Kevin Carroll workshop Septembe 12th - The full scoop!

Hello Houston!

I look forward to working on some ukulele music with you.  Two workshops in Houston on Saturday, September 12th:

Workshop #1
10:30-11:30AM
Solo skills: We will cover how to combine melody, harmony and rhythm and some useful practice approaches.

Songs will include C-Jam Blues by Duke Ellington, Lean on Me by Bill Withers and Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra.

Workshop #2
1:30-2:30PM
Ensemble playing: We will cover ways to create differentiated parts for all levels, improvising, and the necessary mindset to be a positive contributor in a musical group.

Songs will include C-Jam Blues by Duke Ellington, Low Rider by War and more!

$30 each or $50 for both.
Register at: www.kevincarroll.net/workshops

Location:
Kenneth Fowler and Family Residence
The Heights Neighborhood
Houston, TX 77009

Kevin Carroll workshops in September - save the date!

Save the date!

Ukulele musician and educator Kevin Carroll of Austin will be in Houston to teach 2 ukulele workshops on Saturday, September 12th.

We are seeking your input for additional ideas, but the first session is planned to focus on developing individual playing skills; the second on growing ensemble playing.

Details of time, place, etc., to follow in subsequent posts.

We're really looking forward to this chance to play and learn together and hope to see you there!

Check out Kevin's web site at: www.kevincarroll.net

Amazing Grace - Chord Solo

Hello! Here are 3 files to help you get started with "Amazing Grace". Everything is written for gCEA tuning (sorry Baritone players - you can play the same shapes but it will be in C, not F).

File 1) Amazing Grace - simple with notes.pdf

The first page is a simple chord solo arrangement in F; staff of the melody and TAB of the chord solo. Melody note is always carried by the last string struck if you are playing down strums. This is a great version if you have never played a chord solo before. There are a few additional pages of scales and chord diagrams to show a little bit about how a chord solo works in the keys of F and C.

File 2) Amazing Grace - Kimo Hussey (hand written).pdf

This is my original hand written transcription of the arrangement I played at the meetup. There are a few performance notes at the bottom of page 1. You can listen to Kimo perform it if you listen to the track on his recording, "Eminent Ukulele" ...iTunes has it. I worked out the transcription by listening to this. I have played it for Kimo and he says it sounds fine.

File 3) Amazing Grace - Kimo Hussey (Kevin Carroll).pdf

Kevin Carroll, the Austin-based uke teacher, was kind enough to enter my transcription in to GuitarPro. 

If you have any questions about this material, please contact me...or we can just talk at the next meetup.

Enjoy!

Kenneth

Houkulele Red Nose Day Jam, Thursday, May 21st

Houkulele, Houston's ukulele club, will hold a special meetup from 7-9 pm at Hickory Hollow in the Heights (101 Heights Boulevard, Houston, TX 77007) on the first annual RED NOSE DAY USA (Thursday, May 21, 2015). This fundraiser is in support of Comic Relief Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

The meetup will function as a regular jam, but we'll be wearing our official Red Noses! We invite you to join us at Hickory Hollow - red nose or not, ukulele or not - to help fight world hunger. Whether or not you are able to join us, please consider sponsoring this very special meetup by visiting our fundraising page at:
https://www.crowdrise.com/houkulelernd2015/fundraiser/houkulele

Funds donated through the fundraising page go directly into Comic Relief, Inc.'s coffers. Any cash donated at the meetup will be tranferred to Comic Relief, Inc. via the page by midnight on Red Nose Day, and by the end of the meetup if possible.

We have set a modest goal as this is the first project like this we have done, but we certainly hope to exceed it! For more information go to RedNoseDay.org.

Houkulele Songbook Updates!

The first version of the Houkulele Songbook for 2015 is now ready for your playing enjoyment!

You can find it under the Songbooks section of the site:


Or you can download it directly here.

What's new in this version?

• New songs
• Updated songs
• (Slightly) new format

To help you sort out what's different, we've added a new column to the contents page so you can see what's changed when:


Share and enjoy!

Play Ukulele by Ear with Jim D'Ville!

On Tuesday, March 31, at Lord of Life Lutheran Church (The Woodlands) (3801 S Panther Creek
Dr, Spring, TX 77381) there will be two workshops offered - one hour each:

7:00 pm

Strumming Ukulele By Ear (All Levels) Free yourself from memorizing Down-Up patterns! Starting with the basic index finger strum, Jim will quickly have your muscle memory absorbing fun strums like The Gallop Triplett, The Chunky Chop and many more strumming techniques that will spice up your playing.

8:00 pm 

Play Ukulele By Ear Vol. 1 Get the most out of your ukulele experience by learning to Play Ukulele By Ear. This entertaining and informative workshop will give you the tools you need to tap into your innate musical abilities. Playing by ear is easy, fun, and it will propel your understanding of how music works to a new level. This workshop will make you a better listener and student! All skill levels welcome, however, knowledge of basic chord shapes (C F G7) is helpful.

Cost to attend is $35 for both sessions. To attend only one or the other is $20. To reserve your spot and make payment arrangements (through PayPal) contact Jim directly via email: dville at teleport.com

Galveston Mardi Gras 2015 - Parking and Wristbands

 From Larry, our parade coordinator...

Due to street closures, the best way to access the Convention Center garage is to come up 53rd Street towards Seawall and take a right through the Rain Forest Cafe parking lot to get to the parking garage.

Wristbands will be available for the group which will enable them to get free food from the Krewe of Gambrinus vendor. Restrooms will be open at the Convention Center.