March 1 Ukulele Jam

Greetings!

As I mentioned earlier, the search continues for a new venue. The Collins Bay Legion looked promising, but it didn't quite pass muster.

So we continue with our jam at the Kingston Community House. We jam again this Wednesday, March 1, 7pm, at 99 York Street. Bring along your favorite songs to share with the group. You can find my choice of songs here. It's a selection of a couple of new songs and songs we've done before.

I know some people have trouble finding 99 York Street. Here's a map showing the location. The X marks the spot. If you're driving south on Division Street, turn left at the 2nd traffic lights south of Concession Street. The blue lines indicate where parking is allowed on the streets on Wednesday evenings. Watch the parking signs. Note that there's no parking on York Street until past 108 York Street. I suggest parking in the first available spot on York Street after that point. The Kingston Community House is not well marked, so look for the street number, 99.

So 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 to cover the cost of room rental. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

Ukulele Jam

Greetings, Kingston ukulele fans!

First, I'd like to invite all of you to participate in an informal, unscheduled jam this Wednesday, February 22, 7pm. The purpose of this jam is to evaluate a new venue, the Royal Canadian Legion at 4034 Bath Road in Collins Bay. This is very easy to find, right in the village, just east of Collins Bay Road. There's plenty of parking on the east side. Enter through the bar, and take the stairs at the other end of the room up to the second floor.

Please take the opportunity to check this out. If the consensus is positive, we'll make this our regular venue.

As usual, we'll do this as a song circle. Bring copies of some of your favorite songs.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to fill in a survey about our regular ukulele jam. Here are some of the results. There were 20 responses in total.

Question 1: Rate your skills. 6 (30%) considered themselves beginners, 12 (60%) intermediate, and 2 (10%) advanced.

Question 2: Preferred jam format. Most (11) want mixed instruction and song circle. 7 want primarily song circle, and 1 wanted primarily instruction.

Finding topics for a workshop is always challenging. We should have topics that appeal to a wide range of skills. If you have any ideas for workshop topics, or you're willing to lead a workshop, please let me know.

Question 3: Preferred schedule. 89% want a twice a month jam, with the rest preferring a monthly jam.

No surprises here.

Question 4: Jam attendance. Ideally, two thirds of respondents would like to attend every jam if possible, with another quarter expecting to attend every other jam.

This is a positive result. Based on informal feedback, it seems many people have issues with our current venue. With a more appropriate venue, hopefully we'll see a better turnout.

Question 5: Ideal group size. Most respondents think the ideal group size is either 9-11 (41%) or 12-15 (35%).

No surprises here.

Question 6: Ideal room. Most respondents (44%) would prefer a quiet back room in a licensed establishment. 22% would prefer a quiet room in a church, school, or library. One respondent would prefer a living room in someone's home. 28% have no preference.

I, for one, would prefer a venue where I can have a beer while jamming. I think the Collins Bay Legion may be a good choice for venue.

Question 7: Cost. Most (58%) are willing to pay $3-$5 per jam.

There's always a cost. Venues that are willing to provide space for free, such as a licensed bar or restaurant, expect to make money from attendees visiting the bar or ordering food. At least, if you don't buy anything, drop a toonie into the tip jar at the bar.

Question 8: Age. Most respondents were either 61 or older (53%) or 41-60 (37%).

Question 9: Where do you live. Respondents were equally split among inner city Kingston, suburban Kingston and outside the city.

Question 10: Willing to organize. Of 19 respondents, 2 expressed willingness to take an active role in organizing jam activities, 9 replied "perhaps".

Thank you all for participating in the survey. The results will be helpful as we move forward.

Cheers! Hans

February 15 Ukulele Jam

Greetings, ukulele fans!

It's ukulele jam time again! We jam again this Wednesday, February 15, 7pm at the Kingston Community House, 99 York Street. Bring along your favorite songs to share with the group. You can find my choice of songs here. It's a selection of a couple of new songs and songs we've done before, mostly three- or four-chord songs.

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 to cover the cost of room rental. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

February 1 Ukulele Jam

Greetings, Kingston ukulele fans!

It's time again to let the music ring out! Bring your ukes along to our regular ukulele jam. Next jam is this Wednesday, February 1, 7pm at the Kingston Community House.

We'll start with a workshop, continuing to practice the song we started last time. This time, we'll look at the strumming pattern and speed up the pace.

The workshop follows with our usual song circle. Bring along your favorite songs to share with the group. Please do that. If you don't, others will choose what we play. You can find my choice of songs here. It's a selection of largely three-chord songs, mostly songs we've done before, but with one new song.

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 to cover the cost of room rental. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

January 18 Ukulele Jam

Greetings!

For the second jam of the new year, I propose a 3 or 4 chord jam. That is, let's do songs with no more than 3 or 4 chords. You can find my choice of songs here. Feel free to bring along your 3 or 4 chord favorites too. Or if you just want to sit back and strum along, that's okay too.

But first, let's begin the jam with a workshop. I've found one particular song that should be good for a workshop. Beginners can learn from this song, but it also should be interesting for more intermediate players. This week, we can practice the chords and chord changes. In future weeks, we can work on other aspects of the song, such as tempo and strum patterns. 

If you haven't already done so, please respond to the survey I put out a few days ago. There has already been a good response, but I'd like more before I report on the results. The survey can be found by clicking here.

But based on discussions so far, I am making changes to the jam, starting with this week's jam. For example, every now and then, we should have a jam where we limit ourselves to 3 or 4 chord songs. Also, people have made it clear that we should have a workshop. This may be problematical since we don't have any music teachers in our group. But I welcome any suggestions for future workshop topics.

Also based on discussions on our mailing list, I welcome any suggestions for a new venue. Remember, we should have a venue available on Wednesday evenings, roomy, with good lighting, and with convenient parking. I'll be checking out some possibilities when I have a chance later this week.

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 to cover the cost of room rental. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

January 4 Ukulele Jam

Greetings, Kingston ukulele fans!

Let's welcome in the New Year with our regular ukulele jam, this Wednesday, January 4, 7pm at the Kingston Community House. Bring along your favorite songs to share. Or just sit back and strum along. As Manitoba Hal said, music demands participation, not perfection.

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 $1 per jam to cover the cost of room rental. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans

December 21 Ukulele Jam

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I know everyone's busy getting ready for the holidays. But it's ukulele time again! You need to take a break and join your fellow ukulele fans in our regular jam, this Wednesday, December 21. This time, of course, we'll do our seasonal favorites. You can find a copy of our favorite Christmas songs here. But if you have other favorites, bring them along!

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 $1 per jam. If you haven't yet printed off your own copy of our favorites document, you can download it here.

Cheers! Hans