Select Page

2nd Sunday NVUS Lesson on the Lake (Summer)

2nd Sunday NVUS Lesson on the Lake (Summer)

When

05/20/2018    
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Bookings

Bookings closed

Where

Cafe Montmartre
Lake Anne Village Center, 1625 Washington Plaza N, Reston, VA, 20190

Event Type

This meeting may challenge the beginners, and does require some practice on your part.  But, have no fear!  Even for the more advanced members, there’s always something to learn.  Maybe even get you to teach what you know to the beginner/beginner-intermediate/intermediates of our club members.  In the end, we are a Society of Ukulele aficionados and need to help each other improve to play together as a group.

Basic agenda we follow is below with occasional excursions that might be appropriate to the songs and how we will play them in our club. Please, don’t forget the signature songs, too.

General Agenda:

  1. Review of scales and chorded scales in Key of C and F. Note: Baritones can use the same lesson package in F, as your key of C. The Key of C for standard ukes is actually your key of G.
  2. Discuss Circle of 5ths. Note: With author’s permission, we posted a paper in our file store that was written by a former member of the KookieUkies who now has his own group but still associated to KookieUkies. This paper has a good technical description of how the Circle of 5ths works.
  3. More on Rhythms (Strums), Blues, or What-Nots. Note: download our Cheat Sheets from the “Lesson Pamphlets, Booklets, Sheets” folder and  and bring it with you.

Practice makes perfect! So, practice, practice, practice.
Here are some practice suggestions, even if for 10 min a day — ideally on each.

  • Practice Item #1: 1-2 min for scales going up the scale of C, then in reverse. Keep tempo.  If you can go faster without making any mistakes, then speed up.  If you have mistakes, slow down.  If you think you have the C scale down, then try F and G scales — remember they are only 1 note different from the C scale.
    Objective: correct notes in a key of a song, so you could play melody lines, riffs, or even solo breaks — in the right key
  • Practice Item #1 (for intermediate and higher): We’ve been practicing primarily using your thumb — try using different fingers (suggest trying pointer/index and middle only). An alternative is to start with thumb, then pick the next note using index finger, then alternate between them.  Then try playing the scales in thirds (see Moses, David, or Sandy).
    Objective: same as above but mo’ bettah!
  • Practice Item #2: Do simple chord pattern strum in C (C, F, G7), F (F, Bb, C7), or G (G, C, D7) for 1-2 min straight. Focus on 1 strum per count in 4/4 (4 beat bar/measure) with 4 beats per chord.
    Objective: able to easily transition between the common chord sets in the common keys used in ukulele groups or jams, eventually in any key.
  • Practice Item #2 (for intermediate and higher): Try the same thing as the regular Practice Item #2 with different progressions in 2 or 3 keys: Do Wop: I-vi-IV-V, Do Wop with 7th: I-vi-IV-V7, Wagon-Wheel: I-V-vi-IV — some songs we have in our jam book and play often follow these progressions — albeit not always in the key of C.  Know them for keys C, F, G, and perhaps A and D, too.
    Objective: play common progressions without lead sheets for any given key
  • Practice Item #3: 1-2 min 4-finger chromatic scale and arpeggiated closed chord exercise (see Moses Kamai’s finger practice cheat sheet in the files section – “Lesson Pamphlets, Booklets, Sheets“)
    Objective: clean, quality tones for each note held on the fret board for any chord shape — clean arpeggios = clean strummed chords
  • Practice Item #4: don’t forget the arpeggio’s that we started before Christmas. Practice the [41]-4-2-4-3-4 arpeggio that goes with Silent Night — it’s 3/4 time. If you get used to that arpeggio and want to try, 4-2-3-2-1-2-3-2 arpeggio, this is in 4/4 time.
    Objective: easily alternate between strumming patterns rhythmically to picking patterns over a chord progression

 

Bookings

RSVPs are closed for this event.

Submit a Comment