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THE VENUE FOR WORKSHOPS IS HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, 6234 SPARTAN ROAD, NANAIMO, BC
What level are you at?
Beginner
At this level, you are a brand-new ukulele player. You may have learned a few chords but you stop in-between chord changes to move your fingers to the next location.
Confident Beginner
This player knows a handful of chords and can move from one chord to another without pausing. Has developed a strum or two or a basic finger pattern for picking.
Intermediate
At this level, you can hold a steady rhythm and can play a variety of basic chords (for example: A, Am, B7, C, C7, D, Dm, E, Em, G, and G7). You can play simple chord progressions (such as I, IV, V chords), can sing and strum at the same time, and you can learn chords to simple tunes fairly quickly.
*All the workshops offered are either at the beginner or the intermediate level.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Cynthia Kinnunen will be offering
For the Absolute Beginner
“START ME UP” 10.00am – 11.30am
Just getting started on the ukulele? This class is for you! We’ll cover everything from holding
your uke to tuning it up, strumming and building chords. Of course, we’ll have a few songs in
the mix right from the get-go too. You’ll be making music on this wonderful little instrument before you know it!
No Ukulele? No problem – Arbutus Music Store has made some ukuleles available to us for you to rent for the day. The cost is $10 but you will receive a Gift Certificate for $10 towards any purchase at Arbutus Music Store, 6324, Metral Drive, Nanaimo – just one block from the Festival Venue.
For Beginner level up
“RHYTHM IS GOING TO GET YOU” 1.00pm – 2.30pm
That trusty old “down up” strum has been your go-to but you’re ready to step it up and add some
spice to your songs. Let’s take a look at how we create rhythm on our ukuleles through a variety
of strum techniques, including chunking, muting, and more
Hal will be offering
For Confident Beginner level up
“C,A,G,F,D SYSTEM FOR BEGINNERS” 10.00am – 11.30am
There are 5 basic chord shapes that can be repeated all over the ukulele neck in order to make any
chord in any key. In this workshop we’ll explore this system and show how it can expand your chord
vocabulary easily and quickly. In this workshop we’ll…
Step 1 – learn the chord shapes (both major and minor)
Step 2 – Learn the notes on the Top A String
Step 3 – Starting with the C chord, take each of the chord shapes up the neck making a C chord.
Step 4 – Explore alternate fingerings to make certain shapes easier to travel up the neck
This workshop is for the beginning to intermediate player who is interested in moving beyond first
position chords and involves some more challenging fingerings. Handouts are provided
For Confident beginner level up
“FIVE NOTES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE” 1.00pm – 2.30pm
Have you ever wanted to play some hot licks during the jam and have and everyone’s head turn to see
what you’re doing? You CAN play incredible musical solos on your ukulele with 5 simple notes.
In this workshop we will learn major and minor pentatonic scales, which contain the five most
commonly used pitches in simple songs and folk melodies. We’ll learn the 5 positions of scale and how
to navigate them up and down the ukulele fingerboard and use them to create musical solos in blues,
country, folk, jazz, pop and rock.
What you need to know
You should be familiar with Standard GCEA ukulele tuning (C6). This workshop doesn’t require a
LOW G tuning but it does benefit from the use of LOW G.
Carol Johns will be offering
For Beginner level up
“FINGERSTYLE UKULELE” 1.00pm – 2.30pm
Many ukulele players are happy to sing and strum their way through many many songs. Eventually, they start looking for something more challenging to play.
we watch players like James Hill and Jake Shimabukuro and are amazed at what the ukulele can do. The ukulele can be so much more than a strumming and sing-along instrument.
Fingerstyle Ukulele will open you up to a whole other wonderful and challenging chapter with your uke, and take your playing to a whole other level.
So what the heck is “fingerstyle ukulele” you may ask? In a nutshell, fingerstyle ukulele is a style that uses fingers to play individual notes on the instrument rather than strumming chords.
This workshop will introduce you to fingerstyle ukulele and will cover the basics of how to use your right hand fingers and thumb to play instrumentals on your uke.
Liz DeBarros will be offering
For Beginner Level up
“CHORD HAND UKE” 10.00am – 11.30am
Get your chord hand working. Tips and tricks for learning new chords and songs; improving technique; anticipating chord changes and how to master the Bflat chord!
No Ukulele? No problem – Arbutus Music Store has made some ukuleles available to us for you to rent for the day. The cost is $10 but you will receive a Gift Certificate for $10 towards any purchase at Arbutus Music Store, 6324, Metral Drive, Nanaimo – just one block from the Festival Venue.
Morning workshops – All run from 10.00am to 11.30am
Start Me Up OR CAFGD System for Beginners OR Chord Hand Uke
Afternoon Workshops – All run from 1.00pm to 2.30pm
Rhythm is Going to Get You OR Five Notes to Change Your Life OR Fingerstyle Ukulele
For payments using e-transfer please email us at nanukefest@gmail.com for further instructions and please include details of the tickets and workshops you wish to purchase in your email
If you order tickets online, your PayPal invoice is confirmation of your Registration. No tickets will be mailed out, you can pick up your concert tickets on Friday evening at the Registration desk at the Festival and your workshop binders and wristbands on Saturday morning/afternoon for Workshop folders & Sing and Strum
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