Auckland Uke and Singing: INTERMEDIATE class WEDNESDAYS at 7.45PM

Hi and welcome the Auckland Uke and Singing intermediate lessons!

Please note:
There are various levels of classes offered within this Meetup group.
This new Wednesday evening class is an add-on to the weekly Sunday 11am intermediate class and is intended for those of you who are already familiar with basic major and minor chord shapes, have learned some strumming patterns including the "island strum" (also known as calypso) and the "chuck" strum, can play simple songs on the ukulele and feel keen on advancing a bit faster than in a group for beginners, and might be keen to join the "4 Strings Sing" performing ensemble group that meetsweekly mostly on Sundays from 12.30 to 1.45pm - you can find out more about that here: https://www.meetup.com/4-strings-sing-auckland-based-ukulele-performing-ensemble/

I'm looking forward to meeting each of you and sharing music together. This one-hour and 15min lesson will take place every Wednesday from the 13th of August until the 15th of October. Please feel free to write me some suggestions if there are specific songs you dream of learning :) I have put together a 2024/2025 Student Survey for this purpose so please feel free to fill this out to let me know more about your musical interests and aspirations. Thanks!

STUDENT SURVEY LINK
https://us21.list-manage.com/survey?u=7b8f0ec6845e7d0c5e9d4da2b&id=67174b8412&attribution=false

ACCESS: GROUP CLASSES LOCATION

I will be offering these Wednesday sessions from my home near Mt Eden Village so advance booking is essential. Please see below.

Places are limited to 15 as this is all the space can accommodate and will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis as advance payment is received.

Cost for participants:
$25 casual rate / session
Bulk discounts:
$120 for 5 sessions ($5 off)
$230 for 10 sessions ($20 off)

• $5 cash contribution weekly on arrival for the venue and printing cost (most of these funds will be put to use to purchase gifts for my flatmates who have kindly accepted I host the sessions in our beautiful and spacious lounge near Mt Eden Village).

Please pay for each session online up until the day before each workshop session (you are welcome to pay for them in bulk if you prefer) to complete your booking for that session & please bring $5 cash for each session, as detailed above.

Payment info is below:
ANZ online account
Name SONIA WILSON
Account # 01-0205-0083380-00

Payment reference "WednesdayUke". Please include the dates you are booking for, unless it is for all 10 sessions.

Please remember to RSVP on the Meetup as early as possible for the sessions you plan to attend.

Thank you so much and looking forward to sharing this musical journey with you!

For enquiries or for more information, please contact Sonia at soso352@gmail.com

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• What we'll do

We will be exploring the basics of music theory around this instrument (no rocket science, just enough to get you comfortable with starting to play by ear and how to decipher tabs or easy music scores) and the voice, as well as learning a vocabulary of chord shapes, strumming patterns and a variety of songs in different genres. We will occasionally venture into the realm of playful group improvisations.

One of the main challenges of playing ukulele and singing is the art of putting those two together, so we will spend time getting to know the phrasing of various songs and developing your ability to synchronise your singing and playing so you can build up the skill and confidence to eventually perform in front of an audience, if you ever wish to do so.

As I am experienced in choir singing, we will also look at some harmony singing on some of the songs.

• What to bring
A ukulele! Many of my students also find it helpful to have a strap on their ukulele.

Please tune your ukulele before the start of the lesson using an electric clip-on ukulele tuner, a tuner app on your smartphone or your ear (for those feeling very confident). A well-tuned ukulele will tend to make you want to play more frequently...

It will be much easier to play the notes / chord shapes on uke if the nails on your left hand are not too long.

• Important to know
Please don't shy away from this learning experience by fear of not being good enough. We are all on a learning journey, myself included. Everyone is musical in my opinion. It's just a matter of exposure, experience and practice. I intend for these group lessons to be educational in a fun and relaxed kind of way. My intention is to create a "safe zone" for musical play and learning in good company.

Thanks for being part of this group and I hope to see you soon!

xoxo Sonia