Comments on: How To Set Up A Ukulele Group, Club or Orchestra

By: Ukulele Clubs and Groups | Ukulele Hunt

Ukulele Clubs and Groups | Ukulele Hunt — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:46:06 +0000

[...] If you don’t have one near you, set one up. [...]

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:32:56 +0000

This is potentially a very helpful post. Thanks so much, Al and to those who contributed. We’ll see if Anchorage has what it takes to make a good group. : )

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:54:23 +0000

Keith: What happened to your Love Potion video?

Not much as far as I can tell, no bugger’ll even watch it :)

I’ll do the next one in my nightwear, that should bring the laydees in.

(or out)

Cheers

By: zymeck

zymeck — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:08:38 +0000

@cbf
Mrs Zym thinks i should have put ‘Sorry, no Banjoleles’ on my poster – but im not sorry :p

By: Woodshed

Woodshed — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:11:36 +0000

Jimmy: Congrats on starting your own group.

Armelle: Sounds like you start your own.

William: Go for it!

Mike: Thanks. I’ll add that to the post.

Ron: They’re an excellent band. I wish they’d play the ukulele, just once, so I could talk about them more.

cbf: I think the main objection to banjoleles is that they’re just too loud.

Keith: What happened to your Love Potion video?

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:53:44 +0000

All good advice and a big thanks to Tony for making the Ukuhooley days (and Nights) as successful and enjoyable as they are.
Long may they run.

By: cardboardfrog

cardboardfrog — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:13:58 +0000

zym, don’t lie, you exclude banjoleles because your prejudiced!
its the 21st century! EQUAL RIGHTS FOR BANJOLELES!
excellent guide i have to say, my orchestra had much less organisation to it than that, i met a ukulele player at a gig exchanged phone numbers and gradually introduced more people into the band over a month till we were fully formed but its usually not that easy.

By: ronhale

ronhale — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:11:51 +0000

Off topic, I know, but still…Went page by page through your entire archive this past weekend & damn good thing too, to wit: the Smoke Fairies. Been a huge Jansch/Renbourn fan since the mid ’60s & everything you say about these two women is spot on, they do rate mention with these giants, & will will only get better with time. Most exciting, energizing musical discovery for me in ages. Thanks…

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:07:39 +0000

I was too disorganised to get something to Al in time, but would absolutely endorse the comments above. Especially:

1) Get a website where you can post PDFs of the songs, or links to them. Blogging software is great for this. Also consider an actual songbook/ringbinder you can give to newcomers. One group I know uses PowerPoint.

2) I think you have to decide early if you want the group to be a drop-in happy beginner-friendly strumalong, or if you want to eventually perform somewhere (in which case it’s worth practising arrangements with percussion and bass). Having a performance goal can give the group some direction after the first few meetings. It’s possible to have a beginner session for the first hour then switch to the tricky stuff.

3) Repertoire is always a sore point. I love the Brockley Ukulele Group’s taste in music, but it wouldn’t suit some of my uke group. There’s plenty of room for diversity, so core members should feel happy stating the sort of thing they’re interested in playing, and if other folks don’t like it they can start their own ensemble. I would love some method of voting on repertoire without hurting anyone’s feelings…

4) Chord charts for everyone, or put the chords on a whiteboard.

5) One group I was in was supported by the local music shop and met there after hours; they let walk-ins use thier cheap ukuleles, tuners, and music stands, and I’m sure they got some business out of it.

6) The more people that don’t feel too shy to sing, the better. Silly voices, chanted refrains, spoken-word verses all give the non-singers a chance to participate.

Wonderful to hear from all these successful; good on ya for taking the initiative.

By: William

William — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:54:04 +0000

Oh awesome! I shall get onto it!