3 Chord Thursday Relaxation

Thursday 15th August 2024 is National Relaxation Day. Guess what? We will share songs that help us relax or get us into a good mood. What do you have on your Spotify List or YouTube Playlist that do this for you? It can be instrumental. See below for suggestions. Wear something loose so we can do a warm-up exercise that will help you relax.

Warm-up lesson at 3 PM EDT:
fingerpicking with slide and hammer-ons (continued from 1st August 2024)

BONUS! Everyone who joins in our Zoom session will receive a new “chord switching” exercise.

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3 Chord Thursday Colorado Songs of John Denver

Thursday 1st August 2024 is Colorado Day. We celebrate with the songs of John Denver, who recorded some 300 songs, of which 200 were his originals. Here are lists of his songs with links to song sheets: Doctor Uke and Ozbcoz (transposable) and one more. Join us in Zoom to share and appreciate the songs of John Denver.

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3 Chord Thursday Parody Parade

On Thursday 18th July 2024, we celebrate the art of parody by sharing songs that parodize (is there such a word) famous tunes. Get into the line-up before the one-hour song session in Zoom ends.

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3 Chord Thursday Across America

The public holiday 4th of July falls on a Thursday, so we will celebrate the theme of “Across America” on the second Thursday of the month on 11th July 2024 at the usual time of 3 PM EDT. We welcome songs of location and travel in the United States. Dress code: wear something to show a location in the USA.

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C chords for ukulele

How many “C chords” do you know on the ukulele? Start with the C major chord. Can you easily move to C minor? C7? C major 7? If you can figure out how to move from one chord to another for C, then it should be just as easy to apply the same process to another key. Or not?

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Wanted: ukulele players for guitar orchestra

The New England Guitar Orchestra invites ukulele players to join us this season. The unique characteristic of the ukulele makes a huge difference to the overall sound. Three hour rehearsals (with break) are scheduled for Saturday mornings 6/1, 6/15, and 6/22 at 10 AM in Boston. Concert is Friday 28th June 2024 at the Annual Boston Guitarfest.

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Moon Over the Ruined Castle

Every full moon, I acknowledge with a moon song. Tonight is no exception. The “Flower Moon” will arrive just before 10 PM EDT. By then, I will have recorded myself playing “Moon Over Ruined Castle” on the ukulele. The Japanese song “Kojo No Tsuki” 荒城の月 can be accompanied by three chords in a minor key.

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Ukulele Course: riffs and more!

Besides strumming the chords, what else can you do to accompany a song? Every song has its instantly recognizable riffs, repetitive chord progressions, percussive patterns, and other unique units hidden in the introduction, instrumental interludes, outros, or between verses, refrains, etc. In this ukulele course in Zoom, we explore these elements to take your playing to the next level. The first part of the course (SPRING 2024) started on 29th May 2024 and ends on 25th June 2024. The second part of this course (SUMMER 2024) runs for three Wednesdays in July (10th, 17th, and 31st) at 6 PM EDT. The third part of this course will focus on accompaniment patterns in AUTUMN 2024.

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Piano Accompaniment & Other Skills

By popular demand, the next 8-week PIANO COURSE is focussed on accompaniment. As with previous offerings, we will continue to build the important skills of sight reading, harmonization (formation and inversion of block and broken chords), and technique. This course in Zoom starts on 14th May 2024 at 4 PM EDT (9 PM BST, 10 PM CEST, 10 AM HST) and runs for 7 consecutive Tuesdays, a study break, and ends on the 8th Tuesday 9th July 2024. Tuition $260 includes all instructional materials, indexed video recordings of each class, and a weekly practice session on Fridays in Zoom.

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3 Chord Thursday Farewell

Thursday 20th June 2024 is World Refugee Day and also Summer Solstice. Our theme is farewell. It’s good-bye to Spring and welcome summer in Boston. Can you think of songs to do with parting? Check out our list of suggestions below. We will warm-up with a new exercise developed for the Ukulele Riffs & More! class, which is accepting new registrations for the three sessions in July 2024.

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