Great review from Willowbank

Following our recent gig at Willowbank Care Home, Lynn has posted some photos along with some very positive comments on Facebook via their website. Hopefully you can follow the link below. Many thanks Lynn.

http://www.balhousiecare.co.uk/blog/activites/ukelele-band

 

Many thanks again to Alan and Joan for providing the video clip of us in action at Fintry Gala day. Pretty awesome!

 

At our class on Tuesday 30th August we worked on our Luminate Concert playlist. All of the songs are coming along really well, with a few needing tweaks here and there.

Dee Ukes Ukulele Band – Remember the <G7> strike at the end of the last line of each verse. Please score out the words Slow down at the second last line as we naturally slow down on the very last line on uk – ku – le – le .

Cottonfields Version 1.2 – Remember Silent ukes when singing “When I was a little bitty baby my mama would”. Start playing ukes at the word “rock”. Remember to start strumming quietly when the kazoos reach the word “rock”. I find it helpful to look back at the chords/words of the verse we have just sung when accompanying the kazoos. This one just needs practice to come in at the correct times.

Eight Days a Week – We could all try looking up at the single strum sections.

Top of the World – Following the intro of C    G    C    <C> count into yourself 2, 3, 4 before starting to sing. I have added version 1.2 to the website as we have introduced a <G> strike at the end of verses 2 and 5 as well as a <C> strike at the end of verse 6. These all come prior to the words “I’m on the” where we also stop strumming on these three words. Don’t worry if this sounds confusing, we have plenty of time to work on these small changes.

Rockin’ All Over the World – We have taken out one of the lines of chords at the end, so should the end should now read C   C7   F   D7   C   G   C   <C> It was also suggested we stand for the last 3 sections beginning “And I like it ….”. It would be best to memorise the chords for this as they are pretty easy and we want to concentrate on our rock n’ roll style! We’ll give it a try anyway. 🙂

Side by Side – no problems here.

Roses O’ Prince Charlie – Pretty good. Ann P is going to play her mouthorgan for every chorus. Bette and Pat play the bodhrans on every chorus except the first one. Sounds good. We speeded up slightly towards the end of  this one, so we will keep working at maintaining a steady pace.

City Medley Version 2 – Coming along well. The last transition just needs a little more practice. We ended with a tremolo.

We’re No Awa Tae Bide Awa – So that we all start together the intro should read C–   G–   C– then start singing “Oh we’re …”

Next Tuesday (6th September) I will have to leave just after 1pm, so I will start the class sharp at 12 noon. You can of course carry on practising until 1.45pm. I will also miss Tuesday 13th September, but hopefully you can all still practise our concert songs or you may prefer to have a change and choose other songs. The most important thing is to have fun!

I will see many of you on Monday 5th September for our workshop with Michael Rosenberg from 2-4pm.

Remember to spread the word re Dee Ukes & Folks concert. Tickets are now on sale. Dee Ukes & Folks Poster

I have copies of posters / fliers available if anyone would like to help with distribution.

See you all soon. 🙂

 

What a Brilliant Week for Dee Ukes!

Following on from our two gigs earlier this week (99th Birthday party at Glebe Court and Willowbank Care Home) Dee Ukes were out and about again yesterday (26th August) at Dundee Blind and Partially Sighted Society. Prior to our entertainment we were treated to sandwiches and juice, Many thanks Tracy. It was much appreciated. This was our second visit to DBPSS and again it was great fun. One member of the audience Rose, was up dancing at every opportunity, despite the fact there was not much room. We were very impressed with the quality of singing from the audience with one or two earmarked to perhaps sing a little solo next time.

Today we were performing at Fintry Church as part of their Gala Day. I hadn’t been before and didn’t realise what a big event it was. The good weather drew large numbers and there was plenty on offer outside for children and adults alike. Well done to the organisers who did a great job. The entertainment was indoors and included Fintry  Guitar Group, Strings Entwined as well as ourselves. It was great fun to do. Thanks go to Alan and Joan for the photos below.

Dee Ukes performing at Fintry Church Gala Day 2016

Many thanks to my Dee Ukes friends who came along to any or all of the gigs this week. I think we will now have a short rest and our next gig will be at Midlin Day Care on 7th September. However, we do have our workshop on Monday 5th September and of course I hope to see you all at our class on Tuesday 30th August at 12 noon.

Lunch Invitation

Maggie kindly invited Dee Ukes members to lunch prior to our gig in Carnoustie today.  A great time was had by all. What a lovely spread of food. Many thanks Maggie. Delicious!

What a spread!

We then went on to Willowbank Care Home where we entertained the residents. We just about managed to squeeze all 15 of us into the available space, with Sandra and George gallantly offering to stand. Our audience gradually got into the swing of things and by the end most were singing along with us. The feedback was very positive with one character called Bill (there’s always at least one) saying it was the best entertainment they had ever had. Praise indeed! Lynn, who organised the gig, took some photos on her phone and has promised to email to me. I will add them to the Blog once I get them.

Here is one photo of Bill. What a lovely man!

PS: We are booked again for Wednesday 30th November at 2pm if you want to add that to your diary. 🙂

99th Birthday Party!

What an amazing time we had at Glebe Court Sheltered Housing in Kirriemuir. We were honoured to be asked to provide the entertainment for Jim’s 99th birthday party. Many of Jim’s family and friends attended and joined in with the fun. The party was a total surprise for Jim, who had been taken on a run in the car in the morning while the lounge area was decorated with balloons and banners.

Here is a picture of the birthday boy with a ‘borrowed’ ukulele. He wants us back next year for his 100th. It will be our pleasure Jim!

Following the party Frank was very keen to give us a few tunes on the bagpipes. He informs me he has played the pipes at many weddings and has even appeared on a film. Pat joined him with a bodhran to add to the entertainment.

 

At our class on Tuesday 23rd August we decided to use our Luminate Concert Playlist 2016 for our forthcoming gigs. Considering many of our songs today were performed in front of an audience for the first time, I think we did very well. Our audience certainly seemed to have a great time.

A few reminders:

• Lunch at Maggie’s tomorrow (25th August) from around 12 noon prior to our gig at Willowbank Care Home. Please get in touch with me if you are unsure of Maggie’s address.
• Our gig at Ward Road for the DBPSS starts at 1.30pm on Friday 26th August.
• Fintry Church Gala Day on Saturday 27th August – our time slot is from 12 noon – 12.30pm. Those who are also in the Strings Entwined group will follow on from 12.30 – 1.00pm. Dee Ukes will be singing selected songs from the Luminate Concert Playlist.

Another First in Forfar!

Dee Ukes were back to Forfar this week and entertained at Andrew Smythe Gardens Sheltered Housing for the first time. Our audience proved to be very enthusiastic from the first song and certainly helped to make it an enjoyable experience for all of us! We were delighted to be presented with ice-cream ( My first ever Cornetto!) at the end of our little concert. Thank you April. What a lovely surprise!

We also worked very hard at our class on Tuesday 16th August and made considerable progress in deciding on our Luminate Concert Playlist. I have updated the following and added to website:

Dee Ukes and Folks Programme Draft 18th August

Gig Volunteers @ 18th August

I have added the following songs to the website:

Alexander’s Ragtime band

City Medley V2

Cottonfields in C Version 1.1

Home Medley

I’m Into Something Good Key D ( We have still to try this in the key of D)

Rockin’ All Over the World new song

I will also send out an e-mail with attachments of all the possible concert songs. Please check that you have the correct versions.

We will practise, hopefully all of them, on Tuesday 23rd August. We will then use this concert playlist for our forthcoming gigs, of which there are many!! Over the next couple of weeks, we can finalise the songs we wish to use.

I need to time most of them, as we may be trying to fit in too many.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions, patience and hard work. See you next week. 🙂

PS: I was sent information about the Braemar Creative Arts Festival 2016. Unfortunately it is around the same time as our Luminate Festival. However, some of you may be interested in attending on one/two of the days. Click here for more information. I believe Finlay Allison is doing a few workshops. Many thanks to Marilyn Baker from Braemar Ukulele group for sending me the information.

Ann and Ken P sounding good on their new tin can ukuleles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great to be Back!

It was good to see everyone again today, following our brief break from classes. Here is an update of what we covered today for those who missed it and also for a recap:

• You are invited to a Happy Ukes fundraising concert at the Admiral Bar, Camperdown Street on Tuesday 16th August at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £3 and all proceeds go to Sense Scotland.
• Next gig – Wednesday 17^th August- Andrew Smythe Gardens Sheltered Housing, Forfar, 2-3pm
• New Gig – Wednesday 24^th August Glebe Court Sheltered Housing, Kirriemuir – 99^th birthday party
• New Gig – Thursday 25^th August 2-3pm, Willowbank Care Home, 56 Maule Street, Carnoustie DD7 6AB. Maggie has invited volunteers to lunch at her house at 1pm. I will pass on her address next week to those who can manage.
• Blues workshop from Michael Rosenberg – Monday 5^th September 2-4pm. For those attending the cost will be £7.50 each. I will start collecting money next week.
• New gig – Friday 4^th November – Food Train Befrienders in BB Hall Lochee Parish Church, 71 Tullidelph Road, DD2 2JE.
• New gig – Friday 25^th November 1.30-3.00pm – Midlin Day Care, 59 Pitkerro Drive
• New gig – Friday 16^th December 1.30-3.00pm – Midlin Day Care, 59 Pitkerro Drive

We need to make decisions re our programme for the imminent Luminate Concert. With that in mind we trialled a few new songs:

• City Medley: The Road and the Miles to Dundee / I Belong to Glasgow / The Northern Lights. Some felt the first song was too long. We could leave out a verse or two although it does tell a story. For those who weren’t there you can download the medley here City Medley . We will try it again next week as quite a few people were unable to attend today.
• We also trialled a few songs from Jim’s Ukulele Songbook 2016 which you can access from this link.
  • Cotton fields in C – this one went quite well and I will put it into Dee Ukes format to be considered for inclusion.
  • Home Medley – this also went well and may be included.
  • Georgie Girl – we won’t be using this one at the moment as it would require a lot of work, but as it is a good song, we may come back to it.
  • I’m into Something Good – This is another possibility.
• Another two from Jim’s songbook which we will try next week are:
  • Alexanders Ragtime Band
  • Hello Mary Lou
  • Please print off these if you can. I will get some copies for next week.
• We also practised some of the songs we previously selected for the Dee Ukes section of the concert:
  • Save the Last Dance for Me
  • Wild Rover
  • Eight Days a Week
  • Top of the World
  • Roses O’Prince Charlie

No final decisions have been taken taken yet, and we are making good progress. Once we have finalised our programme, that list will then become the main playlist for imminent gigs, so that we can have extra practices. I have also updated the Gig Volunteer List and added it to our website on the Gig Volunteers tab. See you all next week hopefully. 🙂

Dee Ukes’ Second Home

We were back today at Midlin Day Care for a third time and are booked up for September, October, November and December! We meet different people depending on which day of the week it is and we always have a good audience. One 84 year-old lady came straight over and told us that our songs reminded her of when she met a sailor who, after meeting her for the first time, told her to write to him. On their second meeting he informed her they were engaged and that she had to get the wedding organised for their next meeting. What a fast mover he was! We gave her a round of applause when she finished her detailed story, which included the fact she was a dance instructor.  What a lovely lady she was!

Thanks to all who came along today. Apologies to Anne for the double booking.