Report from Ukulele Meetup III

This was a special ukulele meetup, because I had the honor of being invited to lead a workshop as part of Eldorado's 25th birthday celebrations. And at the end, the fate of a beautiful ukulele literally depended on my hand movements, because I was the one who had to rummage among the little slips of paper for the prize draw. But let's not get ahead of ourselves . How did Ukulele Meetup III begin on October 19, 2019?

Shortly before the start

First of all, hats off to the Eldorádó team — they really went all out. Even in the final stages of the serious online and offline organization that had been going on for weeks, you could feel how much they wanted to do justice to the series of events celebrating their 25th birthday. I arrived at the venue at around 1 p.m. The technical equipment had already been neatly prepared, the music stands were in place, and people were still rushing around taking care of last-minute details... I put the printed material on the music stands, and before long we did a soundcheck with Keskeny Megálló ukulele duo.

A little earlier, during the soundcheck

A few minutes before 2 p.m. you started arriving. The room filled up quickly, but the official start was still some way off , so I thought we might as well get going and warm up. We therefore tuned ourselves up for the start with a few songs — quite literally as well as figuratively.

At exactly 2:30 p.m. we began the "official" part of the program, the workshop. To open it, Keskeny Megálló ukulele duo and I played Sway and the Beatles' From Me to You. (I am planning to make videos about these soon so that anyone who wants to can learn the solo-ukulele part, meaning the voice that plays the melody.) This was followed byWhen the Saints, and you joined in brilliantly. I have a strong suspicion that this is a song we will rarely leave out in future, because playing it together with you worked so well again.

Next came the music from the film All the Way, Boys! with four adventurous fellow ukulele players, each strumming one chord. Special thanks to the lady who played C major and the gentleman who played F major: both came onto the stage as complete beginners and played flawlessly .

We stayed with the three basic chords for one more Baroque piece, Te Deum, and then moved on to the theme song from the TV series Friends . I had considered it a slightly risky choice, but in the end I think it became the biggest success of the afternoon.

I absolutely love the series, but I have noticed that in today's flood of TV shows it is beginning to fade from people's memory, especially among younger viewers, who often do not know it or perhaps simply like it less. Never mind — I took the risk and hoped that those of us who love the series would be in the majority at the workshop, and that the theme tune would therefore be burned into our ears. While preparing for the workshop, I thought about how we could recreate this tiny, barely one-minute song at a ukulele meetup. I did not have to think for long because the song practically tells you what to do: we need to agree on the intro, the handclaps at the end of the first line, the backing vocals in the chorus, and the final chord at the very end. I thought all of those elements were fairly straightforward and not too difficult to pull off, so if we could get them right, the whole song should come together.

I think everyone who was there will agree with me that getting the handclap at the end of the first line into place was the most exciting part, and adding the backing vocals in the chorus was just as adventurous. Two young ladies, Andi and Dóri, deserve enormous credit for this. They were not actually attending the workshop, but an unexpected turn of events dropped them right into the middle of it all, and I would once again like to thank them for rising to the occasion and for their courage . What happened was this : when we started putting the song together, I explained that we would need clapping too, so anyone who was not playing chords should please clap at the end of the first line. I also asked all the ladies present to provide the backing vocals, simply so that we could separate the lead part from the background singing somehow. We had probably played the Friends theme this way twice when I noticed that the two ladies collecting registration coupons and handling admission were having a suspiciously good time by the entrance... Without ukuleles? Just standing around over there? So I said, come on then, get yourselves up here on stage, right now! I did not have to ask twice. The two of them appeared beside me on stage in no time, and suddenly there was so much clapping and backing singing that the place came alive! Anyone who was not there missed something special, but I hope we will have photos and video so that we can watch again what I am tempted to call the greatest Friends theme arrangement of all time for ukulele ensemble, handclaps and backing vocals.

Time was running short because we had spent so long on Friends — and I do not think anyone minded — so I asked the question: Country Roads or I Just Called? The first one won. But I did not want those who voted for the second option, Stevie Wonder's popular I Just Called to Say I Love You, to look disappointed either, so I spent about a minute showing them an interesting and unusual chord used in it: E minor major 7. It sounds particularly good in that song, and perhaps next time we will play the whole thing. So our closing song became John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads. We sang it all the way through once, and I thought it sounded flawless. I was delighted to hear so many of you singing along with me.

I cannot pass over the grand prize without a mention, because this was no entry-level ukulele but a high-end model . As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I helped with the draw, and I tried to recreate for everyone the suspense of a teacher slowly leafing through the class register before calling on someone at school. I mixed and shuffled those coupons for a very long time before finally drawing the winner. In addition to the beautiful ukulele, we also raffled two tuners, and I am sure their new owners will find them useful!

If you would like to download the material from Ukulele Meetup III as a PDF, click here

Finally, I would like to give special thanks to my friend Gyuri, the other member of Keskeny Megálló ukulele duo, for his active participation . Part of our preparation for the workshop consisted of rehearsing together as our modest duo. We wanted to bring some new songs while keeping one piece from the previous repertoire. We did not have a great deal of time to prepare, but we gave it everything we had. At both the previous and this ukulele meetup, I mentioned that Gyuri had been playing ukulele for only a little over half a year. He takes it very seriously, invests a lot of time and energy in it, and is extremely precise in what he does. And the results are clear: he is moving forward along the path of learning the ukulele in enormous strides. I am very happy to be able to call him my student, and making music together with him is genuinely enjoyable. Just think: in February we started by practicing C major, and now we are playing fairly demanding songs from memory.

Leading a meetup — or workshop, if you prefer — is an interesting and, of course, enormous experience for me. You spend weeks preparing in your head, in your hands and in your heart. On the one hand, Keskeny Megálló ukulele duo and I rehearse together; on the other, I keep thinking about which songs to bring, what lots of people will know and enjoy playing, what is not too difficult for beginners but still contains something interesting or perhaps a harder chord or two so that advanced players can stretch their fingers as well. Then suddenly the big day arrives. I reach the venue, you arrive, the meetup begins, and from that moment I seem to switch into a completely different mode. It feels as if some external force, independent of me, is conducting the whole event. Then the meetup ends, my everyday self returns, and I ask myself what on earth just happened. Slowly I begin to understand that I was there with all of you and had the privilege of being part of an extraordinary experience: making music and singing together. Writing these words, and later looking at the photos and videos, helps me recall, understand and relive that experience. Thank you for coming, and thank you for letting me be there!

After the workshop we did a quick Facebook Live broadcast (unfortunately the video ended up mirrored):

A few photos have already reached me; many thanks to our friend Attila for these. As soon as more pictures and videos arrive, I will update the post!