Gaithersburg UkeFest Presents: THE 4-MONTH UKULELE FESTIVAL November 2020 Issue This is No Ordinary UkeFest!!! The 2020 Ukulele Festival scheduled for March 20-22 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 Gaithersburg UkeFest; Friday evening, March 15, 2019 pandemic Eleven Performers Showcases were recorded and turned into YouTube videos. You can Keith and Nani Lowery, check out these 11 shows by visiting the disappointed by the Gaithersburg UkeFest website at cancellation of their 2nd gaithersburgukefest.com. planned ukulele festival, During the months of April, May and June, 24 workshops were hosted by Gaithersburg created the Performers UkeFest, taught by 18 different instructors Showcase & Jam, then began spread out across the continental United States, Hawaii, and Europe. The 2020 offering workshops as well…all Gaithersburg UkeFest registrants were over the Zoom Meeting encouraged to use the fees they paid for the March festival as credit towards the online platform. workshops. Many ukulele players took advantage of the classes offered, sharing many positive comments afterward regarding the great content and instruction they received. The 4-Month Long Ukulele Festival Kicks Off November with a Country & Western Showcase featuring 4 great solo artists, and 2 wonderfully talented duets! Page 1 THE 4-MONTH UKULELE November 2020 Issue FESTIVAL November Workshops The other November Thursday, November 5 6:30 Jim D’Ville - Buck Owens, Uke & Act Naturally Performers Showcase 8:00 Ray Forton - How to Approach Learning Any Song Saturday, November 7 & Jam Events 9:30 Phil Doleman – Clawhammer Uke 11:00 Flor Ansaldo Music Theory Applied to Ukulele Playing Thursday, November 12 6:30 Nani Lowery - E Huli Makou: Learn a Song in Hawaiian 8:00 Ray Forton - Dominant 7th Chords Beyond Fret 3 Saturday, November 14 9:30 Andy Eastwood – Spice Up Your Left Hand 11:00 Flor Ansaldo - Argentinian's Traditional Music. An Insight into Folklore and Tango Genres Thursday, November 19 6:30 Melissa Nannen - Bo Diddley Rhythmic Strumming 8:00 Brad Bordessa - How to Harmonize Melodies with Double Stops Using 6th's and 3rd's Saturday, November 21 9:30 Matthew Quilliam - Strum like George Formby 11:00 Mari US - A Clever Way to Break Up Any Song Costs, Payments, and other Details Performers Showcase & Jam Like the Spring Performers Showcase & Jam, there is no charge. We ask that you consider supporting the artists that appear on the Showcases. Note: Workshop Descriptions on Page 3 & 4 Gaithersburg UkeFest Hosted Workshops 1 workshop - $25 2 workshops - $40 3 workshops - $60 4 workshops - $80 5 workshops - $95 6 workshops - $110 Prizes for the November 7 workshops - $125 8 workshops - $140 9 workshops - $155 10 workshops – $170 Performers Showcase & Jam th November 7 11 workshops - $185 12 workshops - $200 Ortega Ru Lagoon-CE Electric Ukulele If you want to attend any of these workshops, you can Ortega Professional Nylon register by emailing [email protected], and Concert Ukulele Bag letting us know which workshop(s) you want to register for, then make your payment through PayPal...it's that easy. If you have a question about how much to pay, let us know, and we will let you know what is owed. Andreas Hellmayr CD Payments can be made using PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/KeithLowery648 November 14th Faith Thompson Ako CD November 21st Daniel Ward CD & Arpeggio Book Coming…December 12th at 11:00 AM Page 2 THE 4-MONTH UKULELE November 2020 Issue FESTIVAL Workshop Course Descriptions Thursday, November 5 6:30 PM Jim D’Ville - Buck Owens, Uke & Act Naturally Buck Owens & The Buckaroos racked up 15 Billboard Country #1 singles IN A ROW between 1963-67. And they did it using basically three chords! In this workshop you’ll learn the magic behind all those number #1 hits. Songs include Act Naturally, I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail, My Heart Skips A Beat, Together Again and Cryin’ Time. You’ll not only learn the songs, but the structure behind the whole of classic country music. All Levels. 8:00 PM Ray Forton- How to Approach Learning Any Song You open your favorite ukulele song book to a song you know, like, and decide you want to play. You tune up your uke and away you go. Then you hit that part of the song with, what seems like, a torrent of chords. You know the ones, diminished 7th, min6, add9, sus4, +, etc. Learn my approach to handling those sections in any song. Participants should feel comfortable playing songs with 6 to 10 simple chords. Some knowledge of how to read simple melodies in tablature will also be helpful for participants to be successful and take full advantage of this workshop. Saturday, November 7 9:30 PM Phil Doleman – Clawhammer Uke Clawhammer is an old-time 5-string banjo technique that, thanks to the high 4th string, also works great on the ukulele. We will learn the basic stroke, then add some hammer-ons and pull-offs allowing us to build up to playing a simple tune. High G tuning is required. Clawhammer is a very different way of playing, so all players new to clawhammer can get something from this one, though it is not recommended for complete beginners unless they are very determined to master this style! 11:00 AM Flor Ansaldo – Music Theory Applied to Ukulele Playing Participants will learn a series of open string arpeggio patterns in different time signatures including 3/4, 4/4 and 6/8. The patterns are designed to aid control and fluency while promoting good sound and technique. The patterns will then be applied to simple chord progressions in order to create arpeggio accompaniments to songs and melodies. We will use Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah as an example of how arpeggio technique can be incorporated into your everyday playing. Each participant will receive a booklet (in pdf format) of workshop material. Suitable for players who are new to fingerpicking. Ability to read tab or notation essential. For low G or high tuning. Thursday, November 12 6:30 PM Nani Lowery- E Huli Makou: Learn a Song in Hawaiian Learn a simple Hawaiian song. If you have a friend who does the hula they can dance while you play and sing it. Give it a try! Part of the verse phrasing repeats in each verse so you will be well on your way to learning a song all in Hawaiian! If you know basic chords you can do this! For you intermediate players other positioned chords will be introduced. 8:00 PM Ray Forton - Dominant 7th Chords Beyond Fret 3 Have you been playing for a while and are looking for more of what the ukulele has to offer? Join me to explore and discover how to use familiar chord shapes A7, G7, E7, and C7/D7 to form chords up the neck that will add new depth and sophistication to your playing. Participants of this intermediate workshop will need experience and confidence with playing songs in the keys of C, G, A, and F, including some partial and full barre chords. Saturday, November 14 9:30 PM Andy Eastwood – Spice Up Your Left Hand In this session we will look at how to make the chords you play more colorful and exotic, by adding notes, and by changing voicing and inversions. This will help you start to find your way around the fingerboard and expand your understanding of how harmony works! 11:00 AM Flor Ansaldo - Argentinian's Traditional Music. An Insight into Folklore and Tango Genres This workshop will introduce the student to the history of Argentinian Folklore and Tango music. We will discover some unique Argentinian strumming and rhythmic techniques and apply them to our ukulele playing. Sponsor Family owned and run full-service Music Store in Gaithersburg, MD victorlitz.com Page 3 THE 4-MONTH UKULELE November 2020 Issue FESTIVAL Thursday, November 19 6:30 PM Melissa Nannen - Bo Diddley Rhythmic Strumming Learn the “Bo Diddley” beat, a syncopated Afro-Cuban rhythm found in many popular rock and roll songs such as Not Fade Away by Buddy Holly, Faith by George Michael, Magic Bus by the Who, and Marie’s the Name by Elvis Presley among many others. It was popularized by Bo Diddley in his self-titled song, “Bo Diddley”, but has since become so widely used that the beat is simply known around the world by musicians as the “Bo Diddley.” To achieve this rhythm, we will be exploring left-handed muting techniques, chunking, and strumming with all four of our fingers to get the most explosive and percussive sound. 8:00 PM Brad Bordessa - How to Harmonize Melodies with Double Stops Using 6th's and 3rd's Learn to flesh out melodies on the ‘ukulele and play them as two-note double stops! We will explore practical ways to apply two moveable double stop shapes to create 6th harmonies all around the fretboard (and maybe even explore 3rd harmonies if we have time!). After this workshop you will be able to harmonize a scale in any key and fit 6ths/3rds around chords to create basic fills and solos. For advanced beginner/to intermediate players. Saturday, November 21 9:30 AM Matthew Quilliam - Strum like George Formby In this workshop you will try out various right-hand techniques to create some original strumming patterns. The students will also be given an opportunity to test out some famous techniques of ukulele artists you have probably heard of, including a very special one loved by the instructor. 11:00 AM Mari US - A Clever Way to Break Up Any Song We are looking at a basic and safe concept to making a change in any given song by consequently sticking to (its) basic triads and their respective inversions.