On a chilly November evening, around 150 members of the Austin Ukulele Society created plenty of warmth and cheer as they gathered to sing and play ukulele together. After sharing some local ukulele news, introducing ourselves and welcoming visitors, we played Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” as we always do, to kick off our musical time together. As is our habit at our November monthly meeting, we learned to sing and strum a holiday favorite together. This year, we enjoyed paying tribute to Mariah Carey’s modern-day classic, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

First, Bob demonstrated his arrangement for us by performing it. Then he led the group through some very helpful exercises, to get us comfortable with the strum pattern, chord progressions, picking options, and vocal harmonies. We sounded better and better as we played each part and then the song in its entirety. We are grateful to Aaron Lewis on U-bass for helping us keep the rhythm. We hope our performance gets you in the holiday spirit — check it out:

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” 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 were thrilled to enjoy the talents of our open mic performances. Kevin Carroll and his Ukestra treated us to a Scottish instrumental piece, Bob and Jay did a great cover of the Beatles’ “Two of Us,” Rodger performed a ukulele classic from “Blue Hawaii,” and we were very pleased to welcome Pastor Cynthia to the stage for her first time ever, as she did a fabulous cover of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”

Clockwise from top left: Jay and Bob, Cynthia, Rodger, Kevin Carroll and the Ukestra

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we look forward to seeing everyone at our 9th Annual Holiday Strum-a-long and Potluck on Thursday, December 12, at the High Road on Dawson. More details coming soon! 🙂

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

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Ukulele Society T-shirts Make Fantastic Gifts!
As you may know, we release a new Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt design each Fall. We are thrilled to reveal our 2019 edition, as usual created by the talented Lyda Guz and screen-printed right here in Austin at a fantastic locally-owned print shop! Available in charcoal heather cotton/poly blend in mens/unisex, womens, and kids styles.

These new “Austin Lasso” shirts are $20. They are available at our meetings or Contact Us if you would like to have one mailed to you!

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