June 8, 2017: Summer Breeze!

Since summer weather and activities are fully underway in Austin, our June 2017 meeting had a summery theme. Nearly 150 ukulele players from all around Central Texas and beyond gathered to make ukulele music together. The evening began with introductions and local ukulele news, as well as a reminder that our July meeting will be on the first, instead of the second, Thursday of the month – July 6th. We then warmed up our hands and voices by playing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” To help us get ready to learn our summery tune, Bob gave us a great performance of his arrangement of Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze.” Bob then took the group through exercises to help learn the song’s melody, transitions, and lyrics. We even fit in some nice harmonizing as well as picking/strumming, during the choruses. Afterward, we put the song together and practiced it a few times through, getting better and more confident each time. Check out our skills by the end of the meeting:

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “Summer Breeze” 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).

We took a break from our practice to enjoy excellent performances by open mic participants – it was truly a pleasure to hear Marie, Mark, Sophia and Sam, Walter, and Sho do a great variety of familiar songs with creative arrangements.