ARTISTS

*Does not include entry into main festival event

FREE beginner classes & demonstrations throughout the day Saturday Sept 23! No admission required but seating is first come, first served. Bring your ukulele; if you don't have one, there will be a variety of entry-level friendly instruments available for purchase. Prize giveaways, too!

Teens and adults: join us and jumpstart your musical journey - you'll be strumming your first song by the end of the hour! Pre-teen kids are welcome with parent supervision and encouragement. Katie DeNure is a state-certified teacher, licensed by the state of Wisconsin. She holds multiple teaching certifications and over a decade of experience teaching in public and private schools. 

For all rank novices who have never played an instrument before but with a focus on seniors seeking mental exercise - because learning something new is great for brain health! Melanie Lawson Kareem is the Founder and Creative Director of Get Started Playing Ukulele; her proprietary teaching materials and methods simplify and expedite the learning process.

Confident Beginner: You can strum through the basic chords without breaking the rhythm. Perhaps you've nailed down a couple of strumming and fingerpicking patterns as well. 

Intermediate level: You have an extended chord vocabulary and can strum a steady rhythm while singing. An intermediate student is able to catch on and follow along on simple tunes fairly quickly.

Advanced level: You can hear chord progressions, mastered some chord inversions and barre/4-fingered closed chords and can strum a steady rhythm while changing chords.

There'll be five 1-hour group strum-alongs throughout the day, led by various festival artists where you can apply the tricks and tips you've learned in workshops or just strum happily along as you bask in the camaraderie in a fun, no-pressure environment. 

The word "Jazz" can strike fear into the heart of any player, but this class will show you how easy (and hard) you can make it. We will cover popular progressions and finish our class with a 32 bar form called Rhythm Changes. A great class for confident beginners and intermediate players.

In this advanced workshop, you will learn how to play the melody of the classic jazz standard "Take The A Train" as well as learn a simple and effective approach on how to navigate and improvise through its chord changes. You must have some knowledge of understanding diatonic chords in the key of C, be able to play seventh chords (maj, min, dom), and be comfortable identifying and picking notes up to the 10th fret.

High G tuning recommended but not required.

Craig breaks down how to utilize many of the techniques you’ve been working on over the years and showcases ways of implementing them into your playing! Using hammer ons, pulls offs, muting, scratching and more, we will showcase how to master, practice and utilize them in the songs you already know and love!

High G tuning recommended but not required.

Craig walks through a Chord Melody Arrangement of “Edelweiss”, discussing how the arrangement was created. This class will give you the tools you need to start creating your own arrangements with the songs you already know and love. 

Samba da Benção (Samba of the Blessing) is an iconic Brazilian song. It was composed by Vinicius de Moraes and his longtime musical partner Baden Powell in the beginning of the 1960s. We will explore the rhythm, the melody, the chords and a samba fingerpicking pattern. 

Tuning: High G

Get ready to sing and strum at the same time! We will look at how we can break down learning a song into simple steps, so you can finally sing and play your favorite songs!

Learn to fingerpick simple patterns for blues song accompaniment and intro level improvisation.

"For this workshop, it's highly recommended to be familiar with most basic chords within the first 4 frets of the fretboard. Have you ever wanted to play a song, but the chords were too difficult to play or it wasn't in an ideal key for you to sing in? Learning how to transpose a song to any key using the Roman Numeral System will allow you to play/sing your favorite songs in a key that's more comfortable for you. This skill also helps you determine the best key for your own fingerstyle arrangements.

Learn the basics of writing lyrics, chord progressions, and melodies with singer-songwriter Abby Lyons. Come with your thinking cap on, because we write a song together in real time!

Bring some low end to the band with this zero-to-hero Ukulele Bass session! Especially tailored for ukulele players who want to moonlight on the bass, this course “walks” through playing roots, thirds, and fifths so you can accompany nearly every song in the book. You’ll be slappin’ da bass in no time!

Learn how to create and consistently recreate your own special ukulele and singing sound so you feel confident and comfortable every time you take the stage, from a small open mic with no time for soundcheck to the biggest stage. We'll discuss the choice of your uke model, strings, action, pickups, mixers, EQ, PA and effects - everything you need to know to avoid that "rough middle range ringing dry uke sound" so you'll always sound your very best!