On a beautiful and breezy spring evening, ukulele players both local to Austin and visiting from points all around the U.S. for SXSW or spring break, participated in the wonderful music community that makes up the Austin Ukulele Society. Folks enjoyed getting to know each other before we kicked off the meeting with introducing ourselves, sharing local ukulele events and playing our warm up song (Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”) Our Bob G. then jumped into demonstrating our arrangement of Florence + the Machine’s 2015 infectious hit, “Ship to Wreck.” He took the group through helpful exercises for each section of the song, getting us comfortable with the strum pattern, chord progressions, picking parts, vocal styles and harmonizing options. When we played the song through, our playing and voices were melodic and strong.

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Ship To Wreck” 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 usual, we took a break to enjoy some very talented friends share the songs they’d prepared for the open mic portion of the evening. A huge thanks to Rich, Dave, Emma and Rodger for playing beautiful renditions of songs we could all appreciate.

 
We look forward to seeing you all at our 100th meeting on Thursday, April 11th! 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!

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!

Our March meeting is fast approaching! We’re looking forward to strumming ukuleles and singing harmonies with you at the Austin Ukulele Society monthly meeting on Thursday, March 14, 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.

Since we kicked off the year by learning classic tunes like “Sweet Caroline” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” we thought this month would be a good time to do a contemporary song. So we’ll learn to play and sing Florence + The Machine’s 2015 infectious hit “Ship to Wreck.” If you’re not yet familiar with this song, we know you’ll quickly see the appeal of its poppy pre-chorus and chorus as well as Florence Welch’s passionate vocals.

You can practice “Ship To Wreck” by downloading the chord chart here. Like the original, the arrangement Bob prepared for us is in the key of C, so you can play right along with Florence + The Machine’s official video on YouTube. Also check out Florence’s terrific performance of this song on Saturday Night Live.

Please spend some time previewing the full six pages of Bob’s downloadable arrangement. Pages 1 through 3 have the chord chart with lyrics. Page 4 has tabs for the riff that appears in the intro, chorus, and other spots. Page 5 shows the melody and harmony parts for the vocals in each chorus, and Page 6 shows the melody and harmony parts in the pre-chorus for the lyric “And oh, my love remind me…”.

At the meeting, Bob will share more details about the song, perform it to demonstrate the arrangement, and then take us through some helpful exercises to get us comfortable playing and singing each component before we put it all together.

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.

Location
Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Drive, Austin, TX 78723. We meet in the school located behind the church, in the gym.

Map it

Where to park and find 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.

As always, we’ll have plenty of Austin Ukulele Society t-shirts available for purchase – including our fabulous new “Ukulele Cowboy” design, crafted by the talented Lyda Guz and screen-printed right here in Austin! Available in 100% cotton navy blue in mens/unisex, womens, and kids styles.

This new shirt and the “Mermaid” design cost $20; all previous years’ shirts are $15. We accept cash or a check made out to Bob Guz or Jen Richardson.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, March 14, at 7:00pm!

Contact Us if you have any questions, need more information, or would like to be added to our mailing list.

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!

Members of the Austin Ukulele Society warmly embraced the opportunity to meet on Valentine’s Day, since more than a few of us have sometimes asked our beloved ukuleles to be our Valentine. 🙂 The meeting kicked off with introductions, announcements of ukulele shows and jams and our always uplifting warmup song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Next, Bob G. played through, by way of demonstrating his arrangement, our appropriately romantic song to learn for Valentine’s Day – the timeless classic “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” He then guided us through some very helpful exercises to get comfortable with the chord progressions, strumming patterns, picking options and vocal harmonies. When we played through the song a couple of times, the group was sounding lovely. We played it through a few more times and recorded it to share with our loving ukulele community around the globe. Check it out:

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” 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 took a break to enjoy the fantastic open mic portion of the eve, in which John and Sue, Peter (with John), Kit and Jack, Jay, and Vince all played songs full of love, joy and companionship.

We look forward to our next meeting, on March 14th (Pi Day!), and we hope you all join us again! 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!

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!

To kick off its 9th year, the Austin Ukulele Society was thrilled to welcome the biggest crowd of ukulele players we’ve seen yet, as we came close to nearly 200 attendees at last Thursday’s meeting! We started off with ukulele announcements and introductions, and we warmed up our voices and fingers by singing and strumming Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Bob G. demonstrated his arrangement of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” and we couldn’t help but sing along with him on this infectiously catchy classic. Bob took us through some helpful exercises and drills on the chord progressions, strumming techniques and vocal harmonizing options. We put it all together and truly enjoyed playing and singing “Sweet Caroline” before recording it to share with our YouTube ukulele community around the world. We hope you enjoy it!

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Sweet Caroline” 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).

 
Betty, Jay, Richard and Kaya treated us to a terrific variety of solo performances during the open mic portion of the evening. Special thanks to each of them! (And speaking of open mics, plan to attend our Ukulele Open Mic Happy Hour at Kick Butt Coffee on Saturday 2/16!)

Clockwise from top left: Betty, Richard, Kaya and Jay

As always, we look forward to seeing you at our next meeting, on Thursday, February 14th, 7:00-9:00pm. We also hope you’ll plan to attend our Ukulele Open Mic Happy Hour at Kick Butt Coffee on Saturday 2/16! 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!

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 windy and chilly December evening, over one hundred Austin Ukulele Society members, friends, and family gathered for our eighth annual Holiday Potluck and Strum-a-long, at the High Road on Dawson. There was much merriment, as folks enjoyed socializing over food and drinks. We also got out our ukuleles and Bob (with assistance from The John Davenport and Helen) guided the group through a strum and sing-a-long of our holiday song repertoire. We are so grateful for the wonderful year we’ve had, making great music with our Austin-area ukulele friends. We’re wishing everyone peace, love, and joy through the holiday season!

The group was treated to an extended open mic session, with a great variety of holiday and winter tunes in the mix. A big thanks to Bob and Jen, the Ukestra, the Tuesday Ukulele Group (TUG), Ray, Erin and Gabrielle, Rich, Alex, Jay, Kevin, Walter and Jack for sharing their talent and takes on so many fantastic songs.

Clockwise from top left: Rich, Jen and Bob, Jack Pott and back-up, the Ukestra, Alex

Clockwise from top left: Walter, Erin and Gabrielle, the Tuesday Ukulele Group (TUG), Jay, Kevin, Ray

Holiday Music!
Download our 2018 Holiday Songbook, which contains the chords and lyrics for all of the songs below in one handy PDF booklet designed to minimize page turns when printed two-sided!

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, January 10th, as we kick off the 9th year of the Austin Ukulele Society! 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!

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!

As the first chilly November evening descended on Austin, 125 or so ukulele enthusiasts from the Austin area and as far as England and Costa Rica gathered to play and sing together. We kicked off the meeting with introductions, local ukulele news and events, along with a reminder that our December 13th get-together will be our eight annual holiday potluck/strum-a-long at the High Road on Dawson instead of our regular Memorial United Methodist Church meet-up (more info on that in early December).

After warming up with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” we kicked off the holiday season in style, both fashionably and musically, as we learned to play “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” made famous by Darlene Love on Phil Spector’s fantastic 1963 album “A Christmas Gift for You.” Bob explained and demonstrated his great arrangement and launched us into some helpful exercises. We enjoyed practicing the chord progressions, strums, finger snaps and vocal harmonies, and when we put it together to play the song through, we sounded great and recorded it for our global ukulele family. We hope it helps you get your own holiday spirit going this year!

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” 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).

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 took a break to enjoy our talented open mic participants, as Kevin Carroll’s Blues Band, Vincent and Richard presented us with excellent interpretations of great songs.

Top: Kevin Carroll’s Blues Band. Bottom row: Vince (left), Richard (right)

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday, December 13th, from 6:30-9:00pm, at the High Road on Dawson. 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!

On a mild October evening, 140+ local and visiting ukulele players (from as far as Cali, Colombia!) enjoyed our Halloween-inspired meeting. There were plenty of Dia de los Muertos shirts, animal ears and rockstar wigs – even Batman made an appearance! – as we got into the spirit of the season. Men at Work’s classic but creepy 1981 hit “Who Can It Be Now?” fits our tradition of Halloween-themed October songs and may make us all a bit more wary of trick-or-treaters at our doors this coming All Hallow’s Eve. 🙂

Our meeting kicked off with introductions, local ukulele event announcements and our warm-up, feel-good song (Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”). Bob introduced us to a special guest – one of Austin’s best saxophone players, Paul Klemperer. They performed Men at Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?” to demonstrate the arrangement Bob had prepared for us. Bob led the group through several helpful exercises for the strumming pattern, chord progressions and vocal harmonies. As the group played the song through a few times, we sounded better and better each time. With the assistance of Paul Klemperer on sax and Kevin Carroll on U-bass, we recorded the song to share with all of our ukulele-loving friends on YouTube. Check it out!

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for our arrangement of “Who Can It Be Now?” 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).

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 loved the extraordinary talents of our open mic participants, who shared a wonderfully eclectic mix of songs that included a duet on a cover of a Swedish band, a Halloween-appropriate 1960’s cover (“Haunted House,”) a couple of original love songs from Colombia and Austin, and a great cover of a humorous Roger Miller tune. Thank you to Erin and Gabrielle, Walter, Camilo, Curt and Roger for sharing these lovely performances with us.

(Clockwise, from top left: Erin and Gabrielle, Camilo, Richard, Curt, Walter.)

As always, we look forward to strumming and singing at our next monthly meeting, on Thursday, November 8th! 🙂

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

Contact Us if you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list!