Sprinkling ukulele happiness!
Join us for a little kanikapila
on the World Wide Web.
Singing harmony? Here’s a great tip (but you need a 2008 4Runner)

Singing harmony? Here’s a great tip (but you need a 2008 4Runner)

Harmony—egads, he wants me to sing harmony in a song! Is it too late to cancel this trip to Hawai’i?

Back when I started in the Luongo Ukulele Ensemble, I had no idea what to do when Peter Luongo asked the women to seat ourselves in either a soprano or alto section. I failed singing in 7th grade Girls Chorus (but I did a great job helping mimeograph the songsheets) and I grew accustomed to seeing family members’ eyebrows raise (and not in musical appreciation) when I’d sing along to the radio (remember radios?).

Soprano? Alto? Who knew? Lyrics come easily to me, but the singing…well, not so much. So where would I sit?

Before you go to a Hawaiian musical event…

Before you go to a Hawaiian musical event…

Sweet Hawaiian music. Ukulele singing their songs while guitars offer a counterpoint. Dancers spontaneously stepping forward to gift their hula styling of a favorite tune. Keiki running around the group’s edge. And it’s all happening in a driveway or a backyard.

It’s kanikapila—and it’s one of my definitions of pure musical joy.

My five best links for volcano updates

My five best links for volcano updates

People know that Mark and I enjoy Hawai’i Island—a lot. That we vacation there as often as we can (not often enough!) and that we have numerous friends there (and, yes, most of them are in some way “ukulele people”).

That’s why, I think, I’m on the receiving end of so many questions lately about “the volcano.” I’ve searched out a few links which I refer to so I can stay informed—and I’m sharing my favorites with you here.