On January 9 over 150 ukulele players joined together to kick off the 10th year of monthly Austin Ukulele Society meetings in terrific style! We had a wonderful time, with a few friends who’d been present at our very first meeting in January 2011, as well as many friends we’ve come to know over the years, plus first-timers and visitors from afar. We thank you, as always, for your warmth and enthusiasm, your strumming and your singing, and affection for our favorite 4-string instrument.

We always like to kick off the year with a very popular and well known classic hit, and Culture Club’s 1983 chart-topper “Karma Chameleon” is a great pick. After introductions, sharing local ukulele updates, and warming up with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” Bob G. performed “Karma Chameleon” to demonstrate his arrangement. He then took the group through some helpful exercises, so we could learn the chord progressions, strumming pattern, picking options, and vocal harmonies. We worked hard and sounded great when we put the song together and played it through. It was an especially wonderful addition having Aaron Lewis on Ubass and Cynthia Sadler on percussion. Check out our performance here:

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Karma Chameleon” 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 truly enjoyed some excellent open mic participants. Darryl backed up by Sweet Tea, Al (all the way from Stillwater, OK), Sho, Rodger and Rich all gave us beautiful and creative renditions of a variety of songs.

Clockwise from top left: Darryl and Sweet Tea, Al, Rich, Rodger and Sho

We look forward to seeing you all again on Thursday, February 13, for our next monthly meeting – and at our Ukulele Open Mic Happy Hour on Saturday, February 22, at Kick Butt Coffee! 🙂

 
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!
As you may know, we release a new Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt design each year. Our latest edition was created, as usual, by the talented Lyda Guz and screen-printed right here in Austin at a fantastic locally-owned print shop! It’s 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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