February 3 Ukulele Jam

Greetings!

It's time again for our ukulele jam, this Wednesday February 3, 7pm. First things first, I need a volunteer to lead the jam this time since I have a schedule conflict. E-mail me at hans@kingstonukes.com if you'd like to do this. It just involves keeping people focused and the music flowing, as well as collecting a toonie from everyone.

This brings up an important issue. Moving forward, I'd like to have more people to be involved with organizing this group. I'd like to hear from you. Would you be willing to be more active in organizing jams and other uke related activities? Let me know. For example, do you have a talent in cartooning or graphic design? Would you like to design a logo or cartoon mascot for the group? Would you like to organize concerts at retirement homes or nursing homes? Would you like to lead a workshop? Many of us play other instruments besides ukulele. How about an occasional non-ukulele jam? Any ideas are welcome.

There's one possible event that we may be involved with. My daughter wants to organize some sort of event with her Pathfinders group, and may ask us to be involved, possibly to provide a back-up band for a group of singers from her group, performing at a local retirement home. I'll let you know once they decide what to do.

Remember, we jam at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street in downtown Kingston, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month (excluding holidays). 7pm. The cost is $2 per jam. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

January 20 Ukulele Jam

Greetings!

It's time again for our ukulele jam, this Wednesday January 20, 7pm. A week ago, the music world lost one of its most innovative and influential stars. To remember him, I'm bringing a few of his old and new songs, in addition to various other songs, which you can download from here. Please feel free to bring along your favorite David Bowie songs too. Or any other songs you feel like singing or leading the group with. If you just want to strum along with the others, that's okay too. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Remember, we jam at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street in downtown Kingston, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month (excluding holidays). 7pm. The cost is $2 per jam.

Cheers! Hans

January 6 Ukulele Jam

Happy New Year, everyone!

It's now 2016! If you want a suggestion for a New Year's resolution, here's one that will be easy to keep: Play ukulele every day. And join us twice a month for our ukulele jam, now at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street, in downtown Kingston. We're now officially booked at this location for the remainder of 2016.

As usual, please bring copies of your favorite songs to share with others and lead the group if you wish. I'll bring a few new and old songs as well, which you can download from here. I've got a mix of easier songs and more challenging songs. If you just want to strum along with the others, that's okay too. And if you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Remember, we jam at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street in downtown Kingston, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month (excluding holidays). 7pm. The cost is $2 per jam.

Cheers! Hans

December 16 Ukulele Jam, at the Kingston Community House

Greetings!

It's time again for our twice monthly ukulele jam! This time, we're trying out a new venue for our jam, the Living Room at the Kingston Community House. If this room meets our needs, we'll make it our regular venue. As you can see from the photo, there's comfortable seating for those who arrive early. But there are also more chairs that you don't see in the photo.

The Kingston Community House, 99 York Street, is easy to get to. If you driving from the north, drive down Division Street. Turn left at the second traffic lights south of Concession Street. The house is in the third block in, on the left, just past Cherry Street. The number 99 is easy to spot above the door. If you're driving from the west end, take Princess Street or Bath Road to Concession Street, and turn right at Division. There should be plenty of parking on the street across from the house.

Note that we need to pay for the use of this room. And so we need to charge a small fee for attending the jam. Initially, expect to pay $2 per jam. However, if we get at least 10 people per jam on a regular basis, the charge will drop to $1 per jam. This is probably the best deal in town for a meeting room.

For this jam, we'll be practicing the songs for our show on the 19th at the Fairmount Home, 2069 Battersea Road. So if you plan on participating in that show, please attend this jam. For others, just come on Wednesday and enjoy playing some of your favorite seasonal melodies. Here's the set list we used last time:

1. Jingle Bells (C)
2. Rocking around the Christmas tree (G)
3. Silver Bells (C)
4. Must be Santa (D)
5. A Marshmallow World (G)
6. Christmas in Killarney (D) (irish rovers tempo)
7. Here Comes Santa Claus (C)
8. Huron Carol (Am)
9. Jingle Bell Rock (C)
10. Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (F)
11. Deck the Halls (G)
12. Winter Wonderland (C)
13. White Christmas (C)
14. Frosty the Snowman (G)
15. Santa Claus is coming to town(G)
16. We wish you a Merry Christmas (C)

We came up a bit short on time, so we'll probably add one or two songs to the list. You can find the full Kingston Ukulele Society Christmas song list at www.kingstonukes.com/songs/kus-christmas.pdf. Please print out a copy if you haven't already done so. If you have a favorite that's not in that document, bring it along to the jam.

Remember, we're jamming at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street, in downtown Kingston. 7pm. The cost is now $2 per jam.

Cheers! Hans

December 2 Ukulele Jam

Greetings, ukelele fans! And mele Kalikamaka!

We're now back in the Christmas season again! We have one Christmas show scheduled, for Saturday, December 19, 2pm at the Fairmount Home, 2069 Battersea Road, just a few minutes north of the 401. This is the same place we played at last year, and they're happy to have us back again. Already, some of you have offered to join in. Last year, we had eight uke players performing at our Christmas shows. Hopefully, we can get at least that number this year. This type of event is a lot of fun, and the more participants we can get the better. If anyone has any ideas for other venues where we can play, please let me know. 

Our next ukulele jam is this Wednesday, December 2, 7pm at the Royal Tavern. This will give is a chance to practice our Christmas songs, and decide on repertoire for our Christmas show(s). I'll probably bring a few other non-holiday songs as well. We'll have one more opportunity to practice our repertoire at our December 16 jam. You can find the Kingston Ukulele Society Christmas song list at www.kingstonukes.com/songs/kus-christmas.pdf.

We jam in the Royal Tavern, 344 Princess Street. Parking is normally available on Princess Street. Or park in the lot at the back of the Royal, off Brock Street, just past the fire hall. Be sure to show your appreciation to the Royal by visiting the bar and purchasing a beverage or two. Don't forget that they also offer soft drinks, in addition to their assortment of beers and other alcoholic drinks.

Cheers! Hans

November 18 Ukulele Jam

Aloha, Kingston ukulele fans!

It's uke jam time again! Meet your fellow ukulele fans this Wednesday, November 4, 7:00pm at the Royal Tavern. Please bring copies of your favorite songs to share with others and lead the group. You can find some of the songs I'm bringing here. 

If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of the new favorites document, you can download it here.

We jam in the Royal Tavern, 344 Princess Street. Parking is normally available on Princess Street. Or park in the lot at the back of the Royal, off Brock Street, just past the fire hall. Be sure to show your appreciation to the Royal by visiting the bar and purchasing a beverage or two. Don't forget that they also offer soft drinks, in addition to their assortment of beers and other alcoholic drinks.

Cheers! Hans

November 4 Ukulele Jam

Greetings, ukulele fans!

The next ukulele jam is this Wednesday, November 4, 7:00pm at the Royal Tavern. Please bring copies of your favorite songs to share with others and lead the group. I'll bring a few new and old songs as well, which you can download from here. And if you haven't yet printed off your own copy of the new favorites document, you can download it here.

We jam in the Royal Tavern, 344 Princess Street. Parking is normally available on Princess Street. Or park in the lot at the back of the Royal, off Brock Street, just past the fire hall. Be sure to show your appreciation to the Royal by visiting the bar and purchasing a beverage or two. Don't forget that they also offer soft drinks, in addition to their assortment of beers and other alcoholic drinks.

Cheers! Hans