Enjoy learning some foundational ukulele techniques from the comfort of your living room, as Centrum will broadcast a one-day festival on Friday, April 14, 2023. Each class will run for 75 minutes. All classes will be in the Pacific Time Zone. Enjoy these three sessions:
9:00am – 10:15am
How to Become a Smooth Operator – Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major – Daniel Ho
Level 2-3 (confident beginner to intermediate).
Learn one section of this piece. Central to Daniel’s fingerstyle sound is the delivery of smooth, connected melodies. Learn to play this beautiful piece in a legato style by applying the campanella technique, which is the use of bell-like tones. This is achieved by playing linear passages across adjacent strings. We will learn how campanella is put in motion to create this flowing ‘ukulele arrangement, and how it can make any melody sound more lyrical and fuller. Low G tuning is recommended.
10:45am – 12:00pm
Western Swing and Cowboy Jazz – Aaron Keim
All levels.
Join Aaron as we strum, sing and pick some of his favorite songs. Western Swing has it all: great melodies, interesting chords, a danceable beat, cool string band instruments and cowboy hats. This was the topic of Aaron’s master’s degree thesis, so you can expect some historical nerd talk too. Baritone ukes welcome.
1:30pm – 2:45pm
I’ll Be at the Barre – Victoria Vox
Level 2-3.
This will be a comprehensible “ice-breaker” into the world of Barre Chords. Guaranteed to be an enjoyable experience as we play with chords and chord qualities. Barre intimidation no more! We will end the class by playing Three Little Birds (Bob Marley) while using some barre chords, and even adding a melodic riff!
The Artists:
Daniel Ho, California
From his simple beginnings in Honolulu to his life amid the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Daniel Ho has worked over the years as a musician, producer, singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, engineer, and record company owner. The most compelling of these roles has been as a six-time GRAMMY Award winning producer, featured slack key guitarist, and artist in the “Best Hawaiian Music Album,” “Best Pop Instrumental Album,” and “Best World Music Album” categories. Ukulele Magazine calls him “Hawaii’s greatest contemporary musical ambassador.”
Daniel has toured throughout the U.S, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brunei, Thailand, Europe, and Australia. He has served as an American Cultural Ambassador at U.S. Embassies; been featured with the Honolulu Symphony; authored nine music books; and toured as a clinician for YAMAHA Guitars.
With the continued popularity of the ‘ukulele, Daniel’s original song, “Pineapple Mango (The Breakfast Song),” has risen to fame as an instrumental anthem plentifully covered by ‘ukulele enthusiasts around the world on YouTube.
Aaron Keim, Oregon
Aaron Keim is a historian, banjo picker, ukulele ambassador, old time songster, luthier and author. Aaron has been teaching ukulele and banjo techniques and performing at festivals since 2004. As an educator with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a master’s degree in Musicology, his true talents lie in his ability to adapt instruction to fit a wide range of learners and learning styles. Aaron is an ambassador for old time folk music in the ukulele world, adapting banjo and guitar techniques to the ukulele (including playing in the “clawhammer” tradition). His YouTube instructional videos have gained a worldwide following and have led to teaching and performing opportunities in N. America, Europe and Australia. Aaron is also a luthier, building as Beansprout Musical Instruments since 2007. www.thebeansprout.com He plays in a duo with his wife Nicole called The Quiet American and a string band called The Junebug Boys.
Victoria Vox, California
Victoria Davitt, better known as Victoria Vox, is an award-winning, ukulele-toting, performing songwriter. With a passion for writing songs since she was 10 years old, she went on to graduate with a degree in Songwriting from the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). In 2003, she traded in her guitar for the ukulele as her main accompaniment and took the stage name Victoria Vox. Since the release of her first ukulele album in 2006 (Victoria Vox and her Jumping Flea), Vox has been one of the leading songwriters on the ukulele scene and cover girl on both Ukulele Magazine (USA) and UKE Mag (U.K.). She has shared the bill with ukulele greats such as Jake Shimabukuro, James Hill, and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. As a singer-songwriter she has also straddled into the folk scene, where she has opened for Jackson Browne, Tom Chapin, Leo Kottke, and Cheryl Wheeler. Over the years, she continued to evolve and reinvent her sound. She now performs mostly as a one-woman-band, incorporating a loop pedal and bass effect on her Low G ukulele.
Things to know:
- Cost is $75. For this you’ll be able to participate in three classes, and view recordings for one month after the festival.
- These will be live classes from the in-person Ukulele Festival Tunes on the Zoom platform, broadcast with a two-camera shoot. To be clear, this is an auditing option, so registrants will not have an opportunity to interact with the instructor.
