Voice Over Uke (formerly named Hum & Strum) is a music (group) class focussing on your singing voice. Playing the ukulele while singing helps get your voice in tune, stay in tune, and in time (in sync). However, it’s not immediately obvious.
The class meets as a group in Zoom, taking turns in the breakout room for individual and private coaching from Bruce Boreham, the voice instructor based in Venice, Italy. In the “main room” of Zoom, Anne Ku instructs and leads on vocal warm-up exercises, ukulele accompaniment patterns, transposition, rhythm, and other important skills to sing in tune, stay in tune, and use the ukulele to support your singing.
Registration & Schedule
Spring 2023 classes are scheduled to begin on 26th April 2023 for 8 consecutive Wednesdays at 3:30 PM EDT. Besides improving your singing voice and accompaniment on the ukulele, you will also learn correct pronunciation for selected Italian songs. Tuition fee covers all handouts and class video recordings. REGISTER HERE.
Learning Objectives
- Identify your blind spots
- Identify your best vocal range
- Transpose a song so that you can sing at your optimal best
- Receive warm-up exercises for your voice
- Start in tune
- Stay in tune
- Keep in sync (timing and rhythm)
- Find the correct starting note of a song
- Learn different ways to harmonize vocally
- Listen to your voice and others’ voices
- Become aware of your voice and its possibilities
- Build confidence in your singing and playing
Testimonials
Want to look at improving your singing with uke! This is the course for you. So much information, lost of help with your goals, hours of effort by instructor(s) for each class. Every topic a challenge, but you can work from “ where you are”. Highly recommend this. Very professional, very helpful, very supportive.
— Janice L. , Bedford, Massachusetts
Hum & Strum was a unique experience for me – even as a long time ukulele player. It gave a me better understanding of singing techniques and strumming techniques and their combination. Bruce was our voice coach and he identified my personal issues in our private breakout session. His “one on one” coaching was extraordinary for improving and building singing confidence. At the end of the course, everyone showed improvement and helped to build a supportive and fun camaraderie.
— Harvey L., Boston, Massachusetts
Anne is a seasoned and skilled music teacher and uses the medium of Zoom well to provide expert and inspiring ukulele tuition. The ‘Hum & Strum’ course, ably assisted by experienced vocal coach Bruce, aims to explain how to fit your voice to songs, casting into different keys if necessary, and explores many aspects of strumming that will improve your uke playing and help you up to a new level. Heartily recommended and a lot of fun. And as if that wasn’t enough, you’ll get to meet and work with a small bunch of lovely people from different parts of the world (and maybe even make a new permanent friend or two!).
— Neil J., United Kingdom
Hum & Strum is a class with a lot of heart. Bruce made practical singing suggestions tailored to each student, while Anne gave specific suggestions of how to zhuzh up each of the songs with chord progressions, tablature, riffs and more complicated strum patterns. The class provided a safe, smart space to come to grips with the complexity of singing and playing simultaneously. Delightful practice sessions organized by participants helped with cementing those concepts. All in all, delightful ukulele good times to soothe the soul as we make our way through these peculiar times.
— Nancy A., Arlington, Massachusetts
Anne’s Hum and Strum class has stretched my knowledge of music and has been very beneficial in helping me to build up my confidence, finding my voice, and transposing music to fit my vocal range. Currently, I am taking a second-course with Anne, Music harmony theory, music has so many moods it can make you feel good I can make you feel sad, that is the Alchemy of music.
— Henry Potter, United Kingdom
What Anne and Bruce teach in this class is something I will be able to use for a long time. Because of this class, I have a desire to learn more. I like that we are are given constructive feedback to the songs we sing on the last day of this class. For anyone thinking about taking this class I’d say you won’t regret it. It’ll probably be the best decision you’ll ever make.
– Debbie (HI)
If you’re one of those people who learned to play uke so you could sing more, this course will delight you. You will learn strategies for identifying and working with your voice range and receive personal coaching and feedback every class. Love a song, but think you’ll never be able to sing it? – take this course and find out that, yes, you can!
This was a very valuable class for me and the participants. Most of them I know from Anne’s “3 Chord Thursday @ 3” meetups. I was so impressed with the improvement of shy, soft-singing classmates. Their confidence, and competence, during the final performances was amazing. Congratulations, Anne and Bruce.
I didn’t know quite what to expect when I signed up for Voice Over Uke. I tend to lose interest and leave midway through online classes (for which I’ve paid) because I find there’s no real interaction between the teacher and the student — you’re left to read or go through lessons in a very dry and boring way. However, this class was amazing! There is a lot of interaction over zoom — Anne takes time to explain and demonstrate and answer questions. And the breakout sessions allow one-to-one interaction with Bruce who hears how you sing and offers immediate tips and support.
The schedule of this course was a mismatch for me so I audited it. I received the video of each class within 3 to 24 hours of the in person class and worked through that on my own. I met one on one with the voice instructor at an agreed time; he was generous with his advice and time. Auditing was a great solution for me.