Hello, everyone!Jack was not in attendance this evening. He doesn’t seem to understand that illness is no excuse. He will be reprimanded.That being the case, I have no idea what we did or if anything was decided or announced. Was I even there?? But here is my best effort (Maria took some notes and may be able to clarify a few things):
We went through the Christmas performance list for next week. As a reminder, last week we made minor adjustments to a few songs so there is a new pdf of the setlist, which is available on the website here:
https://seacoastukuleleplayers.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2022-holiday-setlist-pdf-final.pdf
I will be printing packets for anyone who needs one, but check that out to be sure we are on the same page.
Tonight we found a couple of other spots to improve, so please make notes on your music –White Christmas: slow down on last lineSilver Bells: If you have an old copy, remember that the echoes should appear in the second paragraph the same as they do later on.Deck the Halls: Repeat the last line, a little slower and with some dramaMr. Grinch: It needs Jack back, but Tom bravely filled inChristmas Island: On the last line where you slow down, hold the G and the D7 both for 4 beats, then hit the G again once. Mele/Jingle: This needs to be peppy. I will try to get the tempo right as we start in. It’s a fast island strum that I can’t quite describe but once we get started it’s fine.Let it Snow: At the end where you slow down, keep strumming. It’s printed with ! as if it’s one strum, but no (except for the last 2 chords).Winter Wonderland: Again, keep strumming through the last line rather than playing one strum chords the way it’s writtenSanta Baby: Marilyn and I had been taking turns leading and will probably do so on Wednesday. But whatever we do, everyone should sing along. It’s too fun of a song to sit out. Tom’s bass was great, and if Tonto stops sandbagging, he will be back to add the bum bums. We worked out the phrasing on the bridges (think of all the fun I’ve missed); I was doing it wrong but I am going to practice! Everyone else had it right. Happy Christmas: This went well. The people singing the “War is over” part can either stop playing during that part and just sing, or remember that their part starts on G (Christmas….)- just play the chord at the end of each line and you will be okay. At the end, on the first line “now…” goes over 4 notes, but the second time it just stays on one note. I don’t know how better to describe that.O Holy Night: We are picking through the chords, follow Noreen or me on this. She and I have a slightly different pattern, but both work as long as we stay on tempo. It sounds fantastic! We will start out with two 2- beat arpeggios (slow), and the singers begin on the first beat of the third arpeggio. We will let Bev and Marilyn carry the verses, and all of us come in on “Fall on Your Knees”. In Marilyn’s absence I thought we would just work on the alto line and the picking, but as it turned out, Lauren has been hiding her beautiful soprano voice under a bushel … Thank you Lauren – as I told you, I had no idea you could hit those notes! Truly beautiful. This song that I thought we could never pull off has turned into a show stopper, thanks to our wonderful singers. Silent NIght: Regular strum on this. Just remember it’s a light strum. This was also very good this evening.We Wish You a Merry Christmas: At the last line, instead of “slower”, write “stop” on your music.We will pause and then finish with a dramatic ending, pausing at each chord for emphasis.
Tom brought our tee shirts tonight – they came out great! I have them in my car to distribute to everyone who was not there tonight, next time we meet. We talked about wearing the tee shirts to the library performance, and some of us may – but this is not mandatory, and I know some of us have holiday wear ready to go. Wear whatever you like that is festive!I am sure I am forgetting about a dozen things. Jack really is the brains of this operation – I am a ship without a rudder!Thank you, Maria, for helping me to forget to scroll the computer! Together we remembered about half the time. But I appreciated the company and moral support!Thank you all for a great practice. It may be snowy Saturday,but don’t stress if you can’t make practice – we’ve got this! It will be a fun time no matter what, and I hope to get some good videos. Please remember to get to the library by 4:30 to set up, earlier if you can. We will be in the main part of the library and will set up in a tight horseshoe, so that we can see and hear each other. If you have an amp and microphone, bring it.
To all a good night —Susan
Seacoast Ukulele Players 