I can't believe it has been so long since I posted here. Many things have been happening in the ukulele scene in the past year, but life has been so crazy I haven't shared them with you yet.

Here is the update on the different ukulele groups that we are working with.

The Ukeletics and the Fretted Friends adult groups have been honing their skills and they are going to perform in early May for families and friends in the second annual Black Creek Ukefest. We did one last May and it was so much fun, they wanted to do it again. This event will have guest groups that are also part of the expanding adult groups that we are involved with.

Check out the photos from last year here.

In January, we went to Victoria for the Vancouver Island Ukulele Workshop.  This was a workshop that was for teachers and community players who wanted to learn more about how to play the ukulele as a melodic instrument as well as a strumming instrument. There was a range of people from beginners to highly proficient players and the instructors came with a vast knowledge and skill to work with these eager participants.

Pacifica Ukes

Home of the Pacifica Ukes

Notice the sign at the back of the room

 Pacifica_Ukes has 3 groups - Junior Strings, Junior A, and Seniors. The program begins with students in Grades 4 and 5. These students are beginners and meet at noon hour (if they attend this school) or after school on Mondays (if they come from other schools) to learn how to play. This is a newly formed group.
The Junior A group is for students from Grades 6-8. These students are accomplished players and they meet on Monday evenings to hone their skills. They do some concerts and participate in a spring tour out of town.
The Senior group is for students from Grades 9-12. The students in this group are highly skilled and they perform for many different functions throughout the year. They also participate in a spring tour out of town. Every 3 years these students go to Hawaii to perform for audiences there. 

We use the chord charts shown on the resources page.

 Georgia Park Elementary School is the new home of Pacifica Ukes. For many years, the group met at Pinecrest Elementary School. The group moved over to Georgia Park last year when Vince Sequeira (director and my husband) retired. Since I teach at Georgia Park and I was already doing a noon hour group, it was a logical choice. 

 This year the district introduced a new configuration which moved the Grade 6 students into middle schools and the Grade 9 students into high schools. This changed the music program in the elementary schools as well. It was this change which prompted the introduction of the Junior Strings group.

Here Vince Sequeira is showing the Junior Strings group how to play a complex part of a new song. He may be retired, but he spends a lot of time at school doing what he loves - teaching people how to make music.

This is a noon hour practice with some of the students from Junior Strings. We were missing a few students this day due to the large number of viruses going around. These young students are eager to learn and arrive early and try to leave late in order to play as much as possible. They even meet at unscheduled times to get extra help or work on more challenging material.

The bass and drums are important instruments in our groups. They complete the sound. These two students are just learning how to play and they are already showing good promise.

 

Welcome To My New Blog

Music has always been an important part of our family. It is not just a hobby, but more a piece of who we are. My husband directs 5 ukulele groups and plays in another one, as well as playing in the community band, I assist in directing the ukulele groups,  and our four children are all very much involved in music. 

One son and one daughter teach music, one son is a actor/musician, and our second daughter sings in her sister's choir when she isn't working in a science lab. All four children studied music while growing up, played in band, sang in choirs, and were a part of Pacifica Ukes.

Because music is so important to us, I felt that I needed to have a place to showcase it. This is the reason for creating a blog dedicated to music. I hope you will find many interesting things here.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look. I would love to get some feedback and find out how music impacts your life.