Workshops
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Topic
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Level
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Please choose your classes according to your skill level. Classes will not be interrupted for remedial teaching. Schedule subject to change.
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ALL
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Dirje & John Smith & David Hendley
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Feel the Fear and Write It Anyway - Songwriting 101! Songwriting doesn't have to be intimidating. Come have fun and learn some songwriting tips and exercises from the Wahooligans.
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All Levels and Spouses
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Mike Lynch
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Beatles for the Ukulele! Beatles and the
ukulele just seem to go side by side. The Beatles cross generational classics
can be wonderfully performed on the uke and learning a few will broaden your
repertoire and make you a huge hit at uke play-a-longs and uke gatherings
everywhere. Learn to interpret such time honored songs as "Let It
Be", "Penny Lane", "Here, There
and Everywhere", "I'm Looking Through You", "In My
Life", "If I Fell" and many more! |
All Levels
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Mike Lynch
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Classical Tablature Playing -
Ever
wanted to go beyond strumming chords to playing actual solo instrumentals? Ever
wished you could playing classical pieces on the uke such as "Panis Angelicus",
"Finlandia", or the CLASSIC music of J.S. Bach?
Using tablature notation is a way to do that, but even seasoned strummers can
have some challenges in understanding, interpreting and ultimately playing
songs using this form of notation. This workshop will guide us through the
wonderful world of tablature. Hints on how to interpret, how to practice and
how to play tablature in a comfortable manner will be presented. No prior
tablature experience is required. |
Int/Adv
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| Mike Lynch |
Join the GLEE! Wonderful songs made new again and refreshing through the TV series GLEE ... songs such as "Don't Stop Believing", "Sweet Caroline", "I Dreamed A Dream", "Proud Mary", "You Raise Me Up", "Eye of the Tiger" and many more ... Great material that can enhance a middle school, high school ukulele class or your uke club!
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Int-Advanced
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Kimo Hussey
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Hawaiian Repertoire - learn a variety of songs and strums. Details to come!
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All Levels
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Kimo Hussey
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Slow Jam/Kanikapila - Not comfortable playing in a jam? Feel intimidated at the Big Jam? This is the place for you! Enjoy playing
in a group but at a slower pace, learn tips and tricks for jamming
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Beginner/Int & Spouses too!
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Kimo Hussey
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Big Jam/Kanikapila - Kimo will be the MC and Big Jam Leader. Bring your Festival issued Jam Book and join in! Various performers will also step in to lead some songs.
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All Levels & Spouses too!
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Pops Bayless
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Beginner Uke Class - only know a few chords? Not sure what to do next? We will have you playing in no time. What could be better than a beginner class with the Texas ukeman!
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Beginner
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Michelle Kiba
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Swing & Jazz Classics for Uke - Expand your repertoire by learning some of the great swing and jazz tunes.Intermediate but all levels welcome.
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Intermediate
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Michelle Kiba
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Hapa Haole/Hawaiian Songs for ukulele. Michelle is known for her great hula dancing and her Hawaiian song repertoire. Add a little Island flair to your playing!
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Int/Adv
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Gerald Ross
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Lap Steel Guitar -
This is
"the" sound you hear on 1930s-'40s Western Swing and Hawaiian
recordings.
This is a
beginning "from scratch" steel guitar class.We'll learn how to hold
the bar, tune the guitar, easy chord positions and vibrato. Please email me
prior to The Lone Star Uke Fest, and I will send you a “gear sheet” detailing
the proper string gauges needed, bar type, picks etc. An electric lap steel with an amp is
needed (with a headphone jack PLEASE!) –or an acoustic Dobro type guitar or headphone
amplifier. Some basic guitar finger picking techniques are required for this class. |
Basic skills
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Gerald Ross
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Intro to Swing Uke:
The ukulele is not a toy! You
can get a lot of music out of that little box! Let’s have a good time together
while we become better musicians. In terms of your proficiency level for this
class; you should be able to play basic open string ukulele chords and be able
to play a chord progression up to tempo.A
sense of humor and the willingness to have some fun goes a long way too.
Some of the topics we will
cover during the class:
1. We will take two familiar
swing tunes and convert the basic open-string chords to more interesting
closed-string voicing to achieve a more appropriate “jazzy” or swing feel.
2. Getting the swing feeling
in your rhythm.
3. Explore moveable chord
shapes. |
Adv Beginner/ Intermediate |
Gerald Ross
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Lead
Soloing and Song Enhancement -
This is an
intermediate level class. Have you ever wondered how a ukulele or guitar
player takes a solo during a song? Are they making up the solo on the
spot?
How do they
know where the notes are? Basically, it’s a very simple
system of patterns. We will touch the surface of this topic during the
class. You will be soloing within 15 minutes, guaranteed!
We will also
learn some easy chordal techniques to make your instrumental ukulele playing
more interesting.
Topics covered
during the class:
1. Lead
soloing – It’s all in the chords (or pretty close by).
2. We will
take a familiar song and enhance it by applying chord substitutions and half
step approaches. |
Advanced
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TBD
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Kids Class! This is a special workshop for our visting "Ukes In The Classroom" kids!
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Kids Only
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Pops Bayless
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Basic Blues on the Uke - Learn the basics of the Blues, including strums, chording, scales and even
single some note picking.
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Beginner
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Pops Bayless
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Performance - Workshop on
preparation and performance. Booking a gig, what to bring to a gig, what to
wear, stage fright, choosing songs and
constructing a set list, writing a quick stage chart and many other nuances of
performance. |
All Levels
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Ukulele Bartt
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Beyond Three Chords...What Do I Do Now?
Life
after C, F and G can be intimidating. But after this class, you’ll be dashing
and daring, taking on every chord in the book: diminished and augmented chords,
minors, and everything else. You’ll be able to play those songs that you always
skipped before. You’ll learn how to put variety into your strums, and learn
lots of new songs in various styles. Bartt will provide song charts & chord
charts. Highly interactive – be prepared to PLAY!
Day One- We’ll
concentrate on chords and strums, and learning the groups of chords that often
go together. Lots of practice exercises, and easy songs with new chords in
them. We’ll also play chords in the 3rd and 5th
positions, so you can move beyond the third fret. You’ll be a better player,
with more techniques and more confidence in your own greatness!
Day Two - We’ll
move on to fancier chords, using various strums to go with them, and we’ll do a
little bit of finger-picking. We’ll also work on group dynamics: playing as a
group, bringing the energy level up and down, synchronizing with each other,
and adding stops & starts to songs. If your Sunday afternoon uke group
plays every song the same way, at the same tempo, with the same rhythm, it gets
boring. Your meetings will become a whole lot more fun and interesting when you
surprise them with these tips! |
Intermediate
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Ukulele Bartt
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Ten Fancy Strums and One Dumb One; Scales in Every Key and How To Play Them Right!
Day One -Unleash the majestic power of the STRUM! Your strumming hand has
unlimited variety. Use it fearlessly. Use it creatively. Multi-finger strums,
Up-Down type strums, Speedy strums, Thumb strums, Waltz strums, Flowing strums,
Gentle strums, Vociferous strums. You’ll put some flash into your playing, and
challenge each other to an all-important Strum-Off! We’ll also get into some
alternate fingerings to make your chord changes faster and smoother. Prepare to
be dazzling!
Day Two - Knowing
the right notes. That’s the secret to playing melodies, solos and scales. Bartt
will hand out charts that tell you exactly which notes match the chords, so you
can play solos for any song. You’ll also get practice exercises to help you memorize the scales, so eventually you won’t need to look at the
paper. You can play faster and cleaner by choosing the correct fingers (left AND right hand), and we’ll do plenty of practicing during
class. We’ll also talk about fingering techniques that give your solos
personality: tremolo, hammer-ons, open notes vs. fretted notes, bending notes,
and tons more.
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Advanced
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John Smith of The Wahooligans
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You Too Can Make A Musical Washboard!
John Smith, aka JB Wahoo,
will show you how to make a creative, multi tasking inexpensive musical
Washboard, and demonstrate it’s use for rhythmic accompaniment. Get into
the rhythm of things by rubbing your family the wrong way with your very own
paragon of percussion. The completed washboard will be donated to the festival to be an auction item! |
All Levels and Spouses too
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Mark Gutierrez
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Chord Theory -Take those standard major, minor and 7 chords and turn them into full blown jazz chords that will put the pizzazz into your playing! Come with your thinking caps on! If you can play C7 (orother chords) in at least two places on the fretboard and have an idea why it works ... welcome to the class!
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Int/Adv
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Heather Hooten
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Vocal Techniques - Heather is a vocalist with the Four Strings of Swing band. She will give you tips on improving your technique - proper breathing techniques, how to have good singing posture while you're
playing the uke sitting and standing, some easy to medium difficulty warm-ups
and good practicing techniques. |
All & Spouses
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Mark Gutierrez
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Intermediate Picking Class
We will be building on the picking lessons from the basic class and applying
them to several songs. This will require having attended last years class or
attending both classes this year. We will cover all types of music including
classical. It will be important to have a fairly extensive chord vocabulary and
PMA (Positive Mental Attitude)! |
Intermediate/Adv
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Dennis McBride
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Hawaiian Guitar for Dobro Players - more to come!
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Guitar Skills
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Dennis McBride
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Band In A Box - Take the mystery out of creating back-up tracks on your computer! This class will turn you into a one-person band.
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All Levels
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Dirje Smith of Wahooligans
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Adding a bass line! This is for non bass players. Where do you find the bass line? How do you construct a simple bass line? Where do walk-ups go? You'll get to practice on an actual song! Enhance your music by adding a bass line.
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Intermediate
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Deb Porter
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Uke Country!
Build your uke country repertoire in two workshops that span great country
music. Learn techniques from strumming to adding lead lines. tunes include all
the great country songs and songwriters- Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Ray Price, and
Willie just to name a few. |
Beg/Int
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Jerry George
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Music Theory – The Zen Approach - This is a beginners level workshop for people
who do not know much of anything about music theory. But it is a
non-traditional approach. If you
do not know what notes, scales, keys, chords are - this is the class for you. |
Beginner/Spouse
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