We'll get together for an informative session covering such things as size, body type, strings, octave range, pickups, and frets. I'll talk about tuning, playing techniques, and explain finger positions that will make it easy for you to play with others.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 7, 2021
TIME: meet & greet check-in 6:45 pm, discussion starts at 7:00 pm (eastern time, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
WHERE: right in your own home
- ZOOM LINK
- ZOOM password: ukulele (if needed)
- Meeting ID: 828 3666 8214 (that's if the link above doesn't work for you, you can type the ID in once you click on JOIN MEETING)
IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BASS UKULELE YOU CAN STILL JOIN IN! Here's how:
- For soprano, concert, or tenor ukuleles, you can detune your uke down to EADG (4th string to the 1st string - chin to floor) to join in! This will work best if your uke has a low G tuning but will also work with a high G. I'll demonstrate how to do this at the beginning of the workshop.
- For baritones ukuleles, BUG member David Mayerovitch made an excellent suggestion - you can detune the 2 strings closest to the floor, B & E, up 1 semitone to C & F, and then put your capo on the 2nd fret, and you'll be all set with EADG tuning! Note: Do not detune your baritone uke up to EADG as it will put an excess amount of tension on the instrument which may result in broken strings.
Here are some topics we’ll explore:
1. Size
2. Body Type
3. Strings
4. Octave Range
5. Pickups
6. Frets
7. Tuning
8. Notes and Scales
9. Bass Patterns and Theory
Here is a songbook with song excerpts that we’ll be using to try out bass patterns during the workshop. You may want to print the songbook out or download it onto a separate device to make it easier for you to see.
BUG Bass Ukulele Workshop Songbook
And below are links to documents that you can read and/or download before our session to familiarize yourself with terms and concepts we may refer to during our workshop. We'll also display these documents on the screen as we talk about them. Sharon Baird will be our host and take care of the screen sharing; Sue will be helping out with the chat and demos.
Notes on the Neck of the Bass Ukulele
Musical Notes for all Major Scales
Roots and Fifths, Patterns and Theory
On your own screen, you can resize the screen-share window to take up most of the screen, or if you've got a big screen (we plug our computer into our TV) you can resize the information so that you can see more or less people. Those settings are entirely up to you! Click here for info about changing your view in Zoom.
Here are links to interesting websites with Bass Ukulele info. Enjoy!
Andrew Pouska
HOW DO I JOIN IN?
- Download ZOOM - it's free!
- Click on the Zoom Link under WHERE at the top of this announcement.
- Turn off all other programs, apps, emails, games, that use the internet. That will maximize your bandwidth to help improve delay and choppiness. Some people have had much better success with Zoom when they plug their device directly into their router/modem with an ethernet cable (depending on your device, you may need to get a USB ethernet dongle to do this).
- The Zoom host will mute everyone just before the song is to start. Then only the song leader will unmute themselves and start the song. Everyone else needs to stay muted - otherwise it's a mess. So if you notice that for some reason your mic is unmuted during the song, i.e., there is not a slash through the microphone symbol, please STOP singing and mute yourself by clicking on the microphone symbol. At the end of the song, if you'd like to clap, hoot, and holler - which we hope you will - then you need to unmute yourself.
- For optimal audio quality and volume, plug an external speaker into your device or wear headphones. If you don't do that, the sound may be choppy, tinny, and you won't hear the uBass. If you're using an older Apple product there may be a headphone out jack that you can plug an external speaker into. For newer Apple devices, you may need a USB-C connector to a 3.5 mm audio adapter to connect an external speaker or headphones.
- Due to the noise/feedback that occurs when someone connects to Zoom mid-song, the "waiting room" feature will be enabled. So people will only be admitted to the jam from the waiting room in between songs. If you're arriving after 7 pm, please be patient as it might take a few minutes.
- If you're not familiar with Zoom, please take some time to read these help pages ahead of time - they tell you how to test your audio and video:
How Do I Join or Test My Computer Audio
How Do I Test My Video