It was an afternoon of new strums, arpeggio patterns and plenty of learning when Herb Ohta, Jr. and Daniel Ho presented two ukulele workshops in Sacramento on January 21. The workshop, arranged by Hawaii’s Music Live (415/452-8720), drew folks from as far as the Bay Area and Grass Valley (as well as me, from two hours away in Paradise!).
The beginner course focused on the very basics of ukulele and quickly ramped up to a variety of more complex strums. The workshop’s song for the day was “Pineapple Mango” from the duo’s new CD, Ukuleles in Paradise 2. We played the chord progressions for that song, sampled its tablature (the first time some of the folks had ever *seen* tablature) and were the “back up” for Herb and Daniel as they played the song with improvising and flourishes.
Arpeggios and new strums were the highlights of the intermediate-level class. Herb gave us tips he’d learned from his father, ukulele legend Herb Ohta-San and then laughingly told us he’d ignored all those tips as a young guy, preferring to go out and hang with his friends rather than learn from his dad. I guess that’s what parenting is all about no matter who you are or how good you are in your field! You could really sense the appreciation Herb has now for his father’s reputation and playing, though.
Daniel and Herb are a fun pair to learn from. Together they segued easily into different topics without leaving us “students” with any sense of confusion or disorganization. They were receptive to what the participants wanted to learn but I could also tell they had several topics they wanted to get through and we definitely got to those topics!
And after all the fun and learning (and talking with new and old friends after the classes), I found the nearest L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and enjoyed a tasty loco moco (you might like it, too, if you happen to think rice, a fried egg, a hamburger patty and brown gravy make a delicious combo). Oh, so ono!