★ Our Next Online Meeting: Thursday, July 23! ★

Our next online meeting is fast approaching on Thursday, July 23, 7:00-8:30pm US Central Time! We’re looking forward to strumming and singing with our global Austin Ukulele Society community!

The live event is scheduled, and it is the very first item at the top of the Austin Ukulele Society’s YouTube channel page. Simply click the YouTube Live Event to join when we go live on the 23rd at 7:00pm (CDT, GMT -05:00). The PowerPoint presentations (with our warm up and closing songs, as well as the featured song we’ll learn) will be viewable alongside Bob, during the YouTube event.

We’ll go through the detailed presentations while Bob explains and teaches his arrangement of our featured song. If you are logged into YouTube/Google, please say hello and share any questions/comments with Jen, moderating on behalf of the Austin Ukulele Society. She can get inquiries about the arrangement to Bob for live response. 🙂 If you have a chance to practice the songs in advance, and you have questions, feel free to email them to us.

Pro Tips:

The event is accessible without logging in and you don’t need a YouTube/Google account to watch. But to comment, you’ll need to log into YouTube with a Gmail account ID.
When you join the YouTube live stream, if the video or sound quality is not at its best, roll your mouse over the video to find the ‘gear’ icon. Click it and select the ‘Quality’ option; 480p or higher (we recommend 720p) should improve video and sound quality for you, if you have the internet bandwidth to make the change. 🙂

Our virtual meetings give us the opportunity to truly focus on learning and improving our playing, with a detailed tutorial presented by Bob (with live Q&A fielded by Jen and Lyda). Therefore, rather than focusing on the in-person meeting’s latest song, we enjoy revisiting a great song from a past AUS meeting.

This month, we’ll revisit a tune by one of New Jersey’s best gifts to rock and pop music – Bon Jovi. Get ready to rock out, as we learn 2000’s “It’s My Life,” a top 10 hit in several countries and Bon Jovi’s most viewed video (~1.5 billion views!). This infectious rock anthem gets plenty of airplay to this day, so we know you’ll be singing along in no time!

Download the song sheet for “It’s My Life” to practice. Bon Jovi’s 2000 original recording is in Cm, but Bob’s moved his arrangement up a couple of steps to Em, where it’s much more ukulele friendly. 🙂 You’re encouraged to play along with with our energetic performance video from June 2024.

In the song sheet you’ll find:

Pages 1-3 have the chords and lyrics
Page 4 has a description of the main strum patterns, with a simplified alternative
Page 4 also has details on the strum played during the Intro and Interlude
Page 5 has tab that can be played during the Intro and Interlude
Page 5 also has details on the strum and tab played during the Verses
Page 6 has melody and harmonizing options for the Pre-choruses
Pages 7-8 have melody and harmonizing options for the Choruses

Early in the livestream, Bob will perform “It’s My Life” to demonstrate the arrangement, and then take us through helpful exercises to get us comfortable with the chords and chord progressions. We’ll explore the song, strum styles, harmony options, and more. The lesson will be beginner-friendly, but there will be something to gain for uke players of all levels. Bob will also spend some time diving into strumming skills.

As always, we recommend practicing by using the song sheet Bob created, Bon Jovi’s 2000 original recording, and the Austin Ukulele Society’s performance video, before the 23rd, if possible. 🙂

We always play Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” as our opening and closing songs, so if you’re new to the group and want to get familiar with them, you can play along using the presentations and our videos, available on our “Music Library” page. We’ll also display the presentations for these two songs during the live broadcast, for your convenience. 🙂

Newcomers and beginners are ALWAYS welcome, and we certainly look forward to having friends from far and wide join in with our livestream! Even if you’re a complete novice, we encourage you to join in. There are always easier ways to play the songs, even if you can play only a few of the chords. Or just sing along!

Stay tuned and keep strumming!! We look forward to having you join us at our virtual meeting on Thursday, July 23, at 7:00pm US Central Daylight Time!

July 9, 2026: Sweet Caroline!

Our July 9th meeting was extra fabulous, thanks to the record-breaking number of participants (220!) and it being the kickoff event for the Uke Stars Central Texas Ukulele Festival. We loved having friends new and old, of all ages and stages, bring so much enthusiasm into one room, for a couple of hours of learning, strumming, and singing! ❤

Bob started the meeting by sharing local ukulele news, including a preview of the Festival events and a run-down of what to expect for the evening.

Then he helped us warm up our voices and fingers with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

To celebrate hosting our very first festival, we revisited one of our most popular covers, “Sweet Caroline,” which we learned at the January 2019 meeting (7.5 years ago)! Neil Diamond’s contagiously catchy hit has gotten continuous accolades and play since it was released in 1969.This tune was a chart-topper around the world, and is still as timeless as ever.

Bob (with support from Aaron Lewis on bass) played through his excellent uke arrangement of “Sweet Caroline.” He led us through his helpful exercises to learn each component of the song, and we enjoyed getting comfortable with the chords, chord progressions, strum styles, and tab and harmonizing options.

We put the song together and played it through a few times, and we got better with each try!

Once we share our recording on YouTube, we hope you’ll have fun playing along with us from home. Look for our video performance of “Sweet Caroline,” coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Sweet Caroline” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We’re immensely grateful to Aaron Lewis for his bass accompaniment. Many, many thanks to all the fabulous AUS volunteers for their hard work.

Please plan to join us for our next virtual meeting on Thursday, July 23, on our YouTube channel, and we hope to see you in person on August 13 at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

We appreciate your support and interest. If you’d like to make a donation to the Austin Ukulele Society (a 501(c)(3) organization), visit our Square Donation site. If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please fill out our this short sign-up form. For any other inquiries, please contact us or shoot us an email if you have previous correspondence with us.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

We’re very excited about our 2026 Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt, “Ukin’ Armadillo,” designed by Lyda Guz. This cool design features a rockin’ and rollin’ armadillo happily strumming his favorite ukulele decorated with 16 stars to celebrates the Austin Ukulele Society’s 16th year of making music together. As always, the shirts are silk-screened right here in Austin at a fantastic locally-owned print shop.

Our new “Ukin’ Armadillo” design, “Circle of Stars,” “AUS Grackle,” “Classic Ukulele,” “Ukulele Around the World,” “10th Anniversary,” Mermaid, Cowboy,” “Austin Lasso” and other shirts are $25. We also have vinyl decals with the AUS logo for $1 each. We can accept cash or a check made out to Austin Ukulele Society; you can also make payment via Venmo or PayPal. Please drop us a line if you’d like to purchase a shirt (or two or three). 🙂 At this time, we can only ship orders within the U.S.

June 11, 2026: Don’t Bring Me Down!

On a hot June evening, we were delighted to keep everyone cool at our monthly meeting. We had a terrific, enthusiastic turnout of 165 uke players of all ages and skill levels — thank you all for being there! ❤

The evening kicked off with local ukulele news, including a reminder to check out and purchase tickets for the Uke Stars Central Texas Ukulele Festival coming up July 9 through 12. Ticket sales will close on July 1.

Then we got the music-making started by playing our traditional warm-up song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Such a great way to limber up our fingers, warm up our voices, and remind ourselves that every little thing is gonna be alright!

We’ve long wanted to do an Electric Light Orchestra cover, and since there’s no time like the present, we learned to strum, pick, and sing 1979’s timeless, rockin’ hit, “Don’t Bring Me Down.” This tune was a chart-topper around the world, and it still gets plenty of airplay. Bob (with support on bass from Aaron) performed his great arrangement of the song to get us familiar with it. He took us through exercises to practice the chords, chord progressions, strumming styles, picking options, and harmonies. We put the song all together and improved with each take.

Our open mic participants – Jay, Rich, and Jack – were wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing your skills with us!

When we got back to practicing our song, we got better and better and shot our latest video, so please play along with us from home. Look for our video performance of “Don’t Bring Me Down,” coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Don’t Bring Me Down” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We’re immensely grateful to Aaron Lewis for his bass accompaniment. Many, many thanks to all the fabulous AUS volunteers for their hard work.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at our next meeting on July 9th at St. John’s United Methodist Church. This meeting is the opening event of the Uke Stars Central Texas Ukulele Festival! Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

May 14, 2026: Somewhere Only We Know!

On a balmy Austin mid-May evening, Austin Ukulele Society participants, young and old, seasoned and new, visiting from as far as Oregon, and more, all came together to enjoy a terrific evening of learning, singing, and strumming!

We started the evening with some ukulele news, and we introduced our friend Neal Kassanoff, founder of Groundwork Music Project. Together with support from the Austin Ukulele Society and EdUkeCation, Groundwork is hosting the first Central Texas Ukulele Festival from July 9 – 12! Please plan to join the fun; find out more and sign up for the email list, purchase workshop tickets, and more on the Festival’s website.

Then we got the music-making started by playing our always uplifting warm-up song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Bob (with support on bass from Aaron) gave us a lovely performance of the song we’d be learning. We moved some decades into the future from the Beatles era that we explored in April, with East Sussex’s alternative rockers Keane, to cover their 2004 smash hit “Somewhere Only We Know.” This tune is a lovely, catchy, and piano-driven rock ballad which was also a #1 hit for Lily Allen when she covered it in 2013.

Everyone did great, learning the strum style, tab, harmony options, and more, as we practiced Bob’s great arrangement and helpful exercises.

By the time we recorded the song, we sounded terrific. We hope you’ll play along with us from wherever you are! Look for our video performance of “Somewhere Only We Know,” coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Somewhere Only We Know” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We’re immensely grateful to Aaron Lewis for his bass accompaniment. Many, many thanks to all the fabulous AUS volunteers for their hard work.

We’re looking forward to seeing you again at our next meeting on June 11th at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

April 23, 2026: She Loves You!

The April 2026 virtual meeting was tons of fun. Thank you for joining in from all over the world, for the first time or the 50th time, solo or with your local group, and bringing your great questions and friendly conversation, too! 🙂

Beatlemania will never end, and the Austin Ukulele Society has had a Beatles month! We first covered “She Loves You” just over 10 years ago, in February 2016, as a Valentine’s-inspired tune. Like most Beatles hits, it is timeless and just as fun and fresh as ever. We had a blast learning it together!

Bob kicked off the meeting by sharing some local information, including the July 9th – 12th Uke Stars event. You can sign up to get details from our friends at Groundwork Music Project. He also introduced our good friend Jay Clement, who joined him at his home, to play U-bass and sing harmonies.

Then we warmed up with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” before getting started on our featured song. Bob shared some info about “She Loves You” and played it through (with Jay’s accompaniment) to give us a feel for the arrangement we’d be learning. Bob took us step by step through his great arrangement.

We had a great time learning the chords, alternative chords, progressions, and more. Many of you were very impressed with how multi-layered this seemingly simple song is, and we are glad you enjoyed the lesson. After we practiced each component, we played it through twice – and we sounded terrific!

To close out the evening, Bob and Jay performed another Beatles tune, “Two of Us.” We played our traditional closing song, Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and Bob shared a few of the AUS in-person meeting videos.

You can download the song sheet for “She Loves You” to play along, or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide, including exercises and drills.

You can also watch a replay of the April 23 livestream. Watch the entire show or jump to the part you most want to see!

● Welcome and announcements
● “Three Little Birds” warm-up song
● “She Loves You” tutorial and play-along
● “Two of Us” performed by Bob and Jay
● “On the Road Again” closing song

Thanks again to Jen for all of her back-end work with the AUS, including moderating the live events, to Lyda for all she does to keep our presentation slides in perfect time, and to Jay for helping out on bass and vocals.

Thank you all for joining us, sending in your selfies, and staying connected!

We look forward to being back with our friends from near and far online on July 23, 2026! And we hope to seeing all our nearby friends at our next in-person meeting on Thursday, May 14, at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Be well and keep strumming! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

April 9, 2026: Hey Jude!

We had a wonderful time at our April in-person meeting! Despite the rainy weather, the turnout was fabulous, with over 170 enthusiasts in attendance. We welcomed first timers and regulars alike; it was especially fun welcoming an old friend who moved to the Philippines, new friends from the Cayman Islands, and a recent transplant who has been taking his uke around the world with his work, hoping to find a group like ours!

Hard to believe, but nearly three years has passed since we covered a Beatles tune. We often get requests to do so, and we get it – the Beatles’ repertoire is delightfully timeless, ever popular, and has many songs that lend themselves well to group sing and strum-a-longs. They also often offer some great learning opportunities for cool strum patterns and vocal harmonies. At this meeting we learned to strum, pick, and harmonize the iconic “Hey Jude.”

After sharing some local ukulele news, we played our warm-up song – Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Then Bob (with Jay on U-bass) gave us a great demo performance of “Hey Jude.”

Bob took us through some very helpful exercises to learn each component of this timeless 1968 Beatles favorite, and we had a great time learning the strum styles, the harmonizing options, the picking part, and even some a cappella refrains of the coda. We put the song together a couple of times and sounded better with each practice.

We took a break to enjoy a special open mic treat, as Kevin Carroll and his Austin Ukestra performed an original piece.

After we got back to practicing on “Hey Jude,” we made a recording for your listening (and play along!) pleasure. We hope you’ll have as much fun as we did. It will be coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Hey Jude” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We’re immensely grateful to Jay Clement for his bass accompaniment. Many, many thanks to all the fabulous AUS volunteers for their hard work.

Take care and be well. We hope you’ll all join us at the AUS virtual meeting on April 23rd on our YouTube Channel! And we look forward to seeing everyone at our next in-person meeting on May 14 at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

March 12, 2026: Take a Chance On Me!

Thank you so much for coming out to the Austin Ukulele Society’s March meeting! We loved seeing so many enthusiastic uke players, from near and far! We owe a big shout out to our friend Vany who joined us all the way from India, and who we got to know in our monthly virtual meetings during the pandemic.

We’ve long wanted to cover an ABBA song, and this was our big “chance”! We learned to strum and harmonize one of ABBA’s most popular songs of all time, 1978’s “Take a Chance On Me.”

Bob kicked off the meeting with introductions and a quick review of the agenda. After sharing some local ukulele news, Bob (with support from Jay on U-bass) gave us a lovely performance of “Take a Chance on Me.”

Then we got to work, learning the chords, chord progressions, strum styles and harmonizing options for this upbeat song. As we practiced each component and put more pieces together, we got better and better!

We played it through a couple of times, then took a break for the open mic portion of the evening. Rebecca and Jay gave us two terrific performances; we’re so grateful to all who get up and share their talents with us!

Next, we played through “Take a Chance On Me” again, and recorded it for you to enjoy and play along with from your home. We hope you’ll have as much fun as we did. It will be coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Take a Chance On Me” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We’re immensely grateful to Jay Clement for his bass accompaniment. Many, many thanks to all the fabulous AUS volunteers for their hard work.

Take care and be well. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next in-person meeting on April 9 at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Save the date for our next virtual meeting, April 23rd on our YouTube Channel! Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

February 12, 2026: You Belong With Me!

Our February meeting was one for the books, with ~175 ukulele enthusiasts ready to learn to sing and strum our first-ever Taylor Swift song! Swift’s a songwriter known for penning many fantastic songs about romantic relationships and heartbreak, and we knew she’d be a great choice for our Valentine’s-week meeting.

We learned to strum, pick, and sing “You Belong With Me.” This 2008 mega-hit is considered one of Swift’s signature songs, and we had a blast singing and strumming along to its infectious tune with great lyrics.

Bob kicked off the meeting with introductions and a quick review of the agenda. We also played through our warm-up song – Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Bob (with Aaron on bass) performed his arrangement of “You Belong With Me,” much to our listening pleasure, and to help us get familiar with what we’d be learning. We dove into helpful exercises to learn the strum style, the chord progressions, the harmonizing options, and the picking parts. When we put the song together, we sounded fantastic!

We took a break and delighted in three excellent open mic performances. The lovely trio of Kelly, Kim and Becky covered “Blue Skies,” Paul did a great rendition of “Makin’ Love Ukulele Style,” and Roy and Theresa performed a great cover of the classic John Prine/Iris DeMent duet “In Spite of Ourselves.” We’re thankful, always, to our open mic participants – and we hope to see you at the Ukulele Open Mic on Saturday, February 21st!!

We got back to practicing “You Belong With Me” and recorded ourselves – we hope you enjoy our video and playing along with us from home! It will be coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “You Belong With Me” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screens for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

As always, we’re immensely grateful to Aaron for his accompaniment on U-bass and all the fabulous AUS volunteers for all their hard work.

Take care and be well. We look forward to seeing you all at our March 12th meeting at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!

January 22, 2026: Ripple!

Hello, friends, thank you for joining us at our January virtual meeting! Whether it was 5pm in California, 9pm in Nova Scotia, 2am in Germany, or noon Friday in Sydney, Australia, more than 180 of you showed up, ready to strum and sing with Bob and the gang in Austin. We love you! 🙂

With the recent passing of the legendary co-founder of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir, we thought it would be great to pay homage to him by revisiting our take on “Ripple.” The Austin Ukulele Society covered this classic ~11 years ago.

Bob kicked off the meeting by introducing special guest and friend Jay Clement, who joined him to harmonize on vocals and play u-bass. He then introduced Jen, his AUS partner, and Lyda, his life partner, and shared some local uke news, including our upcoming Ukulele Open Mic on February 21st.

Then Bob led us in playing our lovely opening song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” before launching into the meeting’s tutorial. Bob led us through some helpful exercises to learn each part of “Ripple,” including its strumming styles and harmony options. He also spent time reviewing and demonstrating some useful strumming techniques. We enjoyed breaking down “Ripple” and played it through twice – we sounded great!

Then Bob spent a little time sharing some background on “Wagon Wheel,” and we had fun playing this popular tune together, too.

To close out the evening, we played Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” Bob shared a few of the AUS in-person meeting videos, and we chatted some more before ending the livestream.

You can download the song sheet for “Ripple” to play along, or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide, including exercises and drills.

Download the song sheet for “Wagon Wheel” to play along, or grab a copy of the presentation and instruction guide, including exercises and drills.

You can also watch a replay of the January 22 livestream. Watch the entire show or jump to the part you most want to see!

● Welcome and announcements
● “Three Little Birds” warm-up song
● “Ripple” tutorial and play-along
● “Wagon Wheel” tutorial and play-along
● “On the Road Again” closing song

It was a wonderful time together, and we owe a many thanks to Lyda Guz for managing the presentation and Jen Richardson for moderating the chat. Special thanks to our guest Jay Clement for his bass and vocal accompaniment!

Thank you all for joining us, sending in your selfies, and staying connected!

We look forward to being back with our friends from near and far online on April 23, 2026! And we hope to seeing all our nearby friends at our next in-person meeting on Thursday, February 12, at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Be well and keep strumming! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

January 8, 2026: Rhinestone Cowboy!

We kicked off our 16th year of monthly meetings on a beautiful January evening in Austin. We had at least 175 ukulele enthusiasts of all levels in attendance! As always, we want to thank you for showing up, smiling and participating. We could not do this without you!

In January we always opt to learn a popular and upbeat song. This January was no different, and we learned Glen Campbell’s 1975 timeless, international hit, “Rhinestone Cowboy.” This tune is generally considered his signature song and tells a tale of making it, despite obstacles. We were all singing and strumming along in no time!

Bob kicked off the meeting with introductions and gratitude. He thanked Jen for being his partner in all things AUS, Lyda for all she does, not least of all designing our fantastic shirts, Lori and Jana for supporting us in business decisions and t-shirt sales and gave thanks to our tireless friends Barry and Gary, too. After sharing some local uke news, we warmed up with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

After hearing Bob and Aaron perform a great demo of our new-to-us song, we got to work on “Rhinestone Cowboy.” We had fun learning the chords, chord progressions, strum patterns and picking options from Bob. After we practiced each component of the song, we put it all together and played it through, sounding better each time.

We took a break to hear Rich play a great song he’s been working on. Then we got back to practicing “Rhinestone Cowboy” and recorded a video of our performance!

We hope you’ll play along with us on “Rhinestone Cowboy” from your home. It will be coming soon to our YouTube Channel!

To play along, you can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for Bob’s arrangement of “Rhinestone Cowboy” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

As always, we’re immensely grateful to Aaron for his accompaniment on U-bass and all the fabulous AUS volunteers for all their hard work.

Take care and be well. We look forward to “seeing” everyone at our upcoming virtual meeting on Thursday, January 22, at 7:00 CDT on our YouTube Channel. We also hope to see you at the February 12 in-person meeting at St. John’s United Methodist Church. Keep on strumming until then! 🙂

For more downloadable music, visit our Ukulele Music Library. For more Austin Ukulele Society videos, check out our YouTube Channel.

Ukulele Society T-shirts and Merch!