Okay, so you think why not give it a go!
Where do you start?
To begin with we suggest you come along to our practice sessions and see what happens. How we approach our songs and the style of the meeting.
You will see that it is very informal and a lot of fun! Yes we work hard too and focus but we are all there to enjoy ourselves and share an experience!
If you would like to try out a ukulele just let us know in advance and we will try our best to have one that you can borrow during the session and if you are a member of the ICS you will be able to take it home to practice and bring back the following week! If you would like to find out more about joining the ICS click here.
There is no charge for coming to uke practice! We just need to thank our hosts, Martin and Phil who kindly host our practice sessions in their bar by buying a drink or two (hic).
Although many of our members have now been playing a few years it is really easy for newbies to get up to speed and contributing fully to the group.
Everyone starts with two tunes…
Three Little Birds and Stand By Me.
These classics always feature in our playlist when we have newcomers.
Cynthia Lin, a ukulele teacher and player from Hawaii has some excellent Youtube vidoes to help get you started…
How to hold your uke, how to form your first chords, how to strum and one of the biggest challenges… how to sing at the same time!
These two videos are great to get you started.
One thing to mention here might be that the uke practice is just that – practice. Yes we help each other along and share best practice but it isn’t a ukulele lesson in itself.
So what do you do when the group are playing other songs?
Great question. Simply, you play along as much as you can whenever you can. The ukulele is an instrument tuned to the key of C Major and many of our songs are written and sung in that key so there are lots of opportunity to play along!
Also, if you can’t play along, simply sing along! Our group needs your help!
You will soon learn many of the chords needed:
A, Am, A7, C, C7, Cm, D, D7, Dm, E7, Em, F, Fm, G, G7, Gm
These are relatively easy to get to grips with and give you access to most of our songs.
What if you aren’t around all the time?
If you just visit the Costa Tropical now and then it doesn’t mean that you can’t join in with our group! We have many members who are here for a few weeks and then off on their travel or return to their home country. But we will be here when you get back!
But you speak and sing English!
Yes true, the ICS is an English speaking group but we do often try sings in other languages (to varying degrees of success!).
We have members who don’t have English as their first language and we all get along fine with a little patience and cooperation!
So these are just a few pointers to give you an idea of what to expect when you first start. Generally we find that after a couple of weeks you will be hooked on Uke and looking to get your own instrument to enjoy!