Author Archives: Austin Ukulele Society

April 13, 2017: I Heard It Through the Grapevine!

On a warm central-Texas April evening, over 140 Austin Ukulele Society members gathered once again to make beautiful music together. The meeting started off with introductions and some local ukulele music show updates, and the group enjoyed warming up with “Three Little Birds.” We then learned to sing and strum the Motown classic, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.” It’s been recorded by many great artists over the years (including The Miracles, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and a bunch of animated raisins from California), but it’s best known by far for Marvin Gaye’s moving and soulful 1968 version.

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” 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 were treated to some great songs by our fantastic open mic participants – big thanks to Walter, Kit, Shin, Cranius, and Cindy for sharing their talent with us.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at our next monthly meeting on Thursday, May 11th! 🙂

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

March 9, 2017: I’m Yours!

On a stormy March evening, a cheerful group of over 100 Austin Ukulele Society members gathered to make music together. The meeting started off with introductions and some local ukulele music show updates, and the group enjoyed warming up with “Three Little Birds.” Bob then performed Jason Mraz’s 2007 (ukulele featured!) mega-hit tune “I’m Yours” for us, to give us a preview of the arrangement we’d all soon be playing. Afterward, we went through some practice drills and worked out harmonies on the last chorus. We then put it all together, played it through, and recorded a video to keep our YouTube stardom going! 🙂

We’re dedicating our performance to Jill and Sam of Telluride, CO. Jill plays in a ukulele band in Telluride called the Ukuladies and she and Sam are engaged to be married in July! Best wishes to you!

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “I’m Yours” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

The open mic participants – Vince, Richard W., Richard H., John. and Cindy – were absolutely wonderful and shared great covers and originals with us.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at our next monthly meeting on Thursday, April 13! 🙂

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

February 16, 2017: Rattle Inn Open Mic Night!

The Austin Ukulele Society hosted another Open Mic Night at the fabulous Rattle Inn, February 16. Our biggest event yet with over 20 performers and a joyous crowd. An incredible line-up of fantastic talent! A wonderful evening of friends and ukulele music!

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at our next monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9th! 🙂

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

February 9, 2017: Love Hurts

Many lovable members of the Austin Ukulele Society got together for our Valentine’s Day-inspired February meeting. We all know love is grand, but we also know it can sometimes hurt. To acknowledge the darker side of love, we learned to sing and strum the classic rock hit “Love Hurts.” It’s a song recorded by many great artists over the years, perhaps most famously in a 1975 cover by rock band Nazareth. Bob did a great job in leading the group through chord transitions and harmonizing practices, and we sounded lovely after just a couple of run-throughs. This gave us a chance to reprise “L.O.V.E.,” from one of our Valentine’s week past meetings (back when our meetings were much smaller). 🙂

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “Love Hurts” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We were treated to some great songs of love and pain by our fantastic open mic participants – big thanks to Jay, Walter, Luke, Richard, and Helen for sharing their talent with us.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Open Mic Night at the Rattle Inn on Thursday, February 16th, and our next monthly meeting on Thursday, March 9th! 🙂

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

January 12, 2017: You Gotta Have Faith!

Happy New Year and happy seventh year of the Austin Ukulele Society! In what looked like the biggest meeting we’ve ever had, upwards of 160 ukulele players of all ages and skill levels came together to enjoy ukulele strumming and singing. The meeting began with introductions and the sharing of upcoming events, and we warmed up with “Three Little Birds.” We then quickly dove into the exercises Bob had prepared to help the group learn to strum the Bo Diddley beat – a pattern found in many rock ‘n’ roll songs. This is a beat that sounds simple but is actually quite complex. With some practice, we got better and better and put it all together to pay homage to the late George Michael by strumming and singing his 1987 hit “Faith” from his Grammy Award-winning debut solo album of the same name.

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “Faith” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We were treated to excellent and diverse talent during the open mic portion of the evening with a great instrumental by Kit, a duet by mom and daughter Edie and Marie, and terrific solos by Rodger, Camille, and Betty.

As we wound up the evening and started to fold our chairs, the crowd was delighted by Tuesday Ukulele Group’s (TUG) surprise performance of “Make Your Chair Hang Low” (to the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low,” with original lyrics)! Jen and Nancy skillfully demonstrated the proper technique for hanging the chairs as taught by TUG’s song.

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, February 9, at our regular monthly meeting and at the ukulele open mic night at the Rattle Inn on Thursday, February 16! 🙂

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

December 1, 2016: 6th Annual Holiday Potluck and Jam!

A cheery group of Austin Ukulele Society members got together a week earlier than we usually do at the Austin Moose Lodge for our 6th Annual Holiday Potluck and Jam, as we just couldn’t wait to toast the season and sing and play some great Christmas songs together on the ukulele. During the first hour or so, we enjoyed mingling and consuming some delicious bites and beverages together. We then sat down to play all of the Christmas songs we have learned together over the past six holiday seasons – it was a wonderful way to get the holiday spirit going! Of course our tunes included the latest addition to our holiday repertoire: a medley of “Holly Jolly Christmas and Marshmallow World“:

You can play along with all of our Christmas tunes by downloading the charts and watching our videos:

Blue Christmas	Chord Sheet	Presentation
Holly Jolly Christmas / Marshmallow World	Chord Sheet	Presentation	Video
Mele Kalikimaka / Jingle Bells	Chord Sheet	Presentation	Video
Rockin’ Christmas Medley	Chord Sheet	Presentation	Video
Santa Claus is Coming to Town	Chord Sheet	Presentation	Video

We were treated to terrific open mic performances with a variety of holiday and other tunes by Bob S., Liam and Allison, Walter, Helen, Barry, Bill “Monster” Jones, and Sho and Shin. The whole group closed out the evening with “On the Road Again.”

We’re so grateful for the Austin Ukulele Society community and we wish you all peace, love, and joy during this holiday season. We’re looking forward to more merriment in 2017, as we kick off our seventh year on Thursday, January 12th! See you then! 🙂

T-shirts!
Perfect holiday gifts for yourself and your loved ones, we have plenty of great Austin Ukulele Society t-shirts on hand, including our terrific new “Capital of Texas Ukulele” design beautifully created, as always, by Lyda Guz! They will be available at our December 1 Holiday Party! Please bring cash ($15) per shirt or a check that you can write out to Bob Guz or Jen Richardson.
Available in Navy Blue and Charcoal Heather.

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

November 10, 2016: Margaritaville!

The Austin Ukulele Society’s November meeting was an enjoyable and unique blend of holiday cheer, combined with a bit of wistfulness for the warm weather we recently bid goodbye to, as we learned to sing and strum a lovely medley of “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Marshmallow World” (video coming in December!) while also revisiting and recording an old favorite, “Margaritaville.” Written about a drink Jimmy Buffett found in a restaurant right here in Austin, the story goes that he wrote most of the song that very night at a friend’s house in Austin and later finished it in Key West.

To play along with us, you can download the lyrics and chords for “Margaritaville” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project on the screen for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We enjoyed a great assortment of talent during the Open Mic performances. Margaret and friends – a quintet of five ladies with lovely harmonies and strums – kicked things off beautifully. We then enjoyed duets by Jack Pott and Maryann Price, Nancy and Shelly, and delightful solo performances by Betty and Helen.

New T-shirt Design!
Just in time for holiday gifts for yourself and your loved ones, we have plenty of great Austin Ukulele Society t-shirts on hand, including our terrific new “Capital of Texas Ukulele” design beautifully created, as always, by Lyda Guz! They will be available at our December 1 Holiday Party! Please bring cash ($15) per shirt or a check that you can write out to Bob Guz or Jen Richardson.
Available in Navy Blue and Charcoal Heather.

As a friendly reminder, our next meeting will NOT be at the church nor on the second Thursday of the month. Instead, we will be celebrating our 6th Annual “Holiday Potluck and Strum-a-Long,” on Thursday, December 1, at the Austin Moose Lodge! Details coming soon! 🙂

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

October 13, 2016: Spooky!

The Austin Ukulele Society had a sp’uke’tacular meeting last Thursday, as we continued our October tradition of singing and strumming a song to get in the Halloween spirit. This year, our tune is “Spooky,” an eerie and bluesy tune popularized in the 1970s by Dusty Springfield and the Atlantic Rhythm Section.

Our meeting kicked off with information about other local ukulele jams and live performances as well as a special announcement about the upcoming ukulele music night – Uke-A-Mania 2 – at the Sahara Lounge on November 3rd. After warming up with “Three Little Birds”, Bob did a demonstration of “Spooky” so we could all get familiar with the song and the arrangement we’d later play. Bob then took us through some drills, to help us get comfortable with the chord transitions and the rhythm; it definitely got “Spooky,” as the group practiced the song a few times.

Very special thanks to featured guest soloist Bill “Monster” Jones of Kathy Murray and the Kilowatts! Check it out:

You can download the lyrics and chords for “Spooky” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

The Open Mic performances by Bill and Kathy, Sho and Shin, Vince, William, Norvll, and Walter – Halloween-themed and otherwise – were all fantastic and much appreciated. A special shout-out to our caveman Ogg and skeleton-masked player, who made the evening a bit more ghoulish.

As always, we greatly look forward to meeting next month, on Thursday, November 10th! 🙂

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

September 8, 2016: You’re My Wonderwall!

On a warm September evening, a wonderful group of ukulele players gathered again to make music together at the monthly Austin Ukulele Society meeting. We began by sharing local ukulele news and introductions, warmed up with “Three Little Birds,” and moved on to learn our song of the month, Oasis’ megahit from the mid-90’s, “Wonderwall.” Bob led us through some drills to get us comfortable with the chord transitions in the song. We then put it all together, and even fit in some vocal harmonizing on the chorus.

You can download the lyrics and chords for “Wonderwall” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

We were treated to tremendous performances by Liam, Bentley and Carlos, who performed a beautiful piece of Tango (El Choclo), Kevin and Mark (on U-Bass!), Tom, Cranius, and Phillip. Thanks for sharing your talent with us!

We’re looking forward to a sp’uke’tacular time at our next meeting, Thursday, October 13th! 🙂

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

August 11, 2016: Rocket Man!

A wonderful group of over 140 ukulele players from near and far gathered together for the August 2016 meeting of the Austin Ukulele Society. We began the evening with introductions and hearing about opportunities to support local ukulele live music as well as warming up with “Three Little Birds.” Bob then took us through exercises of chord transitions and harmonies as we learned the classic Elton John hit “Rocket Man.” We were all pleased with how good we sounded from even the first run-through of the song, and we just got better as the evening progressed. Judge for yourself:

You can download the lyrics and chords for “Rocket Man” or download a copy of the presentation (what we project up on the wall for all to follow along, including exercises and drills).

During the open mic portion of the evening, attendees were treated to fantastic talent on the ukulele (and bass and kazoo!) by Kevin Carroll’s Ukestra, Walter, Helen, Sho, David and Laura, and Christine, Brock, Charlie and Marshall.