For the past 18 months or so, I’ve been involved in this amazing Uke Heads recording project with James Hill and today is the day that our album is finally officially released into the world! While we mostly rehearsed and recorded our parts in our own little studios, I did get to meet and play with some fellow Uke Heads in Vancouver last spring and also had the privilege of attending the Uke Heads Gathering in Santa Fe, NM last October too. You can hear a live episode of James’ Uketropolis Podcast from that event about the making of the album. (Yes, that’s me, getting a little emotional about it all, at around the 36 minute mark :/)
The album was just reviewed in the latest issue of Ukulele Magazine too! (Spring 2024) If you don’t already subscribe, get it now. I still love getting the paper copy in the mail even though the digital version is also available and there are always a few arrangements and tips and tricks to learn in each issue of this quarterly publication.
I hope you’ll have a listen here or on your favourite platform. It’s also available as a good old fashioned CD which I have as well, autographed by all my friends from the gathering.
I would never miss the Uketropolis Virtual Recital, which is happening today. We’re all over there sharing our short performances with the Community, so here’s a video from me, playing a couple of songs from Americana Ukulele, along with some passenger window footage of our trip southwest for the winter and a little percussion added from Steve.
As for my playing, it really does take “weeks, months or sometimes years” to master the techniques of this amazing new course, as James said in the Welcome chapter. I’ve really enjoyed trying my hand at some of them and will keep working on more. For this one, you’ll hear a “Mandolin Chords” arrangement of Home on the Range and the “Travis Picking” technique in Lonesome Valley.
A french arrangement I’ve been working on for a while. I created this one using some jazzy chord voicings I learned from the Baritone Ukulele Jazz course, at Uketropolis. (affiliate link). While I’m playing this one on a D6 tuned ukulele, the same shapes can be played on a C6 tuned ukulele or G6 tuning on Baritone ukulele. Just found out recently that this 1930 tune, made famous by the great Josephine Baker, has now been added to the Public Domain.
Je suis tellement fière de partager cette dernière vidéo de ‘Ukulele Orchestra of Toronto que je viens de réaliser. L’ensemble interprète mon arrangement de cette chanson folklorique française pour ukulélés et voix, sous la direction de Eve Goldberg. Quel plaisir de recevoir son appel pour créer un projet dans ma langue maternelle. N’hésitez pas de me contacter si ça vous intéresse de l’essayer avec vos groupes. Il serait mon plaisir de partager la partition.
Chantons, chantons! la laine des moutons.
I’m so proud to share this latest video I’ve produced for the Ukes of T! The orchestra is presenting my arrangement of this traditional French song for ukuleles and voice under the direction of Eve Goldberg. It was really nice to be asked by Eve to create something in my mother tongue for the group and if this is an arrangement you’d like to try with your groups, please drop me a line and I will be happy to share it.
J’ai fait mes adieux à mes tâches administratives et les réseaux sociaux chez Uketropolis il y a déjà 4 mois. J’ai pris ma retraite, disons, en même temps que mon mari au mois d’avril et ensemble nous sommes parties à l’aventure avec notre roulotte. Mes collègues m’ont fait un beau cadeau d’une chanson et des bons souhaits. En même temps je me suis fait un beau cadeau aussi, d’un nouvel instrument. Une ukukélé baryton fait à la main par M. Aaron Keim, la voici.
Dès la première soirée, assise avec cette nouvelle uke, il y a eu des sons, des idées, des chansons qui en sont sorties, à ma surprise. Je me pratique à les faire vivre dernièrement.
Mon âge avance de plus en plus, j’ai un nouveau surplus de temps et je me sens finalement libre de m’exprimer sans avoir peur de quoi que ce soit.
Mon cheminement musicale continue. Embarquez avec moi, ou non. Une chanson ça ne vit que dans le moment, enfin, comme on devrait tous faire. Un enregistrement c’est seulement un petit moment capturé et une chanson, c’est vraiment juste des idées ou des émotions qui se manifestent seulement lorsqu’on la partage. Alors, en voici une, pour tout ceux qui songent à changer de direction, à prendre une chance, à pardonner ou de partir à l’aventure.
Honestly, I’ve always really liked music recital time, even before I was teaching, when I was working in music school admin or watching my own children play. It was always such fun to organize and then cheer on the performers. I still get excited to hear non-professional musicians put themselves out there and share what’s in their heart and the progress they’ve made in their musical pursuits. I’m always especially proud of my own students of course and now and then I get to leave my cozy shell and play something myself. Here’s what I was up to recording this past week.
Two traditional pieces in 6/8 time from Yorkshire, England to Brittany, France. The first arrangement of Scarborough Fair is a chord-melody solo by James Hill which can be found at here. (There’s a link there to another great article on creating Medley Magic!) The second piece, C’était Anne de Bretagne, is from Book 3 of the original printed edition of the Ukulele in the Classroom method series by James Hill and J. Chalmers Doane.
There was some good advice put forth about trying to record oneself, which was to leave the camera going until you play it through with some satisfaction. What that also does is it makes you watch a bunch of misfires and retakes and maybe even some funny accidental moments before you get to the section you like. I chose to add the outtakes of my flubs and canine interruptions because I thought they were funny and I don’t mind letting you know how hard it is to do. The final cut is certainly not perfect either but it’s what I could live with at this point in my musical journey.
Recitals are not about comparing one player with another or even yourself. (I’m really not a fan of judged musical reality shows, but that’s for another post sometime) Recitals are just for showing a little bit of yourself in one of the most vulnerable ways most of our busy minds can possibly imagine…a public stage. Eek! Remember, “comparison is the thief of joy” and there’s a lot of joy in letting go and just trying something scary. Anyone who’s done this knows what I mean.
Anyway, I was also thrilled to be asked to take part in recording something for this next one with my friends within the JHUI mentorship program. Thanks for watching!
p.s. Ever wonder what does Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme mean in Scarborough Fair? The lyrics are about a man trying to attain his true love. In Medieval times, the herbs mentioned in the song represented virtues that were important to the lyrics. Parsley was comfort, sage was strength, rosemary was love, and thyme was courage. Wishing you all of these, in the season ahead.
Premiering tomorrow, our little CUTE ensemble will be opening another set of virtual performance videos from the Ukes of T with this arrangement of a classic French voyageur song. You can set a reminder at YouTube ahead of time by clicking below.
The playlist will be followed by this video of the Gossec Gavotte at 12:15pm, edited by Catherine Goykhman, who I am happy to say has taken up the reins from me as the new social media coordinator for the orchestra! Thanks Cat! Check out her teaching website: /https://www.catplaysukulele.com/
Last but not least will be the premiere of this video at 12:30pm. Janis Ian’s ‘Better Times Will Come’, which I edited from another Zoom recording at one of the rehearsals. I urge you to check out this uplifting pandemic project at https://www.bettertimeswillcome.com/ to find out more about the song.
It’s still really satisfying to continue to hear all of our voices singing together even though we’re still apart. Put your headphones on at noon tomorrow and enjoy! Eve did a wonderful job of mixing the audio for these, once again. We’re all learning so much from these experiences. I hope it’ll leaving you feeling as hopeful as I was, hearing it. Here’s to better times, ahead!
The entire month of March has been a time for marking many anniversaries, some pandemic related, some not. A couple of weeks ago the Ukulele Orchestra of Toronto premiered two more virtual performance videos I helped create as well as an opener by our CUTE ensemble, which was a video we had put together in February. I created a playlist below, of the collection:
YouTube Playlist of my Pandemic Virtual Videos
It’s all been a really great learning opportunity for me to have a hand in making these and I’m really happy that I was able to help my ukulele community stay connected and keep making music. Being one of the lucky who has so far been spared of the disease in my family and close circles, I am thankful and try to remember that many others have not been as fortunate. It’s hard not to feel like this will never end but I know that it will, hopefully in the next few months as more and more of us are receiving vaccines. Although, as we head into what is looking like a 3rd wave of cases here in Toronto, I don’t really see us getting together again soon to play and sing in person here. I was secretly hoping for maybe an outdoor event later this spring but I’m not sure that’s going to happen now. And now that I’ll be moving into a new living situation soon, I’m probably going to take a little break from video production for a few months.
J’ai deux amours
Here’s a little snippet of music I’ve been working on today. As I move through the Ukulele Jazz course over at Uketropolis, I’ve tried using some of the jazzy chords I’ve picked up in the course to accompany my Memère here. My Dad sent me a little clip of her singing this from her bed just after the new year and I couldn’t resist doing a little duet with her again. Maybe we’ll be able to get together for her 101st birthday this year. I’m happy to report that she is fully vaccinated against COVID-19! In memory of her daughter, who passed one year ago today, and our trip to Paris together in 1988, here it is. Excusez-la!
In case you haven’t seen them before, these are the amigurumi figures I made of “The Treble Gang”. The characters are part of Uketropolis and live within the Ukulele in the Classroom e-books and the new Ukulele Funbook. They are made after the Sam Logan drawings created for these ukulele method books by James Hill and J. Chalmers Doane. I’ve had a number of requests over the years, so I thought I’d finally create a post about how I made them.
Photo by Steve LeBlanc. l-r Gus the Gecko, River the Otter, Kai the Boar and Jose the Dog, from Ukulele in the Classroom
I learned to crochet as a young girl along with my mom and from about the ages of 8 to 12, I was making hats, blankets and even came up with my own pattern to make myself a “disco-purse” to wear to the roller-rink. I hadn’t done it in many years but around the same time that I finished my ukulele teaching certification and we lost our family dog in 2014, I got hooked again. I found it was a great way to work through my grief by keeping my hands busy in the evenings and getting lost in the counting and repeating of stitches. It really is a great way to relax.
Amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small, stuffed yarn creatures and I discovered the technique from blogs and posts I’d seen on Pinterest. At the time, I was teaching ukulele in schools and decided my students would all get these cute Baby Ukuleles for the holidays, to hang on their Christmas trees or ukulele bags or wherever. So, that was the first pattern I tried and I got it from Eternal Sunshine on Etsy. I don’t see the Baby Ukulele pattern in her shop anymore, but you might be able to contact this creator and have her send you the PDF. That’s also the pattern for the tiny ukuleles they’re all holding in the photo above. That’s the only pattern I can’t find online anymore.
Once I finished that project, I thought it would be fun to crochet a Jose for myself, as a classroom mascot, since I already knew how to make him his own little ukulele. Jose the Dog was the original ukulele slingin’ chihuahua from the Ukulele in the Classroom series of books I was teaching with (they are free e-books now!) To make Jose, I found and used this pattern from another Etsy creator. I just modified his mouth and body slightly to make him look more like the cartoon character.
“To make Jose, I found and used this pattern from another Etsy creator.”
When I started working as the social media contractor for the program, naturally Jose got to come along with me when I’d follow James to events, concerts and his JHUI teacher training seminars that used to be held in Toronto and Vancouver. Jose was always game for a photo op with our teachers and followers. He even conducted our team in a music video.
Soon after, people started asking me about how to/where to get their own Jose and my response was always that he was “one of a kind”. But now that I’ve just completed making the rest of the characters in the new e-book editions and the Ukulele Funbook, I thought it might finally be time to at least let you in on how I made them and where one can get the patterns to make their own.
Sidenote: This is the pattern for the tiny Hawaiian shirt worn by Gus the Gecko. It’s actually a Free Ken Doll Barbie Shirt pattern I found on Pinterest that I hand stitched together.
I hope you’ll try crocheting and have as much fun as I’ve had making these over the years! Thanks to James Hill and the team for indulging me in using these creations to help promote such a great music education program.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Toronto premiered TWO virtual performance videos this afternoon. The group worked very hard to learn their parts, record them and let us put them together virtually.
In both of these, our director, Eve Goldberg, mixed the audio submissions from each member and I put the final music tracks to a couple of video montages.
The first is the hymn from Finlandia by Jean Sibelius, we had members send in photos of their favourite places in the world and we put them to the music along with the beautiful lyrics of this melody.
In the second video, we just recorded ourselves during one of our Tuesday night Zoom rehearsals and sent Eve our recorded audio parts separately. Voila! An MTV style snapshot of this incredible time we are living through, and it’s set to Bird of Paradise, a beautiful song by Tony Bird with such a great message about what’s important in this life.
As we get closer to the anniversary of our last rehearsal together, I’m also feeling really thankful that the members of the orchestra are persevering through the pandemic and continuing to create with together, these moments of musical joy, despite the chaos of the time.
LeBlanc Papillon 