Workshop: Ode to Joy

To celebrate the bicentennial of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the only one that uses the human voice, we will play the Ode to Joy for the ukulele. Watch the documentary about Beethoven’s Ninth.

This one-hour workshop is re-scheduled for Thursday 5th September 2024 at 4:30 PM EDT after 3 Chord Thursday Hooked on Classics. You can participate in-person at the Walter Baker Building in Boston, Massachusetts or in Zoom. Whether you participate in Zoom or in person, please Register for the Zoom link to get the sheet music we will be using in advance. This workshop is one of four I am giving at the Nutmeg Ukulele Festival on Saturday 14th September 2024 in Simsbury, Connecticut.

What to expect

Normally we rotate playing each part so that we get to learn the different parts. In Zoom, you can also choose which part you want to play and just play along to the ensemble. In person, we will make an ensemble. The parts are as follows:

• Melody
• Countermelody
• Bass line
• Chords

We will play the Ode to Joy arranged in the best key for ukulele. It’s helpful to have both a high G and low G ukulele. If you only have high G ukulele, you can play the melody and the chords. If you have low G ukulele, you can play all four parts.

Time permitting, we will explore my chord melody arrangement and modulation to another key.

Background

At the beginning of the pandemic, I learned from a German ukulele player that the Germans were getting together to perform the “Ode to Joy.” Eager to join them, I posted an announcement for a workshop in the Ukulele Union of Boston meetup site in March 2020. I had to learn how to use Zoom to host my very first Zoom session. The world had gone into lock down. Some 30 people RSVP’d to participate.

I posted a second announcement to join the Germans. “What is the Zoom link?” After posting the announcement, I learned that the Germans were performing it from their balconies and gardens. In-person. There was no Zoom link. Regardless, 53 participants joined me in Zoom.