Greetings, friends!
We hope you are all healthy and secure. We really missed holding the March Austin Ukulele Society meeting, but also feel we made the wisest choice given the circumstances. Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 9th, and we realize it is unlikely that we can meet in person then. Therefore, we are planning to stream our meeting online, so we can do what we all enjoy most – learn from Bob to play a song, sing, and strum ukuleles together! 🙂
We are working out the logistics and will be in touch with more information and a song sheet, by around the 1st of April. Check back with us then! In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves.
Warm regards,
Bob Guz and Jen Richardson
Austin Ukulele Society Co-Founders
Contact Us if you have any questions, need more information, or would like to be added to our mailing list.
The March 12th Austin Ukulele Society meeting was cancelled.
Greetings, friends! Our next monthly meeting is fast approaching, on Thursday, March 12, 7:00–9:00pm. Be there to strum and sing along with ukulele players of all levels. We’ll meet, as usual, at the Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 6100 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX, 78723.
With the passing of rock’n’roll legend Ric Ocasek about six months ago, we’ve been wanting to pay tribute by doing one of The Cars’ big hits: “Just What I Needed”. While we did this song years ago, as a much smaller group, it is such an infectious and catchy power-pop-rock song that it’s definitely worth revisiting, learning together (and recording). 🙂 If you’re not familiar with it, check out The Cars’ original recording.
The original is in the key of E, but Bob shifted our ukulele-friendly arrangement up a half-step to the key of F. Apart from that change, we’ll follow the original arrangement pretty closely. Here are some details about the song sheet:
Pages 1 though 3 have the lyrics and chords
Page 4 has diagrams for the two main strumming patterns (one pattern for the Intro, Verses, and Interlude 1, another pattern for the Choruses, Interlude 2, and the Ending)
Page 4 also has additional details about the special strums in the Intro
Page 5 has tab for the riff that appears in Interlude 1 and the second half of Verses 2 and 3 (played on synth in the original)
Page 6 has vocal harmony options for the Choruses as well as Vocal Options for Part 1 of the Ending
Page 7 has additional vocal options for Part 2 of the Ending
As always, we recommend getting familiar with the song by listening to the original recording and also by practicing the song using the chart and diagrams, before we meet on the 12th, if possible. 🙂
At the meeting, Bob will perform “Just What I Needed” to demonstrate the arrangement, and then take us through some helpful exercises to get us comfortable with the chords and chord progressions, strum styles, vocal and harmonizing options, before we put it all together to play it through.
We’ll also include some open mic time for those of you who’d like to showcase a tune you’ve been working on. A sign-up sheet will be available at 6:30. As open mic time is limited to five participants, please sign up when you arrive and understand that preference will be given to those who have not participated recently or ever before.
Ukulele Society T-shirts!
As you may know, we release a new Austin Ukulele Society t-shirt design each year. Check out our latest 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.
Please bring cash or a check made out to Austin Ukulele Society. The new “Austin Lasso” shirts are $20, as are last year’s “Cowboy” and 2017’s popular “Mermaid” shirts. All previous years’ styles are $15.
Location
Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX 78723. We meet in the school located behind the church, in the gym.
For those attending for the first time, the church is easy to find – but it is big. You’ll enter from Berkman Dr. using a ‘one way’ entrance and you can park anywhere alongside or behind the church. Past the canopied main entrance, on the same side of the building, there is another entrance on the right. Walk in there and you’ll be in the gym. From there simply follow the sounds of ukuleles tuning up. 🙂
Newcomers and beginners are ALWAYS welcome! Even if you’re a complete novice, we encourage you to come out. Many beginners come to the meetings, and it’s so great to see their skills grow over time! There are almost always easier ways to play the songs, even if you can play only a few of the chords. Or just sing along!
Our friends from the TUG (Tuesday Ukulele Group) now make available loaner ukuleles at the AUS monthly meetings! They are Makala concert and soprano ukes, and you can borrow one to play during the meeting. You’ll find them at the front of the room; so if you don’t have a uke yet, or you forget your uke at home, or your uke is in disrepair, please join us and borrow a TUG loaner uke. 🙂
Feel free to get familiar with the chord charts for any of the songs in our repertoire, all available on the “Music Library” page. We always play “Three Little Birds” and “On the Road Again” as our opening and closing songs, so if you’re new to the group and want to get familiar with them, you can play along using the presentations and our videos.
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, March 12, at 7:00pm!
Contact Us if you have any questions, need more information, or would like to be added to our mailing list.
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
We hosted another fabulous and fun Open Mic Happy Hour Saturday, February 22, at Kick Butt Coffee. We had more performers than at any of our previous open mic events! Ukulele-loving folks packed the place while over 80 musicians performed in groups, duets, and as soloists for the large, supportive, and joyous crowd. An incredible line-up of fantastic talent! A wonderful evening of friends and ukulele music! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the music, all who performed, Lyda Guz for the fantastic photos, Bob Guz who acted as MC, and Jen Richardson for all her work in organizing the event!
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
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!
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
On the eve before Valentine’s Day, about 160 members of the Austin Ukulele Society joined together to spread a beautiful and global message of love by learning the Bacharach/David-penned classic “What the World Needs Now is Love.” It’s a lovely song that has been recorded by a number of famous singers, topped charts around the globe and has also been featured in films. Jackie DeShannon was the first to have a big hit with it, in 1965.
We kicked off the evening with introductions and welcomed our first timers and visitors from far and wide. To warm up our fingers and voices, we played Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Then Bob G. led the group in exercises to help us learn the chord progressions, strumming and picking options and vocal harmonies of our featured song. When we played through the song together, we sounded better and better each time. As always, we owe a special thanks to Aaron Lewis’ help on the U-bass! We hope you enjoy our performance here:
Our open mic performance section was full of incredible talent, as usual! We were delighted by Marty’s cover of “You Belong to Me,” TUG’s PSA offering of “NyQuil Blues,” Kathy and the Kilowatts Duo on “I Like It Like That,” Bill’s instrumental original, and Michelle and Teigen’s great cover of Lenka’s “The Show.” We are grateful to all of you for sharing your music with us.
Clockwise from top left: Michelle and Teigen, Tuesday Ukulele Group (TUG), Bill, Kathy and the Kilowatts Duo, Marty
We look forward to seeing everyone at the Ukulele Open Mic on Saturday 2/22 at Kick Butt Cafe, and we look forward to our next monthly meeting on Thursday, March 12! See you then! 🙂
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
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!
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
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:
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! 🙂
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
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!
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
On a beautiful but chilly December evening, the Austin Ukulele Society celebrated its ninth annual Holiday Potluck and Strum-a-long, at the High Road on Dawson. We enjoyed sharing delicious food, desserts, and beverages, while mingling with friends old and new. We got our ukuleles out and played some of the wonderful Christmas tunes we’ve learned over the years. A wonderful evening of music! Many thanks to Jay Clement, who joined in on U-bass.
We are so grateful for the wonderful year we’ve had, making great music with our Austin-area ukulele friends and visitors from many places. We wish everyone peace, love, and joy through the holiday season!
We enjoyed a terrific display of open mic performances, with some great holiday song renditions, originals and creative covers. The performers included Dave Smith, a lovely debut by Uku Girls Meet Hula Girl, Jack Pott, Cranius Astounding, Mary Jane Ford, Jay Clement, Walter Minkel, Barry Bramhall and Sho & Shin Humphries. So much talent was shared, and we truly appreciate it!
Clockwise from top left: Dave Smith, Jack Pott, Cranius Astounding, Jay Clement
Clockwise from top left: Uku Girls Meet Hula Girl, Barry Bramhall, Walter Minkel, Sho & Shin Humphries, Mary Jane Ford
🎄 🎁 Holiday Music! 🎁 🎄
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Download the 2019 Edition of the Austin Ukulele Society Holiday Songbook! It includes charts for all of the joyous Christmas and wintry-themed songs belong in a condensed format designed to eliminate page turns when printed two-sided. See charts, presentations and video performances for each individual song below. Enjoy!
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy start to 2020!! We’ll see you at our regular meeting on Thursday, January 9, as we kick off the 10th year of the Austin Ukulele Society! 🙂
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
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!
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
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:
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! 🙂
Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!
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!
While we have your attention…
If you don’t already follow this website, why not take a moment to click on the “Follow Austin Ukulele Society” button? We’d really appreciate it! It’s in the right margin, just under the “Like us on Facebook” button and looks just like this: .
By following our website, you’ll always be kept up-to-date with the latest meeting announcements and other Austin Ukulele Society news. Thank you so much!
Greetings, friends!
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