people who have been to the festival say...
“The Deniliquin group can pat themselves on the back for organising a fabulous weekend. There were top presenters giving a range of excellent workshops which made it hard for me to choose because they were all fantastic. The Flash Mobbing of the CBD on the Saturday morning was very entertaining to say the least. The Friday Open Mike concert was most enjoyable and Saturday night concert by the presenters was very professional and inspiring. Indeed I was in awe of their talent.
Bob Haanstra’s "Red House Blues" session included elements such as an introductory riff, chord extensions which add a more jazzy feel to certain chords and a slide. These added colour and pizazz to the song. His "More Advanced Tab" session was particularly interesting because we learned about using the higher positions on the neck using various hand positions. Bob encouraged us to use a pick and wow what a difference this made!
I attended a Voice 101 session by Martina Link where we learned the basics of singing and how to use vocal technique to expand range and expression, including harmony. Martina discussed the health benefits of singing. A recent study reveals that choir singers not only harmonise their voices, they also synchronise their heartbeats. Singing fosters friendships, creativity, teamwork, personal confidence and enhances morale.
The food was great and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet other friendly ukers and share experiences. It was a creative and fun filled weekend.”
THEA
Bob Haanstra’s "Red House Blues" session included elements such as an introductory riff, chord extensions which add a more jazzy feel to certain chords and a slide. These added colour and pizazz to the song. His "More Advanced Tab" session was particularly interesting because we learned about using the higher positions on the neck using various hand positions. Bob encouraged us to use a pick and wow what a difference this made!
I attended a Voice 101 session by Martina Link where we learned the basics of singing and how to use vocal technique to expand range and expression, including harmony. Martina discussed the health benefits of singing. A recent study reveals that choir singers not only harmonise their voices, they also synchronise their heartbeats. Singing fosters friendships, creativity, teamwork, personal confidence and enhances morale.
The food was great and it was a wonderful opportunity to meet other friendly ukers and share experiences. It was a creative and fun filled weekend.”
THEA
“Yes it was a lovely weekend with lots of music loving people! The variety and quality of music, songs and voices heard on Saturday was inspiring. I attended two of Bob's workshops and feel much more confident to try new things on the Uke. His Blues workshop introduced the pentatonic scale and how to use this as a basis for solos. The workshop on advanced Tabs also encouraged me to explore more songs using tabs. He showed us about different positions on the fret board so our hand was in a place to make it easy to get to the tab positions we were using, e.g. 5P meant your index finger was at the 5th fret which allowed you to play tabs at frets 5,6,7,8 comfortably. He also encouraged us to use a pick for some songs with quick picks.”
NEIL
NEIL
“It is such a wonderful, fun weekend where you meet other ukulele players and learn about uke and other people all at the same time in a friendly environment. It is well organised by friendly ukulele loving Deni people, with great company, food and entertainment. The dinner and concert on Saturday night is something to look forward to as is the range of sessions that we can attend. Bob Haanstra's blues uke session was entertaining and I learned introduction riffs and the basics of improvisation (for further practice at home) and Peter Gavin taught us blues chord progressions and how to have confidence in our playing. As Delena says, no one dies from playing the wrong chord!”
KAREN
KAREN
“It was a great weekend. I found the organizers of the muster to be both efficient and super-friendly. It all really went without a hitch. I had Chris from South Australia on both my first day workshops and I think I was able to realise in those workshops that I’m more ready now to ‘hear about’ and do things like playing by ear, deciphering song structures (especially 3 chord ones!) and so on. For me, I think it’s about musical maturity (or gradually approaching it).
The flash mob was an absolute hoot, I especially enjoyed when we played to the old gentleman kindling splitter. He seemed very chuffed, and so was I. The Sunday Blues workshop was another experience in the same vein, for me – showing me that perhaps I can deconstruct some tunes and understand them for my own purposes. Very good.
The jam session was great, and I specially liked the way they projected the songbook (digital projector). Clever work, that. I’ve never felt able to jam, but this was a cake-walk and a big plus. It was a great pleasure, overall, to be there with colleagues and friends from our group. Thanks for sharing this great weekend with me.”
FRANK
The flash mob was an absolute hoot, I especially enjoyed when we played to the old gentleman kindling splitter. He seemed very chuffed, and so was I. The Sunday Blues workshop was another experience in the same vein, for me – showing me that perhaps I can deconstruct some tunes and understand them for my own purposes. Very good.
The jam session was great, and I specially liked the way they projected the songbook (digital projector). Clever work, that. I’ve never felt able to jam, but this was a cake-walk and a big plus. It was a great pleasure, overall, to be there with colleagues and friends from our group. Thanks for sharing this great weekend with me.”
FRANK