ukulele

Ukulele jamming

My friends tease me all the time about knowing how to play oldies on my ukulele only. What happened to Taylor Swift, Coldplay and One Republic?

The truth is, not many young people have the passion and commitment to play the instrument regularly. And even if they do, they are usually the damn dope people.

Me? I am not musically talented. It seems like I can play the ukulele but the truth is, I’m quite limited in my strumming and chords. It took me a long time before I finally figured how strumming works. My friend, who plays the guitar, learnt a uke song in 15 minutes whereas, me… took a few days before I could strum and barely sing.

Okay, my point is, there are plenty of ukulele interest groups in Singapore. However, these tend to be based in community centres. Not too sure about the age group but based on my research, it looks like the regular jamming groups are mostly formed by retirees and senior citizens.

For example, this group of retirees gather at Potong Pasir every Sunday afternooon.

Hobby groups help seniors stay active, make friends – See more at: http://yourhealth.asiaone.com/content/hobby-groups-help-seniors-stay-active-make-friends#sthash.gx41DUay.dpuf

When I was looking for somewhere to play regularly, there wasn’t much information to be found online. Well, it kind of makes sense right? Seniors wouldn’t know how to navigate the online world.

Through contacts and my network (yes I actually talk to real live people), I managed to wriggle my way into a ukulele interest group, Moulmein Ukes. I’m thankful to find somewhere not too far from my place that I can jam every week. Although it is kind of blahhh to spend every Friday night with people twice my age, I really enjoy these jamming sessions.

I am actually not the youngest there (for now), because a granny brings her grandson with her at times. The songs are usually oldies which mostly, I’ve never heard of. But hey, music is a universal language and in Uke, all you need to know are chords. When I google the songs, it turns out some songs were in the 50s, which pretty much explains why my song sheets are all oldies.

If you’re keen on ukulele jamming groups, as far as I know, it looks like all the interest groups are mostly under community centres. Check out this Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PAssionArtsUkuleleNetwork that posts updates on ukulele groups under the PA wing.

There are active ukulele jamming groups under Bishan CC, Kallang CC, Toa Payoh South CC, Moulmein CC and Mounbatten CC. If you’re looking for a jamming group, give these CCs a call.

 

 

5 Comments

  1. Andrew Lee

    October 2, 2014 at 5:36 pm
    Reply

    Hi, I am not exactly young nor old (~35ish). I have just picked up the ukulele and am looking around for ukulele interest groups to learn and jam together.

    Do you mind sharing more the interest groups that you have found? TIA!

    Andrew

    1. meowsyy

      October 2, 2014 at 11:57 pm
      Reply

      Hey Andrew,

      Looks like all the interest groups are mostly under community centres. You should check out this Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PAssionArtsUkuleleNetwork that posts updates on ukulele groups under the PA wing.

      As far as I know, there are active ukulele jamming groups under Bishan CC, Kallang CC, Toa Payoh South CC, Moulmein CC and Mounbatten CC. You should drop the CCs a call to find out more.

      Hope this helps!

      1. Andrew Lee

        October 15, 2014 at 1:56 pm
        Reply

        Thanks for the sharing!

  2. parangtoh

    October 28, 2014 at 10:07 am
    Reply

    hi Meowsyy and Andrew,
    Just came across this post while looking for come CCs to recommend my slightly elderly students…
    if you guys would like to play with a group that plays Plush, Coldplay and occasionally Queen or Beatles, come join us at The Ukulele Assemble. We play once a month and we also play in parts as a ukulele ensemble. If you can manage a few chords and can changed chords easily – come join us.
    http://www.meetup.com/The-Ukulele-Assemble/

    – Paul

  3. Fragrance

    January 30, 2015 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    Hi Meowsyy

    You may surprised to find that some of the seniors are really very good at ukulele and they do know alot of contemporary songs too – like All of Me / Say Something and the like.

    If you are patient to seive through the crowd, you will find former band boys who can play by ear and almost immediately improvise on the spot.

    Alot of gems in the seniors if you care to look.

    Have fun.

Leave a Reply