3 Chord Thursday: multi-instrumentalists

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 17th February 2022, after Valentine’s Day and a month before St Patrick’s Day, we celebrate songs with many different instruments. Can you say “multi-instrumentalists” without stopping to take a breath? Here’s the opportunity to accompany yourself with something other than a ukulele or in addition to your uke.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on 3 Chord Thursday: multi-instrumentalists

Burns Night with bagpipe, ukulele, and piano

Posted on January 25, 2022 by Anne Ku

Robert Burns, the famous poet of Scotland, was born on 25th January — a date synonymous with Burns Night. I celebrate this day by sharing my compilation of two videos and two audio recordings made on Maui, where I heard the Isle of Maui Pipe & Drum Band on a warm tropical winter evening.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Burns Night with bagpipe, ukulele, and piano

The Gift of Music

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Anne Ku

I thought about the act of giving while recording “From Me to You” by the Beatles. Music enthusiast Paul (HI) had given me a list of Beatles songs that included the harmonica as a precursor to his harmonica workshop for 3 Chord Thursday. All I had to do was record the ones I could sing and play on the ukulele and/or piano.

Continue reading →
Posted in course, personal development, ukulele | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Gift of Music

3 Chord Thursday: love songs to warm or break your heart

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 10th February 2022, we anticipate Valentine’s Day by sharing love songs that will warm or break your heart. DRESS CODE: pink and green to represent LOVE.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on 3 Chord Thursday: love songs to warm or break your heart

3 Chord Thursday: ukulele all over the world

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 3rd February 2022, we celebrate World Ukulele Day which falls on 2/2/2022 (in fact, 2nd day of the 2nd month every year). We will share songs about the joy of playing the ukulele in any language or culture. Songs that are famously accompanied by the ukulele, songs about the ukulele, … songs with ukulele in the title are all possibilities.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ukulele Jeopardy Winners & Losers

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Anne Ku

At the last 3 Chord Thursday session in 2021, we played our third ukulele jeopardy game in Zoom. I invited a co-host to help me test the game beforehand and teach the ukulele jeopardy theme tune “Think!” in the beginning of the session while I set up. The winning team received a special prize — and hand-drawn group picture by the Houston-based artist Eve Myles.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kanikapila in Hawai’i (part 4)

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Anne Ku

There’s something different and special about jamming with other ladies (in contrast with an all male or a mixed gender group). It feels like going to an all-female luxury spa, such as the Korean body scrub spa in Seattle some five years ago. You can let your hair down.

On Maui, I participated in two wahine kanikapila. Wahine means female. At the one in Kahului, we play and sing through as many songs as possible, with hardly any pause or chit chat. Then we break for lunch when we are thoroughly exhausted and famished. More recently, I joined a group in Kihei. There was chit chat between the songs, probably because we were getting acquainted.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Kanikapila in Hawai’i (part 4)

$99 Music Classes in Zoom

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Anne Ku

The number nine in Chinese sounds exactly like the Chinese word for “long time” as in “Long Time No See” – hao jiu bu jian. It also sounds like the Chinese word for alcohol or wine.

What can you get for US$99 ? One-hour music classes in Zoom over four weeks or four one-hour music classes of different topics.

And then? You can decide if you want to continue, one class at at time for $29 each or $109 for the remaining four classes in that 8-week series.

Eve Myles $99 for four classes illustration
Illustration by Eve Myles

For the PERFORMANCE SERIES on Tuesdays starting 1/25/2022 at 5:30 pm EDT, you also get a harmonica class (to be scheduled) for free. If you just want to take that harmonica class and not anything else, it’s still $99.

The PERFORMANCE SERIES refers to classes that help you become a better performer. Previous classes focussed on how to memorize and other requests by the students in a small focussed group.

For the Winter 2022 season, the PERFORMANCE class will address the following topics:

  1. Request a song to study and perform
  2. Manage nerves and overcome stage fright.
  3. Practice for performance.
  4. Review your performance and improve for the next one.
    1. Get constructive feedback to prepare you for 3 Chord Thursday performance (or elsewhere). 

Register NOW for a class in Zoom. For course descriptions, visit the CLASSES webpage.

Illustration by Eve Myles
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on $99 Music Classes in Zoom

In-person music classes

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Anne Ku

Prior to the pandemic, we assumed all classes were given in-person. Only online classes needed to be labelled. Now that we are STILL in the worldwide pandemic, we have to label classes that are given in-person.

Are we ready for in-person classes?

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Comments Off on In-person music classes

Musical tributes

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Anne Ku

Homage. Tribute. These are words reflecting past accomplishments that live on. Here is the start of a project paying tribute to a composer or artist or other famous person through a re-interpretation of his or her music.

Continue reading →
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Musical tributes