The Austin Ukulele Society and 150+ ukulele friends from places near and far had a terrific time together on Thursday, August 24th, thanks to the internet and YouTube. Whether it was 2am in Germany or 5pm in Vancouver, BC or Friday at 10am in Australia, dedicated musicians made time to enjoy the ukulele and Bob’s teaching. We played our warm-up and wrap-up songs, and Bob taught a tutorial on our featured song, a wonderful hit from the early 1960’s made famous by The Drifters: “Up on the Roof.”  💓

We kicked off the evening with ukulele news and our warm up song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Then Bob shared useful details about the song chart for “Up on the Roof” and gave us a lovely performance of his arrangement. He led us through great exercises, getting us comfortable with the chords, chord progressions, and picking options – and shared some great tips, including a transition from G to Em that was really appreciated.

After we practiced the components of the song, we had a great time playing through “Up on the Roof” a couple of times. Before we bid the evening adieu, we played our closing song – Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Then we spent some time together, watching collaborative videos of virtual meeting participants as well as some recordings from our in-person Austin meetings.

You can download the lyrics, chords, and tab for “Up on the Roof,” or download a copy of the presentation and instruction guide, including exercises and drills. You can also watch a replay of the August 24 live stream. Watch the entire show or jump to the part you most want to see!

As always, we love to give to a shout out to AUS co-founder Jen Richardson, who moderated the chat with finesse through the evening; Lyda Guz, who skillfully managed the presentation slides, and Marty Porter and Paul Butler, for expertly producing the virtual meetings’ collaborative videos. Check out our most recent group video, Bruno Mars’ delightful 2010 hit, “Count On Me“:

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

We look forward to seeing many of you at our next in-person meeting, on Thursday, September 14. We’ll also look forward to our next virtual meeting, which will be a holiday song strum-a-long, on Thursday, December 7. In the meantime, keep an eye on the Austin Ukulele Society’s YouTube channel!  🙂

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

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