Week 4: Beatles Day at Ballygunner

In our ukulele class today we worked on two songs that were hits for one of the most successful pop groups ever The Beatles came from Liverpool and were one of the most influential bands in the history of music. The members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (drums). Read more about the Beatles here http://www.beatlesebooks.com/yellow-submarine

Yellow Submarine in the key of F

New Chord G7

A new chord









A New Chord sequence 
C Am F G7

for Octopus's Garden

Seachtain na Gaeilge agus Ukulele

Bhí an spraoi againn i rith Rang Ukulele

New Chord  F Major 

Canaimid amhrain as Gaeilge

Ceol ars an tas-al 
Sé istigh sa ngort.
Éist le a glórsa
sé is binne port
Hi Ha Hi ha Hi ha ha ha ha ha.

Canon as gaeilge   Chord C





https://www.olgapalna.com/en/audio/fish-from-patrick/6-olga-palna/51-heisc-o-phadraig/210-

Listen to the strum damp technique of the guitar accompaniment in this version


Tá na baid go damhain sa farraige 
Am
Tá na baid go damhain sa farraige
G (guitar only)
Ta na baid go damhain sa farraige
Am
Slán abhaile go dtaga na fir
Am

A minor works most of the time but in the second line we need a second chord G

Buicochas do Cathal, Scarlett and Joseph  (G ar guitar  )

Canfaimid Baidin Fhilimi    new chord F 

Theory  Corner 
making up a chord 

Musical alphabet A B C D E F G 

3 notes  Chord named after the bottom note or (root)  1  add 3 and 5 

Chord A B C D E F G A B C              C    Chord is   C   E and G 
                   1     3     5

            A B C D E F G A B C            Am Chord is A  C and E  
            1      3     5 
           A B C D E F G A B  C              F   Chord is  F A and C 
                              1    3      5


Question: What note appears in all three chords C Am and F  

Baby Shark    We used three different chords on the word Shark   C    Am     F   
                                                                                                         Last shark Silent or guitar G

Other features; Finger rustling tremelo  and an ocean drum roll (Go raibh maith agat  Billy)






 

Week 2: A Minor Miracle

#TBT Fact: The #ukulele won a #Guinness World Record for being the easiest #instrument to play. Also fact: 20% kids learn to play an instrument but 70% adults wish they had. pic.twitter.com/ZpVax0vNFy

— Learn To Uke (@learntouke) March 7, 2019

Today at Ballygunner Ukulele School :

We listened to two different kinds of chords; MAJOR and minor

We learned to play A minor 

One chord songs today were We will Rock You  Queen adding the drum beat 

Our first 2 chord song was The Star of the County Down using Am and changing to C in the 3rd phrase.

Bravo Caoimhe and Ellen who played the melody of Star of County Down on fiddle and whistle.

To mark Storybook Day we had a special violin version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow adding C chord banjo pick and tremelo. 

Encore: Row Your Boat more lyrics; Frere Jacque; Its raining ; Coconut Song 

Week 1: Coconuts and C Chords

Ms Kearneys 5th class on a new uke adventure

Loads of fun yesterday as 5th class kicked off their uke project.

Here is what we did yesterday.
   We learned what a chord is;
   how to read a chord chart ;
   how to play 2 chords; C7 and C
   some history about the ukulele
   a brush strum
   a first finger strum
   basic finger picking
   how to tell if your uke is in tune

One chord Songs:
Coconut song;  Row Your Boat ; Ireland's Call; Its Raining Its Pouring; Ratlin Bog;

Tuning: My Dog Has Fleas   (soh doh me lah)   G C E A

Thumb Brush Strum: Imagine you are brushing biscuit crumbs out of your strings.

Chord: 3 or more notes that sound well together

First chord  C7  

Lime in the Coconut Song Strum Damp (Damp the sound with your palm)

Second Chord C

Things to do for next week. Read the history of the ukulele (copy on your classroom notice board)
Check out the Spoitify Playlist: Ballygunner Ukes Playlist

George Formby was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comical songs, usually playing the ukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer. This clip is from one of his films