On a stormy May evening, approximately 150 friendly musicians gathered to enjoy strumming their favorite four-stringed instrument. As usual, we welcomed a delightful mix of members who have been attending our meetings since 2011 along with first-time guests visiting from as far as California and Florida. We got started with some ukulele-related announcements and introductions and then quickly moved into our warm up song (Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”)

This month, we learned to sing and strum a huge early-1990s hit, made even more popular by its critically acclaimed music video: R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” The mandolin riff on which the song is built translates really well to the ukulele! Bob told us a little about his arrangement for this song and gave us a great solo live demo to boot. He led us through very helpful exercises for learning the chord progressions, strumming patterns, picking part options and vocal harmonies. When we put the song together and practiced it, we sounded better and better each time through. We recorded it for our YouTube friends around the world – we hope you enjoy it!

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Losing My Religion” 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 enjoyed the excellent offerings of our talented open mic participants for the evening! Bertie gave us a great rendition of “Sentimental Journey,” Helen rocked us with the Meat Puppets’ “Backwater,” and Rich crooned and strummed a great version of Sinatra’s “Young at Heart” (as tribute to his own recent birthday and Kevin Jolly’s recent retirement).

 
We’re looking forward, as always, to our next meeting! See you all on Thursday, June 13, at 7:00pm! 🙂

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

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