW! Ralph Shaw\'s West Coast Love and Laughter Tour (Oregon and California.) Details being organized. Keep watching this space!!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
April 02, 2013
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Dear Raimund,
You\'re reading my 100th Ukulele Entertainer Newsletter. Begun in September 2009 with fewer than 500 subscribers it now goes out to a fairly colossal (I think) readership of over 3500.
Communicating with so many people opens doors to all manner of disagreements and misunderstandings. So I write carefully, aiming to be truthful and informative as well as entertaining and kind. Occasionally people disagree but mostly the feedback is good. In fact for all ninety-nine issues I hardly wrote a single thing I wish I\'d said differently. Except once...
btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 988 words.
Estimated reading time: less than 4 minutes.
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UE #100 Regarding Hats
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As part of Issue #80: Make Better Youtube Videos - Please! I cautioned all performers to avoid the reckless use of hats with the phrase, \"Hats can make you look odd, foolish, creepy or just plain crazy.\"
That comment bothered some people. In fact certain readers no longer perform in a hat, \"because I know you don\'t like hats Ralph\" said in an accusing tone as if I\'m responsible for spoiling their fun. Others tell me that despite my anti-hat stance they continue to sing in a hat.
I feel slightly guilty for having burst a few blissful bubbles of heady ignorance. But the reactions are understandable.
Hats are personal. In 1981 a group of high spirited youths entered a Yorkshire pub wherein an old fellow in a flat cap sat at the bar contemplating his glass of stout. One of them, in a moment of abandon (not me), grabbed the cap off the old man\'s head and, popping it onto his own, beamed round at his mates with amusement. What he didn\'t see was the old man slowly winding up for a massive punch. Since everybody but the offending youth could see what was about to happen he was the only surprised party when the octogenarian fist connected with the side of his head. And the reaction from everyone in the pub? The kid had it coming. Such violence is way out of line for most types of insult. But you just don\'t mess with other people\'s hats.
Nevertheless I stand by my views on wearing hats while performing, but feel I should qualify my position.
If you\'re a performer you want people to remember you. Therefore you need to display an appealing and consistent product. We are our own billboards. Each of us is a pitch-person for our own talent as we hawk and hustle to get others to buy into what we have to offer. Your performance garb should align with both your stage personality and your music. Sing Rockabilly songs dressed in a nun\'s habit and people will demand clarification. Great entertainers go to great lengths to look the part. Even those appearing not to care about how they look still make a clear statement (for example late-80s Grunge musicians wore grungy clothes not because they didn\'t care but because that was their chosen look.)
As salespeople of ourselves our heads are our trademark. The area on and around our faces is the most watched part of us. So whether you go for long, spikey or afro, in the case of hair; or choose a topper, trilby or toque as a hat, I suggest you think carefully about what you wish to portray. Elvis Presley knew this. Ever see him with mussed up hair? No. That\'s because his hair was his hat. His dyed black, slicked back hairdo was the most consistent item worn throughout his career.
You may have to experiment or you won\'t know what bandana, beret or beehive will work for you. But my suggestion is to think about it awhile before deciding it\'s a grand idea to go onstage wearing your \"Pete\'s Trucking\" baseball cap, or some distended lump of felt resembling an unidentifiable fungus.
When I first began performing I adopted the bowler hat (derby to Americans.) I wore one at every show for about fifteen years. It broadcast my Britishness before speaking and gave the audience an immediate sense of connection with what I offered.
I eventually stopped wearing the bowler for practical reasons: 1) It gets hot in warm weather and 2) it\'s a difficult item to travel with. Protecting a good hat takes special care. And the limitations airlines place on bags made my bowler an unfeasible, and unfoldable, accessory.
I\'m not the type to wear an eye-catching hat everywhere I go. But doing so can offer advantages. Grammy-winning musician and farmer Keoki Kahumoku on the big island of Hawaii, has a hat that he wears both onstage and off. It appears to be a reworked felt cowboy hat with the hat-band removed. It\'s a slightly unusual look and at the same time quite brilliant for it, along with his beard, makes him immediately recognizable. I visited Keoki and he took me to a see an experimental farm that works to obtain high produce yields using tanks of live fish as fertilizer. A talk was in progress and even though we were still some distance away the person giving the talk suddenly stopped her presentation on noticing Keoki\'s unmistakable outline.
\"Hi Keoki! Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce you to Keoki Kahumoku.\" she shouted while waving enthusiastically in our direction. My friend suddenly became a celebrity. Keoki was brought to the front where he gave an impromptu and extremely interesting speech about the importance of sustainable agriculture. Keoki is neither the first nor the last to understand the importance of head wear as a recognition tool.
Unlike with Keoki the theater performers\' stage personality is usually completely separate from their civilian appearance. And there are others, like myself, who comfortably live in both worlds. In my case I rarely perform or teach without a bow-tie although it\'s a look you probably wouldn\'t see me in while walking around my neighborhood. Thinking about it, the bow-tie, being close to my face, functions as a sort of reverse hat. Characteristic facial hair (think ZZ Top, Frank Zappa) also does this, as does an unusual pair of spectacles (Buddy Holly\'s optician solved Buddy\'s problem of not being able to see onstage by suggesting he try some distinctively eye-catching frames; and it\'s easy to see what that did for his career.)
So forgive me if my comment caused you to part from your precious hat. I was only trying to be helpful. It\'s all about finding something that suits you and improves--rather than detracts from--your stage performance.
Finally my hat goes off to all of you who have stayed with me as I continue to write, create and entertain. Here\'s to the next 100. Thank you for supporting my work!!
Next time: Exciting news about the Love and Laughter Project.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
Upcoming Performance Dates:
April 26/27 Larsen Music, Victoria B.C. Workshop and show. Details are coming.
May/June 2013: West Coast Love and Laughter Tour (California, Oregon and Washington)
Attention Seattle readers! I\'m looking for a venue or house concert to perform in Seattle on Sat June 8. Contact me if you have any leads!
May 17/18 Ukulele Retreat, Southern California
May 19 Island Bazaar Huntington Beach, Southern California. 3pm workshop 7pm concert
May 25 Sebastopol Ukulele Festival. Workshop + Concert - Details later
May 26 Da Silva Ukuleles. Workshop + concert - Details later
May 31 Eugene Ukulele Club - Details later
June 1 Portland OR. Ukulele Workshops - Details later
June 2 Portland OR. 5pm House Concert - Details later
June 8 Seattle Concert? Call me if you have ideas!!
June 9 Dusty Strings, Seattle - 2 workshops 12:15 to 2:15 and 2:30 to 4:30
Details being organized. Keep watching this space!!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
April 23, 2013
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Dear Raimund,
It\'s all done. My two new albums Love and Laughter are recorded and ready to be shipped out to everyone who contributed to their creation.
My West Coast tour of California, Oregon and Washington (May/June 2013) is finalized and tickets are already selling. Who knows when I\'m there again so check the tour dates below and book early!
Official CD release date is June 20, 2013. But, if you want to get your hands on my new creations sooner than that, keep reading...
btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 628 words.
Estimated reading time: about 2.5 minutes.
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Love and Laughter - Ready to Roll!!
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It\'s been a busy time and the fruits are ripe for the picking. My two albums are perfect and ready to be \"officially\" released on June 20th 2013 (view the album covers). But!! if you\'d like to hear them much sooner you can. Here are two ways you can do it:
1) One last chance to contribute. I have reopened my Love and Laughter fund raising appeal. For one week only you can head to my Love and Laughter page and make a donation towards the creation of my albums. There are several options to choose from to order one or more CDs. The only part that no longer applies is that you won\'t be able to get your name printed on the CD package. We\'re shipping immediately to everyone who already contributed to this project.
2) I will be selling Love and Laughter CDs at my live performances in California, Oregon, Seattle and British Columbia. Book early to avoid disappointment (one house concert in Portland already SOLD OUT so we added a second venue for June 1) scroll to end to find tour dates.
More big news is my June 20 CD Release Concert!
Ralph Shaw performs from his new albums: LOVE and LAUGHTER with: Steve Dawson (Guitar) + Rob Becker (Bass) + Guests at the Rogue Folk Club, Vancouver.
This is a rare-and possibly only-chance to hear me play live with the legendary Steve Dawson. I strongly recommend that you buy tickets early for this because the Rogue Folk Club has a loyal following of members who attend all the concerts. It could sell out quickly. The venue has wonderful acoustics and promises to be a great midsummer evening of Love and Laughter!
If you\'ve ever seen Ralph Shaw you\'ll know he is an unparalleled showman with a knack for engaging an audience. His music has been described as hilarious, inspirational, outrageous, touching, and thought provoking. See him perform original songs from his two new albums (titled: Love and Laughter and produced by multi-award winner Steve Dawson) accompanied by some of Vancouver\'s finest musicians.
His Love CD is a collection of songs about every aspect of Love: finding Love, the exultation of falling in Love, lost Love, the comfort of a long term relationship and the transcendence of eternal togetherness.
The Laughter CD covers subjects as diverse as conversing with dogs, the joys of drinking tea, the childhood friend who became handyman at the Mustang Ranch (Nevada\'s famous legalized brothel), the building of a ukulele case, the British vicar who got his legs waxed for charity, the art of learning to yodel and more moments from his unusual life as Canada\'s \"King of the Ukulele\".
Ralph\'s critically acclaimed book, The Ukulele Entertainer, his many CDs and ukulele instructional DVDs have delighted, and transformed, thousands of new ukulele players. So experience the performer who entertained Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, for the 2010 Winter Olympics. And be royally entertained by The King of the Ukulele himself!
Concert Details:
Thursday June 20th 8pm
Rogue Folk Club, St James Hall
3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano, Vancouver. BC
Tickets: $20. call 604 736 3022 to book
More concert info and tickets here.
West Coast Tour Dates are below...
I look forward to meeting many friends, old and new, over the next couple of months. See you soon!
Ralph Shaw
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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May/June 2013: West Coast Love and Laughter Tour (BC, California, Oregon and Washington)
April 26/27 This weekend! Larsen Music - Victoria British Columbia:
Concert Friday April 26, 8pm / Workshop Sat April 27 12pm: Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns
Fri May 17/18 Southern California Ukulele Mountain Retreat (California Ukulele Academy): Workshops, Concert, campfire, jamming, trees, fresh air and fun!!!
Sun May 19 Island Bazaar Huntington Beach, CA 3pm-Workshop (Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns.) 7pm-Concert
Sat May 25 Sebastopol Ukulele Festival. CA Workshop + Concert
Sun May 26 Da Silva Ukuleles Berkeley, Northern CA 3:30 to 5pm Workshop ($25 Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns) + 6pm concert ($20) $40 if you take both.
Tue May 28 Lauren\'s Restaurant, 14211 Highway 128, Boonville, CA 95415 8:30pm 707-895-3869 $10 cover
Wed May 29 Chico Ukulele Club, Trinity Methodist Church, Chico. Workshop and concert. Details coming but meanwhile contact Cynthia Davis for details
Fri May 31 Eugene Ukulele Club (The Ukulaneys) 6:30pm Strumming Class + pot luck and ½ hour concert. For info Contact P. Sage, Washington Park Community Center, 2025 Washington St., Eugene.
Sat June 1 Portland Ukulele Association: Evening Concert + 2 Ukulele Workshops:
Workshops: 12 - 1:30pm Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns + 2 - 3:30pm Melody Licks for Strummers ($25ea, $45 for both.) Contact M. Brogan to book Workshops at St. David\'s Episcopal Church Community Hall 2800 SE Harrison, Portland, OR 97214
7pm House Concert $20 hosted by M. Brogan. Contact M. Brogan to book and get address.
Sun June 2 Portland Oregon House Concert 5pm - Details and booking info here This one is already SOLD OUT!
Sat June 8 Bellevue, Washington (Seattle) House Concert Email Jean Smith to book your seat and get address details
Sun June 9 Dusty Strings, Seattle - 2 workshops 12:15 to 2:15: Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns and 2:30 to 4:30: Melody Licks for Strummers
Thur June 20 CD Release Concert at Rogue Folk Club, St James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano, Vancouver. BC Canada. Rogue Folk Club Info and Book Tickets Here $20. or phone: 604 736 3022
Digital Downloads of Love and Laughter: From June 20th you can download mp3 versions of both albums from iTunes, Spotify and all the rest. You can also prepay your download order with iTunes from May 23 and get a taster track. The rest of the album will download automatically on the release date.
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
May 07, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
While recording my two new albums Love and Laughter I started musing on the most famous recording artists of all and wondered what made them so outstanding in every area of their music. btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend!
My tour of California, Oregon and Washington (May/June 2013) is fast approaching so check the places & dates at the end of this email to see concerts and workshops. Until June 20 these are the ONLY places you can get the new CDs.
Love and Laughter CD Release Concert is on June 20. If you\'re in Vancouver come and join the fun! Concert tickets available here.
Word count this issue: 934 words.
Estimated reading time: just over 3.5 minutes.
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Push and Polish: Beatles Style
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\"It\'s the ultimate geek book for recording engineers.\" said Steve Dawson.
I was sitting cross-legged on the studio floor during a break in recording. The whopping tome I\'d just opened was holding down the base of a microphone stand which in turn supported a draped blanket used to acoustically screen my area of the studio from the other musicians. The book contained every bit of known information about how the Beatles recorded their music
It was very impressive. The book contained technical specifications of studios, instruments, amplifiers and indeed every object ever involved in creating a sound on a Beatles album. It struck me how far the makers of those iconic albums had gone in their quest to make sounds that had previously not existed.
Of course fame and money help. It\'s expensive to experiment on a big scale but 1960s recording companies were investing heavily in all kinds of bands; and some of their recording work was just as creative and interesting as what the Beatles were doing: Motown, The Beach Boys, The Doors, The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, Frank Zappa and more. But none came close to gaining the exponentially disproportionate fame that the Beatles achieved.
It got me thinking about the elements that drove the Beatle\'s career to such high levels. And my conclusion is that that they had a vital pair of attributes that I call push and polish which they applied to every aspect of their music.
I first came to understand this concept on reading an interview with Steve Miller (of the Steve Miller Band.) He said Paul McCartney once advised him to take special care with song-writing; to keep working on a song even when you think it\'s done. This statement gave me an insight into what makes great performers so successful.
Musicianship
What the Beatles did: Every member of the band put in thousands of playing hours to get their musical skills up to scratch. In recent years when Beatles master tapes are pulled out of the vaults engineers can isolate and hear individual instruments. It is very evident that there was no sloppy playing going on. Every member of the group added to the overall sound.
What less effective musicians do: They practice their instrument until they get \"good enough\". At this point their desire to get better dwindles as they take comfort in the thought that any mistakes they make will be covered up \"by the others\".
Performance
What the Beatles did: They performed in a whorehouse in Hamburg for eight to ten hours a day, six or seven days a week for months on end. They sought out and studied great songs and learned how to present them with musicality, energy and style.
What less effective musicians do: They learn some songs and practice them until they sound \"good enough\". Over time the performance of each song doesn\'t get any better. In fact it often worsens because they\'re no longer consciously working towards improvement. If they go to whorehouses it\'s usually not to become better musicians.
Song-writing
What the Beatles did: Every song they wrote was honed and polished. They wrought melodies until they were unique, memorable and singable; lyrics were written to express exactly what they wanted to say; chord changes and harmonies were devised that were surprising and appealing.
What less effective musicians do: Often they\'ll copy a song they like, but to make it \"original\" they tweak and change the melody and end up with something bland and forgettable. Either that or they come up with a brand new melody that just happens to be bland and forgettable and then don\'t bother to improve on it. The chord changes either remain identical to standard songs or so random that they sound weird and unsuitable. Lyrics are jotted down but barely go through any sort of editing process: grammar is confused, clichés abound, ideas and lyric lines are mind-numbingly pedestrian and predictable. But they mostly get away with it because they never learned to sing clearly enough to make more than 34% of their lyrics understandable anyway.
Recording
What the Beatles did: They pushed the boundaries of what was possible. Multi-track recording was still in its infancy but they achieved amazing results (especially when you consider that the Sergeant Pepper album was recorded on a 4-track machine.) This was done with a team of people (producer, sound engineers and musicians) who had individually studied their craft and who strove together to reach new realms of recording artistry.
What less effective musicians do: They connect affordable microphones to a computer and discover that they have exponentially more ways to manipulate sound than the Beatles team ever dreamed possible. Unfortunately, without pushing to perfect the product to the highest standard possible, the results end up sounding amateurish; as you might expect. However this doesn\'t matter because the creator is still able to proudly say, in a fake Liverpool accent, \"Ah\'ve just ricawded me new CD. D\'yah fancy a listen?\"
Most of us at some time have displayed aspects of lazy creativity; indeed it\'s a necessary part of the learning process. But we can also remember how the Beatles pushed further and polished finer every aspect of their creativity and bring that same consciousness to our own work.
Finally I must admit that although I respect The Beatles immensely I\'ve rarely enjoyed their music. Perhaps it\'s got something to do with me living near Penny Lane for nearly four years and not being able to walk down that street without that infernal song going round and round in my head for the rest of the day. Damn those pesky Beatles!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May/June 2013: West Coast Love and Laughter Tour (California, Oregon and Washington)
Fri May 17/18 Southern California Ukulele Mountain Retreat (California Ukulele Academy): Workshops, Concert, campfire, jamming, trees, fresh air and fun!!!
Sun May 19 Island Bazaar Huntington Beach, CA 3pm-Workshop (Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns.) 7pm-Concert
Tue May 21 Modesto Funstrummers meeting: 5pm. Presbyterian Church, 1600 Carver Road, Modesto, CA
Sat May 25 Sebastopol Ukulele Festival. CA Workshop + Concert
Sun May 26 Da Silva Ukuleles Berkeley, Northern CA 3:30 to 5pm Workshop ($25 Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns) + 6pm concert ($20) $40 if you take both.
Tue May 28 Lauren\'s Restaurant, 14211 Highway 128, Boonville, CA 95415 8:30pm 707-895-3869 $10 cover
Wed May 29 Chico Ukulele Club, Trinity Methodist Church, Chico. Workshop and concert. Details coming but meanwhile contact Cynthia Davis for details
Fri May 31 Eugene Ukulele Club (The Ukulaneys) 6:30pm Strumming Class + pot luck and ½ hour concert. For info Contact P. Sage, Washington Park Community Center, 2025 Washington St., Eugene.
Sat June 1 Portland Ukulele Association: Evening Concert + 2 Ukulele Workshops:
Workshops: 12 - 1:30pm Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns + 2 - 3:30pm Melody Licks for Strummers ($25ea, $45 for both.) Contact M. Brogan to book Workshops at St. David\'s Episcopal Church Community Hall 2800 SE Harrison, Portland, OR 97214
7pm House Concert $20 hosted by M. Brogan. Contact M. Brogan to book and get address.
Sun June 2 Portland Oregon House Concert 5pm - Details and booking info here This one is already SOLD OUT!
Sat June 8 Bellevue, Washington (Seattle) House Concert Email Jean Smith to book your seat and get address details
Sun June 9 Dusty Strings, Seattle - 2 workshops 12:15 to 2:15: Secret to Infinite Strumming Patterns and 2:30 to 4:30: Melody Licks for Strummers
Thur June 20 CD Release Concert at Rogue Folk Club, St James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano, Vancouver. BC Canada. Rogue Folk Club Info and Book Tickets Here $20. or phone: 604 736 3022
Digital Downloads of Love and Laughter: From June 20th you can download mp3 versions of both albums from iTunes, Spotify and all the rest. You can also prepay your download order with iTunes from May 23 and get a taster track. The rest of the album will download automatically on the release date.
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 11, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Having completed my three week west coast tour I\'m eager to tell you all about it. I\'ve marveled at the variety of experiences and the kindness of the people who populate the western part of the USA.
Love and Laughter CD Release Concert coming June 20 in Vancouver. It\'s the only time to see me perform songs with fellow recording artists: Steve Dawson, Rob Becker plus guests. Don\'t think about catching my show \"next time\" for this is the ONLY one. Steve Dawson is moving to Toronto and there won\'t be another chance. I think it will be a blast and, if you\'re able, I would truly love for you to be there. Get Concert tickets here.
If you really can\'t be there - no worries because Love and Laughter CDs are now available from my website!!
Word count this issue: 1436 words.
Estimated reading time: Just over 5 minutes.
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Ralph\'s West Coast Tour: Part 1 - Canada to SoCal & Modesto
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Even the best planned trip can have something unforeseen keeping you frantically busy up to the final minute. For me it was the discovery that someone had uploaded my entire \"Essential Strums for the Ukulele DVD\" to Youtube. The result was that I spent my last hour in Canada filing a copyright infringement complaint with Youtube to have it removed. Actually, I tell a lie, it wasn\'t my last hour because I now remember we had to wait two hours at the border to get our visas processed; including fingerprinting. It irked Kathryn that the US government now has our fingerprints but our own government doesn\'t. And the gestapo-like experience involved in crossing the border (in either direction) is never pleasant. No matter how innocent I actually am I always have a nagging feeling they\'ll get me for a crime I didn\'t even know existed. Tip for the day: Men, when crossing the border don\'t wear red trousers. I did that once and it was like waving a red-flag in front of a bull. In the end they let me through, eventually...
After the border and with a flush of exhilaration it felt good to be on the so-called open road. This was my first tour with my wife Kathryn. Now that our daughter is old enough to take care of things at home it made sense to bring Kathryn along. I enjoy traveling alone but I often get twinges of sadness at not having someone alongside to share special moments. Nevertheless, I harbored some misgivings: Would she adapt to the daily business of traveling who knows where, meeting who knows who and eating who knows what?
As it turned out things went great. And Kath had good ideas too; like renting a comfortable vehicle to take us the distance. It\'s surprising how quickly perks such as air-conditioning and cruise control soon become essentials. First night we were wined and dined in fine style by our good friends Patty and Bill in Springfield, Oregon (the genesis of The Simpson\'s home town.) Patty gave us each Ukes and Yoga T-shirts: Tune In and Tune Up. I love wearing mine, it makes people smile. The next night we stayed with a high-school friend of mine who (and you may find this interesting) was the handyman at Nevada\'s Mustang Ranch--North America\'s famous legalized house of ill-repute--for five years. On learning of his former occupation I wrote a song in the George Formby style (resplendent with innuendo and double-entendre) and recorded it on my new Laughter CD. Btw. I\'m quite proud of my Formby style uke solo in the middle of that song - possibly my best yet.
The views, as we drove from Reno through the wind blown High Desert to my first event--a mountain ukulele retreat near San Bernadino--were spectacular. It was real Hollywood cowboy country. California has a way of showing you things that you only expect to see in movies. When suddenly a tumbleweed blew across the road I couldn\'t help but let out a high and lonesome yodel.
The ukulele retreat, organized by The California Ukulele Academy, was at Alpine Meadows, Angelus Oaks. It felt healthy and exhilarating just to be there. We stayed in log cabins, breathed fresh air and ate surprisingly good food. In such a summer camp setting I expected to see big cauldrons of spaghetti and tomato sauce being cooked up but that wasn\'t the case here. They served tasty food and catered to various special diets too. Meeting the other teacher/performers was great fun. It was nice to see Jim D\'Ville again and get to know jazzy player Sarah Maisel plus ukulele blues aficionado Jason Arimoto. It upset me only slightly to learn that Jason has a PhD in Molecular Biology, thus rendering my physics degree somewhat less spectacular as a ukulele qualification. I was thrilled to perform my first concert of the tour and particularly pleased that Doug Reynolds also invited me to teach my ukulele performers workshop. It was well attended and I get the sense that ukulele players are realizing there\'s a lot more to making music than just being good on an instrument.
Next we headed to Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach (south of L.A.) Arriving on a sunny Sunday we had about an hour to check out the beach scene. Again I had to pinch myself to realize that I wasn\'t in a movie. Every Southern California stereotype was there: blonde bimbos in big shades and bikinis, coppertone hunks in colourful shorts and cool attitudes, bearded big-shots in sleeveless T\'s on Harley bikes, dudes with surfboards strapped to their vintage vehicles and tourists with white legs and short socks with sandals (ahem, actually that was me.)
Island Bazaar is an all-ukulele store run by Shirley Orlando who is a true music business veteran. Hanging out with her and hearing her stories alone made the entire trip worthwhile. She\'d once owned a music store which went out of business due to mega-music chains like Guitar Center muscling in with their high volumes and low prices. Later she opened Island Bazaar to sell Tiki furniture, Hawaiian fabrics and Polynesian related knick-knacks. It was then that a couple of guys, Kent Olson and Tom Noble of the Kolohe Ukulele Club, stopped by to ask if the group might be allowed to practice in the store. As time went on she brought in more ukuleles and packets of strings (and my tutorial DVDs.) Soon she was a music store again; only now she was solely dealing in an instrument completely disdained by the monster music shops. Many ukulele clubs meet at Island Bazaar to learn and jam together and Tom is still there. I strongly recommend you check it out if you\'re ever near Huntington Beach. And say Hi to the great Shirley Orlando. Get this: She once wrote a full-length musical that sold out a 300+ seat theatre for seventeen performances. Not too shabby for a first attempt!
A forbidding part of the trip for me was the anticipation of driving across L.A. But, thanks to my new GPS device and highly capable driver (Kathryn), we got through without any problem at all and only wished we could have had more time to see the sights. But Modesto beckoned. Everyone I\'d told said, \"Oh, you\'ll be hot in Modesto.\" I took that to mean my popularity was assured. But they were talking about the physical temperature. Hitting the central valley around Bakersfield, even with A/C on, you could sense the temperature kick up a notch or three. We stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and learned they have a \"loonie button\" on the cash till. (Loonie, the nickname for the Canadian dollar coin, is so called because it shows a loon on the tails side.) It was surprising and comforting to know that even this far south they were set up to unburden us of our Canadian cash. Even though its reason is no-doubt mercenary it still felt somehow brotherly.
The road to Modesto (Route 99, sometimes known as the Pacific Highway) began as a horse and stagecoach route extending north well into Canada and all the way on down to Mexico. Parts of Route 99 were also some of the first stretches of road to receive a white dividing line down the middle. This was thanks to the persistence of Dr. June McCarroll--a resident of Indio on Route 99--who fought for years to get her \"ingenious but impractical\" idea accepted by the authorities. We\'ll never know how many lives have been saved by both her simple concept and persistence in doggedly fighting to make it happen.
These days the drive takes you past thousands upon thousands of acres of tree farms. It\'s stunning to see how much land, organization and know-how is used to keep our grocery store shelves so well stocked. However an unfortunate part of such monoculture farming (as we learned from a documentary just prior to our trip) is that it\'s leading to the deaths of millions of honey bees. Something like seventy-five percent of America\'s bees get trucked into the Central Valley every year in order to pollinate the trees. It\'s a system that worked for a long time but it doesn\'t seem to be doing the poor bees any favours.
In Modesto I got to meet The Funstrummers! The group, led by Lorrie Freitas, is slightly unusual because as well as being a ukulele club they are very active in performing community shows. I gave them a customized workshop which included feedback of some performance pieces. At the very end of the evening they sang for Kathryn and I a beautiful farewell song rendered in such a heartfelt way that the only response I could offer was, \"Don\'t change a thing!\"
Next week come with me as I take you to Sebastopol, San Francisco and Boonville!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Performance Dates 2013:
Thur June 20: CD Release Concert at Rogue Folk Club, St James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano, Vancouver. BC Canada. Rogue Folk Club Info and Book Tickets Here or phone: 604 736 3022. Tickets $20.
Weds July 10: 7 to 8pm. Open air concert in Mission BC. Envision Twilight Concert Series
Sat July 27: Nanaimo Ukulele Festival in Nanaimo BC
and more to come!! In fact I\'m thinking of a US East coast tour next so if you know of a uke club, festival or suitable venue for me then let me know and I\'ll try and include it in the itinerary.
Digital Downloads of Love and Laughter: From June 20th you can download mp3 versions of both albums from iTunes, Spotify and all the rest. You can also prepay your download order with iTunes from May 23 and get a taster track. The rest of the album will download automatically on the release date.
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 18, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Today I continue my west coast ukulele tour of the USA. Come with me to take in some surprising sights in North California.
Love and Laughter CD Release Concert coming June 20 in Vancouver. It\'s the only time to see me perform songs with fellow recording artists: Steve Dawson, Rob Becker plus guests. If you\'re coming - BRING YOUR UKE: there will be a strum along portion in the show. Get Concert tickets here.
If you really can\'t be there - no worries because Love and Laughter CDs are now available from my website!! And as of Thursday June 20 they\'ll also be available for download on itunes and similar sites.
Word count this issue: 1822 words.
Estimated reading time: Just over 6 minutes.
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Ralph\'s West Coast Tour Part 2: Sebastopol, Berkeley and Boonville
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Leaving the Central Valley we noticed the almond and fruit trees give way to fields of grape vines. We were in wine country. And then we noticed a crop of a very different nature: wind! Wind turbines are a familiar sight for many communities willing (and some not so willing) to try non-polluting energy sources. But California has a wind farm on a scale I never imagined. We stopped the car and got out and marveled for in every direction--from horizon to horizon--were acres of rolling hills with their tall grey sentinels whirring in the wind. About as tall as downtown office towers they stood--hundreds of them--all facing the same way as cattle grazed beneath: an awe inspiring juxtaposition of the bucolic and the space age. But there was no time to linger for we needed to get to school.
When it comes to teaching ukulele to children the conventional wisdom is to wait until they are about 8 years old. Before then their physical coordination is generally not sufficiently developed. I was curious to see how Dan, a kindergarten teacher of five year old children, had managed to get his class involved in music. He\'s a co-organizer of the Sebastopol Ukulele Festival and he\'d invited me to meet and entertain the kids at his school. I showed up at the school without a bow-tie on--a sartorial faux-pas. Fortunately Dan met me outside the classroom and mentioned that the kids had seen my DVD and were expecting the bow-tie. So back to the car I went for a quick change.
The kids beamed when they saw me and made me feel incredibly welcome. They picked up their ukes and sang with open and exuberant joy. What Dan has done is remarkable for it allows the kids to get the full pleasure of music while taking into account their physical limitations. The ukuleles were divided into three groups of about five players in each group. One set was tuned to an open C chord, the next to F and the next to G7. You wouldn\'t want to strum these ukes all together. The way it works is that Dan plays the song and gestures to tell which group (C, F or G7) to strum along.
The kids don\'t chord, they just need to strum in rhythm and sing; which they do, at the tops of their voices. All young children have attentions that wander but Dan has found that music has the power to focus and unify the group like nothing else can. It was extraordinary. One felt that so long as they kept singing and strumming these kids could take over the world!
Vancouver, Canada has long been known as a centre for alternative movements. Since the 1960s, when it became Canada\'s hippie central, there\'s been no shortage of yoga classes, organic foods and sustainable living advocates. Yet Sebastopol is so advanced in these areas it makes Vancouver look like Redneckland. First to Peter Lowell\'s organic eatery for lunch. Looking around at the animated diners at other tables it seemed everyone was discussing something incredibly interesting. While nibbling on Classic Nicoise a man in a purple shirt with a crystal pendant spoke in plum British tones about some book he\'d read. Another two fellows, one looking quite Dudley Moore-like, appeared to be discussing a film script. And next to us was a man in show-jumping clothes with a woman and a little boy. I felt I wanted to strike up a conversation them but I didn\'t. I imagined that if I\'d brought my ukulele along I could have sung a song for the kid just to see his reaction. As it turned out this would have connected us all immediately for these same people showed up next day at the festival. The dad is a banjo-uke player and had his instrument in his car while I had mine in mine. It goes to show, everyone should take their ukulele everywhere.
After lunch Kathryn walked around the town while I dozed in the car. Opposite me was a park bench and I couldn\'t help but notice, as I raised a tired eyelid from time to time, that even the homeless people here seemed reasonably well to do. One fellow sat luxuriantly combing his beard for about 45 minutes. Every time I opened my eye there he was, like a lion, untangling the fibers of his beard with some sort of narrow comb about the size of a fork. Come to think of it, that\'s probably exactly what it was.
That evening we went to a winery, non-restaurant. It\'s an interesting concept. You order by ticking boxes on a menu and then get your own cutlery, side plates and water from a nearby table. The food and wine were excellent and the conversation most enjoyable thanks to Dan and his wife Sarah: a three-time mayor of Sebastopol no less.
The main force behind the First Annual Sebastopol Ukulele Festival is Jim \"Mr. Music\" Corbett. My inner anthropologist is terminally fascinated by the personalities that choose to put on festivals. I wonder what drives them. But in Jim\'s case it\'s easy to see: from his smile to his body language, the guy simply loves music. It was a nicely organized festival too. A friend of mine commented though that there was so much happening, both on the stages and in workshops, there was no time to simply hang out and jam with other people. It\'s a very minor criticism but one that many festival organizers could take note of: plan a little down time.
Next morning we drove to Mike DaSilva\'s place in Berkeley. I\'ve known Mike since 2005 and possibly earlier. He\'s been making ukuleles for nine years and all his instruments have a particular quality of open resonance that I recognize when I hear it. He\'s an artist too. He\'s not afraid to dye his woods and imbue his creations with character and colour.
His workshop is also unique. As you\'d expect he has everything for building ukes and for training wannabe uke-makers. But his space is also designed for holding concerts and workshops, which he does on a regular basis. A whole lot of people spend a great deal of time in the on-line ukulele community, but if you want to get real and hear ukulele, touch ukulele and even breath some ukulele dust then head on over to Mike DaSilva\'s place. It\'s the real thing.
After teaching and performing at Mike\'s (as well as reacquainting myself with friends old and new that had come to see me) Kathryn and I headed to San Francisco\'s Seal Rock Hotel. It\'s is a living relic from decades past that provides large rooms, a pool, a tiny elevator and parking; all for a price you can\'t complain about. The clerk informed us that Hunter S. Thompson stayed there. I wish she could also have informed us about correct use of the baggage cart whose square footage was almost identical to that of the elevator. How we struggled to manhandle that cart into the elevator\'s sub-compact space. We pushed, pulled and rocked it from side to side before cajoling it fully through the door. Next day discovered the cart can be steered from one end only; push from the other end and it becomes as obstinate as a tired mule; which, by then, is pretty much how I was feeling. It was good to have a quiet room. The cool sea breeze wafted through the off-white curtains as we dined on cheese, olives, crackers and half a bottle of wine before going to sleep.
On Memorial Day morning we looked around San Francisco. After buying coffee and take-out from the Greens-to-go Restaurant we strolled around Fisherman\'s Wharf. My favourite thing was the Musée Mécanique: a large collection of antique coin-operated amusement arcade machines. It was such an innocent pleasure to wander around with a handful of quarters choosing which machines to try out. One of them, called End of the Trail, consisted of a broken-down covered wagon, its cover hanging in tatters; nearby an animal skull reposed on the dry earth. I inserted 25 cents and prepared to watch the show. From the left side of the diorama a fan began to blow causing the tattered canvas pieces to shiver in the wind. That was it, the whole thing. And to be fair, it did last a while, but when a father and son came to insert their coin I told them, \"Save your money. You see what it\'s doing now? That\'s all it does.\"
The diorama left me with a sense of poignancy however. Back in Eugene, Bill had lent me a book called The Worst Hard Time about the tragic history of the 1930\'s dust bowl. The people who lost everything on America\'s Great Plains were as fresh in my mind as perhaps they were for whoever created this low-tech coin-operated diversion so long ago.
Then north: to Philo in the Anderson Valley. Our GPS machine caused us to overshoot by several miles and it was only when the voice said, \"You have reached your destination\" while all around us lay thick forest we figured something was wrong. Out of cell phone range we backtracked to Navarro - the last settlement we\'d encountered. I entered the store and asked to use the phone. The owner who only seemed to have the use of one arm agreed to dial the number for me on his phone that had buttons but no digits. He handed me the handset saying, I don\'t know if that\'s the right number...it probably is.\"
It was correct and soon we were with Dennis. I\'ve known him for years, as he has been a familiar face at numerous ukulele festivals. He\'d organized a restaurant concert for me in the local town of Boonville. It was one of the smaller events of the tour but perfectly delightful. The turnout of around twenty plus people was more than satisfactory for a Boonville Tuesday night where folks are generally early-to-bedders. The locals even have their own dialect: Boontling, that is so complex one might almost call it a language. I learned that if I\'d wanted a pay phone earlier that day I might have asked for a Bucky Walter. Bucky is the slang word for a nickel (the old price of a phone call) and Walter is the name of the first person in the valley to get a phone.
The Anderson Valley is a place where memories are long and humor is rife. I wonder if they\'ll remember me next time I\'m there? I also wonder if they\'ll invent a name for the ukulele? Say a \'Plucky Dennis\' or a \'Strummy Shaw\'. I have no doubt they\'ll think of something.
Next time: Come with me as I return home via Chico, Eugene and Portland.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Performance Dates 2013:
Thur June 20: CD Release Concert at Rogue Folk Club, St James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano, Vancouver. BC Canada. Rogue Folk Club Info and Book Tickets Here or phone: 604 736 3022. Tickets $20.
Weds July 10: 7 to 8pm. Open air concert in Mission BC. Envision Twilight Concert Series
Sat July 27: Nanaimo Ukulele Festival in Nanaimo BC
and more to come!! In fact I\'m thinking of a US East coast tour next so if you know of a uke club, festival or suitable venue for me then let me know and I\'ll try and include it in the itinerary.
Digital Downloads of Love and Laughter: From June 20th you can download mp3 versions of both albums from iTunes, Spotify and all the rest. You can also prepay your download order with iTunes from May 23 and get a taster track. The rest of the album will download automatically on the release date.
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
June 03, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
Touring the U.S. west coast was a wonderful experience. Come along on this final stage as Kathryn and I head home from California via Oregon and Washington.
Hey Guess WHAT!! Love and Laughter CDs are now available from my website and also available for download on itunes and similar sites. btw. Many thanks to everyone who came out to my Love and Laughter CD Release Concert. It was a truly momentous event!
Word count this issue: 1627 words.
Estimated reading time: Just over 5 minutes.
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Ralph\'s West Coast Tour Part 3: Paradise to Portland
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We were driving to Paradise. Which, in case you don\'t know, is a small town about half an hour from the, somewhat larger, town of Chico heading into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Paradise resides near the edge of a majestic canyon that is positively eye-popping. Part of its impact may come from the surprise that it\'s there at all, but still, the wonders of this country must be great indeed for such an outstanding feature to remain basically unknown to the rest of the world.
Paradise is where we met with Tonya Dale, a.k.a. Ukulele Tonya. I know her as a familiar visitor to ukulele festivals and she\'s also a leading figure in the local ukulele scene. Tonya and her husband run their mail marketing business from a house in Paradise. The building doubles as a guest house which is where Kathryn and I stayed. On first sight the house does not look very large but its rooms are unexpectedly, um, roomy. I\'ve lived most of my life in small English houses and cozy apartments and one gets used to everything being close by. Therefore it\'s a strange feeling to stay in places that have more space than I\'m used to. In such cases it slowly dawns on me that I\'ve started to think of the trip from bedroom to kitchen as a commute.
Unfortunately there was no time for hiking and sight-seeing (not even indoors) for I had an appointment with the ukulele players of Chico. On the way we stopped to eat at the Sierra Nevada Tap Room and Restaurant. It was sweltering as we parked the car; and I mentally praised the building owners for erecting a huge shade structure over the parking lot. On second look I noticed that the framework supports a vast array of solar cells performing double duty as both providers of shade and purveyors of electrical power. Tonya told us that the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is well known for introducing all kinds of forward-thinking ideas into its business model and, because of this, have made themselves into a very popular local, and nationally known, enterprise. Apparently their beer is also very good but not for me thanks; I was on my way to work.
With bags plus ukuleles hanging from my shoulders I arrived at the church for the workshop and concert. I blundered my way into a room where a dozen serious looking women sat in a circle. I said, \"This isn\'t the ukulele workshop is it?\"
One of the women replied, \"No.\"
\"Whoops, sorry everybody. Well when you\'ve done your meeting, grab a ukulele and come and join us!\" They laughed as I made my cumbersome retreat. That\'s when I noticed the sign on the door: Meeting in Progress - Alcoholics Anonymous. I can\'t claim that playing ukulele will solve their problems, but even the idea of it made them lighten up for a moment.
As with so many ukulele groups the one in Chico is active and full of friendly ukulele players. The evening was organized by Cynthia but a major force behind the group is David, the pastor of the church. His slightly unorthodox approach to his profession (such as using ukuleles and wearing a circus look t-shirt) reminded me of Father David (another minister with his own ideas) from my English hometown. So onstage I took special delight in singing the Father David song from my Laughter album.
It was late as we headed back to our roomy residence in Paradise. I was all for refueling the car right away however Kathryn was feeling tired and preferred to wait until morning. But I was driving so I won! We stopped at a gas station and I went inside to pre-pay. That\'s where I came face to face with a large jovial attendant who trilled, \"Greetings to you young sir!! How are you this lovely evening?\"
The bouncy energy of his warm welcome seemed out of place for a late night gas station. I replied, \"Good thanks, um, how are you?\"
\"As fine as frog hairs on a frosty Friday morning!\" (a pause)
\"Fantastic\" I responded.
He smiled approvingly at me and said, \"I like your attitude young man. How can I help you?\"
After filling the tank I returned to collect my change and the gas station attendant called me young man once again. I said it was very complimentary of him to do so. He informed me that one time he had called a young boy, \"Sir\" who then whispered to his father, \"Daddy, he just called me an old man.\"
\"So,\" the attendant continued, \"ever since then I\'ve decided to call everyone young\"
I came out of that gas station in high spirits. I\'d learned a silly frog phrase and had a story to tell. What a bargain. I felt pleased to have stopped in. On this rare occasion, when contradicting my spouse had actually turned out to be the right thing to do, I\'d been led to ponder how even the most menial job can be a source of creativity and delight when approached with the mind of an entertainer.
Next morning we were on our way to Eugene, Oregon. Before leaving, Tonya and her husband took us to their local diner. With a good old American breakfast of pancakes, fruit, eggs and home-fries inside us they made sure we were adequately fueled up for our trip. Their guest-house may have had plenty of room but the same could no longer be said of my stomach.
It was good to be back with Patty and Bill in Springfield, Oregon. They had been our first stop on the southward journey when Kathryn and I were still full of plans and anticipation. But I also felt a little sad to have left California and be heading towards home. However our adventure wasn\'t over yet.
Off to lunch with friends: David and Marcia. Marcia plays ukulele and I\'ve known her for a number of years. David, though a non-ukulele player, has become a most honoured audience member of mine because several years ago he took it on himself to wear a bow-tie to every Ralph Shaw concert he attends. On the way to lunch it hit me that David would almost certainly be wearing a bow-tie. And once again, just as with my Sebastopol school visit, I was without my characteristic neck wear. I\'m thinking the time is fast approaching where I\'m going to have to bite the bullet and wear one all the time.
Sure enough, at his office Marcia greeted us with a big hug and there was David; resplendent in his bow-tie. I made apologies for not wearing one and our ensuing conversation was all about what an amazing article of clothing the bow-tie is! David and I have both noticed that wearing a bow-tie causes people to smile. It puts them at ease. But it also creates an expectation; wear a bow-tie and people will assume you are an interesting and larger-than-life character. That\'s quite a responsibility to take on. It\'s the reason why few people choose to wear one. To walk around with a bow-tie shows a level of fun-loving bravado. It\'s a way of announcing to the world that you\'re ready to joke, jape and joust jovially with any Joe or Jane you may meet on life\'s journey. I really should send one to the Paradise Gas Station guy, he\'d know what I\'m talking about.
The attendance at Eugene\'s Ukalaneys club was excellent. I taught a workshop incorporating three of my favourite strums followed with a concert of songs from my albums Love and Laughter. One of my younger fans, Josh, was there, also wearing a bow-tie. Could this be the beginning of a bow-tie resurgence?!
Our last stop was Portland, Oregon. Heidi, a reader of this newsletter, had offered to host a house concert for me. We were both surprised when the concert sold out within three days of going on sale. Heidi said this was a record for one of her concerts. Marianne Brogan - the innovative originator of the famed Portland Ukulele Festival - had already set up two workshops for me and now quickly organized an additional house concert to take care of the overflow. It ended up as a busy but satisfying final weekend.
Forty people gathered in Heidi\'s living room for my last concert. Her place overlooks the city of Portland and through her large window you take in the entire city and the scenery beyond. In fact, Heidi said, on a clear day it is possible to see four different volcanoes. As I stood before the audience at the start of my show I said, \"What an absolutely, breathtakingly incredible view. I must say, you all look absolutely wonderful!\" You know it always helps to get the audience on your side.
One week later I was back in the United States for workshops at Seattle\'s Dusty Strings music store and a house concert in Bellevue. Jean, the host of the concert, has a talent for quilting and a love of Hawaiian music. When she had her house renovated the architectural plans included not only a theater with stage but also a space on the wall for one of her special quilts. Knowing her fondness for all things Hawaiian I wanted to let her know that I too love the Hawaiian culture (though this is not obviously apparent from the music I play.) So as part of my concert I chose to read the final chapter from my book The Ukulele Entertainer titled Sithee - the Yorkshire Aloha in which I mention meeting the Hawaiian educator and performer Liko Puha for the first time.
When the last concert goer had said goodbye Jean led me into a room at the back of her house to show me one of her early quilts. It was the face of Liko Puha. She had taken time and effort to recreate his image using fabric and thread just as I had once felt moved to immortalize him with words. I love it when things come together like that.
And to my American friends, readers and especially those who made our stay so enjoyable, Kathryn and I wish you all a very Happy 4th of July.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Performance Dates 2013:
Weds July 10: 7 to 8pm. Open air concert in Mission BC. Envision Twilight Concert Series.
Sat July 27: Nanaimo Ukulele Festival in Nanaimo BC
and more to come!! In fact I\'m thinking of a US East coast tour next so if you know of a uke club, festival or suitable venue for me then let me know and I\'ll try and include it in the itinerary.
Digital Downloads of Love and Laughter: From June 20th you can download mp3 versions of both albums from iTunes, Spotify and all the rest. You can also prepay your download order with iTunes from May 23 and get a taster track. The rest of the album will download automatically on the release date.
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available include: King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
September 17, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
In 2005 I performed in a Vaudeville show. This happens periodically when yet another misguided show producer decides the public is again thirsty for ten minute-long variety acts. A big drawback with this idea (other than the mindblowingly obvious: why would anyone pay to see such a thing when Youtube is free) is the inconsistency of local live acts. Vaudeville\'s essence was that each act had something that was unique and special. But all too often that special quality has become the sheer awfulness of the performance.
If you find value in this newsletter please forward it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1013 words.
Estimated reading time: About 4 minutes.
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UE #103 Dare to be Sharp!
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The 2005 show had a beautiful African-Canadian singer who sang Summertime from Porgy and Bess. Her loud and resonant voice packed heartfelt emotion into every syllable. Her voice swooped down, rose up and vibrated the walls on every crescendo. She could have been a showstopper were it not for the fact that she sang consistently and jawdroppingly flat.
The worst of it was that nobody told her. After the show, overhearing her friends and fellow vaudevillians banging on about her amazing singing, I was finally moved to exclaim, \"What are you all deaf?\"
Having got their attention I faced the woman and said, \"You lady, sing flat. A performing dentist\'s drill would have elicited fewer winces than your effort tonight. If you\'re going to sing for paying customers it needs to be in tune. And you honey have some major work to do in that department.\"
Actually, no. I didn\'t say any of that. Show people are notoriously vulnerable and no one wants to be the one to deflate their bouncy castle of optimism and hope.
So I\'ll say it to you instead, \"You sing out of tune and you need to do something about it\".
No matter who you are I\'m probably not far off the mark with that statement, it\'s just a question of degree. A note-perfect singer is a rare being. We all need to work on our tuning. It\'s important because how in-tune you are pretty much decides if your voice is on the side of beautiful to behold or painful to bear. And here\'s the thing: no amount of ukulele practice will improve your singing. They are completely separate skills.
Start listening to your own voice. Listen honestly and without judgment. Hear the sound you\'re actually making and not what you hope is there.
Here\'s a game you can play to see how well you stay in tune over the course of a song: Play and sing something you know well. At the end of the song hold the last sung note and find that same note on the ukulele fretboard. Now sing the song again. Use the ukulele to help you get started on the right note but then stop strumming and sing the rest of the song unaccompanied. When you hit the final note of the song find it on the fretboard and compare it to the final note from before. Is it higher or lower in pitch than before?
My guess is that, unless you have a well developed sense of pitch, your final note is flatter (ie. lower in pitch) than the first time. Keep playing this game and see if you get closer to ending on the correct note (the name of the last note is almost always the key that the song is in.)
If you\'re having trouble even finding your last note on the fretboard then that\'s an issue. But don\'t give up hope. Ear tuning--that is hearing if one note is higher or lower than another--gets better with practice. I used to be awful at this skill and still have bad moments. If you feel utterly hopeless get someone more adept to help you.
How do you maintain the correct key without a musical instrument to keep you in tune? The answer is the mental trick of hearing the key note in your head and then singing the song without the key note changing over the course of the song. This is called maintaining the tonal center. It\'s an odd skill in that I\'m not aware that I\'m doing it but I always know when it breaks down. Spend time overcoming the parts that take you out of the tonal center.
Once you can maintain the tonal center for a whole song it\'s a huge step but it doesn\'t mean that every note within the song is in tune. It\'s possible (in fact highly probable) that within the song there could be many out of tune notes. You need to locate and correct these.
So why do we sing out of tune? Poor vocal technique is often a culprit. If you\'re not singing with strong vocal support then you\'re probably tending to sing flat. The other reason is not knowing note intervals. The Porgy and Bess lady had no problem with vocal support but she clearly had no sense of what the exact note intervals were. In Summertime the first note is on the summ vowel, the next note is on er and the word time is back on the same note as summ. It\'s quite a big jump down in pitch and then back up again to where you started. And the audience knows the tune. So it\'s pretty obvious when the time ends up drastically different than summ. You have to hear note intervals in your head to be able to sing them. In other words get to know every note of the melody and how each note relates to those before and after.
More tuning games:
Tune your ukulele, play a note and sing it back, either to a friend or into an electronic tuner. Are you on the note, too high (sharp) or too low (flat)? Most people are flat. If so, train yourself to sing a notch higher than you usually do. Dare to be sharp! And you might just hit the right note.
When melodies flow up or down in steps singers tend to make the downward steps too large and the upward steps too small. Correct this by singing downward melodies in slightly smaller steps and upward melody lines in slightly larger steps than feels natural.
Certain vowels often come out flat. The \"Aaah\" vowel is notorious for sounding flatter to the listener than to the singer. Seek these out and push them up a little. Summ-er-time for example has aaah vowels in both summ and time. Even er has some aaah in there.
You may be getting the idea that I want you to sing sharp. That\'s not the case. In fact chronic sharpness is as bad as chronic flatulence, I\'m sorry I mean flatness. But by correcting your flat spots with some nice bright sharpness you have the potential to lift your music out of the dentist\'s chair and into the realm of angels.
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My new albums: Love and Laughter are now available on iTunes and other download sites. As a taster for you here is the treatment I did of How to Build a Ukulele Case (click the link and you can hear it streaming.)
Performance Dates 2013:
Sat Oct 12: 7 to 9pm. Vancouver House Concert. Probably Sold Out but if there\'s room I\'ll post details.
Fri/Sat Oct 18/19: Kani - Langley Ukulele Workshop SOLD OUT
Fri Oct 25: Ukulele Ceilidh - Liverpool, Nova Scotia
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) New Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by ukulele master James Hill
3) CDs also available from my website include: Love, Laughter, King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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
© Ralph Shaw 2013
You can Contact me by...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:bowlerhat@shaw.ca
phone: 604 689 2937 (Intl +1)
on the web:http://www.ralphshaw.ca/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
October 15, 2013
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Raimund,
NEW from Ralph Shaw! Best selling DVD, Essential Strums for the Ukulele, is now available as a download. For only $19.95 you can Download the DVD immediately and get started on a whole bunch of very cool strums. It could change your life! Get it now Or read more about it here: Essential Strums DVD info
Bea Blackwell played piano in the Billy Bishop Canadian Legion Hall every Friday night for over three decades. She had a vast repertoire of singalong favourites from the World War eras and Hollywood Musicals. Showing up with my banjo-uke I only needed to tell her the name of a song and then start playing. She\'d nod her head as her fingers traveled across the ivories poking at certain piano keys to find the song key I was playing in. Seconds later both her hands would be in full flow, driving the honky tonk machine in a forceful striding style.
If you find value in this newsletter please forward it to a friend!
Word count this issue: 1092 words.
Estimated reading time: just over 4 minutes.
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UE #104 Play Like an Old Timer
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I\'ve met other musicians of Bea\'s generation who play ukulele like she plays piano. All of them share the following characteristics: they were born in the 1920\'s, can seemingly play anything and claim not to read music. Growing up in a time when recording was in its infancy and radio was the latest techno marvel, kids had lots of time on their hands. A musically curious child had endless hours to unravel the mystery of any instrument that came their way. The result was an enviable ease and facility with their instrument that is so very different from how most people play today.
Like most things that look simple, but are hard to do, the art of playing any song in any key is several skills stitched together to appear as one ability. I still consider myself a novice at this but with the following knowledge and years of playing
I\'m fairly confident you too can play ukulele like an old timer.
In fact by then there\'s a good chance you actually will be an old timer.
You will need to:
1) Figure out the key to any song you hear.
2) Think of chords as finger shapes instead of names and play barre chords effortlessly.
3) Know the chord changes to hundreds of songs and/or be able to recognize common chord patterns.
1) Finding the Key
Go to Youtube, or put on some CDs, and just go from song to song figuring out the key for each. The last note of a song usually tells you the key and there are other techniques too. I wrote a little about finding song keys in an earlier piece: UE# 91 What\'s the Next Chord? Part 2: Hitting the Percentages. It\'s a skill that develops the more you do it.
2) Think of Chords as Finger Shapes
To play a song in any key you only need to know it in the keys of C, F and B-flat (B-flat is written henceforth as Bb.) [This is for ukuleles in GCEA only. For ukes tuned to ADF#B the keys you need to be fluent in are D, G and C. For baritone ukes (tuned DGBE) the three keys are G, C and F. But from here on I\'ll only be giving chord names for GCEA tuning.]
Key of C: Play a simple 3 chord song in C. Use the chords: C, F and G7. Say King of the Road, Folsom Prison Blues or Jamaica Farewell. To change this song to the key of C#, begin by making a Barre at the first fret. (Barre means to press your index finger down across all four strings at a particular fret.) Now, while barreing, play exactly the same shapes for C, F and G7 as you did before. You\'re now playing the song a semi-tone higher. Move your barreing index finger to the next fret and play those chord shapes again. The song is now in D, a whole tone higher. Continue up the neck playing the song in ever rising keys. You find that knowing the name of each individual chord is no longer much of a help. It\'s actually simpler to just think of them as finger shapes. As you continue up the fingerboard the sound gets progressively more plinky, so, let\'s change and play the song in the key of F.
Key of F: In the key of F the chords for our three chord song are now: F, Bb and C7. Once you can play the song with these chords, move them all up by a half tone, once again barreing at the first fret and playing the same chord shapes. The chords are now called F#, B and C#7 although, as I said before, you don\'t need to know those names, just their shapes. Keeping these same finger shapes you can play the song in different keys by moving the shapes up and down the fretboard. But, should you find that neither of the C or F chord groups are giving you desired results then try switching to the key of Bb.
Key of Bb: The chord names for our same three chord song are now Bb, Eb and F7. As before, once you\'re familiar with these shapes, you can play in different keys by moving them to different places on the fingerboard using a barre.
Understanding the above you realize you can play your three chord song in any key. It\'s a wonderful concept. You may discover that moving quickly through these chord shapes, and taking them up the fretboard also gives you an additional tool in locating the key of any song.
Let\'s now move from a three chord song to one that has four or five chords. In the key of C, a five chord song may have the chords: C, F, G, Am and D7. Make a barre and play the song in different places along the neck. Now transpose the song to the key of F (so, C becomes F, F becomes Bb, G7 becomes C7, Am becomes Dm and D7 becomes G7.) Again, with your barre, play the song in different places up and down the fretboard. Got the hang of that? Then do the same song again in the key of Bb (so, F becomes Bb, Bb is now Eb, C7 becomes F7, Dm becomes Gm and G7 becomes C7.)
If you are new to transposing then the above may have you scratching your head in bewilderment. Transposing is actually not that hard. It\'s merely a fancy word for changing all the chords or notes in a song by the same amount.
Once you can play all your songs in the keys of C, F and Bb, and can move them up and down the ukulele neck, you are there. With those three chord sets you\'ll be able to play in any key without necessarily having to know the names of every single chord you\'re playing.
3) Learn Songs and Chord Patterns
Now learn a whole pile of songs and learn them in those three chord positions. As you do this you\'ll become familiar with chord patterns that get used over and over again in popular, folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The important thing is that for each song you learn in the key of F, for example, make sure you also learn it in C and Bb. Obviously this can take a while. So, if you wish to become one of those old timers who can play any song in any key, I suggest you get started right away!
© Ralph Shaw 2013
EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!!
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My new albums: Love and Laughter are now available on iTunes and other download sites. As a taster for you here is the treatment I did of How to Build a Ukulele Case (click the link and you can hear it streaming.)
Best selling DVD, Essential Strums for the Ukulele, is now available as a download. For only $19.95 you can Download the DVD immediately and get started on a whole bunch of very cool strums. It could change your life! Get it now Or read more about it here: Essential Strums DVD info
Performance Dates 2013:
Fri/Sat Oct 18/19: Kani - Langley Ukulele Workshop SOLD OUT
Fri Oct 25: Ukulele Ceilidh - Liverpool, Nova Scotia
Need some help with your ukulele skills?
1) DVDs for Adults and Kids: The Complete Ukulele Course DVD Series will get you playing a wide variety of strumming styles. Take a look at what\'s available visit: www.RalphShaw.ca
2) Book: The Ukulele Entertainer
Powerful Pointers for Players and Performers
Be the Best Ukulele Entertainer You Can Be!
Put strings on a ukulele - correctly,
Play three styles of triplet strum
Know where to look when you sing
Tackle nerves and stage fright
Start and run a ukulele club
Remember lyrics and sing on pitch
Create a killer set list and much more. Learn from a seasoned pro how to relax and improvise, introduce more dynamics into your playing, even-just for fun-how to make ukulele wine! You\'ll get some lessons in musical history and be royally entertained by the \"King of the Ukulele\" himself.
Available from www.RalphShaw.ca
Now on eBook too! Find it on kindle, kobo and all other ebook formats. Don\'t forget to leave a review too!
\"where else can you learn to play the \"wimpy-strong\" strum from a man who actually touched Liam Neeson\'s wig?\" -From the foreword by James Hill
3) CDs also available from my website include: Love, Laughter, King of the Ukulele, Table for Two and By George!
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© Ralph Shaw 2013
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The Ukulele Entertainer
Inspired Ideas to Maximize your Music
October 14, 2014
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Dear Raimund,
Regular readers of this regular e-newsletter will have noticed that for two or three months my newsletter has not been at all regular. Since July, thanks to summer performances and other activities, my motivation to write has dwindled down to just about nothing. With this edition I\'m aiming to break the ennui and get back onto a more regular writing schedule.
If you\'re feeling the need to revive your daily music practice habit here are some ideas to get back into it.
btw. If you get value from this newsletter please consider forwarding it to a friend! or if you want to unsubscribe please use the \"Safe Unsubscribe\" link near the very end of the page. Meanwhile keep singin\' and strummin\'!
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UE #124 Seven Tips to Make You Want to Practice
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Earlier this month I was part of Tutti - an annual weekend of ukulele workshops in Langley, British Columbia, hosted by James Hill. As well as James and me the teaching staff included Chalmers Doane (Nova Scotia), Helene Beaulieau (Quebec), Paul Luongo (B.C.), Aaron Keim (Oregon) and Kevin Carroll (Texas.) As always it was a high energy time of full-on ukulele learning punctuated by regular gatherings in the school gym where all 120+ students and staff met as a group.
At one of these meetings the students had an opportunity to quiz the teachers on any ukulele related issues they had in mind. One student asked for a practice tip from each teacher. Here is some of what was said:
1) Practice for one minute - every day. This is a favourite tip from Chalmers Doane. All you have to do is commit to practicing for one minute every day (including Christmas and statutory holidays.) The only rule is that it be a full minute of concentrated and focused practice. No daydreaming! And the one minute begins AFTER the ukulele is removed from its case. Afterwards you may choose to continue practicing for longer than a minute. But that is up to you.
2) Keep it fun. Remember it is called PLAYING the ukulele. So make your practice time enjoyable and playful. For example think of your scales as games. Find different ways to play them by changing the timing and the order of the notes. Also reward yourself with music and songs that pique your excitement and make you want to play them often.
3) Really listen to your instrument. This tip came from Helene Beaulieu. When you pick up your ukulele instead of getting straight on with the business of playing just strum the open strings and pay close attention to the sound. Truly listen. How do you feel? What does the sound do to your senses? Think about sound. Remember that practice is not about creating physical movements it is about making sound.
4) Any time can be practice time so keep your instrument/s within easy reach. I wouldn\'t necessarily suggest this for trumpet, timpani, double bass or bagpipes, all of which require a dedicated practice space. But ukuleles are fairly unique in that they can be transported anywhere and played at low volume in kitchen, car, bedroom, living room or waiting room without causing too much offense.
5) Get a good instrument. Having a freshly strung ukulele that makes you feel great just to hold and hear will make a huge difference. The pleasure of a well made and great sounding instrument can make you want to spend as much time with it as possible.
6) Practice with performance in mind. Some play music purely for personal recreation but most of us plan at some time to share our music with others. Practicing for performance can mean many things. It can hone the quality of your singing and playing to a higher level. Practicing as if an audience is watching can get you familiar with playing outside of your comfort zone. Make sure to become adept at the trickier parts of songs to prevent falling apart in those places. Working towards a goal of putting the song across to an audience will deepen your connection to the instrument and to your music.
7) Consider the future if you fail to practice now. Here is a slightly sad personal story. In 2002 I bought a white upright piano. My goal was for both my daughter Aletha and I to learn to play. I imagined a future where our home would be filled with Boogie Woogie, Ragtime and singalong parties. But over time Aletha gave up her lessons and I simply forgot to play the instrument. And there it stands to this day untouched and unplayed. And this next part may make me sound a little crazy but I feel sorry for the piano. I imagine it came to our home feeling as I did at the time: excited and eagerly anticipating the music it would be making. Instead it has become a forlorn feature of our household furniture; a despondent repository for old books and bric-a-brac that get loaded onto its sad little lid. For most of 12 years it has stood silent, yearning to be played.
So if you won\'t practice for you, at least do it for the sake of your instrument.
I\'m excited to be communicating again through this newsletter. And I may even have inspired myself to have another crack at the piano before we send it away to \"a better place.\" I\'ll be sure to let you know!
© Ralph Shaw 2014