The important bit!
Ukulele 1 meets every other week on a Tuesday at 2 pm. We have a new venue and now normally meet at Carhampton Village Hall. Please remember to check the Calendar in case of any late changes to schedule. Ukulele 1 and Ukulele 2 are complementary groups and you’ll get a very warm welcome at either or both groups – several players come to both groups.
Our group is led by Mike Lay, in the temporary absence of Bill Peters, and he may be contacted at 0797 320 0634, or by email at .
2022
Our numbers are going up as more people find how exciting and fulfilling playing music can be. And playing in a friendly group of like-minded people is the best feeling. Most of the new recruits have come from the Absolute Beginners lessons that have been going for some months now. We meet every 2 weeks on a Tuesday at 2, at Carhampton Village Hall. It’s a great social occasion and so much fun.
We are extending our repertoire whilst still focussing on songs primarily from the latter half of the last century. That gives us a huge range to choose from, covering a diverse range of genres. If you can play half a dozen chords (or more), you’ll be very welcome to come along and join us.
Interested in the uke, but never touched one? Think about the new Absolute Beginners – Ukulele group, where you can get some initial training and encouragement.
We are continuing to expand our repertoire of songs and will be looking at different strumming patterns. The ukulele continues to grow in popularity and deservedly so. Playing a musical instrument can be very therapeutic in these difficult times. Our location is Carhampton Village Hall. There’s lots of room to park and we can spread out in the large hall. This makes the acoustics really good too.
Many people smile knowingly if you tell them you play the ukulele but in reality it is a great and happy instrument. Those of us who do play also tend to smile a lot – but that’s because we are enjoying ourselves – life’s not so bad if you play the ukulele.
About the Group
The ukulele is a popular instrument in the UK and when you start asking around, it’s astonishing how many people do actually play one. George Harrison was a big fan of the uke, and modern stars like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift also feature it in some songs. As a group we’re not at all surprised, as not only is the uke a fun instrument to play, but also in the right hands it can sound really wonderful. So on alternate Tuesday afternoons, we strum, we sing and we make a happy noise. (Well, at least most people who hear us play seem to think so…) And now some of us are even starting to learn fingerpicking in order to accompany the strumming. Wow!
We’re a friendly bunch and new players are always welcome. If you have ever wondered if you should give the ukulele a try, why not pick up the telephone or send an e-mail? The first 2 sessions are free and you can even borrow a ukulele for those first few sessions, after that there is a charge of £20 to cover 3 months worth of sessions, this charge covers the hire of the room.
We have the beginnings of a new songbook and, as of right now, it has 33 songs − some old and some new. Inevitably in a book of this sort there are one or two minor errors and we are currently trying out each of the tunes and correcting any mistakes as we go along. We encourage all of our group members to suggest new songs for the book so no doubt our repertoire will grow in the coming weeks and months.