{"id":945,"date":"2017-02-20T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T18:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/?p=945"},"modified":"2018-06-19T15:07:11","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T22:07:11","slug":"a-reason-to-be-a-better-uke-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/a-reason-to-be-a-better-uke-player","title":{"rendered":"A reason to be a better uke player!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m just learning ukulele. Still.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s been more than a decade since I attended my first ukulele festival (Ukulele Hall of Fame’s Uke Expo, Rhode Island, August 2003) but that doesn\u2019t mean my skills have grown to \u201cHey, she\u2019s really good,\u201d over all that time. In fact, they haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Until September 2016.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I signed up for a two-day workshop led by Peter Luongo, the founding director of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble<\/a><\/strong>. I\u2019d taken a few one-hour workshops from Peter at the Reno Ukulele Fest<\/a><\/strong> in the past; Peter\u2019s an energetic and inspiring teacher.<\/p>\n

So when I spotted the Luongo Ukulele Experience<\/a><\/strong>, presented by Doug and Melinda Reynolds (the same clever folks who produce the Reno and Palm Springs ukulele festivals), I thought I\u2019d give it a try. Sure, it said \u201cintermediate\u201d level players and sure, it listed a whole page of skills players should have to get the most out of the workshop. But I figured I could easily get up to speed and enjoy the two days\u2014so I signed up.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the weeks preceding the September event at Minden, Nevada (an hour south of Reno on Highway 395), I worked at memorizing various scales and making sure I had specific chord shapes down. I read standard musical notation slowly so I worked on that, too.<\/p>\n

On Friday afternoon I happily pointed the 4Runner south on the four-hour drive to Minden and listened to an Audible book as I traversed Highway 70 (my all-time favorite drive ever) and then south on 395. Checking in at the Carson Valley Inn<\/strong><\/a>, I noted a few other ukulele players sitting to the side of the lobby. They\u2019d all just finished the same workshop, which had been offered in two sessions: Thursday\/Friday and the one I was enrolled in (Saturday\/Sunday). These folks\u2014whom I didn\u2019t know previously\u2014were playing songs Peter had just taught them. And they were playing with a pick. And they were playing really fast. And they were singing. Ummmm\u2026.yeah\u2026.<\/p>\n

That was my first intimation that this workshop wasn\u2019t the typical festival workshop. Still, I wasn\u2019t overly concerned. Not yet, at least.<\/p>\n

The concept of LUE is \u201cto provide an ongoing, life affirming musical experience for ukulele playing, music-loving adults.\u201d Well, yes, that all sounded right up my alley.<\/p>\n

Then I discovered this program descriptor: \u201cPeter Luongo directs an inspirational, high energy, two-day program for adults that extracts musical skills and achievement beyond what the participants ever thought they could accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201chigh energy\u201d part started with the 7: 15 am breakfast Friday. At LUE it\u2019s all about the ensemble so breakfast and lunches are typically taken together as kind of a group bonding experience. I sat myself down to my plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and croissant and met others at my table. Frankly, we were all smiling happily and quite confident we\u2019d be able to breeze through these two days and have a great time doing so.<\/p>\n

Ha!<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Peter is in charge. Always.<\/p><\/div>\n

Have you ever met Peter Luongo in person? We\u2019ll get the obvious out of the way right from the start\u2014he\u2019s not physically really tall. But you know, other than his frequent jokes about it, you don\u2019t really notice his height (or lack of) at all\u2014because this guy is so darn intense and charismatic and \u201cin charge\u201d that he fills up the room.<\/p>\n

Peter teaches with a focus and skill that I\u2019ve not experienced previously in any teacher of any subject. He constantly assesses the group as well as its individual members, tailoring his instruction to create success for each player. Peter told me once that he teaches to the highest\u2014rather than the lowest\u2014skill level because that will leave no one bored and will elevate everyone\u2019s playing to the best level they can achieve at that session.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Thanks, Doug, for this photo. It captures the essence of an LUE practice session.<\/p><\/div>\n

He means it.<\/p>\n

I went into my first LUE feeling pretty confident and perhaps even a bit cocky. By 10:30 am I\u2019d crashed. Peter uses a variety of teaching methods, from \u201cwatch and follow me\u201d to \u201clisten and do it\u201d to \u201clook at the written music\u201d to \u201chere are the notes\u2019 names.\u201d Unfortunately, none of those methods were working for me. I found myself underwater more and more often as Peter introduced new passages and skills. The other 43 people in the room seemed to \u201cget it.\u201d I didn\u2019t. I was drowning and I knew I didn\u2019t have a hope.<\/p>\n

I panicked. How could I handle all of today’s workshop and another tomorrow of more of this? I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

We look serious, huh? We are!<\/p><\/div>\n

My brain went into overload. By the time my watch read 10:45 am, I began scoping out my options for leaving the workshop, creating the least commotion possible. I mentally recalled where my uke case was so I could grab it and go, determined the best way to lift my music stand out of the cluster in the row I sat in and wondered if it was too late to cancel that night\u2019s hotel reservation. My feet were itching to get me out of there.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness some form of sanity flooded me\u2014well, that and pure embarrassment at \u201cfailing.\u201d I recalled one thing I\u2019d heard Peter say earlier that morning: \u201cFind something you can<\/strong> do and do that if you can\u2019t do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, I could<\/strong> pick the notes at the first fret that I knew (I\u2019d memorized scales, but only in first position and Peter had the group gleefully gallivanting about the neck at the fifth fret for heaven\u2019s sake). So I did that. Just that. My overclocked brain slowed a bit as I was able to catch up with the group. I breathed a bit. I didn\u2019t fret (ha, a pun here, see?) about not doing everything perfectly.<\/p>\n

I stuck it out. And, without realizing it, I became part of the ensemble.<\/p>\n

I sang (my personal nemesis activity\u2014just ask how I was kicked out of seventh grade girls\u2019 chorus and told to be the mimeograph person instead). I played notes at the first fret and even a few up the neck. I learned to hold a pick in my right hand and boisterously make really \u201carticulated\u201d (Peter\u2019s word) sounds with it.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Smiles from all. Mainly because we hit tempo on “In the Mood” and did *not* forget the “D” on the end of “mood.” Peter was happy.<\/p><\/div>\n

By the end of the second workshop day, I gleefully joined our fledgling LUE group in a public performance of the five songs we\u2019d just learned, ensemble-style. I relished sitting in the midst of others as we created a wonderfully rich sound, sometimes in four-part harmony playing and singing.<\/p>\n

I was hooked. Finally I have a solid reason to get better at ukulele and music. I want to keep playing with LUE so that means lots of work\u2014and I’m up for it. In the months since September, I\u2019ve attended two more LUE workshops and I\u2019ll be at another this week at the Palm Springs Uke Fest. There\u2019s another in March and one more just prior to the Reno festival. We\u2019re gearing up for performances at all those events\u2014the LUE folks playing in the \u201cA group\u201d may even \u201copen\u201d for the acts on the main showroom stage at both festivals. If Peter says we\u2019re good enough \ud83d\ude09<\/em><\/p>\n

I play almost every day for as much time as I can squeeze out of my busy life (geesh, most of my LUE colleagues are retired\u2014I wish I had that kind of time available for ukulele playing). I don\u2019t call it \u201cpracticing\u201d because that implies a certain lack of desire to play, as in, \u201cI have<\/em> to practice.\u201d Instead, Peter\u2014and thinking of my fellow LUE players\u2014inspires me to do whatever it takes to get better. I don\u2019t want to disappoint the group\u2014nor get \u201cstink eye\u201d from Peter with bad playing.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Me, before LUE played for 200+ folks at a senior lunch center in Minden, NV.<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m still challenged with one of the songs needed by this Wednesday\u2014so tonight I\u2019ll be playing \u201cEl Cumbanchero\u201d at the 208 tempo again\u2026and again\u2026and again. But every time I play I get better\u2014and, while I\u2019m still not \u201creally good,\u201d (yet!) my LUE commitment and involvement have made me infinitely better as an ukulele player. I\u2019m also developing a sense of \u201cmusicality\u201d that I never thought would be intrinsic to me.<\/p>\n

And, most importantly, I\u2019ve learned a really, really important lesson from this: It\u2019s vital in my life that I tackle\u2014and accomplish\u2014things I never thought I\u2019d be able to do. I conquered my attitude of quitting because I\u2019m not good enough\u2014switching it out for the excitement of learning something new, even at 59 years! My life is richer for this awareness\u2026and it leaves me thinking what else I can now attempt. Who knows???<\/p>\n

\n

The LUE program is an evolving one. We have members who travel from as far as Washington, D.C. to join in the workshops. There are hints from Peter and Doug that a Southern California group may form as well as one in the Pacific Northwest. Members will be tackle the same curriculum and perfect (note that word, please) the same songs so they can join in performances at festivals and other events.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re at all interested in this program you can do a mini \u201ctest run\u201d at both the upcoming Palm Springs and Reno festivals to try it out. And, you can always email me or comment here and I\u2019ll answer your questions!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m just learning ukulele. Still. Yes, it\u2019s been more than a decade since I attended my first ukulele festival (Ukulele Hall of Fame’s Uke Expo, Rhode Island, August 2003) but that doesn\u2019t mean my skills have grown to \u201cHey, she\u2019s really good,\u201d over all that time. In fact, they haven\u2019t. Until September 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,23,1,14,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning","category-lue-luongo-ukulele-ensemble","category-personal","category-review","category-ukulele-festivals"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/LUE-words-addl.jpg?fit=1001%2C499","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Wqkt-ff","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1015,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions\/1015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ukuleletonya.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}