Getting Started

A. Glossary for UOK Songs


Strums: Strums are counted 1& 2& 3& 4& for 4/4 time

  • D = emphasized down strum, d = regular down strum, u = regular up strum, _ = no strum
  • D_ du D_ du (cowboy) The _ is means no strum.
  • D_ du u du (calypso)
  • D_du _u D_ (calypso variation)
  • D_ du du du
  • D_ D_ D_ D
  • D_ x_ u _u (x = chunk or chuck)
  • Du du du du (shuffle)
  • Some strums are 8 beats combining two patterns:
  • D_ du D_du D_ du du du
  • Some are six beats D_ du du D_du du
  • Some are three beats D_ du du
  • ↓↓= two down strums, ↓ ↑ ↓= one down, one up, one down

Beats:

The chord name is usually above the “one” beat

  • C/// G7/// =4 beats of C followed by 4 beats of G7
  • C / / C↓ = three C beats and one single C strum (usually for an ending)
  • C/ D/=two beats of C followed by two beats of D
  • C↓ (2,3,4) = C down strum with a count of 2,3,4 before the next line
  • … means there is a pause before the words start….. the more dots, the longer the pause,

Initials at the top or bottom:

  • The are the initials of the people who have worked on the song.
  • The date is when the song was last updated. Recently the date has been switched from the bottom to the top.
  • Word definitions:
  • C↓ arp or arpeggio means gentle down strum
  • Rit. or ritard or ritardando means gradually slow down.
  • Tacet = singing only, no playing
  • Shaded words with chords above are used in an instrumental – no singing, just playing
  • C/g means add a G note to the C chord
  • The above chord would be written as 0033 which means G string 0 fret, C string 0 fret, E string third fret (for the G note) and A string third fret
  • Trem = tremelo or feathering (rapid gentle strumming)
  • N/C means no chord

B. Lessons

The UOK is once again offering lessons in sets of four to individuals who are new to, or have limited experience with the ukulele.

Topics

  • Review the parts of the ukulele.
  • Familiarization/review of basic chord and strumming patterns.
  • Learning to coordinate playing and singing.
  • Learning more complex melodies and songs.

Ultimately

  • We hope that these lessons will help participants gain the confidence and skill to “move on” to join other UOK gatherings including the Tuesday Afternoon Circle at the Cottonwood Centre and the Wednesday evening get togethers at the Kamloops United Church.

Please note that anyone taking lessons will need to bring:
   Ukulele, pencil, binder, tuner, music stand and a smile 🙂 

To get the most out of these lessons participants will be expected to do some homework. 

_________

C. How to Download A Song From the Website

On the Welcome page, click on Our Music in the top menu. From there you can select whichever page contains the songs relevant to your search. 

Click on the song you want to download and move the cursor to the bottom of screen.

Several icons will appear:

Click on the   icon to download the song. In some situations, that icon can be greyed out (not live), so if that’s the case go to the top right corner of the page where you will see an icon that looks like this: – click on that to begin your download.

Go to the Downloads folder on your computer, tablet, iPad or phone and select the song you just downloaded.  You can then save it to your desktop or other file folder where you’d like to store it.

D. How To Use Songbook Pro

There are many music book apps out there, but not all of them are equal in terms of cost as well as options such as allowing songs to scroll, changing keys and editing songs.  This one will. This application works for iPad (iOS) Android, Windows and Fire.  It is a wonderful place to store, change and find songs.  

If you don’t already have Songbook-Pro, go to https://songbook-pro.com (or the Apple store if you have an iPad) and try out the free version of SongbookPro – Digital Songbook.  The icon for this has a white background and two black notes:

If using the Apple App Store search for SongbookPro: Press the little cloud with the arrow coming out of it, and it will turn to ‘Open’.  Click on that and you are on the way! There is a “Getting Started” section that you can either go through or skip – it will give you Amazing Grace complete with chords.  It is best to play with the program, and try pressing all the buttons to see what they do or ask someone who’s familiar with the app to show you.  The program has the capability to scroll as you play,  find new songs on Ultimate Guitar, download songs from Bytown or San Jose Ukulele as well as from our own website.  Most songs need to be in PDF format for the app, but songs selected from Ultimate Guitar can be changed.  In fact, with this program you can make changes to the key, words, title, category, or even move chords around.  But that’s for another day – it’s best to work on one thing at a time!  

If you have done it correctly, there should only be a one-time cost of less than $10.