As folk know, two years ago PLUC stalwart Ed Green moved to the village of Old, in Northamptonshire, to be near his family. He keeps in touch with us to let us know how he’s doing. Here is his latest update. Do leave him a message in the comments if you wish to send him your greetings:
BLUD at Kettfest – Ed is second from the right on the back row
Dave Parnell’s Holiday Uke
I’m in sunny Vejer at the moment with my wife Chris. It’s nice here, and the locals are going mad enjoying their feria. With plenty of singing drinking and dancing it’s just the right backdrop to get me going… Read the rest of this entry »
Steve H with uke
I never liked the uke.
It sounded bleedin’ awful.
A really low-quality astringent taste in the ears. Not like the softer tones and fuller sound that my nylon string acoustic gave. So I put the uke back and had another look around the music shop in Lewisham High Street. I looked at harmonicas, banjos, bass guitars and the plethora of musical diversions offered in Eric Lindsey Music.
I was looking for something new. An instrument to encourage a little more playing, primarily by being a little more portable. Then I could take it to work and practice on the nursery class I taught. In the end, financial concerns brought me back the uke. It had a little tuner cleverly sunk into the side of the body. Yet, it still sounded dull.
Please note the following arrangements for our club nights around Christmas: Read the rest of this entry »
Last April I was in Catford for six weeks awaiting the birth of my grandson, Evan, and helping afterwards. I had been going to a Colchester U3A group and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was missing it.
I googled local ukulele groups and came up with the excellent PLUC. I knew where Lewisham Hospital was and discovered PLUC in one of those now rare places, the hospital social club.
The group were very welcoming and not over worried re my very amateur twangings. I enjoy the songs they do and appreciate the obvious talent there too. For me, it has helped my ukulele ‘alphabet’.
Thanks from Gail, Colchester.
Sheila’s Ashbury Uke
Last year I decided to have a random year of doings which included all sorts of stuff from a boxing match to bingo to a cookery course. And included in my fairly long list was the ukulele. I’d seen clips on YouTube and marvelled at the skill of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and just fancied having a go.
I’m really a viola player by trade, so came with knowledge which is an advantage, but I pitched up at PLUC having bought one two days previously on New Year’s Eve, in fact right before going to see Dame Edna at the Palladium. I knew two chords… Read the rest of this entry »
Anthony Checking Out Tip 3a
I’m a recent convert to the world of ukulele. I’ve been playing around about 10 weeks and am really enjoying it. I’ve managed to learn the basics and am managing to play many more full songs than I thought I’d be able to play at this stage when I first picked the thing up.
Anyway… I was asked to put together a few words on what I’m enjoying and not enjoying about ukulele. I’ve tried to do this below, its a little rambling (like myself), its personal to me and hopefully you’ll take these comments in the way that they were meant.
What I like… Read the rest of this entry »
Ron’s Lani Ukulele
Just an update of my ukulele activity since I have not been able to attend club.
I have purchased and subsequently sold several ukuleles. I have enjoyed the opportunity to sample them. I now have my Flea and a Lani ukulele which I think I will keep.
The Flea still rates well with me and I have no intention of selling that. As for the Lani, it was said that if I bought it, I would never buy another for a long time, which I guess is good news for me. LOL.
I have also learned a couple of fingerstyle songs, from Mark Kailana Nelson’s book Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele, among which are: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, All Through The Night and La Mananitas, which of course meant I learned to read tabs. (See the Ukulele Hunt review for a full song listing.) Read the rest of this entry »
Jos’s Antonio Carvalho Ukulele
Although never a master I’ve always enjoyed playing music. I started to play the guitar in my teens and for over 30 years I’ve happily plodded along as what I call a “Three Chord Strummer”.
In my humble opinion you don’t have to be Jimi Hendrix or Mozart to enjoy playing music. I’ve had brilliant evenings bashing away on an old tea tray.
In 2009 my wife and I set up a drop in music group / jam session for people with certain social difficulties. We were donated quite a few instruments. Mainly percussion, a couple of old school guitars annnnnnnd best of all a Ukulele. I was instantly hooked. The Ukulele has to be the Funnest (if such a word exists) instrument in the world. It sounds fun and feels fun to play. They make people smile when they see you with one and it always cheers you up when you pick one up. (If you’re feeling down that is, even cheerier if you’re not.) So, you can’t go far wrong with an instrument like that!!
It wasn’t that difficult for me to learn the basics having a bit of a guitar background and I was away. Read the rest of this entry »
People of Lewisham's Ukulele Club 
