News

From the 1st April Meeting:

"Life at Ukulele Bedford Online is getting complicated, so this week’s mailing is having to serve a few purposes: an update on last Wednesday’s session, a request for you to add your song suggestions for this coming Wednesday to a Google Doc, and an invitation to this Wednesday’s brand new Open Mic Online session (doors open at 6:45pm for the performers’ sound check, with a 7pm start).
OK, so now that you know what’s coming – here’s the update from last Wednesday… At last Wednesday’s Ukulele Bedford Online session we had 23 April fools, including a few welcome faces that we haven’t seen for a while. We never name and shame folks for not joining us, but it was great to see Graham, Cath, Ron and Ronald again. Although similar in number to the previous week, we had quite a few people that were trying Zoom for the first time. It’s great that the technology is enabling us to continue playing virtually together until we’re able to play together again in reality at the Kings Arms.
Inspired by Graham and Cath’s return, we started us in the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected) with Whiskey in the Jar followed by Half the World Away. Then we switched over to Brung Strum 4 for Blame It On Me, and then into the Bumper Book for The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, Act Naturally and Folsom Prison Blues. I had failed to keep an eye on the time, so we took our break a bit later than advertised at around 8:07pm (British Summer Time). We started up again at 8:20pm having emptied, filled and cleaned our glasses. We began Part Two with Friday I’m in Love, from the Gig Book, before returning to the Bumper Book for Daydream and Ghost Riders in the Sky (which is a song in danger of becoming popular). Then I think we may have switched back to the Gig Book for Leaving on a Jet Plane and Sunny Afternoon, before concluding our entertainment with Sway. All in all, a good evening’s playing was had by everyone. A big ‘shout out’ goes to those of you who suggested songs and those of you that lead songs – it was really great to hear a few new people leading songs and it is trend that I hope we will continue.
Super, moving on to this coming Wednesday – let’s try a Google Doc for your song suggestions…
It’s fair to say that I struggled a bit making myself heard between songs last week, so in a rather brilliant brainwave that I’ll attribute to Jon, please can I ask you to put your song suggestions into the following Google Doc, so that we don’t have so much faffing between songs this week? It is pretty easy to use – just click on the following link to open the document in your web browser, and then type the name of the song book, the page number and title of the song you want us to play. If you’d like to offer to lead us through your song, please add your name.
http://bit.ly/ub-song-suggestions
Brilliant, and finally Open Mic – we need you, as performers and appreciative audience members…
This Wednesday (April 8th), we were due to have an Open Mic session from 7pm to 7:30pm at the Kings Arms. I’ve checked with David and Jon and with some trepidation we’ve decided to give it a try Zoom style – we just need a group of volunteers to perform. David will be compering the Open Mic session, so if you’d like a spot please either contact David directly or add your name to the Open Mic table in the above Google Doc. We’ll then start our (now regular) sing-along session at 7:30pm and run through to 8pm or so, before taking the obligatory break, and returning for Part Two around 8:15pm (and finishing at 9pm).
OK, Super, Brilliant – in summary…
This coming Wednesday (9th April) the virtual doors will open at 6:45pm, in case you want to do a sound check, before David starts the Open Mic session at 7pm – if you don’t want to perform this week, please come for 7pm and support those who do. Unless we get any better offers, Jon and I will lead the sing-along session from 7:30pm. Please use the above Google Doc if you’d like to suggest a few songs for us to play or put your name down for an Open Mic spot. Getting songs and names in advance should make both sessions run smoother, so please give the above Google Doc a try. I warned you it was complicated, but strange times call for strange measures (imperial and metric). If any of you read this far, I hope to see you online on Wednesday; if I lost you on the way, just click on the links and see what happens. I hope you all have a good week.
P.S. I believe the 40-minute limit for our Zoom call has been relaxed, so we’ll just have the one Zoom link this week (below). Apparently security is getting tighter at Zoom HQ, so don’t forget the password in case you’re asked for it on the door (it’s the first half of the name of our group in lower-case, but don’t tell anyone I told you).
P.P.S. As I mentioned last week, some of you might find it easier with a headset if you have one, but no worries if you don’t. If you’re on a Windows computer (rather than a tablet) I’d suggest you open the Settings, navigate through to the ‘Audio’ tab and press the ‘Advanced’ button, then select the ‘Enable Original Sound’ checkbox. When enabled, this stops Zoom’s voice recognition algorithm from cutting out your Ukulele.
Best Wishes, Trevor."

From the 25th March Meeting:

"To the 22 of us that were able to join the Zoom meeting this week for our inaugural Ukulele Bedford Online session, I just wanted to say thanks for making it such a fun and entertaining evening. If you had any technology issues that prevented you from participating this time, please drop us an email and we’ll try to help where we can. I think there was a consensus that we might prefer the Kings Arms, but until that’s open again, it’s probably better than sitting at home on your own.
I noticed that my own playing sounded so much better when my microphone was muted – at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. A big thank you to everyone that lead us through the songs – it was fantastic for me to be able to spread the pleasure and join in with you rather than lead every song. For those that didn’t attend it is fair to say that words can’t really do it justice – it was just great fun.
So down to the actual tunes – as advertised we stuck to the path of well-known songs from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected edition). My note making was not quite up to par, so the following songs may not have happened in this order, but I think most of them did happen at some point during the evening. We all got comfortable and kicked off at 7:30pm sharp with Eight Days a Week, followed (I think) by Things, King of the Road and San Francisco Bay Blues.
There must have been fair bit of time spent sorting out the plumbing as I think that’s all we managed in Part One, but true to form we did have our intermission and resumed at 8:15pm for Part Two. Not that I was counting (because unfortunately I wasn’t) but I think we managed seven songs in the second half – so clearly, we had cracked the technology. More importantly we spread the love and Jon, David and Lydia helped lead us through some of them.
I have us kicking off with Exs and Ohs, then Only You, Urban Spaceman (featuring the virtual Kazoo), Ghost Riders in the Sky, Lola, Dreaming and finally (although maybe there was another one) Sunny Afternoon. Some of you may have felt that our timing was not perfect, or the odd note may have been slightly out of tune, but in my defence, I changed my strings last week and they’re still settling in – I’ll try and think of a new excuse for next week.
Talking of which we hope that there will be a next week – I’ll send another email on Monday or Tuesday with a fresh set of Zoom meeting links. I’m not sure if you were asked for the password this week, but next week the bouncers might get stricter, so don’t forget the first name of our group (in lower case) and if you don’t get it right first time have a second guess.
Until then, I’m hoping Jon might suggest an online Ukulele Challenge to keep your idle hands busy while maintaining a safe social distance…
Hi - Jon here! Three things to do to strum the hours away.
Number one: It was good that different people took the lead in different songs last night. We could expand that. If you fancy it, pick one song from any book and practice it over the week and then volunteer to lead it next Wednesday.
Number two: Let's do the list thing - we can't just play the gig book for the next three months, so send Trevor or myself a list of five or so songs you'd like to play. Either on here or by email.
Number three: If you are a FB user you might like to try https://www.facebook.com/groups/yourukulelechallenge. I think the first 'challenge' is to show your equipment. (Ooo Err Missus, Fnarr Fnarr etc.) so not too taxing!
While I am on, our Felmersham gig in July at The Sun has unsurpisingly been cancelled - it will be next year instead. Unless we get a plague of locusts of course.
Now back to Trevor...
We hope to see you online next Wednesday (1 st April) – the virtual doors will open again at 7:20pm for a 7:30pm start (no fooling).
Take care, Trevor & Jon"

From the 18th March Meeting:

"Would you believe it, we managed to muster eight determined players last night at the Kings Arms for our weekly dose of Ukulele Bedford. It may well have been foolish to go against the government’s advice and attempt a social gathering in a pub of all places, but a few of us felt it might be our last chance for a while and health risks aside, it was really rather pleasant. We stuck pretty much to two books – the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected) and BrungStrum 5.3. It is fair to say that with limited numbers we defaulted back to the criteria of convenience and selected songs primarily by their close proximity to the one we’d just played, but nonetheless we managed a bumper crop of 27 tunes (matching our PB).
The merriment kicked off in the Gig Book with All My Loving, quickly followed by Love Potion Number Nine, YMCA, I’m A Believer, L.O.V.E, Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, It’s My Party, and It Must Be Love. I didn’t notice it at the time, but love was clearly in the air – at least looking back now, that seems to be the theme so far. Having caught our breath, we continued on a slightly less love-struck path with Sway, Lightning Bolt, Sunny Afternoon, The Tide is High/Rudy, Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, Ghost Riders in the Sky, Lola and Dreaming. We even managed a bit of reggae off-beat strumming on The Tide is High/Rudy and a bit of additional little-finger action on the F chords of Dreaming (thanks to Jon).
Suddenly it was 9pm and time for a commercial break. Fortunately, there was not much of a queue at the bar and we were all back in time for the second half, which was pretty much devoted to BrungStrum 5.3. We heralded our return with It’s Raining Men, which thanks to David’s perseverance is starting to sound a bit better. We moved along to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Dancing Queen, Do You Love Me, Galway Girl, Golden Brown (and yes we can still play in 13/8), I Will Survive, and Hey There Delilah. It was time for the last tune of the night, so we switched back to the Gig Book and finished at the City of New Orleans.
It may well have been our last physical meet-up for a little while (who knows what will get closed next) but rest assured although we may be socially distancing ourselves in the short term, we can all still play from the same songbook occasionally. On a semi-serious note, we do need some way of maintaining our sanity in these times of madness. Playing ukulele in good company seems to help, so I think I’ll continue playing our tunes each Wednesday evening from 7:30pm to 10pm with a break 9pm to refill my glass – maybe some of you might join me spiritually from the safety of your own homes. Until we can meet again in person, let’s keep in contact via the Facebook group and we’ll send out another email if and when we’re able to gather socially at the Kings Arms for some restorative ukulele playing.
Take care"

From the 11th March Meeting:

"Twenty or so of us braved the possible exposure to 'Captain Trips' (Stephen King's name for a global pandemic in 'The Stand') to get our weekly musical ukulele fix and I am hoping it was the pub that was very warm last night and not something I am coming down with!
To continue with the coronavirus theme, Trevor, David and I have decided that as of now we should continue running the group every Wednesday evening. This virus could be with us for months, so we'd like to keep going as long as we can before we have to suspend things. We will review that on a week by week basis and take note of what is being advised by the health powers that be. Obviously, if you have symptoms please consider others and stay at home and as always you can attend as frequently or infrequently as you like - so not coming if you are worried or have an underlying health condition is fine as well. As of the time of writing there have been no confirmed cases in Bedfordshire. Apart from Nadine Dorries who is the Health Secretary. Is 'Ironic' in any of our songbooks? Nope.
Anyway - on to the music that we DO have...
We started off in the gig book, with Oliver's Army, Space Oddity and Wagon Wheel - which all went fine. Mind you, we have been playing them for a good long time, so if we can't make a decent fist of those we really are in trouble! Brungstrum 1 followed, with Country Honk, Have I The Right, Material Girl, Mr Blue Sky, Walking on Sunshine and You Say you Don't Love Me. Of those, we managed to keep a (relatively!) constant pace through Mr Blue Sky, but keeping together through the fast strumming in 16ths of Walking on Sunshine proved more problematic. As with some other songs throughout the night, the bass was missed. Martin was not with us, selflessly self-isolating at home after taking his dogs to Crufts in case he gave us all distemper. He was also knackered after winning a bronze in the agility class ('old dogs, new tricks section') which really took it out of him!
Brungstrum 2 came next. Losing My Religion (nice intro from Dave S), a raucous You Never Can Tell and a version of You're So Vain which went well but produced a discussion on the merits of the transatlantic pronunciations of 'ay-pricot' or 'app-ricot'. For accuracy to the original, the latter I suppose. Tomayto, tormarto!
In a depressing nod to numerical conformity, on to Brungstrum 3. Take Me I'm Yours has always been one that we rather struggle with and this was no exception. The choruses went well, the verses were more 'abstract' - suggestive of the original without actually being very recognisable! Chelsea Dagger is one we don't often have a go at, but it was a good one, Jammin' really missed the bass (it is difficult to play off the beat when there isn't one!) and Rhinestone Cowboy was it's reliable self.
Where do you think we ventured next? Yep - Brungstrum 4. 'Almost' is another that doesn't get much of an airing. We did it competently enough - there are some bits where we could do with single strums etc. Perhaps we could try it again soon? That's what we did with Happy. Tried it last week and it was OK. This week's attempt indicated that might have been a fluke! Let's blame it on the lack of a bass and move on swiftly.
On to 5.3. Drift Away, And She Was, After Midnight, Dance Tonight and the rather interminable American Pie were the choices here. Again, nice to play some that don't get picked every week.
Finally we went back to the gig book and ended the evening with Ukulele Lady and Galway Girl.
Another nice mixture of choices, thank you folks. We do have a selection from the Bumper book still to go through next week, plus some more from BS 5.3 - we don't edit the selections as they come in, but sometimes we have a few too many for one evening. So we have about ten songs lined up for next week - another three lists of five would see us through! If you aren't a regular list contributor, please consider jotting down five tunes you particularly enjoy playing (in which book and on which page is a help) and passing the list to Trevor or myself at the start of the evening.
We will keep you updated via email and on the FB page if the situation regarding holding the meetings changes - but at the moment it is as normal.
Right - it's a Saturday afternoon and the football has been suspended. But never fear, I have found something else to do. I am off to Aldi to queue for toilet paper I don't need...
Until next week, stay well"

From the 4th March Meeting:

"It was the first meeting since meteorological winter turned into meteorological spring last night. Not that it felt any warmer, probably the opposite in fact - but that didn't stop 20 (or so, I didn't count!) hardy souls making it to the pub last night for our session. I am not as efficient as Trevor so I made no notes - the following may be entirely correct, partially correct or just wishful thinking.
After Trevor's plea for a few more suggestion lists, you obliged - so thank you for that, it does make the evening run more smoothly. It's always interesting that a song we have managed to avoid for a few weeks suddenly pops up on more than one list! Especially given the number we have to choose from - I think we must have one of the widest repertoires of all ukulele groups - so some songs get 'lost'.
As has become the norm, we started off with a few from the gig book. I think this is a good thing for two reasons. Firstly we are getting warmed up playing something we know and secondly we are actually (by stealth!) practicing the songs we play out. This week's selection included King Of The Road, Whiskey In The Jar and Country Roads. I Wanna Be Like You and Love Potion Number 9 had also been requested on the lists, so we played those as well while we were at it.
We then moved to Brungstrum 5.3. If there was a theme for the rest of the evening (and there probably wasn't!) it was 'forgotten gems and playing things differently'. We started with 'Come On Eileen', had a go at the rarely attempted 'Don't Stop Me Know' and 'All Right Now'. The latter is actually an uncomfortable mash up of All Right Now and Wishing Well. Both great songs, but the mixture is less than the sum of it's parts in this case. 'How Do You Do It' was sprightly enough and 'I Say A Little Prayer For You' went OK - the timing is a bit tricky in places, but we just about got there. Not sure any of us can claim to have a voice 1% as good as Aretha's but you have to work with what you've got! 'Torn' was next. Have we ever played this? Once we'd worked out the strumming pattern, it was surprisingly decent - one to revisit, a sentiment I have my doubts about with both 'Missing' (with it's 'three beats then miss one one' rhythm) and 'Whiter Shade of Pale' (with it's two beats on everything all the way though)! Why? Well the former is a lovely delicate song, but I really have my doubts about it being suitable for massed ukuleles and voices. The latter can easily turn into a dirge and without the organ melody over the top is frankly not very musical. Only my opinions of course - feel free to disagree!). We were on much safer ground with 'Somewhere Only We Know' where we managed to be quite delicate and let the song breathe a bit.
After a break, Brungstrum 4 was the order of the day. A rousing 'Blame It On Me' started us off nicely before we attempted 'Chasing Cars' - the change between the soft strumming and picking of the quiet bits and the more concerted chords of the chorus worked well here - again one we don't do often, but it sounded good to me. 'Happy'? Well, quite. We got through it (is that the first time?), not without some hiccups, but if we can get the tune, chords, strumming and backing vocals right it will be a good one!!! 'It's All About You' is becoming a favourite, and seems to suit us. 'Sweet About Me' is another less played song but again we did it quite well. It is another of those 'same four chords around and around' songs though. I think we may have to introduce some variation in vocals, or who plays what and when if we want to persist with it. Nice tune though! 'Yellow' (thanks Mike for slowing down my intro count. You were right) and 'Viva La Vida' (thanks Martin for reminding us all of the strumming pattern) were followed by an evening ending 'Galway Girl' with a quieter middle section - thanks to Marion for that suggestion - although it might sound better with single chords rather than no chords at all? One to try, I think!
Thanks to all for a lovely well-humoured and varied evening, with songs ranging from the well-known to the 'have we ever played this before', which seems like a good mix to me. Some other 'thank you's: to Marion for arranging for some get well flowers for Joy, to everybody to contributing towards them and to all of you for responding to Trevor's request and toning the between songs chatter and noodling down a fair bit. Again - it really does help.
Next week. Open Mic (or it that Open Mike, or Open Mik? I never know) at 7pm for half an hour before the main session. Those who have not done it before will be given priority - be brave, it's a bit like a sky dive. Scary before you try it, great once you've done it. Mind you I am scared of heights.
We get through a bunch of songs every week - about 25. So as always, we need your lists. One list of 25, of five lists of five or .... well, you get the idea. Just choose something you'd like us to play!
Something to consider - are some of the new songs gig book contenders?
Ukulele Bedford - always the same, always different
Ciao (I disinfected that after I wrote it)"

From the 26th Febuary Meeting:

"On Wednesday (26th) 26 of us made it along to the Kings Arms, Bedford at 7:30pm for our weekly dose of Ukulele Bedford. I would like to have said we played 26 songs, but it was 26 plus one for the pot (not that anyone was counting). We played a generous baker’s double-dozen of top tunes from Brung Strum 3, the Bumper Book (2014 July) and Brung Strum 5.3, bookended rather magnificently by a few favourites from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected).
We got ourselves up and running with Cracklin Rosie, 59th Street Bridge Song, Mama Mia and You Got It, before switching from the Gig Book to Brung Strum 3, where we enjoyed Echo Beach, Ex’s and Oh’s, It Must Be Love and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. We then had a change of gear, moving over to the Bumper Book, where we started with You’ve Got Your Troubles, followed by You’re Sixteen, Without You and Til There Was You (which was an unexpected gem). We then sashayed our way up to the break with The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The Lions Sleeps Tonight and The Last Time.
Following our regulation interval for the cleaning and refilling of our glasses, we skipped on into Brung Strum 5.3 for a rousing rendition of Sit Down, followed by a sultry Why Don’t You Do Right (OK sultry might be stretching it), a chipper Top of the World, a harmonious Addicted to Love and a persistent Come on Eileen. By this stage, we had used up all our song suggestions for the evening, but we weren’t yet ready to go home, so we opened the floor for any suggestions, which were forthcoming – even if I had to suggest a few myself. We played Galway Girl, Golden Brown, Handbags and Gladrags, Hey Soul Sister and Hey There Delilah (all from Brung Strum 5.3).
Yet again, we played the 13/8 rhythm for Golden Brown, so I’m convinced now it wasn’t a one-off fluke. We were in good voice this week and our playing wasn’t half bad either, so well done one and all. We rounded the evening off with Urban Spaceman and City of New Orleans (both from the Gig Book – 2018 BFC Edition). I failed to mention it in the notices slot, but we do have an Open Mic session from 7pm to 7:30pm in a couple of weeks on 11th March, so get your duets and solos ready to perform. In the meantime, this Wednesday (4th March) we’ll be starting our weekly group practice at the regular time of 7:30pm, which will be amazing (especially if you’re able to join us).
Finally, if I could ask you for a couple of small indulgences, these will make our evenings together even more amazing (and my job easier). Firstly, over the last few weeks we’ve been running a bit short of pre-meditated song suggestions, so if you’ve not put pen to paper for a few weeks to request a few songs, could I encourage you to do so this week – we need your suggestions (ideally written down and passed to me or Jon at the start of the evening). Secondly, I’ve been struggling a bit recently to make myself heard, so if you like noodling about and chatting between songs could you please do it quietly, at least until everyone hears which number we’re playing next.
Thanks in advance for your help with the house keeping – it maintains our sessions’ open and friendly feel if we can all share the burden of song suggestions equally and listen up between playing them. See you on Wednesday, at 7:30pm in the Kings Arms, Bedford – bring your own uke or borrow the loaner instrument from behind the bar."

From the 19th Febuary Meeting:

"This week has been the half term break for schools, but we don’t have terms at Ukulele Bedford, so twenty of us met up at the Kings Arms at 7:30pm on Wednesday evening for our weekly constitutional. Jon kindly stepped in and covered for me, while I stepped out to get some cash, and you started the evening with Whiskey in the Jar from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected) followed by Dreaming, Hello Mary Lou and Shimmy Like My Sister Kate. Having warmed up, we switched over to a set of suggested songs from the Bumper Book (the July 2014 edition). We had Hi Ho Silver Lining, Da Do Ron Ron, Every Day, Dream a Little Dream, Mrs Robinson, and Needles and Pins. Dream a Little Dream is a lovely song to sing and includes some of the under-represented chords (e.g. Am7-5, Bm7, Bbm6 and Cm7) that encourages us to embrace the diversity of barre chords. Mrs Robinson is just a lovely song to play, especially when we sing the intro using the rhythm of the verse (i.e. ‘Dee dedee dee…’), which we did, and it sounded pretty fine.
After dabbling in the Bumper book with a few tunes from the sixties, we switched over to Brung Strum 2 for this week’s second set of selected songs. These were mainly from the seventies and eighties. We had Baker Street, Big Yellow Taxi, I Don’t Like Mondays, I’m Yours, Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood and This Ole House. Admittedly, I’m Yours was from 2008 and we were a little dubious about completing it, but we managed to sing it all the way through, including the two split parts at the end. This one seems to be a slow grower. When we first started playing it, I don’t think Jason Mraz would have recognised it, but we’re warming to it. Should Jason ever call in and join us on a Wednesday evening, he might be pleasantly surprised. Always keen to promote new talent, here’s a link to the You Tube video in case you feel the need to sing-a-long with Jason https://youtu.be/EkHTsc9PU2A (other music video providers are available).
Having completed sixteen songs, our tachograph indicated it was time to pull over and take a break, so we drew the first half to a close. Following the intermission and without any further song suggestions, we went ‘off-list’ and noodled our way around Brung Strum 5.3. This was initiated by my request to play Golden Brown. About a month ago, we managed to play the 13/8 sections in the verses and I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t a dream. This time we didn’t even have the safety net of a bass to keep us together, but we were able to repeat our past glory, and again our Brown was Golden. We then had Handbags and Gladrags, Hey There Delilah and How Do You Do It before taking a side-step to try out a new version of Teenage Dirtbag that Mike brought along for us on paper. Mike did a stellar job of introducing the timing in the bridge, which made it seem a lot more playable – that and the change of key made this my favourite version so far.
We rounded out the second half of the evening by returning to Brung Strum 5.3 for Spitting In the Wind, Stuck In the Middle With You and What’s Up. It was the first time I’d heard, let alone played, Spitting In the Wind. However, thanks to some good singing from Jon, I enjoyed it and would even go as far as watching Joan Collins sing along with Badly Drawn Boy in the video (https://youtu.be/J0POI7qC0uc). Maybe we should learn it, just in case Joan ever calls in to joins us on a Wednesday evening. The request for ‘last tune of the night’ went to Make Me Smile from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected), which left us on a high, even if they locals weren’t calling out for more on this occasion.
We’ll be back at the Kings Arms this Wednesday from 7:30pm for more Ukulele Bedford. If you’re returning from a half-term break, don’t forget to bring a note listing your holiday song selection, we have a diverse range of songs and song books to inspire you (with or without barre chords)."

From the 12th Febuary Meeting:

"This week our practice was literally an Oasis between two storms. Storm Ciara and storm Dennis gave us flooding and high winds at the weekends but come Wednesday we brought our Ukulele sunshine to the Kings Arms, Bedford. We started at the earlier time of 7pm with the Open Mic session. I was not able to attend, but it looked like everyone else did and they had a great time. Thanks to the soloists and their supporting audience. Unlike the Oscars, everyone gets recognition for their contributions to our Open Mic – this has become a popular slot and we look forward to the next one (especially if you missed it this week).
At 7:30pm we switched to group mode and launched the evening’s practice with a few tunes from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected). This week it was a short warm up starting with I Want to Be Like You, then Lola and Sunny Afternoon. Jon and I had a bumper harvest of song suggestions, so we went straight on to Brung Strum 4 playing Blame It on Me, Hot and Cold, Its All About You, Lightning Bolt, Rule the World, Pumped Up Kicks and Starlight. Some of these songs sounded great – Blame It on Me and Starlight were my highlights (you can think of your own favourites). Rule the World is a song we don’t yet know and the consensus was that we needed to listen to it more so here’s a link to the video on You Tube (other song providers are available) https://youtu.be/CM3jcGsS0Po.
Then it was over to Brung Strum 5.3 with a mixture of less played and recently requested numbers. We had Teenage Dirtbag, Abracadabra, Ain’t That a Shame, Do You Love Me and Jackson. We’ve sometimes struggled a bit with the timing of the bridge in Teenage Dirtbag, but this week it looked like we nearly cracked it – check it out at https://youtu.be/FC3y9llDXuM?t=126. Anyway, that was us up to the interval. Not that I’m counting, but that made 15 songs in an hour and 15 minutes (averaging 5 minutes a song, including chit chat). As is often said about our timing, it’s not a race, but I having your song suggestions (in advance) enables us to be both efficient and eclectic.
We followed tradition this week and refilled our glasses, stretched our legs and played nice during breaktime. Recharged, we returned to Brung Strum 5.3 for Killing Me Softly, Sorrow, Summer in The City, Summer Nights, How Do You Do It, I Will Survive, Shotgun, Sit Down, Stuck in the Middle With You and Galway Girl. That was a 10 tune blitz in about an hour, so we were holding our pace. Over the last few weeks we’ve been fortunate in that people have been bringing great song suggestions. I hope you’re getting enough variety and repetition to keep it enjoyable as well as educational. This week has been flying past, but if you get a chance to note down a few songs for us to sing this Wednesday (especially songs we’re improving or not done for a while) that would be most helpful.
I was a bit worried about stepping into Mark’s shoes as compere but together we seem to be managing. Mixing things up is just one of the things that keeps us young and fresh, so please keep feeding back to Jon, David and me (or anyone else on the committee) about what works and what doesn’t and we’ll try to navigate a course that makes most of us happy most of the time. Weather permitting, we’ll be at the Kings Arms again this Wednesday starting at 7:30pm – I hope you’ll bring your sunshine with you."

From the 5th Febuary Meeting:

"Another week and another episode of Ukulele Bedford – the reality show that really is a reality, every Wednesday evening from 7:30pm to 10pm in the Kings Arms, Bedford. However, unlike a reality show, we’re not chasing the ratings – we can be ourselves, playing the ukulele in public is our chosen form of self-expression, and who’s to say we’re not living the dream. This week around 23 dreamers came together at the chosen time and place, and we created our own reality, which at times sounded pretty good (even if I say so myself).
My subliminal requests for song suggestions seem to be working – we got more suggestions this week than we had time to play, which means we’ve got a head start on next week’s selection (further suggestions are still needed). Everyone contributing from time to time with a few suggested song choices, seems to be both fair and efficient. We get to play something we like and something someone else likes – these are not always the same songs, so we get to give and take. We’re not just playing for our own pleasure, but we’re playing for the pleasure of others in the group. Some might say it’s karmic, but it’s just how we roll at Ukulele Bedford.
Having annoyed you with my background chatter, let's get down to the music – we started our pre-flight checklist with a few openers from the Gig Book (2018 Beer Festival Corrected ‘BFC’ Edition). Dedicated Follower of Fashion, King of the Road, Eight Days a Week, Light My Fire and Things helped us to warm up and get comfortable, before we took off with some suggested songs from Brung Strum 1. We hadn’t played from this book for a while, so it was a welcome return. We had Country Honk, Have I the Right, Walking on Sunshine, You Say You Don’t Love Me, Africa and Mister Blue Sky.
Some pitfalls we avoided, and some tripped us up, but we kept on strumming. Have I the Right even got a bit of reflective discussion and helpful steering from Martin, which on our second play enabled us to make a much better job of the contrasting rapid strumming sections at the end of the verses. Africa is a song that we come back to from time to time, and that seems to be getting better for it. My memory for intros is not the best, but David helped get us up and running, and we kept together for most of it. Walking on Sunshine is one of those jolly songs that has the potential to please a crowd, so we might even work on that a bit more in the future to get it gig ready.
We then moved to Brung Strum 3 and played Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Ex’s and Oh’s – which was nice. We may have had our intermission before or after our sojourn in Brung Strum 3, my historical notes omitted that detail, but needless to say it was a sociable break and gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs, rest our fingers and refill our glasses. The second half involved a good range of songs from the Bumper Book, which is what happens when we get multiple people suggesting songs from the same book (it’s good for our karma).
We had 500 Miles, A Picture of You, A World of Our Own, All I Have to Do is Dream, A Teenager in Love, The Boxer, California Dreaming, The Letter and Ukulele Lady. I wouldn’t say we played 500 Miles too slowly, but next time we could cover the ground in a bit less time. California Dreaming let us split the room to sing it in two parts, which we did geometrically and with style. For the last tune of the evening we switched back to the Gig Book (BFC) for the delightful Urban Spaceman. Where did the time go – we’ve only just gotten over Christmas and its suddenly February.
The good news is that this Wednesday (12th) we have an Open Mic session from 7pm to 7:30pm, followed by our regular Reality Ukulele Experience from 7:30pm to 10pm. Please come for 7pm if you can and give us a song or support those that do, otherwise try and make it for the 7:30pm kick-off. It will be Valentine’s Day this coming week, an annual celebration for loving all things Ukulele. If you’re not able to join us this week, take comfort in the knowledge that we’ll be there thinking of you (with puppy dog eyes) and hoping to see you soon.
Until then – keep strumming"

From the 29th January Meeting:

"Twenty-five brave souls joined us on Wednesday night at the Kings Arms for a few hours of ukulele therapy. Over the last few weeks we’ve been starting with a few songs we know very well, followed by quite a few songs ‘in development’ and finishing with one or two crowd pleasers. It might catch on, at least I’ve been enjoying it, so many thanks to everyone that provided this week’s song choices (you know who you are).
So, what did we actually play – from the Gig Book (2018 beer festival, corrected edition) we started our strumming medication with Ghost Riders in the Sky, then we had It Must Be Love, Love Potion Number Nine, I’m a Believer, Sway and It’s My Party. Having got the party started, we switched over to the Bumper Book and had a nearly perfect performance of Folsom Prison Blues. We played it slightly slower than usual but sang it particularly well, so we might try it at 45 rpm next time. In good voice, we worked our way through Friday I’m in Love, Half the World Away, Happy Together, Hotel California, I Can See Clearly Now, Maggie May and finished with Mama Don’t Allow.
Time-out was awarded for good behaviour and we recharged our glasses before returning for more medcine. We started back, after the nine o’clock watershed, with two new songs (thanks to Marion). We had I Will Survive (from www.burpmusic.com) followed by You’re My World (from www.scorpexuke.com). I Will Survive was an instant hit and has potential to become a future Gig Book selection. It’s fair to say, we were less familiar with You’re My World, but for those who knew the song it's a lovely tune, and with a bit of application I’m sure the rest of us could get to love it too.
Having dabbled in the unknown, we moved on to the slightly more familiar BrungStrum 5.3 playing Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Bus Stop (where my pronunciation was challenged), Dancing Queen (for absent friends), Downtown, Venus and Video Killed the Radio Star. It was at this point that my list of provided song choices ran out and I’m sure we played something else before finishing the evening with City of New Orleans (from the Gig Book). The details of exactly what we played before our crowd pleasing finale is eluding me, but that’s this week’s quiz – no prizes for the first person to tell us the answer next Wednesday, other than the gratitude of anyone like me, whose memory isn’t as good as it used to be.
As is often the case, the health-giving benefits of Ukulele Bedford would not happen without those of you that turned up, so thanks to this week’s participants, especially those of you that brought song suggestions (hint for next week) and particularly Marion for bringing us a couple of new songs. We’ll be doing it all again on Wednesday this coming week (5th), starting at 7:30m in the Kings Arms, Bedford. On a closing note, we were missing Mark and he will be greatly missed, now that he’s moved, but we can take some comfort in that, in the same week the UK exited Europe, Ukulele Bedford entered Norfolk. We wish Mark and Chris all the best for their new life in the principality and look forward to Mark’s guest appearance the next time they’re visiting Bedford.
Have a great week - see you soon"

From the 22nd January Meeting:

"Twenty-six of us made it along to the King’s Arms on Wednesday for this week’s Ukulele Bedford practice. We started the evening with a few known tunes from the Gig Book, before switching over to BrungStrum 2 and we finished the evening with a selection from BrungStrum 4. We kicked off with Lola, Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, Tide is High/Rudy and Sunny Afternoon to get us warmed up. We then got down to some of the suggested songs (always welcomed) with Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood and Paint it Black. While we were so close to it, we then included our rendition of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life in homage to Terry Jones who died on Tuesday.
We cracked open BrungStrum 2 with Baker Street (electing to play intro 2) then Country House before the politically insensitive and annoying catchy Girls, girls, girls. In the past we’ve not really gotten on very well with Jason Marz’s I’m Yours but this week he very near was ours – we managed to divide and almost conquer the split chorus / verse outro. It might even be worth giving him a listen on You Tube (https://youtu.be/EkHTsc9PU2A) someone’s bound to get the hang of it eventually. We then skipped ahead to Your So Vain, before taking a step back to play Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell, and then looped round to finish our first half with Blanket on the Ground.
Having sucked the obligatory orange segment, we moved into BrungStrum 4 and started our second half with George Ezra’s Blame it on Me, where we even managed to include the single strums in the fifth verse for a rather spectacular contrast. Next, we had House of Gold, which has an unusual muted string pattern in the first verse and single strums in the final bridge that we played quite well, even if I say so myself. Pumped up Kicks was the last of the requested songs, after which we went off-list with suggestions from the room. I think these may have included (although necessarily in this order) Back to Black, Human, It’s All About You, Road Runner, Somewhere Only We Know, and Yellow (which was my highlight of the week) and we finished with the rather lovely Hidden in the Sand.
A few folks mentioned that some of the songs were played too slowly or too quickly, which may be true, but I think we are keeping to time even if that’s not necessarily the correct time for every song. Speeding up during a song is a common error that a lot of ukulele groups make, particularly when they’re having fun, but we seemed to avoid that this week. We are getting better at listening to the beat and to one another and playing together. The more familiar we get with each song, the better chance we’ll have of playing it at the right speed. You Tube might help a bit with that, but I think it’s when we listen to one another and stay with the beat, that we keep in time and sound like we know what we’re doing.
Thanks again to those that came this week and I hope this summary makes everyone else jealous of what they missed out on. The good news is we’ll be doing it all again this Wednesday from 7:30pm in the King’s Arms where Sean the barman will be welcoming us to ‘Bedford’s most versatile pub’. That’s what their website says, and I’d like to think Ukulele Bedford is nothing if not versatile. If you do have any song suggestions, requiring versatility or otherwise, please make a note of them and bring them with you on Wednesday – we look forward to seeing you then.
P.S. A note for your diary – the next Open Mic Evening will be on the 12th of February (from 7pm to 7:30pm). David will facilitate the running order, so let him know if you’re up for it – we can guarantee you an appreciative and loving audience (given the close proximity to Saint Valentine’s Day)."

From the 15th January Meeting:

"Last night we had an amazing 29 of us turn up to my inaugural session as facilitator – thanks for coming along and making it a lovely evening. We started in the gig book with some old favourites (or at least my favourites) from the first half of the gig book: Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Bad moon rising/Deeper on Down, Whiskey in the Jar, King of the Road, Light My Fire, 59th Street Bridge Song, and I Wanna Be Like You. Having warmed up, we finished the first half of the evening with a selection from the Bumper Book (Waterloo Sunset, When you Walk in the Room, The Boxer, Pretty Flamingo, Needles and Pins, and El Condor Pasa).
Even though we don’t play some of these all that regularly we made a good job of most of them. We managed to avoid speeding up, which is not as easy as it sounds – I sometimes get carried away in the moment, but you managed to keep us in check. During the course of the first half we also managed to fade at the end of a few songs – there is nothing wrong with the odd cha, cha, cha (particularly when we all do it), but it does us good to have a bit of variety in our collective endings.
After a short intermission for some lubrication and socialisation, we started the second half of the evening in the Bumper Book with Every Day, before switching over to Brung Strum 5.3 for some newer tunes. We took our time and even repeated a few of the songs, which seemed to really improve our playing of them. Golden Brown was transformed – I never imagined that we’d be able to change time together during a song, but we did it thanks to Jon’s counting and everyone else paying attention to his lead. We then had Hey Soul Sister, Hey There Delilah, Jackson, Killing Me Softly and Miss Otis Regrets.
Again, taking our time with these and listening to the sage advice of those familiar with the songs (paid off big up to Mike). I think Hey Soul Sister is a lovely song, that some of us have played at the Berkhamstead Thrash evening, but if you don’t know it, give it a listen on You Tube. I struggle with the rhythm of the rap section, but I’m convinced we could learn it. Splitting the parts for Jackson really works well for us and can even be good fun when we get going. Our rendition of Mis Otis Regrets was probably my favourite tune of the evening – somehow Mike’s patient explanations are having an effect and I think we played it really well.
We finished the evening on a high with Galway Girl – Rex’s picking just makes us all happy and the rest of the song seems to look after itself. This is what happens when we find songs we enjoy playing and we listen to one another. Thanks again for a great evening – I’ve already had two song suggestions for next week: Lodi and Love Shack (both in Brung Strum 5.3 pages 65 and 68). If you have any other suggestions, please email them to me and Jon, or bring them with you on a bit of paper next week."

From the 8th January Meeting:

"This is, sort of formally, my last email to you all from Ukulele Bedford, so please excuse any rambling. Weekly missives will continue, but mostly from other hands.
Last night, as I see it, we had a session of three parts: the Special General Meeting (SGM); a good musical blast to blow away any festive cobwebs; and a bit of a thank you from me for your collective kindness.
Some 17 members were in attendance for the SGM, rising to around 22 for the rest of the evening. This included a new John, who seemed to be having a good time, and we saw the welcome return of Norman, Rebecca and Pat.
We will issue formal minutes from the (rather informal) SGM separately, but the main decisions are that your new Chair is Trevor Collins; your new Membership Secretary is Andy Chinn; and your new Vice Chair is David Neale. All other Committee positions remain as previously (without me, obviously), until the AGM in the spring. I have every confidence that this just represents a changing of the guard but that what is guarded – the spirit, values and activities of Ukulele Bedford – remain intact. I intend to watch Ukulele Bedford flourish, with all your help.
Following the election, we had a bit of a chat about the direction Ukulele Bedford may take in the future. We have come a long way with our choice of music now being as wide as any group's, but there was a feeling that we could do with a few more gigs than in 2019, so long as they were of the right sort. There was also support for the idea of more learning sessions and possibly finding more modern songs that stretch our chord repertoire (although, as Martin pointed out, most modern songs rarely exceed four chords) and perhaps encourage more vocal harmonies. There was talk about a cajon as an occasional addition, provided we could find someone who could play it well and was happy to not play it if a song didn’t warrant such accompaniment. Generally, though, people were happy with the group as it stands. Whether you were with us last night or not and have any more thoughts for the group to consider, please talk to Jon or Trevor. It’s quite rare for anyone’s concern to be individual.
On to the music. We started with Urban Spaceman as a rousing tribute to the late Neil Innes and then spent the first half of the evening in the current Gig Book, reminding ourselves that we can sing and play these little four-string wonders to decent effect. It really was suspiciously as though we had practised them before.
At the start of the break, I was ambushed by your kind generosity with leaving gifts that are right up my street – a case of Dorset beers, and engraved glass to drink them from and a deluxe bird-feeding station for my new garden to watch while drinking, and a leaving card to read between beers/birds. Just perfect! Thank you all so very much. I have my suspicions that Marion and Kathryn were behind some or all of that (an aside to the new Committee: Marion single-handedly sorted our current and previous Wednesday venues and Kathryn has responded to every plea for new songs or playlists going. They are useful people.).
Ukulele Bedford has been an important part of my recent life and I will think of you all fondly. I will still have some work in the area, so may be able to drop in occasionally on a Wednesday or perhaps even for a gig . . . at least until I can find a more local outlet for my ukes. There will be groups nearby, but not in Holt itself so far. Who knows, perhaps we can twin UB with UH if and when it exists. I still don’t have a moving date, so expect me to be skulking at the back for a Wednesday or two to come. But hey, I leave on good terms and won’t feel that I am crawling back after an argument where I discover I have left my car keys on the table. We all know that feeling.
Anyway, the second half’s music all came from BrungStrum 5.3, and mostly went very well. We perhaps played the Five Foot Two instrumental too fast for some people, so that was a little ragged, but we made good headway with Don’t Look Back in Anger, Downtown, Do You Love Me and other songs beginning with different letters. With a bit of practice, there is plenty in this book to spice up our Gig Book for the 2020s.
Next week, bring bits of paper with song suggestions, perhaps a whole list, or even a head full of ideas and enthusiasm and prepare for another great night with Ukulele Bedford. How could there be anything else?
All the best for wherever life and your ukulele take you in 2020."

From the 19th December Meeting:

"You can’t say you weren’t warned – Wednesday’s second Christmas session was, well, a cracker, if we must resort to cliché. And, of course, we must. Half Man Half Biscuit say so, even if their particular festive ditty (It’s cliched to by cynical at Christmas) didn’t make the selection last night. Some 23 of us, including various jumper-wearers, three Santas, a couple of elves and various flashing baubles made merry with the Christmas book and the Gig book in an evening that just flew by. Great fun.
The only foray outside those two books was for Galway Girl (and welcome party nibbles), that we now play so often and so well that most of us looked for it in various Gig Book iterations until realising that it sits in BrungStrum5.3.
Our next official gathering is the gig/ cheesefest at the Wellington Arms this Sunday. Please note that we will be on from 3.30pm, NOT 2pm as previously advertised. This will be relatively informal, with no amplification, no bass and a bunch of bright-eyed locals to help us on the vocals. We’ll carry on until we stop or get thrown out. We’ll need a handful of music stands and please bring your main music on your device, even though we may be working from a paper book, courtesy of Lisa. Judging from last night’s show hands, there should be double figures of Ukulele Bedford players, all having a relaxed time for charity. That seems like a fine way to end the year.
As we leave 2019 (the year of the impossible D7aug9 chord) and head into the much easier 2020 (the year of the Hawaiian D7), we can reflect on another good year for Ukulele Bedford. Attendance has remained at around last year’s level, averaging the low-to-mid twenties and we have had a good selection of newcomers who have stayed, irregulars who come and go, and old faithfuls, some of whom have been with us from the very start. Every last one of you has been welcome and will have contributed in some way to our enjoyment, so thank you all.
We also introduced BrungStrum 5 and quickly amended it to BrungStrum5.3, which is rapidly becoming one of our go-to books. We have been a bit lighter on gigs – and hence charity contributions – this year, but did well on those we attended.
Our open mics have introduced the thrill/terror to more people and I think we are a stronger group because of that. Halloween, Pirate Day and both Christmas sessions have confirmed our penchant for dressing up and looking generally fabulous, and we are definitely stronger singers than a year ago. We didn’t manage to resurrect our learning sessions this year. Perhaps that’s something for 2020.
Talking of which, don’t forget our Special General Meeting that starts the New Year at 7pm on 8th January, where you will have your chance to elect a new Chair and to help shape our vision for 2020. Will it be as clear as the phrase suggests? Only you can decide.
Whether I see you on Sunday or not, I hope you have the relaxed, friendly, exciting, calorific, drunken, healthy, pleasant or downright fabulous festive season that you hope for. We’ll be in touch again after the break.
Happy Christmas"

From the 12th December Meeting:

"Happy Christmas Part One went really well last night. Around 25 of us, many sporting at least a nod if not a full-blown head-bang towards festive regalia, made merry with our new Christmas Book. Most of it went really well and was actually much more enjoyable than I had feared. We copped out of Driving Home for Christmas but made a good fist of various other new (to us) songs, including Stop The Cavalry, Silent Night and We Wish You A Merry Christmas – I am amazed that that particular song had never appeared in our previous Christmas books. One great thing about these songs is that we all know them and that was certainly reflected well in our singing – great stuff.
Fortified with mince pies, sausage rolls, stollen, chestnuts and millionaire’s shortbread at least, we tackled BrungStrum 5.3 with gusto in the second half. Following a bit of discussion with Martin and Trevor at half time, we may even have cracked some of the counting-in malarkey. We promise you’ll never hear us count in 1,2,1,2,3,4, but 1,2,3,4,1,2, may make an appearance.
Next week, we’ll tackle more of the Christmas book, reprising some of last night’s successes and finding more, before scoffing half-time cake and then finishing our ukulele year with Gig Book songs for the second half. If it’s anywhere near as good as last night, you really won’t want to miss it, even if you haven’t been with us much this year.
After that, because both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Wednesdays, we will be at the Wellington Arms, Bedford 2-4pm on 22nd December for a Cheesy Christmas Charity Singalong, but our first meeting of 2020 will be on 8th January at 7pm – I’ll now explain that timing.
I surprised many people last night by announcing that I am moving away from the area in the New Year. Contracts are signed, but I have no moving date yet and expect to be with you for at least the first session of 2020, but perhaps no more than that. This means that we will need to elect a new Chair, and for banking purposes at least will have to change our official address from my home to someone else’s.
I will be sad to leave Ukulele Bedford but am confident that I leave it in a good, robust state that will still be around on the odd occasion that I am able to make a return visit – I will still have some work in this area, so I hope I won’t be a complete stranger.
But hey, life moves on and what better day is there to talk about elections than 12th December?
Ukulele Bedford is bigger than any one of us – come along to our next session next Wednesday and find out how much fun that can be.
All the best"

From the 5th December Meeting:

"A healthy 24 of us ploughed through a lot of songs in our last pre-festive session last night, and I think we did pretty well. In particular, our split songs and harmonies were on form. We chose songs from BrungStrums 3 and 5.3 and a few from the Bumper Book, ranging from as far back as 1925 to, just, the 21st century (thanks, Kylie).
We started with It Must Be Love – such a good song, both to play and sing – followed by Rhinestone Cowboy. Those lines, “Getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know . . . Offers coming over the phone” clearly places it in the pre-internet, pre-spam days. We’ll probably never quite polish You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth or Jammin’ as we’d like, but Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Land Down Under and Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For all go well. Most of Fox on the Run worked better than ever, especially the harmonies on the line - Like a fox, Like a fox, like a . . . oh, you get it.
In 5.3, there are a couple of songs that we used to play a lot when we worked on paper but that haven’t graced the digital era. The three part Let It Be takes some instruction, but was deemed “rewarding”. I can take that. I think the instrumental version of Five Foot Two came as a surprise to many people and it certainly wasn’t our most accomplished, but it does at least show a bit more of what the ukulele can do. A trickier more modern number from the book was Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, which we did passably well, and I Will Survive which works on many levels.
From the Bumper Book, our usual fare was supplemented by Build Me Up Buttercup – we never quite get it right, but it’s worth it for the bits we do. Remember, we are after enjoyment not perfection – and Ain’t No Sunshine. This song is worth going back to because it provides a great contrast to all the regular strumming that so many of our other tunes demand. California Dreaming is a banker.
Next week, it’s Christmaaaaaaaaaas, part one. I sent the songbook out last week. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, you can find it here: http://ukulelebedford.co.uk/files/UkuleleBedfordChristmasSongbook2019.pdf Previous editions need not apply. Remember, some of these songs will also be the basis of our 22nd December Wellington Arms Cheesy Christmas afternoon, but before then will be in our club Christmas part two on 18th December. The format for the next two weeks is that we will spend the first half playing a selection of festive offerings, break for seasonal victuals (please come armed with calories), and then play what we fancy from any book in the second half. That should satisfy the sparkly Christmas people and the stripy humbuggers alike. Festive jumpers, baubly ear-rings and tinsel are optional – but good options.
It will be fun. It will be even better if you are with us."

From the 27th November Meeting:

"We started quietly with the Open Mic last night, but gradually crept up to 22 souls, all enjoying a good run through the almost neglected BrungStrum2 book.
In the Open Mic itself, we had a good selection of (mainly male) performers, including Rob for the second time, showing that he wasn’t completely traumatised by his debut, Andy, as a rarity, and “David feat. Jon” doing a suitably scary Thriller. More like “David feat. Vincent Price”. Joy and Mark performed You to me are Everything, and it was a great to hear and feel the audience join in with the chorus. Thank you. I suspect the next Open Mic will be in the New Year, but we’ll let you know if we can squeeze one in before Christmas.
Among its other gems BrungStrum2 has some of our simplest songs, including two two-chorders and a couple with oft-repeated choruses. You’d think those would be easy, but when you know that you should be playing either G7 or C or perhaps F or C and nothing else, the mind wanders and can trip you up. And doesn’t it just feel embarrassing to get the chords wrong when there aren’t many of them? Perhaps there is a happy medium between the simplicity of these two-chorders and the all-chord madness of Queen or David Bowie.
I don’t know whether it was because of being lulled into a state of false competence by the two-chorders or for some other reason, but we played quite a lot of songs that bit slower than usual last night. This Old House, Wild Rover and even Galway Girl felt a little more sedate than normal, and we didn’t even speed up in many songs. Perhaps we were tired after the Open Mic.
Mentioning Christmas, we decided last night to split our celebrations into two weeks. We’ll probably play Christmas songs in the first half and then a different selection after the break. This is for both 11th and 18th December – double jollity. What’s not to like? Before you answer that, have a listen to the first song in the new Christmas book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxqQtUQErhQ
Our new Christmas songbook is attached and will also appear on the website shortly. Any previous Christmas books can be deleted. What you need is UkuleleBedfordChristmasSongbook2019.pdf Nothing else will do.
Next week, we have no Open Mic, no festive shenanigans and so far no lists, but there is all our usual potential. Come along and help us fulfil it.
Cheers"

From the 20th November Meeting:

"Two complementary lists from BrungStrum 5.3 kept 21 of us amused last night. There are still one or two songs in the book that we can sing when we get into them but can’t work out how to start, and there are a few that depend on particular leaders being present, but overall, we are getting the hang of them. Remember, these were the songs you most recently chose for the group, so it’s not surprising that we can make a good evening from it.
We started with After Midnight – one of those that is fine when you work yourself into it – and Ain’t That a Shame, followed by And She Was. Breakfast at Tiffanys is starting to gel now and Downtown was always straightforward. I suspect we know For What is Chatteris better than any other uke group and our Galway Girl isn’t bad either.
For Henry Lee, we split into picking verses and strumming choruses, which nearly worked. Some of the changeovers were a little ragged and we could perhaps settle on a particular strum, but this shows potential for bringing a nice contrast to the usual DDUUDU strums. As a song, it’s a great weapon against those people who think the ukulele is such a happy instrument. It can be, but it can be more than that.
A few more songs – Hey There Delilah, Miss Otis Regrets, Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Me– followed that Mike had introduced or knew well and so led. If next week is Open Mic night (which it is), this had a touch of Mike Mic night about it. The more we can share the load, the better.
Musically, the only surprise to me was that our oldest song, Moon River, was chosen by our youngest and newest members. Ah, well. You can’t knock our breadth of choice.
Next week, we start early with our Open Mic from 7pm-7.30pm, followed, as usual, by your selection of songs from any of our books. Last month’s Open Mic was a cracker and we have one or two names on the list for next week already. Just remember, our aim is to make this the most open-hearted ukulele Open Mic session in the whole town. And the main rule is that no performer should apologise for anything. Come along, it will be fun.
Finally, I mentioned last week that we had been invited to take part in a Cheesy Christmas Sing Along at the Wellington Arms on 22nd December in the afternoon. Posters are up. It’s going to happen, so prepare for a purely acoustic afternoon of beer, cheese and cheer. Songbook to follow. When Lisa mentioned it last week, I immediately thought of a song we could do that mentions both cheese and Christmas. I suspect I won’t get around to Open Mic-ing it even though it's only three chords, so for your listening pleasure, I simply present John Hegley’s Eddie Don’t Like Furniture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igFkYJ_XeOY&t=28s
All the best"

From the 13th November Meeting:

"We sometimes seem to have a problem with counting. I am not sure whether we had 23 or 25 people last night, all enjoying a laid-back session of 21st century songs from BrungStrum4, a few extras from the Gig Book and a second half of oddities from the Bumper Book. But if my head counts in the twenties are questionable, then what does that say for our collective inability to reach two, three or four, either when counting a song in or repeating choruses and final lines? Not much, probably. There are, however, a lot of songs that we stumble through ok once we get started, but that where that initial count and the first line of melody elude us. Perhaps we should listen to our choices a bit more. Still, chaos breeds laughter, and there was plenty of that last night.
We didn’t go too obscure in BrungStrum 4, tackling only songs that we have done before. Some, like Blame it on me, It’s all about you, and Somewhere only we know are now quite respectably in our repertoire; others, such as Fidelity, Somebody I used to know, Viva la vida and Roar will all take a bit more work before we took them on the road, but they are definitely moving in the right direction. Coordinating strum pattern and singing for Vvia la vida is a trick worth perfecting.
The Bumper Book oddities took a bit more effort: Why do fools fall in love, When you walk in the room, and The night has a thousand eyes all have their merits, but we didn’t really know them very well. Streets of London and Will you still love me tomorrow were ok, but Those were the days my friend is hard to sing and play without it going either very silly or very Cossack, or both. I fear we failed, but, I repeat, chaos breeds laughter, which is a good thing. On the plus side, Wonderful tonight went well despite the fact that I don’t ever recall us playing it.
Next week is a normal week. It would be good to have more than a couple of people’s selections to choose from. See what you can do. Right, now that we have had Halloween and Bonfire Night, it’s time to sneak up on Christmas. For our own do, I suggest one of two options: we simply play an evening (or part evening) of Christmassy songs on the last session before Christmas, which would be the 18th December. This can be accompanied by seasonal offerings in the form of mince pies, cake, tinselly outfits and random festive hugs (put me down - you don’t know where I’ve been). If we are happy with that, then I will circulate a new song book within a couple of weeks. The other option is something wilder, more creative and generally fabulous that one of you would need to invent, organise and arrange. If you are up for that, brilliant. Just let us know. OK. I am expecting a Silent night response. I’ll get on with that song book, shall I?
However, we have also been invited to take part in a “Cheesy Christmas Sing-a-long” at the Wellington Arms in Bedford on the afternoon of Sunday 22nd. If you are up for that, then let us know. Lisa will be organising it as part of a fund-raising day for Bedford Hospice. It seems like a good cause and an excuse to do something slightly different. I think we’d be providing the musical backing for the pub regulars, who will have songbooks and are all expected to bring cheese. And why not?
Before all that, we have open mic on 26th November. As usual, anything goes, except apologies. You could even test audience resilience with a Christmas number if you wanted to.
All the best"

From the 6th November Meeting:

"It was good to see 26 or 27 of us last night enjoying music from two lists. We had Some challenging numbers from Joy’s BrungStrum5.3 selection and easier fare from the Gig Book from Jo. We were also joined for the first time by Paloma and Tom –welcome both.
We started with Super Trouper – not perhaps up there with Mamma Mia as Abba’s finest, but we made a reasonable stab at that and the Stuck in the Middle with you. Sit Down and Shotgun both behaved before we stumbled over Minnie the Moocher and Lucky Lucky Me. I think both are worth pursuing. Killing Me Softly could easily find itself in next year’s Gig Book as we sing and play it well, although we could perhaps hone our collective enthusiasm by singing some verses softer than others so that the song really builds. If we decide to take that into performance mode, then there will be plenty of time to practise.
Jackson is one of those songs that we just do. It’s so simple that I think we could make more of it. Listen to the Hillbilly Moon Explosion’s version to see what I mean – there is no reason to slavishly follow the originals for any of our songs, especially when the original artist had the lack of foresight not to use ukuleles.
I Will Survive could be a Gig Book contender, I reckon. It’s at least as much a crowd-pleaser as YMCA and it’s quite fun to play. We’ll perhaps continue to hold I Am A Cider Drinker for cider festivals and similar. Oo-arr! Don’t Think Twice is a great song when we get into it, and we made a better first of Come on Eileen than we have before but it’s never going to be easy.
Over all, there is a lot in BS5.3. There are plenty more songs that we can get to grips with and some that already look like they will become firm favourites. That’s as it should be, as you all contributed to its creation.
Not surprisingly, our Gig Book songs went well, although just because we know them quite well is no reason not to practise. That way, for example, we’ll probably all remember how many choruses end Leaving on a Jet Plane or how to coordinate kazoo, uke and voice to best effect on Urban Spaceman.
One thing we didn’t try was Dave S’s Cream tribute. Rex has supplied a version whose layout may be simpler to get our heads around. It’s the same, but easier. I have attached it here and if we don’t try it next week, we can let Ginger Baker rest in peace.
Lists or notes for next week will be welcome as usual and don’t forget to carry on barking your open mic contributions into your hairdryers and shaving mirrors over coming weeks – 27th November isn’t far off. Sharp-eyed readers may note that’s the same date as UOGB play in Cambridge. Sorry UOGB, we win.
See you all next week."

From the 30th October Meeting:

"Last night’s Halloween bash proved to be as silly, calorific and fun as usual. Some 21 lost souls found their way to the pub, more than half decked out in shades of witch, skull, Addams Family kitsch and other ghoul. You wouldn’t normally associate packets of Oat So Simple with Halloween, but when joined by granola etc, Rebecca’s “cereal killer” gave herself away.
Musically, we got through most of the Halloween book very well, skipping just a few and perhaps thankfully stopping just shy of Zombies Just Wanna Be Loved, an ear worm that would have plagued you all the way home. Listen to this if you don’t believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su1mv_CIyNQ
Credit must go to Jon for having listened to Clap for the Wolfman well enough to drag us through it, and it was more than his skully make-up that put a smile on Trevor’s face at the way we tackled the Rocky Horror Show songs.
For much of the second half of the evening we had an audience bloke. He became steadily more appreciative as the evening progressed. I think by the end of his fifth or sixth pint he really loved us.
I’d still like us to try The Pogues song Haunting and The Hanging Tree one day, and I think Ghost Town is one we should work on for general listening. That’s the trouble with these once-a-year songbooks: we play them annually. But just as with the Boat Book, there is nothing to stop anyone requesting one of our Halloween songs at other times – that’s how Psycho Killer ended up in BringStrum5.3.
We should also thank everyone for bringing assorted sweetmeats, including zombie fingers, soul cakes, mince pies and chocolate eyeballs and for the effort that so many of you went to by dressing up for the occasion.
Next week, we’ll be back to usual and so we’ll be looking for song choices. Anything from a list of 15 songs emailed to me before next week to beer-mat suggestions on the night will do. We’ll also have a go at the Cream song I sent out last week. It’s not as complex as it first looks, but it somehow didn’t seem right to tackle a tribute song among all our other unfamiliar fare yesterday. The next non-standard evening will be our Open Mic on 27th November, as a 7pm start. You have plenty of time to practise Zombies Just Wanna Be Loved before then.
Until next week, stay spooky."

From the 23rd October Meeting:

"There are moments at Ukulele Bedford that you really shouldn’t have missed. I gather our first Bedford Beer Festival gig was a stormer (I did miss that one); last year in Esquires was excellent (check it out on YouTube); and for anecdote potential, who could forget the fete at Cotton End where we sang from the back of a lorry to the sonic accompaniment of a stall where people could smash crockery for a quid and where we were interrupted not only to have raffle tickets read out but also for two groups of sweetly incompetent five-year-old trombone player farting single notes into their instruments with a James Bond backing track . . .
I could continue, but suffice it to say that last night’s Open Mic was one of those occasions that makes the admin worthwhile. We had several of the usual suspects – David, Ian, Lydia, Mike – all doing their songs respectably and then first-timer Rob stepped up nervously to announce that he was going to sing a Bryan Adams song and dedicate it to his wife. Rob did well. Heaven, indeed. Rob has been playing for little over a year and certainly struggled with basic chords when he joined us. Now he can laugh at Bb and make a stage his own. Wonderful stuff.
After the Open Mic, we slipped into fairly familiar songs from BrungStrums 4 and 5.3 before retiring with the comfortable slippers and briar pipe of the Bumper Book. There were 21 one of us there, including the welcome returns of Lisa and Lydia, but with neither Martin’s bass nor Jon and Trevor’s guiding voices, we kept to fairly safe ground and made it through mostly unscathed. Notable was a gentler version of Will You – a song I am keen for us to do well – Tainted Love, Diana and Happy Together. I think we went from 1912 to at least 2016. If there’s one thing beyond criticism these days, it has to be the breadth of our choices.
Also beyond criticism would be the bread pudding Jo brought. Apparently, she and her brother are in competition to reproduce their mother’s recipe. Comparisons may well be odious, but Jo’s version is sublime.
Next week, blood will out. Or if not blood, then perhaps ectoplasm, green ooze or just pumpkin slime. It’s Halloween, so it’s time to get (mock) scared. Feel free to dress like pumpkins, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, ukulele players or whatever other scary apparition takes your fancy, and all spooky victuals will also be gratefully received. We’ll be using this songbook from the website: http://ukulelebedford.co.uk/files/UkuleleBedfordHalloweenSongbook2018.pdf It’s the same one as last year, but not the one from previous years that had a similar title. Check your device. If your Spookelele songbook doesn’t have Dig, Gravedigger, Dig on it then update to the new one. And if you get a chance to listen to some of the lesser-known songs before next week that would be great. There are some good songs there that would be a shame to bypass for another year. Others, of course, are just plain silly, but you’ll have to listen and play them all to sort one from ‘tother.
Finally, we missed playing a tribute to Ginger Baker recently, having chosen not to play Strange Brew ever again. Dave S has supplied the attached Sunshine Of Your Love to remedy this lapse in respect. Dave describes it as a bit of a challenge, so you may want to practise before next week. Give it a try, but don’t fret if you think it’s beyond you. There will be plenty of easier fare to get stuck into.
I look forward to seeing you all next week. It will be good. Come along and help us banish the evil spirits of Halloween with song and silliness."

From the 16th October Meeting:

"Last night, the 17 or so of us present included a visiting grandfather/grandson duo from Glasgow and a chap with Marion that I didn’t get a chance to say hello to – “Hello, sir” – which at least saves me the embarrassment of not having talked to him before if he has been with us for weeks. We were in good voice, with the first half being mainly old faithfuls from the Bumper Book, ranging from 59th Street Bridge Song and Eight Days a Week to Blue Skies and Bye Bye Blackbird. Those two, along with The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea later in the evening probably had the most chords, but because we used to play them more regularly, certainly weren’t the most difficult songs of the evening. We ended the first half with a very creditable Under the Boardwalk, a song we haven’t played for yonks (as no one under 50 says at all).
We spent the entire second half in the Boat Book, with predictably mixed results. We Are Sailing went fine until near the end, where we encountered the same issues that nearly scuppered its inclusion in our Pirate Day contribution two years back. We cracked that one through practice then and could do again, but it’s clearly not fixed in the memory. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay was good, as was The Tide is High/Rudy. Rock the Boat was…rocky, but bearable, and we actually played the whole of Captain of Your Ship for the first time. I like it, but I suspect I am in the minority. We ended with a suitably confident Sloop John B, having been in singing form and playing well all evening.
Next week, we start early with the Open Mic for the first half hour. See us there to perform from 7pm and then we will have our usual session from 7.30pm. I want our Open Mic sessions to be as warm, welcoming and potentially forgiving as possible. For performers, that means no apologies about anything, from missed chords or fluffed lyrics to just being too damned good for the rest of us to hear. For the audience, that means no hint of mockery around competence, but praise for having the guts to get up there and try. As well as being good for the individual performing, Open Mic is good for the group: we get to hear new songs often (although there is no reason why you couldn’t perform one of our group faves), we discover more about our members, and we give confidence to singers which in turn helps with our gigs. Come and give it a try and let’s make it the most open-hearted ukulele Open Mic around.
See you next week."

From the 9th October Meeting:

"Last night the 21 of us started with some of the older Gig Book favourites. Mostly, as you would expect, they went fine, but at one point I found myself forgetting Bb7 in a way that I wouldn’t if we played them more regularly. It just goes to show that however well you think you know a song, practice is what proves it.
After that we headed into my little collection of Post-it notes, scraps of paper and cards with songs on. That started with Losing My Religion which provoked all sorts of other suggestions from BrungStrum2, before moving into BrungStrum 4 with Viva La Vida among others. I think we are really starting to get the rhythm on that song and it sounds good and different. Perhaps it’s a candidate for our 2020 Gig Book.
From there it was BrungStrum 5.3, with a slightly more mixed result, again as may be expected from the newer tunes. Most people just don’t get Angel of the Morning, which I think is a shame, but better than the Avicii song that we baulked at entirely. Moonlight Shadow went well and although A Whiter Shade of Pale went reasonably for massed ukuleles, it doesn’t really hold water as a uke song.
We had our tribute moment for Kim Shattuck with our version of Kim Wilde’s Kids in America, which the Muffs covered in the Clueless movie soundtrack – that is one of those tribute songs that could easily find its way into our repertoire in due course.
The evening ended with a rousing kazoo-tastic St Francisco Blues, where we induced one or two newer players into the joys of playing two instruments at once (while I am writing this, I have the Muffs Kids in America playing in the background, and reckon that the guitar solo could easily transfer to kazoos – just saying).
Next week we’ll be needing more music on bits of paper or a full playlist, as usual, before heading in to the storm that is Open Mic the following week. It should be good. You should be there.
I know it’s rude to mention the C word before Halloween or Bonfire Night, but if you fancy a playalong Christmas session with George Hincliffe's Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, then head to the Cambridge Corn Exchange on 29th November – but get your tickets first. It could be very popular. Thanks to Dave S for alerting us to this wheeze.
Finally, when I have a bunch of song suggestions on scraps of paper in front of me, I tend to chop between them so as to reduce the amount of time finding and opening new books. When we finish with one scrap, I turn it over and take it home to help with this write up. I was somewhat surprised to find the image below on the back of one of them when I got home. Was it a coded request for Something in the Air? Or Ring of Fire? Or perhaps something by Pink? Whichever, more serving suggestions are required for next week."

From the 2nd October Meeting:

"Heavy traffic and perhaps the cooler autumn weather contributed to a slow start last night but we eventually reached 19 players and warmed ourselves nicely with a decent set of songs.
We started with Mrs Robinson and My Girl from the Bumper Book and continued with a few more M’s before giving Souvenir1 a close examination. As usual, this included not quite mastering Mr Blue Sky and remembering just how many words there are in Lying Eyes. A lot.
After the break, we managed a half-hearted and half-speed tribute to the late Barrie Masters, lead singer from the energetic Eddie and the Hot Rods, by playing half of Anything You Wanna Do. I thought I had printed the whole thing, but my brain must have been only half-thinking.
We then picked out one or two songs from most of the BrungStrums, except 5.3, finishing with L.O.V.E. We had enough bits of paper and song requests for me to try not to lose one or two for next week, but we’ll need more. You know what to do.
Next week will be another normal week, which is no bad thing, and then we’ll start gearing up for Open Mic on 23rd October and our Halloween bash on 30th. Expect prosthetics and pumpkins.
Finally, especially for those of you not on Facebook, it’s worth saying that our performance last Saturday at Strum Like A Pirate Day was top notch. There was good harmonisation going on, our two soloists – Rex for Galway Girl and Mike for Jammin’ – did their stuff wel,l and we all looked the part, from cartoon pirate Captain to cabin boy. We were joined on stage by a few of our less regular members, so it was good to catch up with Graham, Cath and Norman. Even if pirates and dressing up isn’t your thing, it’s good to be involved in a day that brings uke groups together to enjoy playing for our own sake. For that we have Adrian Watts of Blud Group to thank – and David for UB’s part. No doubt the date for next year’s SLAP will be available to ink into your diaries soon.
See you next week."

From the 25th September Meeting:

"Despite having 18 of us in the pub last night, it felt a little empty, perhaps because we lacked some of our stronger voices. Nevertheless, we made a good fist of most of BrungStrum3 and a fine selection from BrungStrum1 before heading into the calm waters of our Piratical selection.
Our preparation for Saturday’s Strum Like Pirate Day seems fine - it will be a gas. Come along. We are on at 12.30, in full pirate regalia.
One or two people only had our three special songs rather than the whole of our proposed set. Please make sure you have the file “SLAP 19 UB Playbook” on your tablet as there won’t be time to chop and change between the gig book and others on the day. It would be quicker to share music. Then again, perhaps you have learned all those songs by heart now . . . me neither. This book starts with Bad Moon Rising/Deeper and Down, followed by Ex’s and Oh’s, ending with Pirates, Tramps and Thieves. If you think your book has only three songs in it, you will be disappointed/confused on the day.
You can find the correct book either attached to an email from me on 9th September or in the files section of our Facebook Group page. If you can’t get to it there or have lost that email and need it for Saturday, email me and I’ll send it to you – I don’t want to clutter everyone’s inbox with it a second time.
After Saturday’s SLAP we have a few free weeks until the Open Mic starts again (23rd October), so it would be great if someone could come up with a playlist or you all come armed with a few songs. Why not think simply of your favourite two songs that you have ever played with us – however often or rarely we have played them before - and suggest those. Consider it a “Family’s Favourites.” We all know what some people’s top songs may be, but I bet there would be a few surprises, even within the familiar. Sounds good? Come and make it so.
Until next week – AAAARRRHHHH!!!!"

From the 18th September Meeting:

"There were about 16 of us on Wednesday. I'm not quite sure because I ran out of fingers, but sometimes less is more and I thought the evening was pretty excellent. As always we managed to choose some that we play regularly and some that we don't. That is always a nice mixture, I think.
We started out in Brungstrum 4 and visited the likes of (amongst others) Amy Winehouse, George Ezra, Twenty One Pilots, Rag'n'Bone Man, Lily Allen, Gabriella Cilmi and Imelda May before moving to the Bumper Book for the two chord 'Dance the night Away', the asthma-inducing 'Day Trip To Bangor' (my son went to Uni there and it never had the same effect when we visited him!) and 'Don't Fence Me In' which was originally done by Roy Rogers - presumably with backing vocals from his horse Trigger! Once that nonsense was out of the way, we went back to Brungstrum 5.3 to finish the ones we'd missed last week. From there we had a go at Abracadabra, Drift Away, Hey There Delilah, How Do You Do It and Sunday Girl (plus a few more that I have probably forgotten). We had an enthusiastic pub-goer watching us most of the evening - by the end he was joining in with those he knew. Good stuff!
One of the attendees was Rebecca who has given me a flyer to post - as well as her undoubted ukulele talents, she is in a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe (not as in Pan's People a la Gilbert O'Sullivans 'Get Down' - that's a completely different thing!) - who are doing a production of Iolanthe. Please find it attached - I am sure it;ll be great if that's your thing.
I won't be with you next week - but I am sure whoever is MCing the evening would love you to provide some song choices on bits of paper. Try to find a song with something different - a picky bit, a quiet bit, parts, split between male/female, a different rhythm, much slower or faster, anything like that - to provide a bit of 'texture' for the evening. Or just pick what you like - all is good.
Keep strumming!"

From the 11th September Meeting:

"It's always nice to welcome a new member to the group, and last night we said hello to a new Sue (hello Sue) who had travelled over from Wellingborough to see us, and had even managed to find the pub car park. I think Sue enjoyed it and hope we see her again soon, she seemed to be keeping up remarkably well whenever I glanced over.
There were 19 of us in total - certainly enough to make a decent noise! The first part of the evening was dedicated to Brungstrum 5.3 and there was a lot to be enthusiastic about here. Two Taking Heads songs (And She Was / Psycho Killer), some new favourites (Do You Love Me / Galway Girl / Summer In The City) and some more laid back Americana (Bottle of Wine / The Gambler / After Midnight) interspersed with New Order, Half Man Half Biscuit, Johnny and June Cash, Aretha Franklin, Kirsty Maccoll and many, many more. Some of these have little picky bits and some have different parts, which makes for variety. Perhaps some homework might be to look through the existing songs, select one that has a picked into and learn it. You can then suggest it and you will be the star of the show when we play it - variety is good and the more people doing different little bits the better. As a whole I thought we made a very good fist of many of the new songs and with a bit of repetition many of them will soon become group favourites. Note to self - starting Paul McCartneys 'Dance Tonight' on a note slightly adjacent to the one the writer intended might help!!!
The second part of the evening was taken up with a selection from the Bumper Book - encompassing some knowns, some slightly unknowns and a couple that turned out to be more known that we thought, and finishing up with a rousing 'City Of New Orleans'. We didn't get through all the songs suggested on the lists given to me, but don't worry there wasn't any editing being done by me (just incompetence!) - the ones we didn't get to will be played next week.
In case you want to have a practice, these will be:
BS5.3 (Abracadabra, Drift Away, Hey There Delilah, How Do You Do It, Sunday Girl, Venus)
BS4 (Back To Black, Blame it On Me, House Of Gold, Human, Road Runner)
Bumper Book (My Girl, Slow Boat To China, Streets Of London)
So have a quick look at any that are unfamiliar. We will need some more, so a few more bits of paper would be good - parts of the SLAP book might make an appearance I guess?
Until next week"

From the 4th September Meeting:

"We were in fine voice again last night, helped in part by the return of Lydia on her first post-baby visit, but also on account of playing stuff we know well. We started with the SLAP playbook that includes our three special songs and a few more from the Gig Book. All seems in order there.
We then moved into BrungStrum 5.3 for Addicted to Love, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Annie I’m Not Your Daddy among others until the break.
After half time, we slipped into the Bumper Book for Trail of the Lonesome Pine, complete with obligatory falsetto shrieking, and then World Without Love, Runaround Sue, Proud Mary and a great rendition of California Dreamin’.
We finished the night with Paint it Black and a respectable Viva la Vida – an ambitious but successful ending.
Despite there being only 18 of us, I think we all had a good night and I look forward to doing it all again in a week’s time. I dare say we’ll top up our Pirate song skills again, but otherwise we’ll be looking for more scribbles on beer mats, post-it notes and similar, or a more extensive playlist for the evening if you provide one.
For those of you pining away for Open Mic opportunities (and I have lost track of whether you need to book in for the SLAP Open Mic, if interested), ours will return on 23rd October, giving you plenty of time to hone your skills.
I am going to introduce a new rule for our Open Mics: no apologies. We all know how hard it is to get up and sing and play in front of even such a sympathetic audience as ours and yet we make excuses for missing chords, forgetting words and generally fluffing things even before we perform, and however well it goes. So from now on, we will assume positive intent on behalf of everyone involved even more so than before. When you get up, you can introduce the song in any way you like, except for saying “Sorry but…” or “If I had more time…” or “It’s not like the original because…”. If you have only been playing the song for a week and even had your goldfish turn their backs on your practice, that’s fine. Tell us the tale, but don’t apologise for it, and let us enjoy your fish-bothering rendition. The hope and expectation is that by focusing solely on the positive aspects of your performance, it will be better. I have seen this work elsewhere. It changes the mindset of teh performer; it’s worth a go.
Remember: Open Mic on 23rd October – all welcome, any song, no apologies.
See you next time"

From the 28th August Meeting:

"Some 20 of us last night made almost enough sound to overcome the slightly irritating presence of a couple of drinkers – the same noisy two who had been there a few weeks ago. Anyone would think it was a pub. This did mean that we sang up (except for yours truly, who coughed and croaked a bit instead and strummed like a demon) and sang well. We started with our three SLAP day songs, where giving Mike his day in the sun for a solo during Jammin’ seemed to work much better than trying to coordinate 20 people to give single strums on the off beat. Remember, SLAP isn’t that far off now, so make sure you have 28th September fixed in your diary for some hearty fun.
We moved into BrungStrum5.3 for the rest of the evening, building on a skeleton of songs provided by Rex. There really is some great stuff in that book and we are gradually getting nearer to proving it.
Particular highlights were the two split songs Let It Be and Summer Nights, a gloriously rowdy rendition of I Will Survive (there should be no other way), the near-gig-ready Do You Love Me and the opposition-drowning Galway Girl, which included a Rex solo turned up to 11.
The collection of songs on bits of paper followed by requests from the floor works well, but so does the flexible playlist approach that we used during the spring. One supposed advantage of the latter was that people liked to see what was coming up so that they could practise. How many of you really did? I rarely did, but perhaps some of you found that more useful. If so, then give us a list of about 15 songs from any books and we’ll build an evening around it. Failing that, I’ll be looking for scraps of paper again next week. Whichever route we take, you know it will be a good evening, so come and join us."

From the 21st August Meeting:

"Another relaxed evening last night, with 19 of us visiting songbooks old and new.
We started off in Brungstrum 1, Jo having provided a short list. As usual we managed to find other things to play as we went through. I think the major triumph in this section was Mr Blue Sky. We managed to keep a steady pace throughout, and ended up at roughly the same speed we started. This particular tune is notorious for speeding up (apparently not just us, ELO used to do it too!).
We moved into the Part 1d book (we must do some renaming and consolidating sometime!) for 'Eleanor', 'Stray Cat Strut', 'Budapest', 'Raining In My Heart' and a rare 'Something Stupid'. All of those went well, and I wonder if it's worth taking those (and maybe a few more), dumping the ones we NEVER play and adding the decent ones from the Souvenir Book, Boat Book, Rocky Horror Book etc) to reduce the amount of songbooks we have and produce an 'all killer no filler' volume. Worth considering.
Then to Brungstrum 3 for a quick SLAP practice of 'Jammin' then 'Land Down Under' and 'Rhinestone Cowboy', Brungstrum 4 for 'Blame It On Me', 'Its All About You' and 'Somewhere Only We Know', Brungstrum 5 for 'Bus Stop', 'Top of the World', 'Tubthumping' (not convinced that's a song for massed ukuleles really!), an excellent 'Galway Girl' (with amplified lead uke playing by Rex), 'Unchained Melody', 'There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop...', 'Vincent' and 'Wichita Linesman' ending up with 'Country Roads' from the gig book to complete the evening.
I've listed the songs I remember us playing (there were others) deliberately, since very few of them are in the gig book but the vast majority of them could be with very little work. 'Galway Girl' is a shoo-in for the next revision. Great stuff.
We didn't play all of the Strum Like A Pirate Book tunes - we will next week. So make sure you have the three songs - Jammin', Pirates Tramps and Thieves and Sea of Heartbreak - that have been circulated. If you don't have them, let me know and I'll send the file again.
We don't have any more little lists left to act as seeds for next week's crop of tunes so please bring your suggestions next Wednesday.
Until then - if you don't pick it, you will never get better"

From the 14th August Meeting:

"Last night saw 25 of us take a bit of a wander down memory lane. We started out by playing Bumper Book songs as selected by Colin, who had provided a short six song list last week that we didn't get around to. As is sometimes the case, scrolling between the first one (on page 100 or so) and the last one (in the 300's) produced lots of "Oooh, we haven't played that one for a while"s. So we played them.
Despite mischievous suggestions of 'Jolene' - apparently amusing because I have to sing it an octave down - and various oddities about animals or window cleaners - when challenged Dave refused to do any of them solo! - we managed to avoid those pitfalls and successfully play all the ones that weren't vetoed. It's quite revealing that a few of them were songs we'd tried in the past and failed at - but last night they were plain sailing. It shows an increased confidence and ability in the group I feel.
We then switched into the gig book and played a selection of the ones we do well, finishing with Ian's request for 'Ukulele Lady'. I think everyone enjoyed the evening thoroughly (which is the point of it, after all!). It's worth remembering that some of the gig book songs were once 'new ones' that took a while to bed in, so it's a case of constant renewal of the repertoire.
We had intended to play through the Strum Like A Pirate songs, but with the absence of a few of the leading buccaneers we decided to put that off until next week.
So - next week. More suggestions on bits of paper please, probably from other books than the Bumper Book if possible (variety being the spice of life as they say) and we'll do the piratey thing.
See you next week!"

From the 7th August Meeting:

"A slightly delayed roundup this week, as I thought it could also include the Moggerhanger gig.
Wednesday saw 20 or so of us initially running through the songbook we had decided to use for Moggerhanger - the one put together for the Esquires gig. It's sometimes quite easy to forget how well we can play the songs we have got 'gig ready' and quite reassuring when we play them that they do indeed sound very presentable! Various smatterings of applause from other pub goers confirmed that we were doing more than just OK. After running through the set, we moved on to some selections from the newly released Brungstrum 5.3 - it's nice to see some of the new songs become ones that are requested on a regular basis!
We completed the evening with a rendition of 'Galway Girl' - as the most Irish thing we have - in response to a request from a pub patron, who herself seemed to have imbibed quite a quantity of 'joy de vivre' and would have really, really liked us to have a) played something by the Fureys and b) kept on playing. Sorry, bad luck on both counts. A special mention in dispatches for Rex, who has nailed the instrumental parts of 'Galway Girl' - I can see it being included in the 'playing out' set very soon, and Rex taking stage front and centre to display his prowess. We'll make a rock god out of him yet...
And so on to a very windy Moggerhanger on Saturday. For those that don't know, St Johns at Moggerhanger offers hospice care and is run by Sue Ryder. It apparently costs £10,000 a day (!!) to keep it running, so offering our services for free is a worthwhile use of our time. The set up was a Country Fayre - a load of stalls, pony rides, a fairground ride etc and a very well-run two stage set up for local musicians to play. There was one large stage, and a smaller one next to it - while performers were playing on one, the next lot were setting up on the other. Very slick - an excellent sound guy mixed it all 'virtually' so there were no sound checks, just one act finishing and another one starting. No inter-set breaks. There were a mixture of solo performers, duos, bands and even a shanty band.
We were on at 2pm and had a had a half an hour slot, I think we got through eight or nine songs in that time, without too much inter-song waffle - I didn't count but there were about a dozen of us, including one or two first-timers (hope you enjoyed it). We played excellently and were well received (there were nice things said afterwards!) - well done to everyone who managed to get there - there was no inter-song noodling, the endings and beginnings were all tight and we did ourselves proud. Did I mention it was windy? I don't think anyone's music actually blew over though and we even managed to get the band banners up and stable (aided by copious amounts of gaffer tape). We did have a discussion beforehand about whether to insert "Blowin' in the Wind" and 'Four Strong Winds" but decided just to stick with feelin' a hurricane a-blowin'!
Next Wednesday is a 'normal' week (as much as it ever is!). I suspect we'll run through the 'Strum Like A Pirate' book, so make sure you have that - and please come armed with four or five suggestions of what we might play written down on a scrap of paper to help the evening run smoothly. Anyone who suggests anything by The Fureys will be escorted from the premises! :)"

From the 31st July Meeting:

"A slightly cooler evening saw around 19 of us working through our selections on various scraps of paper and even a beer mat last night. We welcomed a new Dave from Luton, saw the return of Rebecca after six weeks or so out, but missed a few regulars. Holiday season always takes its toll.
Musically, we hopped happily from Souvenir1 to BrungStrum3 and 5.3 (and no-one claimed they hadn’t got that, so thank you all for remembering to download it). We baulked at one or two suggestions where, presumably, someone had wanted to sing and play a song but didn’t have the confidence to lead it. There is a surprising number of songs that we can work our way into without knowing how to start! It’s probably better that we sometimes back away to do our homework than just barge through every time.
Of the songs we did tackle though, despite grumblings of not being able to do that if Jon wasn’t with us, Joy Division Oven Gloves went well; Take My Breath Away is improving (but really does take your breath away); and All I Want Is You, a simple and speedy song, made its first decent appearance since Dave put the chords in the right places. Will You and Summer in the City seem to be popular recurring choices from BS5.3 – fine by me.
We also had a go at the three songs selected for Strum Like a Pirate Day (SLAP) 2019. The first of those, Sea of Heartbreak, is a Ukulele Bedford staple, but we just fell over halfway through. We normally do that so well that I am prepared to call it a blip and assume we’ll be back to normal next time we try it. Jammin’ still needs work, but is coming and the changed lyrics in Pirates, Tramps and Thieves are starting to trip off the tongue more naturally now.
It’s worth remembering that those three songs will feature in the SLAP songbook for people to strum along to, but that we have a half-hour slot to fill on the day. We will cover the rest from our Gig Book, and will practise more of those songs over the next week or two with Moggerhanger also in mind. How many of you are intending to come to SLAP 2019? There is no restriction on numbers, but it would be nice to know how full our stage is going to be. Let me know, please. Next week, we’ll be in the pub again with our selection of notes and suggestions, so long as you come with them. I noticed that the beer mat that was pressed into service this time bears the headline “Help make a difference in your local area.” I think we can and we do – and it will be all the better if you join us."

From the 24th July Meeting:

"We were certainly a slimmed-down crew for last night’s session, even if most of us couldn’t pass as beach ready, but we made a decent noise for 15 or so people. Read on for some good news about our latest songbook.
We started last night with open mic, in which we had a new taker in Jo, who joined us barely a year ago with hardly a chord to her name. To go from newbie to open micer in a year is impressive and I am sure it won’t be the last time we hear from her. Other open mic slots were taken by Rex, Ian and Jon at least and all performed well to a warm (ok, a hot) audience.
For the main session, I was handed little bits of paper with suggestions from several sources, but I confess that I am not sure who contributed to the heap. We had plenty to keep us going with a fair smattering from the Gig Book and BrungStrums 2 and 5.
Our three songs for the Pirate Day on 28th September look to be Sea of Heartbreak, Jammin’ and Pirates, Tramps and Thieves, all of which we performed last night. Jammin’ needs a little finessing towards the end so we ought to practise those bits specifically rather than just the whole song, and we’ll get Pirates Tramps etc round soon. You’ll know the music and most of the words already, but we’ll need time to get familiar with the piratical changes.
Next week, we’ll do the same sort of thing. Give us a playlist beforehand or a few song suggestions on a scrap of paper and we’ll mould them into a perfect evening’s entertainment, or close to it.
Now the good news. BrungStrum5.3 is ready. Over the past few months, with BrungStrum5, David has been faithfully recording all the errors, omissions and suggestions that we have come up with, knocking them into shape and amending the book. This has gone through various iterations until we now have one ready to share with you all. Look through it, play it, enjoy it. It’s your music, after all.
But before you get too far, delete all your previous versions of BrungStrum5. Most of you will have BrungStrum5.0.pdf on your chosen device. Kill it. BrungStrum5.3 is the new kid in town, sweeping away all before it.
Unlike with our versions of the Gig Book that multiplied for various reasons (beer and cider festivals with bespoke additions, two or three versions of the main 2018 gig book and the Esquires set list at least) BrungStrum5.3 supersedes all previous versions. It will be the only one available on the website as well, so I don’t want to hear “which version is this in . . .” Obviously, most of BrungStrum5.3 will be similar to its predecessors, but the page numbers will be different, a few extra tribute and open mic songs will have crept in and, we hope, the chords will be just that bit crisper. If we find more errors, we’ll introduce BS5.4, but that’s not likely to be for another six months or more.
Jon and I put in most of the heavy lifting to create BrungStrum 5.0 (but note that was heavy lifting of your songs, so we couldn’t have done it without you), but we all owe David huge thanks for taking on the extra work of editing the new version. I think for BrungStrum5.3, all the rest of us did was provide the straws that didn’t quite break David’s back. Good camel!
I look forward to seeing you all and playing at least some songs from BrungStrum5.3 next week.
Stay cool"

From the 17th July Meeting:

"It was another warm night in the pub last night. 'Very close', someone remarked and indeed at times we were very close to our best. Alternative summer attractions and obligations had taken their toll of numbers a bit but 17 of us made a fine noise.
One of the missing summer strummers was Lydia, who has given birth to a son called Seth. Congratulations to Lydia from all of us, we look forward to seeing her again soon (in about eighteen years if personal experience of child raising is anything to go by!) and to meeting Seth.
The song choices for the evening were done on the 'write three or four songs down on a bit of paper and give them to the titles announcer' basis. This has worked well over the last few weeks and has provided a wealth of hidden gems as people search the dustier crooks and nannies of our repertoire. From 'Africa' (with added riff sections), the raucous 'Do You Love Me' (with intro by Ian), 'Back to Black' (where for once we managed to cram all the words in properly), a tongue twisting and rather brisk 'Fog On the Tyne' (which got applause from a couple who watched for a while) through to gig favourites such as 'Human' and 'Mama Mia', via more selections from Brungstrum 5 - we played well. We didn't do quite so coherently with 'Cake By The Ocean' or 'Rock The boat' - maybe we suffer from mal de mer!
We finished the evening with 'Sway' as requested by Georgia the bar-person who has looked after us well while working at the pub but is now moving on to further education to further a nursing career. Good luck to her.
Joy has kindly volunteered to be the go-to person for BLUD's 'Strum Like A Pirate Day'. The first task is to pick some songs (three plus a couple of reserves) - there's already been some discussion, with 'Pirates, Tramps and Thieves' (that well known Cher song!) apparently on the agenda. If you are going to go, please make yourself known to Joy on a Wednesday, or email Mark/myself and we'll pass it on to Joy - I'm sure song suggestions will be welcome.
Talking of which (this isn't just thrown together you know!) have a think about which songs you'd like us to play next week, write them down on a bit of paper (or a beer mat once you get there - David!) and we'll have a smooth evening next time out.
Until then, have a good week"

From the 10th July Meeting:

"A warm Wednesday night in the pub saw 19 of us in fine form. As we have been doing for a few weeks, we took suggestions from the floor. It has become apparent that it's easier to manage the evening if a) people think of a few songs they'd like to play before the evening and b) we can scribble them down on a bit of paper and pass it to whoever is organising the session. That does minimise the faffing about and makes for less jumping between books as well. So just scribble down your choices on any handy bit of paper (spare £10 note, countersigned cheque, back of a sketch by an old master...) and pass it to whoever is designated 'tune shouter'!
As to what we actually played: well there was a distinctly summery feeling: Walking on Sunshine, Summer in the City and a bouncy Jammin' (which was probably the best attempt we've made at that) kept the mood up. At one point I was fearful we'd upset Mike as he upped and left mid song (I didn't think the singing was THAT bad!) only for him to reappear a little later with a different uke. Broken string was the diagnosis!
Next week will be more of the same but different - pick a few you'd like to play. We will probably intersperse these with a few from the Esquires version of the gig book to get ready for Moggerhanger. Don't worry if you don't have that one, its a cut down version of the regular gig book - but I'll send it round again before the day.
As mentioned on FB and at the meeting, it is likely that the group will put in an appearance at the BLUD 'Strum Like A Pirate Day'. Can someone in the group who is intending to go please volunteer to be the contact point. It won't be onerous - the first job is to find three songs (preferably ones we play well, preferably a little unusual so we won't duplicate another groups choices, preferably but not essentially with some mention of water/sea/boats) to send over to them by the end of July. I'd also suggest picking a couple of spares (just in case of the aforementioned duplication). Just let me or Mark know if you are willing to do this since neither he nor I nor David can.
Until next week, keep cool (as if any of you were ever anything else!)"

From the 3rd July Meeting:

"A typically amiable and gentle group of 20 of us made suitably merry in the pub last night, with music ranging from the late Cretaceous to the new millennium. It’s a measure of how much music we have available and how far we have come that old staples like I’m Just Breezing Along With The Breeze from 1926 can rub shoulders with Madonna and the Rolling Stones. You can’t fault the breadth of our music.
Generally, our singing and playing were up to scratch as well, although we need to listen to one or two of our more recent arrivals to get closer to the originals – Dancing Queen for example – and will need to put a bit more oomph into some of our Gig Book songs before the Moggerhanger do. That’s the trouble with practice. What starts out as a challenge can become comfortable and before you know it we are more carpet slippers than Doc Martens.
Thank you to everyone who has said they can play on 10th August. The form is in, so it’s definitely happening. If it’s good weather, I gather that we could be looking at our largest audience ever, so we definitely need to leave those slippers at home.
Ukuleles are pretty reliable instruments. Beyond restringing occasionally and adding the odd strap button, I haven’t had to do much on any of mine. This is good because my tools of choice for most DIY operations are the mole wrench and the adjustable spanner, neither of which have the precision required. There are, however, a few things I could do with: I have an old banjolele that has really sharp fret ends, making playing it as painful for me as for listeners. If you have similar issues – instruments in need of repair of general fettlement – Rex has discovered a chap called Stuart Simms from Wootton who can do the job at a decent price. Rex has had three or four jobs done by him and recommends him highly. Find out more at www.stuartsimms.co.uk
Next week, we’ll either have a playlist from someone (yep, unsubtle hint time) or we’ll be asking for your contributions from the floor again. At the very least, come armed with choices. It makes the evening flow so much better. Open mic will be on 24th July this month, so you have plenty of time to practice.
I look forward to seeing you all next Wednesday."

From the 26th June Meeting:

"Last night’s open mic started with a thin summer audience, but built up to around 18 players by the end of the evening. David, Trevor and Mike showed how it should be done, whereas I suffered an almost total collapse in a song that I know well and have practised. I have no idea why. If you couldn’t discern the song from my gibberings, it was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkjXr9SrzQE The Book of Love by the incomparable Stephin Merritt from the delightfully quirky 69 Love Songs album.
If you can’t get enough of open mics, we have had contact from a bloke called Dan Hughes who runs them across Bucks and Northants. You’ll find enough of an events listing on his Facebook page to make anyone hoarse. Just search Facebook for Dan Hughes Music.
While we are advertising, if you are into blues and fancy a workshop, our friends at Burton Latimer have booked Robin Evans for a workshop and concert on 27th July. It costs £10 for a two-hour session. Contact Adrian from BLUDGRoup to book a ticket.
After the open mic, we settled into people’s choices, largely from BrungStrum5, but with a smackerel from BS3, The Bumper Book and even the Boat Book. We had another go at Find My Love and still haven’t nailed how many beats there are in Pl-ee-ee-ease. We’ll get there. It’s a great song. Lucky Lucky Lucky Me needs another listen to get somewhere near the tune, but there were a lot of great songs from BS5 that seem to be bedding in quite nicely. It is early days with most of them, and we were at least as hesitant about a couple of the other choices.
One of the good things about relative newcomers to the group is that they haven’t had their fingers burnt from old songs going badly so their choices are fresh and yield new interpretations. That’s why I was especially pleased that Jo chose Gangster’s Paradise, which had been sitting unloved for three years since the Ouse Cruise. It may not become a staple of ours, but it needed an airing. And despite the, er, rap that gangster rap gets, it was no more violent than many of the other murderous choices in the evening.
Next week, we’ll either go around again for your choices – pick two or three from any book and we’ll do our best to fit them in, but pl-ee-ee-ease make your choices before you come lest you grab all the old tunes from the ether on the night. It definitely makes for a better selection – or we’ll have a playlist from someone. That could be you. And if you don’t come up with one for next week, we’ll definitely be needing one for the week after.
And if we’re lucky, we won’t have a couple of people in the adjacent bar shouting over us all night to make their conversation heard – we so rarely have background noise like that that it reminds us how good a venue that pub usually is for us. Come along next week and prove it.
All the best"

From the 19th June Meeting:

"Was it early summer holidays for empty-nesters? Was it the women’s world cup on the telly? Or was it the request to bring in two song choices that saw our number drop to 14 including a new Mike and a returning singer, Sue. I hope it wasn’t the latter (and obviously hope it was nothing more sinister) because you missed a good night of varied songs, only two of which actually brought me out in hives. That’s about par for this particular course, which I suppose would be a pitch-and-putt for our favourite diminutive instrument.
A few rarities last night included Whispering Grass, It’s in His Kiss, Summer Holiday, and Another Girl Another Planet. We also raced through Cecilia with only minor scrapes rather than our habitual car crash and found the missing words in Doo Wah Diddy.
There was commoner fare as well, from Crocodile Rock via Galway Girl to City of New Orleans. This last song provoked a round of random applause from someone in the pub who may have been the Bedford Mayor. Said Mayor was in the other bar, apparently, but I didn’t catch who was giving us the clap. Oh, yes, we also played A Picture of You, which you will remember includes the instruction “Cajon/clap”. Let’s just say we got that right and leave it out there.
Thanks to Dave S, we also sang Iko Iko as a tribute to Dr John, who has died recently.
Next week, we are doing the same trick – not dying, going around the room for song choices. Keep up! Please, everyone, bring two song choices from any book (hint BrungStrum 5 has some great tunes), preferably none last night’s if you were there to know what we sang. We’ll do them all or as many as we can. This only really works if people have done this tiny bit of homework and we may find it becomes cumbersome if there are rather more of us, but it’s a good fall back for nights without a playlist.
Before all that, though, we have the joy and trauma that is or open mic. Come ready to sing from 7pm for that, with any song you like and expect to have a warm, welcoming audience. Newcomers have priority and we cut the session off sharp at 7.30pm for normal shenanigans to ensue.
Come and enjoy it all. You really won’t regret it.
Finally, a reminder for the Moggerhanger bash on Saturday 10th August. We play for around half an hour from 2-2.30pm, with proper stage, sound management etc. Plus you get free entry to the gig which, I think, goes on all day. We’ll need to be there by 1pm. The organisers would like to know how many of us will be there so please let us know as soon as you can. It’s not a firm commitment, but if you know you are going to be away or strongly suspect you can make the gig then let us in on that little secret.
All the best."

From the 12th June Meeting:

"Around 20 of us (including a new Tim) enjoyed a varied mix of Bumper Book and BrungStrum1-4 songs last night. Without the pressure of learning new songs from scratch, having completed our first run through BS5 last week, we still found room for improvement. There is a Buddy Holly medley, for example, where most of us know the Peggy Sue bit and have to improvise the rest. It was all taken in good spirit. (Editor's note - it was That'll Be The Day this week. The medley was last week's 'version' of Buddy Holly)
We had only tackled Take My Breath Away once before and it didn’t go well. Last night, for a challenge, we played it to a metronome backing to stop us speeding up from the original’s 96bpm to something more, um, jolly. The metronome makes it somewhat plunky and unmusical, but really shows how hard it is to keep a straight tempo all the way through a song, especially a slow one like that. I suspect that’s an exercise that we won’t repeat often, but it’s worth having a go at home – metronome apps are free.
Otherwise, we made a good fist even of Mr Blue Sky and I Don’t Like Mondays, which have occasionally proved difficult. Viva La Vida continues to show potential, and, like Losing My Religion, still gets a bit swirly. I suspect we’d be safest enjoying those in the pub rather than risking them on gigs.
Talking of gigs, if you want to see and hear what we did at Esquires a few weeks ago, the video is here: https://youtu.be/c6xzHbq1Fm4 Crack open a beer, pour it over the floor, leave it to settle for a day, and give the set a listen for that authentic night-club experience. It’s not perfect, but I think we come out of it pretty well. This Sunday there is the Northampton Music Festival with a ukulele stage featuring NUGs and BLUDGroup members. More details here: http://thenugs.co.uk/nptn-music-festival/ There will be strumalong stuff for several hours and you can download the songbook for that here: http://thenugs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NMF2019-Songbook.pdf I suspect some of our own members will be on stage, but why not join in from the audience. If you haven’t been to a ukulele festival before, this looks like a good introduction to the joys of a mass strum. I’ll miss it, but it should be good fun.
Later in June, on 29th, also in Northants, the fourth Stanwick Lakes Ukulele Festival takes place. Book your open mic spot now, and don’t forget that you could practise at our own open mic a few days beforehand, on 26th. Before that, though, we have next Wednesday. All playlists gratefully received for a normal (i.e. terrific) session. Until next week, strum well."

From the 5th June Meeting:

" Wednesday saw a healthy 22 of us in the pub, and it was an enjoyable evening all round.
We were armed with Rob's playlist (thanks Rob!) and the last few songs of Brungstrum 5.0. After warming up with a couple of more familiar tunes, it was BS5 that took up much of the first half of the evening. As with all the sessions we've done, there was an excellent mixture of submissions. 'Windmills of Your Mind' (which was included because we'd played it as a 'tribute' song one week) might not become a gig staple - listening to the original, it's amazing how 'spoken' and fast it is! - but others showed promise. 'Will You' will be effective if we can manage some loud bits and some quiet bits for example.
Just a quick word about Brungstrum 5.0. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and well done to all of us for having the good grace and musical bravery to try every single song in there. Whether we knew it or not, whether we thought it suitable for massed ukes or not - we gave it a go. Since March, that means we have played over 120 new songs! Some were successful first play, some less so - but think back to Brungstrum 4: we went through the same process then and many of those songs are now firmly in our repertoire. David has been making notes of corrections etc as we have gone along, and there will be a BS5.1 incorporating those in due time - it's not a small task, so thanks to David for taking it on.
We finished the evening by playing more from Rob's list - he had picked some that were almost as unfamiliar as some of the BS5 songs... the Buddy Holly medley for example required some 'improvisation' so far as the tune went in some places! I have to admit I recognised the bits from Peggy Sue and Rave On (and there was some Peggy Sue Got Married at the end - although I don't know the tune of that) but what on earth song the bits in the middle were from I have no idea!
We have a few left from that list to complete next week, but it's going to be a BS5-free night - so we need suggestions as to what to play. If someone can come up with a list, that would be great. If you've provided one before, you know what to do - if you haven't done so your list will be doubly welcome. Just pick what you want to play!
See you next week"

From the 29th May Meeting:

"Last night’s 21 players included a new Paul – welcome – who took turns at both bass and ukulele, and a departing Lydia. We wish her well and look forward to her return with baby in tow.
Musically, we started with a few Bumper Book songs from Rebecca. This included Imagine, which I don’t recall us playing before. The contents of our books still have the capacity to surprise.
For our penultimate tranche of BrungStrum5 songs, we started with Unchained Melody. Hmmm. There is a lot of singing in that song! Venus showed both promise and confusion, but is worth persevering. Not only is it a great song anyway, but it was plenty of opportunity for mixing up a strumming pattern or two. There are a few odd bits where a guitar’s sustain would be handy, but I am sure we can work around those. Video Killed the Radio Star went well, complete with harmonies towards the end that David somehow had failed to manage in his solo open mic performance a few months back. Vincent was better than expected, and Whiter Shade of Pale was fine. It was only Where the Wild Roses Go and What I like about You that caused real problems, so that’s not a bad haul of new songs to refine or reject.
Next week will be a normal week, where we cover the final batch of new BrungStrum5 songs, so if you contributed to one of these last songs, now is your chance to shine. To be honest, I thought it would take us rather longer for our first run through. Perhaps you won’t all be thinking of songs about aardvarks for BrungStrum6!
We need a song list for next week. You know the score. Pick about a dozen songs from any book for any reason, and we’ll give them a go with other suggestions from the floor as we carry one. Whoever’s list we end up with, it will be different. Is it time we had yours?
We have the video footage of our Esquires gig from a few weeks ago, and it looks and sounds pretty good. We’d like to use some or all of it on our website. If any of you have any objection in principle to that, then let me know now. At the very least, we’ll make copies available via YouTube for everyone who was there, but we don’t want to embarrass anyone who is happy to be seen strutting their ukulele stuff in a Bedford nightclub but not on the world’s digital stage.
Until next week, strum well."

From the 22nd May Meeting:

"Some 23 of us enjoyed the Ts and part of Rebecca’s new list last night. Most of it worked fine, although there were are few hiccups along the way. Not only is it good that we are now able to tackle a lot of songs sight-unseen with reasonable competence, but I think it is also good that we can’t get everything right first time, even for songs that we have had for an age. The songs that we repeated were all better on the second run through, so we are definitely still capable of learning new tricks.
From Rebecca’s list, Please Please Me and My Sweet Lord were real rarities dragged from the darkest corners of the Bumper Book, and it must be two years since we played Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This proves the value of coming up with playlists before the evening. I bet we wouldn’t have thought to try those as spontaneous choices.
The BrungStrum 5 T songs started with Tainted Love, which provoked an is it a C or is it a Dm discussion. Both flavours seem to be available. We included Teenage Dirtbag in this book because we kept falling over in the previous version. Guess what? We fell over in this one as well. There is one line “She doesn’t know what she’s missing” that has a rhythm that, despite Rebecca’s best efforts, managed to elude most of us, but we will persevere. I suspect The Ballad of Paul K won’t get many airings, but all the remaining Ts showed promise even if they need a bit of work. I hadn’t noticed that as well as splitting male and female voices, Tubthumping has a section where the female voices themselves are also split, while the blokes are still bellowing in unison. We’ll need to rethink our ratios to make that work.
Next week, we’ll have at least the remainder of Rebecca’s list and the Us, Vs and half of the Ws from Brungstrum 5.
. The more astute or perhaps just numerate among you will notice that that may not be enough to fill the evening. But with all the extra suggestions that you are going to bring (hint, hint), we’ll have more than enough to keep us all happy.
See you next week."

From the 15th May Meeting:

"Last night’s session was one of those where I feel we just about got away with it. We started with our open mic. David and I bailed on an unrehearsed version of Move over Darling, nobbled by a key change or two, but Rebecca and Ian saved the day with their contributions. Jon just about got away with a King Crimson song before David redeemed himself with a final contribution. What did anyone sing? Frankly, I can’t remember, but am left with the impression that we all just about got away with it except Rebecca, who excelled.
The 18 of us, including a welcome return for Debbie and a welcome new Rob (more of whom later) then skipped through Ring of Fire and a couple of other Bumper Book favourites before heading to the second half of the S songs from BrungStrum 5. Jon predicted a disaster for the first of these, Spitting in the Wind, but I am pleased to report that for a first run through we played that pretty well. Stuck in the Middle with You, Substitute (no, not the one you are thinking of), Summer in the City, Summer Nights, Super Trouper and even Swerving the Checkatrade all behaved themselves in our novice hands, at least in part thanks to Rex being able to give us a blast of the tune before we started. That only leaves Sunday Girl as the one we struggled with. The key change there threw us with C#m and G#m chords, at least. We can either learn the chords or change the key (and I see that Pete has already sent me a version in the key of C that may be easier – thanks, Pete). Do we want to treat this as a learning song, even for the more experienced players, or do we just want to be able to sing the thing?
After the break, we played a more reliable Doris Day tribute: Que Sera Sera. It went well, so we’ll drop it into the final version of BrungStrum 5 in due course.
Then, with no playlist from anyone, we were grateful to new Rob who suggested song he knew from our gig book to fill most of the remaining time, along with The Passenger from Debbie and one or two others from Sandra among other people.
Having a playlist of 10-15 songs really does help. It makes my role of MC much easier and keeps the evening flowing. If we have to think of songs on the hoof we invariably fall back on the tried and trusted songs that are front of mind. And even front of mind seems a long way back sometimes. These may be songs that we play well, but at least having some idea of what is coming up certainly helps our newer players. There’s nothing like a bit of practice to add polish and confidence. So, someone, please do send me or Jon a playlist for next week and we’ll send it round to people in good time.
The new songs we will try next week are the Ts from BrungStrum5. There are eight of them. My guess is that we’ll be fine with half of them straight out of the book and will have different fun with the rest, even though I think they are all good songs. I am not making my predictions about which will work public. They are all someone’s choices and we’ll give them all the respect they deserve for at least one evening.
You have a week to sort your Tainted Loves from your Tubthumping and to come up with the other songs you’d like us to play. Better get busy. The Ts look good – you won’t want to miss them."

From the 8th May Meeting:

"The pub was packed last night. For the first time in ages we had 30 players, despite missing a few regulars. The 30 included Livvy (or possibly Libby) and Loretta, two 12-year-olds who proved their worth by actually knowing the tune for A Million Dreams, one of the BrungStrum 5 songs that we had inadvertently missed in recent weeks.
We continued with Pete and Trevor’s lists, starting with a rousing Hotel Yorba and a somewhat waily version of Only You (not the one we usually play), followed by the usual do-I-go-high-or-do-I-go-low shenanigans that accompanies Nine to Five or any Dolly Parton number and then the reliable Teenage Kicks.
For the new songs, Reach Out behaved reasonably for a first outing and Run can be sorted. She’s a Rainbow is going to be difficult, despite the best picking efforts of Dave S among others, and the other four S songs were fine.
We then headed to the front of BS5 for some of the songs that we should be a bit more familiar with. Sure enough, most of them still show promise, although we skipped Handbags and Gladrags without a confident lead.
We finished the night with a few Gig Book favourites, just to show that we can do this ukulele malarkey without making a hash of any of it, when we know the songs.
Next week, we start with Open Mic at 7pm (usual rules: any song from anywhere. One song per person with new performers having priority unless time allows for more. Cut off time 7.30pm). After that, we’ll try the remaining eight S songs from BrungStrum5, starting with Spitting in the Wind and ending with Swerving the Checkatrade. I may be proved wrong, but I suspect the S filling in that particular sandwich will prove easier than the bread.
Beyond those songs, so far it’s anyone’s guess. We have no set menu, so unless you send me a playlist we’ll be dithering over à la carte items. Go on, choose your favourite ukulele meal. You know you want to.
Until next week, stay well. And if you are lucky enough to be going to the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival this weekend, have a great time. We expect top tips from that there Jake on your return."

From the 1st May Meeting:

"I woke this morning with a dead arm, tingling fingers in my strumming hand and a croaky throat – sure signs that Ukulele Bedford had been spinning its own special magic last night. There were at least 27 of us, playing mainly from Pete’s list from the Bumper Book and the new BrungStrum 5 NOP songs.
From the Bumper Book, Build me up Buttercup went better than usual, despite the inevitable hiccough in the middle with the single strums. I knew we made a hash of it somewhere but couldn’t remember before we started just which turn in the road had the block in front of it.
With Martins’ help, we built up the volume in the bridges and reduced it in the verses of El Condor Pasa to make the whole thing more dynamic and interesting. Extending vowels so that words elided into one another also maintained the flow. In combination, that has markedly improved that song for us.
We only remembered that we were going to bring a pause or two into Friday I’m in love after the event – perhaps next time. Remember, everyone, remember.
For the new songs, the only one that didn’t work at all was No hopers, jokers and rogues, which surprised me as I had found it easy to play and almost hypnotic to sing. It’s a mystery why some songs just don’t cut it. I have heard other groups do that song with those chords in that key successfully, so the song isn't at fault; it's just the fit with our group. As I say, a mystery, but not one to lose sleep over, especially as most of the other new songs went well
. In particular, I think One day like this could become a standard, even though we have quite a bit of work to do on it in due course. The potential for harmonies and audience participation is high. I am sure we’ll also hear both Old red eyes is back and Psycho killer again.
Next week, we’ll be playing Pete’s songs from Souvenir 1 and Trevor’s from the early part of BrungStrum 5, both as listed in last week’s email (or on Facebook if you have deleted it), along with both of the Rs and some of the Ss from BrungStrum 5. We won't get all the way through those as that would make 17 new songs in a week when we comfortably manage about six, but have a listen up to Sorrow at least and then keep the rest up your sleeve for the following week.
If you were expecting Open Mic next week in its supposedly newly regular second Wednesday of the month slot, you’ll have an extra week to rehearse as we’ll run that from 7pm on 15th May. As usual, any contributions, from solo self-penned ballads to ensemble thrash versions of 1950s classics are welcome, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
There is a good selection of songs for next week even before any extra suggestions from the floor, so come and enjoy that first.
Strum well, strum often."

From the 24th April Meeting:

"This week’s report is largely a reprise of my address to last night's AGM, with bits added to make it more of a record of the meeting. In short Ukulele Bedford remains in rude health (even if I still have a cough).
If you really want to know what we have been up to for the past year, then have a look at the News section of our website, where you will find some 24,000 words of reporting on our progress since last April. But just as a reminder:
We have welcomed new members, some of whom have even come back, and we are clearly providing enough to more established members to so that we have a full range of experience. We now have two competent bassists, and I think our general singing has improved and is a better balance between different voices.
We played around 10 gigs, ranging from Royal Weddings and birthday parties to beer festivals, overheated village fetes and a full-blown proper music venue, resulting in raising some money for charity. We will be donating £44 to each of our charities this year, an increase from last year’s £36.
We brought in a new Halloween book and BrungStrum 5, and musically we seem to be heading in the direction of a far more varied approach. I like that we aren’t stuck in the 1930s or the 20th century in general, but I also like that we can dive back comfortably 50 years to the 1960s or occasionally 80 years and take all that history in our stride.
We had a successful learning session on singing louder with Lydia, and a smaller one on tremelos, and there seems to be an appetite for repeating some of these and adding more..
We played tribute songs to a wide range of people from Keith Flint of the Prodigy to Gordon Banks of the England Football Team. That we are prepared to tackle unrehearsable songs in this way says good things about the group’s resilience.
We have introduced the idea of playlists – user-generated content as the internet would have it. These have given each night a slightly different flavour, even if we do seem always to want to end with something very familiar. These lists have included girls’ names, comedy songs, ruinous relationships, acrostics, and more. These certainly make my life easier.
The sound quality at our open mics and gigs have been greatly improved by Rex’s generous use of equipment and expertise. We tried moving the open mic to within the evening and it didn’t work.
The only three downsides are that attendance has settled at around 20-25 people, compared with 25-35 in the last venue. With the exception of a couple of long-term health issues, I don’t know why that should be. I don’t feel the need to advertise, but do bear in mind that we are welcome to new members of any ability, so don’t be shy about introducing new people. I think we sound at our best when we have over 20 of us on a Wednesday.
Sitting as we do cabaret-style rather than in a big ring makes conversation easier. That’s generally good, but the level of chatter and random noodling/strumming between songs is higher than at any other musical gathering that I have been to. I would really like us to be just a bit more disciplined about that without having to resort to schoolteacher tactics.
And finally, we haven’t really pushed ourselves with the learning sessions as much as we perhaps could. I think we have more scope to develop harmonies and other arrangements of songs now that we have a better balance of voices, and we could develop more soloing or parts playing to add to our mix on some songs. I am not looking towards solo performances because we have that catered for in the open mics, but people to take on, say, working up a song or two and leading the group through it would add something. I don’t have the musical background or ability to do that. I think learning sessions on strum patterns and listening would be good to book in this year. This notion was broadly welcomed. The issue is getting people to take up the challenge.
I hope that they would agree, but I think the Committee hasn’t had a huge extra burden compared with everyone else, but they have done what has been asked and been there for support for Jon and I in making the club run smoothly. I am particularly grateful to Trevor and David for stepping in when I have been absent, to Joy for letting me get on with the group without having to think about money (our bank balance is just shy of £200, with no expenditure anticipated) and to Jon for dealing with web enquires, the website in general and the Facebook group, which has developed nicely as a way for members to communicate between sessions. Trevor reported that we have around 35 official members and a mailing list of slightly over 100. The evening built up to around 27 players, most of whom were with us for the AGM (I didn’t count soon enough, but we were comfortably quorate).
Following a lousy year, Graham has decided to step down from the Committee. We thank him for his time and hope to see him and Cath back with us at least occasionally over the summer. I was delighted to hear that Cath continues to make good progress.
The discussion points at the end of the agenda, showed that we all want to improve, but that people are broadly happy with the group. We will try more of getting a rhythm or strum pattern going before launching into songs to avoid everything sounding a it samey, especially for new songs. We will look again at running our sessions on barre chords and tips, among other things but otherwise we’ll carry on doing what we do best – enjoying life with ukuleles in tow. Jon brought samples of embroidered club badges that we could consider buying. They could then be sewn on to shirts or baseball caps or stuck to instrument cases. Let us know if the thought appeals.
For the main evening session, we worked through the BrungStrum 5 M’s, largely successfully for first attempts. We need to work on some of the timing issues for Minnie the Moocher, Missing and Miss Otis Regrets, but all showed promise. I am not a fan of Moon River, but it went well. It’s a short song, but adding an instrumental verse didn’t quite seem like the answer to bring it up to a respectable length. There are so many versions of it in the ether that I am sure we can find one that fits well. We’ll come back to A million Dreams when we have listened to it properly.
Surrounding the M’s, we had a good list from the Gig Book and BrungStrum4 provided by Trevor. We didn’t get on to his songs from the first part of BrungStrum5, but that will form the basis of next week’s session. If you’d like to top that up with a few of your own suggestions, then let me have them. We’ll also rocket through the first part of the second half of our BrungStrum 5 alphabet, with letters N, O and P under the spotlight. That includes a sea shanty, a 1970s punk-pop classic and Fatboy Slim and I am sure there will be room around that mix for plenty more variety.
It will be a good week. Come and join us."

From the 17th April Meeting:

"This week we had 21 players giving it their all in the name of music making. Including two new people, Livia and her daughter. We had a few notable absentees – Mark, Martin and Jon – who were much missed, particularly in the counting in and timing department but we got the hang of it after a while.
Trevor and Norman kept order and we managed to motor through Sandra’s list in the first half, and although we were not always familiar with the tunes we gave pretty much all of them a good try. Big thanks to Sandra for compiling the list and an open request for future list providers (15 or so tunes you enjoy are always worth sharing). We briefly dropped into the M’s in Brung Strum 5 with a look at ‘Make your own kind of music’ but we errored on the side of caution and to keep the M’s for another day.
After the break we kicked off round two with Pumped up Kicks and Lightning Bolt from Brung Strum 4, before switching to the Gig Book for Human, Sunny Afternoon, The Tide is High/Rudy, Wagon Wheel, Shimmy Like my Sister Kate and we finished the night with City of New Orleans.
Next week we’re having the Annual General Meeting from 7pm to 7:30pm. We do have a committee of people that care about the group and do amazing work behind the scenes – this will be your opportunity to thank them and/or replace them. Please let Mark or Jon know if you’d like to step up or step down from any committee responsibilities or if you’d like to add anything to the agenda.
Hope to see you next week – either at 7pm for the AGM for at 7:30pm for the session."

From the 10th April Meeting:

"There were 18 of us there last night - a combination of illness, holidays and general life going on saw to the reduction in numbers. However, we still made a good racket!
The first part of the evening was the Open Mic session, which saw contributions from Lisa, Mike, Rebecca, David and myself. (Have I forgotten anyone? That doesn't seem enough!). Special mention to Lisa who had actually learned her song. No paper/tablet in front of her as a crutch - she faultlessly remembered it. Special bonus points to anyone else who does that in future, it was impressive. But well done to all those brave or daft enough to perform.
Then on to the main part of the evening. Jo had kindly come up with a list for us to play through - a sort of answer to Rebecca's Love > Murder > Prison tale of woe from last week! We decided that (for a change and because there were quite a few missing) we would hold off on the Brungstrum 5 playthrough this week and just flesh out the playlist with others from the older songbooks as we went along.
It is interesting that when a relative newcomer to the group (as Jo is) selects the songs, they don't know whether they are regular choices, occasional ones or things we have tried and puffed out our cheeks at. So (as you would expect) we had a few of all types as we went along. There was one we didn't try ('Fox On The Run') as we didn't really know half of it at all. That didn't stop us getting all the way through 'Before You Accuse Me' however. If there was a musical lowlight of the evening, I think it was 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. We made it sound so leaden that we would have been anchored to the bottom of the river, never mind on the bridge over it! A combination of bits we knew better than other bits and a too-slow strumming pattern probably sunk it for good. But actually I think it's a good thing to try songs even if they don't work out. Some songs just aren't massed ukes/voices songs or just dont suit us! On the positive side, from Jo's list, as well as the ones we normally do OK, 'Somebody That I Used To Know' went better than it often has, and of the extra selections made as we went along, 'Viva La Vida, 'Yellow' and 'Somewhere Only We Know' went very nicely. Thanks to Jo for the list! We finished up with a raucous 'City of New Orleans'.
Next week is a 'normal' (in inverted commas!) meeting from 7.30. We WILL be doing the M's from Brungstrum 5 next week - I suggest everyone gives them a look beforehand. There is only one N - so we may squeeze that in as well. We could do with a artisan, curated, hand whittled list as the backbone for the rest of the evening - so if we didn't play your favourites over the last few weeks, just make a list of them and send it over. Or theme one around Easter, Brexit, the start of the cricket season, Oxford United avoiding relegation or something... the world is your lobster.
See you all next week"

From the 3rd April Meeting:

"There were 23 of us last night for a good humoured evening of infatuation, obsession, loving, cooling, hatred, murder and prison. Blimey.
Our theme was 'The Stages of a Love Affair' a series of songs selected by Rebecca that portrayed the progress of a romance from start to grisly finish. Some we knew well and some not so (a perfect mixture), but suggestions as to how to play them as we went along - like Mike's excellent suggestion of single chords for Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone - were not only welcome but very effective. Please chirp up with your ideas as we go through the evenings, it really does help to have the 'group mind' adding things to the pot. If we can get the songs sounding different and not rely on a set strum and similar tempo then it makes for more variety - it's more musical in fact! We also managed to maintain the different strumming patterns in Can't Get You Out Of My Head and Boulevard of Broken Dreams pretty well - they sounded good as a result, I thought.
We did have swirly-around-the-room timing problems in a couple of songs. The key here is to listen to the bass. If you are going at a different pace than Martin or Tom, then you are playing at the wrong speed - no matter whether you think the song *should* be faster or slower, we need to play at the same speed. It is of course entirely possible that I have counted us in too fast or too slow - you can berate me afterwards, but let's get through the song together first. If you can't hear the bass, please let the bassist know and we will turn it up a bit.
Talking of the bass - a medal is due to Martin, who turned up with a crutch and a fractured pelvis. Dedication beyond the call of duty!
Apart from Rebecca's list, we went through the L's in Brungstrum 5. Yet again, there was a wide and entertaining variety of genres, oldies and more recent songs, the knowns, the unknowns and the we-thought-we-knowns. We managed to get through all of them and all of them deserve revisiting in the future. The first one we attempted was the three part Let It Be - long proposed by Dave Shiers, we managed to actually do it on a night he wasn't there. It worked quite well apart from two things. Firstly those playing the arpeggio section were too quiet - not their fault of course, it's the nature of the instrument. We will have to think about how to balance the parts a bit better. Secondly, the arrangement was such that at one time or another every group had a section where they were neither playing nor singing. I think that perhaps the arrangement should have had 'Listening' written in those parts. It certainly didn't have 'Talking while others were playing'! Enough said...
We don't have a list for next week - someone please feel free to send Mark or myself a selection for us to play. You can either theme it, or just pick 12-15 that you particularly enjoy - remember: Kylie-night is the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Remember it is Open Mic night next week, starting at 7pm for half an hour - your opportunity to either get up and perform in front of a supportive crowd or to be a part of a supportive crowd!
See you all next week

From the 27th March Meeting:

"We were in much better voice last night, despite there being only a few more of us than the previous week, and we generally made a much better fist of the new songs. Faith is restored! Our 27+ last night included a rare Ian from Milton Keynes and two relatives. It’s perhaps worth a reminder that you are all welcome to encourage friends and relatives to join us, with or without ukes and with or without a singing voice. We do this stuff for the sheer joy of it: if bringing someone with you enhances their, your and our collective joy, then we all win.
We finished Dave’s playlist from the previous week. There is an irony in taking longer of this than any other playlist, as every song had some mention of time. It was a good list and we’re after another for next week. There nothing to stop you choosing songs that we have already played in BrungStrum5 as well as any others from any of our book – pick a dozen and let me know.
The bulk of last night was taken up with the IJK section of BrungStrum5, starting with I am a Cider Drinker and ending with Killing me Softly, both of which go well. Of the others, I can still barely hear a tune in I drove all night, but plenty of the rest of you can and made it sound fine. I say a little prayer still needs work on the bridge, but was a better version than when we first tried it as a tribute. The only one that really let us down was It’s raining men, but I suspect that’s because of formatting it tightly enough to fit on one page as much as anything. It could be a great group song but it will take work and perhaps a more straightforward layout. Overall, though, BrungStrum5 is shaping up really well.
Mentioning tributes, we had a crack at The sun ain’t gonna shine for the recently departed Scott Walker and Tears of a clown for Ranking Roger of The Beat, who also died this week. Neither song proved easy to sing, but we’ll add these and any other tribute songs to the corrected version of BrungStrum5 in due course.
Next week, along with your playlist (hint, hint) we’ll move into the L section and just possibly the Ms. You will notice that this starts with a three-part version of Let it be that some of us have played before. It’s not hard, but it will require a bit of discipline and instruction and I suspect will need a couple of attempts before we are all happy with it. That’s going to be much easier if we can cut some of the inter-song noodling and chat that is starting to become intrusive. We all need to be just a little more respectful of our fellow ukers at times, lest you hear the return of the dreaded duck-call of power . . .
Towards the end of April (date to be confirmed) we will have our AGM. This will be 7-7.30pm and all members are welcome to attend. If you are not officially a member, you can join on the night – it’s free and just means your vote would be counted if we need anything resolving by a show of hands. If you have any subject that you’d like aired, then let me, Jon or any other Committee member know. In the past these meetings have been a catalyst for things like the T shirts and the gig banners as well as discussions about the content of our gig books. It will also give you the chance to see how our finances are doing. In other words, it’s more than just a constitutional requirement, so do please give it some thought.
Also give thought to the only suggestion for next week’s playlist so far being a “Kylie-fest”. Even I am not sure that would work, but only you can stop it with better ideas. Please help!
All the best"

From the 20th March Meeting:

"There was something in the air last night, tra la, tra la, Fernando! Was it the coincidence of the spring equinox and the super worm moon (yes, that’s really a thing), or Dave’s time-based playlist that threw us out of kilter? Somehow the 24 of us last night seemed to make slightly heavier weather of both new and familiar tunes than usual. Perhaps it was a hangover from our excellent performance at Esquires at the weekend. Whatever it was, we never quite got into gear, but the evening was by no means wasted and definitely better than being slumped in front of Holby City.
For BrungStrum5, we were on H. This started with Handbags and Gladrags followed by Hang on Little Tomato, both of which had chord progressions that feel good under the fingers. Havana showed promise as a change of pace and the Nick Cave murder ballad Henry Lee also has potential. We performed Hey There Delilah and How Do You Do It as though we’d done so many times before. It will be interesting to see how often we play either of these. Sometimes the easy songs stick; other times they pass through like empty calories.
The problems came with Hey Soul Sister, Hold my Hand, Hymn for my Soul and Find My Love, all of which will need work before we bring them back, but are all going to be worth the effort – after all, at this stage they are as valid as any of the other songs you chose for BrungStrum5, and remember we deliberately released the book early to help us iron out these wrinkles. And with David recording the warts and all, we’ll have a much better songbook in the long run.
All the to-ing and fro-ing over new songs meant we didn’t get very far through Dave’s playlist. It was a bit long anyway, so we’ll keep the rest of it until next week, when we’ll also be heading into the I’s, J’s and Ks of BrungStrum5.
That should be fun, and I have a suspicion that there will be room for a few more songs from the floor as well. Come along and make sure I am right.
All the best"

From the 13th March Meeting:

"Sometimes when we have a low turnout, the music suffers, but even though we were only in the high teens last night, we did really well and had a good run through the Fs and Gs of BrungStrum5, as well as most of the Esquires Gig Book.
The Gig book practice showed that we know our songs well, but probably not too well. We proved that we can tighten up a bit on the strums for Ex’s and Oh’s and Lola, for example, but I have every confidence that we are going to storm Esquires on Saturday!
Details for the gig: We are on the main stage at Esquires, that’s at 60A Bromham Road, Bedford, MK40 2QG, on Saturday 16th March, whatever their website says. It’s a licensed premises, but expect club drink prices. At least there is normally plenty of free parking on Greyfriars Road after 6pm. We meet for the sound check at 7.15pm (yes, it’s proper). So far as I know we are then kicked out until doors open at 8pm, with us playing our set from around 8.45pm for 30-40 minutes. Because the sound people will have tweaked and twiddled our sweet music to perfection, don’t just turn up for the gig. If you’re not there for the check, don’t expect to be able to slip in after 8pm. After that, we are free to enjoy Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq as the headline act. I am looking forward to it all.
If you can’t make the gig to play with us, but would like to come with a coachload of friends as audience, we’d love to see you. If you buy tickets from Lisa on the door on the night, £3 of the entry fee (price is under £7, but I can’t quite remember the exact figure this morning) comes to Ukulele Bedford, so please tell your friends. If you buy online, we don’t get a cut. If there are any more details to be passed on, Lisa will try to post them on our Facebook page.
Back to last night. The Fs and Gs of BrungStrum 5 started with a Fade to Grey/The Model mashup that just seemed like an easy and natural combination. Despite a certain hesitance on hearing the electronic introduction to the original, it works well and I am sure we will return to it. Feel it Still proved to be a bit harder to sing because of the timing, but people were positive about wanting to persist with it. Find My Love was new to me and, again, had some difficult and contradictory timings, but we will certainly bring it back with clearer instructions because it sounded really good. The old Five Foot Two instrumental was harder for many people and sounded out of place to my ears. I am sure we could get back to playing it well, but whether it gets requested often is something only time will tell. Flaws, especially for a three-chord song, was great and we know that Galway Girl is lively. We had a slightly simplified version of Golden Brown in, effectively, 12/8 timing rather than the original’s odd 13/8. It works well enough, and it is a measure of our collective confidence in the new songs that people immediately wanted to complicate it by reinstating the background harmonies towards the end. For the last new song of the night, I think that shows impressive stamina.
Next week we have a list from Dave Shiers that I’ll post after the weekend, and we’ll be running through the H songs from BrungStrum5.0. The next open mic will be on 10th April and from then on we’ll do our best to keep them to the second Wednesday of every month.
I look forward to seeing you at Esquires on Saturday or in the pub next week. BrungStrum5 is proving its worth. Come along. You’ll enjoy it.
All the best"

From the 6th March Meeting:

"Last night’s 23 included a new Sandra – welcome Sandra – who coped admirably with our mix of Kathryn’s pancake-themed playlist, BrungStrum5 Ds and Es and requests from the floor.
We seem to be developing a good routine with the new book of warming up with a couple of familiar songs, trying 10 or so from the new book by the break, finishing the playlist after that and then having a few minutes spare for other songs.
It’s a measure of our improvement as a group that, whether they appeal or not, new songs rarely seem daunting. Of course, that’s also a measure of the excellent selection of songs we have in BrungStrum 5 – that’s your fault, that is. We made a pretty good fist of them all, even Queen (who use all the chords). Highlight of the selection was definitely “Do You Love Me” (Tremeloes via Ramones), which instantly raised a cry of “Gig Book!” Drift Away will take more work, but seems worth the effort, and even Macca’s Dance Tonight that I feared may have been a bit of a plod came good.
Never one to let a joke pass, David N had suggested a Prodigy tribute in memory of Keith Flint, and I held him to it. Firestarter, with both its chords, may not become a group standard, but I, for one, am glad that we did it. Strangely, it wasn’t the ear-worm I left the evening humming.
Next week Dave S has promised us a playlist, and we’ll head into the Fs and possibly the Gs in BrungStrum5. There’s plenty of good music ripe for the plucking there, so let’s do it.
I look forward to seeing you all next week.
Cheers"

From the 27th February Meeting:

"There were 25 of us last night in what seemed to be a very warm pub. Either that or age is catching up with me and the hot flushes have started... It was nice to see so many there and that people were in such good voice.
We started out with a couple of tributes for those who have recently died - Daydream Believer for Peter Tork (the Monkees bassist) and Singin' In The Rain for Stanley Donen (who directed the film) - and then moved on to the still-warm-from-the-presses Brungstrum 5.0.
Last week we did the A's so this week it was time to tackle the B's and C's. That took us from Michael Jackson to Pulp via New Order, Lady Gaga, Donovan and Tom Paxton (among others). I don't think anyone can claim we don't play a varied selection of music! As you'd expect on a first play through, some were more coherent than others - but all showed promise I thought. We can all give ourselves a pat on the back for getting to a stage where we can tackle something new and make a decent fist of it first time out. David kindly noted down all the suggestions for corrections and improvements (even if they were contradictory!) to the song sheets as we went along - they'll be firmed up and included in the eventual release of an updated version. But don't hold your breath.
Next week we will be having a first look at the D's and E's. So if your musical memory bank needs refreshing before then on the delights of Dobie Gray, Buzzcocks, Queen or Petula Clark then I suggest you have a quick look at YouTube or listen to Spotify beforehand. It really does go better if we have a vague idea what we are supposed to be playing :)
After the break we played a couple of last week's A's to make sure we remembered them (we did!) and then slipped back onto roads more travelled and played some favourites to close the evening. One of those was 'Friday I'm in Love' which took on a new lease of life when played a bit faster with a bit more animation in the vocals. I guess that shows that even the songs we have been playing for ages can be polished up and improved.
It does aid the flow of the evening if we have a list of suggestions for the non-Brungstrum part of proceedings, so if anyone wants to pick 10 songs and send a list over for next week that would be grand. Otherwise you might get Mark or me with our typically left-field suggestions...
Our next gig is at Esquires, Bedford on Saturday March 16. We are on as the support act to Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq and will be doing 30-40 minutes of our best stuff. All killer, no filler. If you can make it that would be excellent - we don't often get a chance to play an evening gig in a proper rock club!
Until next week - may your G string always be in tune
Cheers"

From the 20th February Meeting:

"Last night’s open mic included Trevor, Jon, Rebecca, Lydia, Norman and Joy and Mark, ably supported by Rex and David. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone, but the main message is that I think we are all improving at this lark, and I hope the audience agrees that it’s a half hour worth coming in early for, even if you don’t take part. Jon threatened to put a stop to such sloth with a participatory number, but we ran out of time – perhaps next month.
Following that, the 22 of us got stuck into the A’s of BrungStrum 5. As usual, there were some that worked straight from the start, a few that will require homework or a rebuild and possibly one or two that won’t get much airing again. It’s too early to tell which fall into this last category, which I take as a sign that we have the makings of a good collection. There’s something quite metaphorical – life-affirming, even – about starting with the magic of Abracadabra, passing through the traumatic parenthood of Annie I’m Not Your Daddy and ending with Ashes to Ashes.
I started marking corrections on a master copy that we will use for version 5.1 in a few months. That this will be a tricky and slightly contentious issue is a given. Compromise is going to be essential. We had a perfectly valid version of Another Saturday Night last night that provided some dispute, and in this morning’s inbox I have four more versions that may prove to be even better. That’s great. I’d much rather we were all engaged with the process than people left it to a few hardworking souls on your committee. BrungStrum 5.1 could be almost as hard a task as 5.0 at this rate, but I am sure we will settle on ways to play that will suit the group in good time. How we bring those corrections into play before 5.1 is something to muddle through.
Anyway, that makes the first 12 songs tackled, of which only two had appeared in sets before. So next week, we’ll go for all the B’s and all the C’s, which will make nine, of which only one has appeared before, albeit in a different key. For the rest of the evening, we could do with a playlist (hint, hint), and we can reprise some of this week’s A’s if people wish.
Last night was good fun, if a little hard to control. I think we need to watch the balance between playing and learning new material, haggling over possible variations and corrections and playing enough familiar stuff to keep everyone happy. We can do that. And if you come along next week, so can you.
All the best"

From the 13th February Meeting:

"Among our 22 last night, we welcomed a new David and a new Nick (bearing flyers for the ever-excellent Ukes4Unicef gig in Berkhamsted on 23rd Feb. I’ll be there), as well as the return of Lisa after a long absence. With Marion’s list we were firing on all cylinders – tuned, smooth and raring to go. Sometimes having a list of familiar songs really does let us relax into our comfort zone. Musically, the only low (but still funny) point was my hurried tribute song to the late Gordon Banks. It was fine until the key changes, but perhaps Back Home, the England World Cup Squad team song that topped the charts for three weeks in May 1970, showed why Mr Banks will be remembered for his goalkeeping prowess rather than his music.
Next week, we have a double treat: open mic at 7pm, followed by our first foray into BrungStrum5.0 (see below for more about the new book). We could still do with a playlist from other books, so don’t be shy in sending through a list of a dozen or so song titles. They can be themed (Marion neatly did Valentine’s Day for us last night) or just songs you like or want to hear. We’ll work our way through some or all of the A’s from Brungstrum5.0, so if you want to practice, start with Abracadabra and head towards Ashes to Ashes.
We have also been asked if we’d like to play Moggerhanger’s KingStock Festival on 10th August. This has been running for 10 years, so must have something going for it. It’s a proper do, with stage, sound engineers and everything. I am very much inclined towards saying yes, even if we have a short set. If you agree, let Jon and me know and we’ll make sure we are booked in.
Now, BrungStrum5.0 is here! You will need to download the whole file from our website here: http://ukulelebedford.co.uk/files/Brungstrum5.pdf At around 13Mb, it’s bit large for many inboxes and I don’t want to clog yours up.
A few things about the new book. First, remember that the music here is your choice, and music missing was also your choice not to include as well. There are some great songs in here, some that we may find work better at home than in company, and perhaps a few that just won’t behave at all, but overall I think you can give yourselves a pat on the back for having good taste.
There are three-chorders and others with more chords than we have fingers. We’ll try them all and find out how they play. They are either in the key supplied or one that I could find other uke groups playing. Again, we’ll find out how these work for us.
Secondly, this is version 5.0. We’ll see how quickly we get through the songs, but the intention is that there will be a master copy that we will amend as we go and we will produce a version 5.1 within a few months. Those changes could be anything from adding missing chord boxes or reformatting songs where the type is too tiny for most people, to separating a song into parts for harmonies or changing keys. For technical reasons, links from the contents page to the songs and back don’t work, but we will add them in version 5.1. If you know your alphabet, you should be able to find your way around.
Thirdly, if the thought of learning over 110 new songs is more daunting than exciting, don’t worry. We’ll pace the introduction of new songs so that none of us gets overwhelmed.
Fourthly, if you supplied material for this book, thank you. You will almost certainly have an idea of how the song goes and you may have practised it thoroughly, perhaps for open mic. That’s great and we will draw on your experience as much as we can. But please don’t be too wedded to your solo kitchen-sink effort. Something magical may happen to the song when the whole group is giving it a go. Also, don’t be too disheartened if your chosen song just doesn’t work with the group. It’s a mystery to me why some songs don’t work and others do. Just accept it and move on. It’s nothing personal.
Fifthly, the YouTube links in the back of the book may not always take you to the official video or the one you were expecting (Stereophonics instead of Rod Stewart, for example), but for now they will be the versions we will base our attempts on.
And finally, I want to thank everyone who has contributed either directly by finding and sending me songs, but also the wider ukulele community for posting so much good stuff online. You will see pages here from Richard G (Scorpex), NUG, Bytown Ukelele Group, UkeHoot, OzBoz, Morristown Uke Jam, Snukes, UkeHunt, Gloucester Ukes, BURP and possibly others. We couldn’t have made such a fine selection without them. Now, let’s get on and play.
Mark
PS If you wonder where the term BrungStrum comes from, these books started when we asked people to bring paper copies of songs on particular sessions. The idea was simply that you Strummed Wot You Brung, akin to dragracers who “Run Wot You Brung”. We have more songs now but use less paper."

From the 6th February Meeting:

"Was it the Kylie effect that saw a mere 18 of us in the pub last night? Surely the thought of three minutes of pure pop from Ms Minogue wasn’t enough to drive the rest of you to something less entertaining because as sessions go it was pretty good. After a couple of Gig Book favourites - including YMCA which rarely gets an airing – we headed into the Boat Book for, among others, The Captain of Your Ship. With two renditions and a bit of YouTubing, we almost got the tune at last. BrungStrum4 and the Bumper Book followed, including, perhaps, a few more songs with a lot more chords than usual, but still with variety. When was the last time we played In Five Years’ Time, for example, or had the chance to declare that we still don’t know the three-chorder Black Velvet Band?
Next week, we hope to have a list from Marion and the week after that (20th) will be our open mic, starting at 7pm. Before then, though, I hope you will get the chance to download BrungStrum5. A beta version is nearly ready and our plan is to release that, play it over coming weeks and then release a full production version once we have ironed out the inevitable niggles. This will save me having to say, things like “You know that line with two Gs? The second is a D” every time. And in case you are wondering, that’s what happens with City of New Orleans most weeks.
However, because BrungStrum5 will be much bigger than its predecessors, we won’t be sending it to clog your inboxes. Instead, you’ll get the contents list to show what you can expect and a link for download. And if there isn’t something in it to tickle your fancy, then quite simply you should have sent us something that did. It’s going to be good and is guaranteed to be full of ear-worms.
Talking of ear-worms, it was neither Kylie nor Island of Dreams, last night’s final song, that I couldn’t get out of my head when I got up at 4am to shut a banging window. It wasn’t even Cher’s Bang Bang. No; it was Shut up and Dance. We really must get that sorted.
Have a good week."

From the 30th January Meeting:

"On a frosty morning like this, it’s almost hard to believe that only last night 20 of us were having a right old time in the pub with Jon’s list. The choice of music was a fine mix from the Gig Book, BrungStrum4 and the Boat Book, but regardless of that, it was the spirit of the night that was so warming. The first few songs we played were flawless, as befits their status of Gig Book staples. We don’t play any old junk to the masses!
Once we were warmed up musically, a few BrungStrum4 favourites added to the feeling of competence before ending that with undoubtedly our finest rendition of Yellow. Slowing down seems to the key to getting that right, which is more than could be said for House of Gold, where despite playing slowly and having a clear strumming pattern assigned to the whole song, the sound swirled around in a less than pleasing way to my ears. I know this song is in the genre of “ukulele screamo” but even so. I think sometimes we need to get more into the habit of listening to how each other is performing as well as keeping an ear on our own playing, rather than starting at a decent canter and heading for the finish line without regard for the sonic consequences. Even with a quick song, it’s not a race.
Contrast this with the Boat Book, where we were more considered in Fog on The Tyne. Odd lyrics to the final verse aside, that went very well. Rock the Boat and Sea Cruise were much more stormy affairs, but not because we were rushing headlong into the winter weather, but because we didn’t really have much of any idea of where we were heading at all. Giggling ensued. I’ll take giggling and confusion over dogged determination any day.
In our tribute tradition, we played Windmills of your Mind, composed by Michel LeGrand, who passed away recently. That will be the absolutely final song in the forthcoming BrungStrum5.0, which now numbers over 100 songs, ranging from the very familiar (corrected or augmented versions of old favourites) to the rather obscure. Kathryn seemed to spot those on the list chosen by Mark or Jon. Are we that transparent? Compiling the new book will take a little while yet, but it’s looking good. We have chord boxes to add to some songs and then we need to give them a run through before unleashing them on everyone. It will be worth the wait.
Next week, we should have a normal session: no badgering for BrungStrum songs, no open mic, just good fun with an extended playlist. Oh, but will we? We have no playlist unless you provide one. Feel free to send me your choice of around 15-20 songs from any book to build an evening on and we’ll all be happy. We haven’t had a duff list yet and there’s every reason to think that yours would be good, too.
I hope to see you all next week.
Until then, stay warm."

From the 23rd January Meeting:

"Last night’s open mic saw the usual complement of the terrified, the delusional, the competent and entertaining comfortably fill our half-hour slot with music. I write as one who claims at least the first two and a half of those criteria so I spend that half hour fretting about my upcoming performance, performing and then winding down. That means my attention is not fully focused on everyone else. I can, however, report that there was definitely applause for everyone and that the sound quality was up to scratch, so thank you to David and Rex for doing the honours, and to everyone who stood up to sing.
For the session proper, we had 23 singers and players and an extra 1/3 of a person as a welcome guest: Lydia is expecting a child in the summer – congratulations! Working largely from Joy’s list, we did pretty well overall. Our singing is always good after open mic and usually at its best when we have over 20 people, so conditions were perfect.
We were hoping to see John Box last night, who has a new Clearwater electro-acoustic tenor uke to sell, along with a mandolin that I think he said needs some work. I think a mandolin is another stringed instrument, but it’s not a uke so how would I know? If you are in the market for either item, I can put you in touch with John directly.
On Saturday, if you fancy rock covers without direct ukulele involvement, you could do worse than head to The Cock at Wootton for 9pm, where Missing Pieces will be playing. The band includes our own Jon (bass and vocals) and 'Washboard' Dave (guitar. Pretty sure there’s no outdated laundry equipment involved). I haven’t heard them, don’t know the rest of the band, and don’t know the pub; but it’s beer, music and people we like. You can’t go wrong.
And this is the very last call for contributions to BrungStrum5, which will be our main new songbook for 2019. We are starting to compile it right now, so if you want your song in don’t delay. Anyone who turns up in the pub with sheets of paper with a new song (tributes excepted) over the next couple of months is likely to risk a raised eyebrow or two. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?
Next Wednesday will be as near to a normal uke evening as we get. If you fancy sending in a playlist then do so, otherwise we’ll just find another way to make the evening swing – we always do.
Meanwhile, stay warm and keep next Wednesday free. The King’s Arms really is the only place you want to be.
Cheers"

From the 16th January Meeting:

"A robust and joyful 20 of us gave Stephen’s fine list a good going over last night. Comments like “we’re on fire, tonight” were uttered without irony. The list itself drew from Souvenir1 and the Bumper Book, with support from suggestions from the floor along the way. Even Cecelia’s bo-bo-bo’s held no fear. Some evenings we can really play!
In addition, Mike had reworked Stuck in the Middle with You and Dave S provided Killing me Softly in tribute to one of its composers, Normal Gimbel, who had died over the Christmas period. Both went well and will make it into BrungStrum5. The only low point was the usual confusion over Sit Down, not helped by the original band, James, releasing several versions. Dave S has since sent me a version that may cast all doubts aside. Find out in BS5.
Next week sees the return of our Open Mic. Come along prepared to sing from 7pm. Any song, from your own composition to a Bumper Book favourite is fine. As usual, we’ll cut off at 7.30pm to recharge our glasses and start the evening session. I do have a list for next week (I’ll post it later), but I am happy to have a different one or to keep one in store, so don’t hold back.
Next week will also see the close of submissions for BrungStrum5. Looking through the list so far, I would say we are short on contributions from women (who may like to get a few songs in more favourable keys into the book), and we are short on songs that either split easily into parts – duets and the like – or that have unusual timing or strumming patterns. We want things to be playable, but if you are holding back on suggesting or supplying something that may be a bit of a challenge, please don’t. The worst that can happen is that we giggle at our ineptitude! And the best is that we learn amazing new songs. I won't repeat the criteria now, but just a reminder that if you can't/don't have time to make or find a songsheet yourself, just suggest the song and we'll see if we have it somewhere.
If next week is anywhere near as good as last night, it will be a great evening. You really don’t want to miss it.
See you there."

From the 9th January Meeting:

"With Jon still recovering from New Year lurgy and Mark arriving late while negotiating his release from Banjo Country*, Ukulele Bedford had the chance to prove its strength in depth last night with Trevor and David ably taking the reins. Thanks, chaps. The 19 of us there enjoyed a decent stroll through the Gig Book and BrungStrum3, including making a fair stab at Viva La Vida, a song that benefits from an unusual strumming pattern. Every time we play it, we end up nodding heads and going “Yeah, that could be really good if . . . “. We have often talked about working on a song or two in more depth. Perhaps this would be a good candidate, if we have any volunteers to lead us through a process.
Next week should be a “normal” (ie good) session. You could make it excellent by providing a playlist for us to work with. Go on. What’s not to like about having at least a fair smattering of your favourite uke songs in the mix for an evening?
If you are looking for a theme, Marion reminded me that next week will be exactly one year since we arrived at The King’s Arms – so why not songs loosely connected to anniversaries, kings or arms? Traditional one-year wedding anniversary gifts include paper and cotton, so there’s It’s Only a Paper Moon and Cottonfields in the Bumper Book at least. And as it’s also the anniversary of the government appointing a Minister for Loneliness, and the French agreeing to loan Britain the Bayeux Tapestry (yes, thanks Google), then there is Boulevard of Broken Dreams (I walk a lonely road) and Blue Bayou (geddit?) and I am sure a host of other songs mentioning Kings and Arms just waiting for your discovery.
The following week, 23rd is Open Mic night, which we’ll start at 7pm for as usual. There is no hidden agenda with this Open Mic, no more using it as a way to get your choice into BrungStrum5. Talking of which, we still need more contributions for our new book.
You know the criteria by now – open mic songs, something you thing we could gig, advertising songs, your choice if you gave us a playlist last year, a mop up of paper tributes etc – but please do not assume that someone else will send a song in. It was assumed last night that I would put one of my open mic songs in, when I was actually going to include another . . . we’d much rather get duplicates than nothing at all. And if you don’t know how to find or produce a song sheet, then let us know the song and we’ll try to help. We’d like to get contributions within the next 10 day, please.
It feels like 2019 is going to be ok for Ukulele Bedford. Why not come along next week and prove me right?
Cheers
*I was working in Fenland and had Cambridge traffic to contend with."

From the 2nd January Meeting:

"Happy New Year! In brief, 15 of us started 2019 in less than brilliant form, but warmed up to be almost competent by the second half, with a selection of mainly Bumper Book and Gig songs. I am sure we will be better next week, when we are without a playlist unless you send us one. Please do. It makes the evening go so much smoother.
Two other reminders: the next Open Mic will be on 23rd January; usual rules apply. And don't forget to send in your suggestions for BrungStrum 5. We haven't had many so far. If you want a song and don't know the chords or how to write it up, let us know. One or other of us may have a version of it somewhere already.
See you next week."

From the 19th December Meeting:

"Last night saw our biggest attendance for some while, with around 30 of us enjoying a fully populated Open Mic, followed by a first half with the Christmas book, a break with excess calories, and a second half of greatest hits from the Gig Book, ending with City of New Orleans. For some reason – it’s one good song amongst many – this seems to have been our go-to feelgood number this year. There was also a good smattering of faux reindeer, Christmas jumpers, LED hats and jingling bells to add to a splendid mix. It was a great evening. Thank you for making it so/sorry you missed it (delete as applicable).
It’s worth recalling that last year’s Christmas session was in Church Lane Community Centre as we were between pubs. We have really made ourselves at home at The Kings Arms and have every expectation of a good 2019 there as well.
Talking of 2019, there seems to be enough people to have a session on 2nd January, even if not everyone will be able to make it. Come armed with a few ideas and the evening will sort itself out. The following week, 9th January, is likely to be more normal and we’ll be looking for a playlist for that.
While you are on your Christmas break, don’t forget to send us your contributions for Brungstrum5. Remember, we introduced Brungstrum 4 in November 2017, so it’s time we had some new songs to play. The criteria are as follows:
· Any song that you really think should be in the gig book for the 2019 season. That can be anything from Abba to ZZ Top, but with a crowd-pleasing vibe.
· Any song from this list of 700 songs that have appeared in adverts: http://www.songfacts.com/category-songs_used_in_commercials…
· Any song that you have performed in our Open Mic sessions, however well you think you mastered it. Some were very much solo songs, but there have been quite a few that the group may enjoy
· An extra song if you have given us a playlist this year
· Any of the songs that have been brought in loose or sent as single email attachments, as tributes or better versions of ones we already have
· Any other song that has been floating around in the ether that somehow failed to reach a past songbook or that needs revision. Two among these are the instrumental verse of Five Foot Two (I have found it) and the three-part Let It Be (I have that, too). Newer members would never have had the chance to play either of those.
If you are really in two minds as to which of two songs to suggest, then send both. We’ll spot obvious ballot stuffing, but we would like to be as inclusive and comprehensive as possible. We’d like to get this out by the end of January, so contributions by the middle of next month would be great.
Finally, I just want to thank you all for giving us another great year of Ukulele Bedford. It’s been a year of consolidation: we are in a great new pub; our open mics go from strength to strength; the sound quality of our gigs is much better and more consistent than of old; we have modernised our repertoire to great effect in gigs and on Wednesdays (let’s keep that going for Brungstrum 5); working with softly curated playlists has helped manage expectations and the evenings better; new people have come and stayed and we have retained original members; we now have two regular bassists; our female vocals are stronger; and having more help from some of the senior members in emceeing has taken the pressure off me.
Our numbers seem to have stabilised at around the low twenties but with occasional boosts into the thirties, and that all feels good. People want to come along rather than feel pressure to do so and I think that is right. We no longer feel like a football team with no reserve goalie. The year 2018 has definitely been good for us. I hope for more of the same in 2019.
If you have read all of my weekly ramblings, thank you. That’s been over 20,000 words for the year.
Have a good festive break and remember, a ukulele is not just for Wednesdays."

From the 12th December Meeting:

"Despite an absence of perhaps five of our most regular players, last night still saw a creditable 23 singers and players giving it large in the pub. This included two guests, Sue and Norman’s brother (sorry, didn’t catch a name), who both sang along admirably. A reminder: if friends or relatives say they can’t won’t along because they don’t have/can’t play a uke, we are happy to include random singers. Other excuses are available.
We worked through Mike’s list, which drew mainly from the Bumper Book and earlier BrungStrums, but which included a few surprises: I don’t ever recall playing Ain’t Misbehavin’ despite it staring at us from the Bumper Book for years, and it went remarkably well. Whilst Shepherds Watched to the tune of House of the Rising Sun could be a ukulele group world first and I venture to say may not be its last airing. I am sure “one song sung to the tune of another” used to be a round on I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue. It does your head in, but in a fun way.
We missed Jon’s vocals for our Pete Shelley tribute of You Say You Don’t Love me, so held on to Ever Fallen in Love for another time. It will probably sneak into BrungStrum5, but overall we had a very good evening. I can barely talk this morning, so we must have been on form.
Next week will be not only our last of the year and our Christmas special, but also the final Open Mic of 2018. That in turn makes it your last chance to get a song directly into BrungStrum5. Remember the criteria for that new book: one song you think we really should have available to play out at gigs, one song from an advert and, if you have braved the praise of your friends in the open mic, then any of your songs from there can be included as well. We’ll also use it as an opportunity to mop up the various single song sheets that we have dished out in the past year and a few other random pieces, such as the three-part Let It Be that has previously only been on paper. If you have any of those, including any of our tribute songs that haven’t made it into a songbook, then send them along. Please try to get your contributions to Jon and me by the end of the year.
So, to Christmas and the open mic. We’ll start at 7pm for open mic. If there are more singers than we have time for, we’ll hold your contributions over until the next one, but will allow your song in BrungStrum5. Open mics have been going well all year and I see no reason why our final one of 2018 should be any different.
We’ll then follow this with at least part of the evening devoted to our Christmas Book. Older readers note, we will work from the book on our website called Ukulele Christmas Songbook 2016 Corrected, which starts with Mariah Carey’s obsessive All I want For Christmas is You. Just lose the previous one starting Away in a Manger. We may have a go at this week’s Shepherds/Rising Sun mashup again.
If you feel the festive urge to bling your uke, don antlers, bauble up your beard or wear an especially tasteful jumper, and should you choose to bring mince pies, chocolates, cake or other Christmas wares, then don’t let me stop you – let’s give it a bit of seasonal oomph.
Finally, if you haven’t been for a while, the Christmas special would make a great return. It will, as ever, be a relaxed and fun evening with a bunch of songs that you will know (even if you can’t remember the chords) and it would be good to see you all again.
Have a good week."

From the 5th December Meeting:

"There were 19 of us last night working our way through Mark's curated list. None of the 19 were Mark though as he was ill - get better soon, and thanks for not giving us all a cold as well as a list!
David ably led the evening (thanks David) and Trevor steered us right on several songs that he knew better than the rest of us. Martin tried to make sure we were all playing the same thing at least sometimes! I'm not sure that Muses's 'Starlight' will ever become a group favourite, but of the less played songs both 'The Model' and 'Viva La Vida' improved with a bit of practice (who'd have thought it...) and probably could and should be aired more often. We didn't even get around to the last seven songs on Mark's list (Something Stupid from the Part 1D book and Black Velvet Band / Here Comes the Sun / I Saw Her Standing There / The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde / The Night Has A Thousand Eyes / Those Were The Days My Friend from the Bumper Book). We need a list for next week - perhaps someone could take those seven songs and choose another 8 - 10 to create one? Just email your choices to me (Jon) or Mark.
Next week is a normal session (starting at 7.30). Apparently there is going to be a funeral party in the bottom part of the pub, but we should be OK at the top - maybe we can close the doors? I think the landlord said they were there from 4pm - so they might even be drifting off by the time we get there. I did ask whether we were 'appropriate' but the landlord said he knew the deceased and he would have loved it!
The week after (the 19th) is Open Mic at 7pm followed by the Christmas session - so make sure you've got the appropriate songbook from the website, plus a song prepared to wow us all with beforehand. It could even be a festive song if you are so minded of course.
Have a nice week everyone and get plenty of vitamin C to keep those colds away!"

From the 28th November Meeting:

"Last night saw Ukulele Bedford in two places, the King’s Arms as usual and gigging in The Engineers’ Arms, Henlow, as part of its Bedfordshire Day celebrations. The fact that no-one else has heard of Bedfordshire Day is irrelevant. The fact that there was a lot of football on the telly was rather more so. I was with the gig. I presume the usual session went well under Trevor’s guidance: ukuleles, pub, Trevor, David and at least a handful of other regulars. What’s not to like? Today’s Facebook comments suggest it was good.
Around a dozen of us were in Henlow, playing to a full house – at least while the football was on. It was slightly disconcerting to realise that much of the concentration in our direction was really aimed at the telly above our heads, but we had plenty of applause in our own right and our playing was tight. Our finishing was particularly good, certainly compared with some of the footballers.
A critical goal at the very end of 59th Street Bridge Song, just as Jon announced that we were going to play Abba, caused a huge cheer, and out of boisterous, beer-fuelled politeness, we then had plenty of audience participation for Mamma Mia. By contrast, when we overhead members of the audience saying “they’re playing sh*t”, we could console ourselves with the sure knowledge that they were talking about the sport, not the music.
We didn’t have much room in the pub – enough for our dozen – and this meant we could see audience reaction better than sometimes. Friday I’m in Love and Boulevard of Broken Dreams had more than one person joining in, as did Urban Spaceman, and I think both Human and Light My Fire surprised people in a good way. I heard one person mutter “that’s not Quo” when Jon announced that we were going to do Status Quo on the ukulele as we launched into Creedance Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising. Shoulders noticeable softened as we morphed into the second half of the medley – Deeper and Down.
The pub is making a Christmas donation to a local homelessness charity, and the landlord asked if we would put our fee that way instead of accepting our donation for our usual causes. It seemed simplest to do so. Said landlord again joined us for his favourite song – Make Me Smile.
We thank Rex for sorting the sound – it was much better than our efforts with individual amps last year, and we may have recruited a new member for the new year. All in all, it seems like Ukulele Bedford had a good evening in both venues.
Next week, we’ll all be together again in the King’s Arms as usual. I’ll circulate a playlist before long, and there is bound to be space in it for your own contribution.
Until then, stay indoors and enjoy the weather – remember, winter’s supposed to be cold. Cheers"

From the 21st November Meeting:

"23 of us braved the cold to meet at the pub last night. We went through Dave's acrostic song list - some of us having watched The Chase earlier on in the day and found out what an 'acrostic' was! Basically, the first letters of his choices spelled out 'Kings Arms Bedford'. I am going to have to resist the temptation to make any list I provide in future spell out something really filthy...
Dave's list took us through all four Brungstrums, the Souvenir book and the Bumper book and encompassed (as seems to be the case recently) a nice mixture of songs - some that we knew well, some that we didn't. 'Maggie May' benefitted from Dave bringing his mandolin to do the umm, mandolin parts, and Ian's train whistle was employed on both 'Spirit of New Orleans' and 'Fulsom Prison Blues'. Has nobody got a duck call or a swanee whistle? Thanks for the list, Dave.
Next Wednesday sees an innovation - a split session. For those who want to 'play out', we are headlining (and supporting. We are the only act!) at the Engineers Arms in Henlow (68 High Street, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6AA). We are starting at about 8pm, so getting there before that would be a good idea! About 7.30 maybe to set up. We are playing acoustically so you won't need an amp, with a couple of microphones for the vocals and announcements. We will be playing standing up (unless you physically need to sit down or are a bass player!) in quite a small space, but there is a seperate area to dump all your bags, boxes etc to maximise what space we have. We will play until 10pm probably (maybe a little longer) with a break in the middle. There is only on-street parking outside and not much of it unless you can stand a little walk, so if you can car share that will help.
If you don't fancy that, then Trevor will be running a session in the pub at the normal time. Please come along with some ideas about what you'd like to play - as a smaller group than normal, it may give you a chance to work on a couple of songs that have caused us trouble in the past.
The week after that we will all be back together in the pub - song list suggestions warmly welcomed for that please.
See some of you in Henlow - have a good week all."

From the 14th November Meeting:

"Last night we played our way through a list provided by Caroline, with the usual detours along the way at other points of interest. As always, some things went better than others but in the main it was excellent stuff. There were 23 of us including Becky who joined us for the first time (welcome, Becky) and Jo (who was last week's newbie) made a welcome return. It's really nice to see new people coming along, and even better when they come back :)
We could do with a list of 12-15 songs to play next week, so any submissions will be very welcome. If we don't get one, then either Mark or I will supply one. You have been warned ;)
The week after next (the 28th) has now been confirmed as a split week. We have a gig at the Engineers Arms in Henlow, but if you don't fancy that then Trevor will be running a session at the pub at the normal time. I wish I could be at both! Thank you, Trevor.
We have also decided that Wednesday 19th will be our Christmas do. We will use the Christmas songbook (the 2016 one on the website, unless informed otherwise) and will also have an open mic beforehand at 7pm. That will give you a chance to perform a song that you can sneak into Brungstrum 5, our next collection of member submitted songs which will arrive sometime early in the new year. David also had a good suggestion - if you have provided another tune during the year (Galway Girl springs to mind as an example) then we will also collect those in Brungstrum 5 to make sure they don't get lost. So if there is something you've brought along, please remind us and send us the file.
See you next week"

From the 7th November Meeting:

"Last night saw 23 of us (including a new Jo - hello and welcome, Jo! - and her visting uke-playing friend Lorina) warming up with a couple from the current gig book and then revisiting some of the dustier corners of Brungstrum 4 along with some that have been played more regularly.
I have to say that I thought the evening was great - the playing was lively, the singing strong and we managed to make a very good job of some songs that have defeated us before. We should try some of these in the near future, and (given that they are more recent songs) perhaps refine them so that they are ready to go in the gig book, swapping them in for a few of the more pedestrian older ones to lift our live appeal to people not quite so ready for their bus passes! Some still need a bit more work - but that's fine, getting things arranged a bit and polished up is fun as well. One more reminder - in between songs, please can we keep the chatter down to a dull roar! It's difficult for others in the room to hear explanations of what we are going to do next over the din. The other bar is available if you really want to shout loudly at each other instead of playing the ukulele.
Before all of that though, we enjoyed half an hour or so of open mic with contributions from Mark and Joy (duet), Norman, Rebecca, Dave S, Jon and Lydia and Trevor (duet). Have I forgotten anyone? I think the open mic spot is showing how much we are all improving in playing, singing and confidence - the duets are a great idea. If you haven't had a go yet, there is another open mic in a month's time.
Next week, we will be playing a song list chosen by Caroline. Thanks Caroline.
We have agreed to play at the Engineer's Arms, Henlow at 8pm (ish) on Wednesday 28th November. That is obviously a session night. There may be some people who would prefer to have a normal session rather than go to Henlow. Trevor has kindly offered to run the session if there is enough interest. If there isn't enough interest, we will cancel the session and Trevor can sample the delights of Henlow. So please let us know if you would like to attend the pub session on the 28th November. Non replies will be taken as meaning that you do not want to go to the pub on that date - we don't want Trevor sitting there on his own! - and I will let the landlord know.
Until next week, happy strumming..."

From the 31st October Meeting:

"Last night was our Halloween night and 19 of us dared to brave the dark side, including several undead, a vampire on a drip, a witch or two, werewolves, other assorted creatures of the night and a Dalek. I'm not quite sure how the latter got up the stairs to the place where we play though! Well done to those who dressed up and brought some spooky edibles. There will be photos...
We used our new Halloween song book and found it to be a cauldron of mixed ingredients - with the tasty floating next to the indigestible, while some of the larger floating lumps were looked at suspiciously and rejected. However, we had a good time and special thanks to Trevor and Rebecca who led us through the less familiar songs from the Rocky Horror Show. Of the new additions, I particularly liked the two chord 'Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum' (might be good for non-Halloween if we arrange the vocals and maybe introduce a little percussion?) and although we didn't attempt Ghost Town, that is one I think we could also play in 'normal' sessions if we can work it out. Thanks to those who put the new book together - before this time next year we need to make a few corrections and listen to the ones we aren't familiar with.
As mentioned in another email/FB post - we have been asked to play at the Engineers Arms in Henlow on 28th November. From the replies I have had via email and in person last night, we have enough takers to say 'yes'. I'll suggest a start time of 8pm, which should give us time to get there. If you haven't let me know whether you want to come or not, please do so. If there are enough people who do not want to but still want the regular pub session then that will still go ahead. We should let the landlord know if we won't be there.
Next week is Open Mike (or is that Open Mic? I never know) starting at 7pm followed by the normal session at 7.30pm. Come armed with a song and perform it in front of a supportive load of your fellow uke players. We do not yet have a curated song list for next week. If we aren't playing the stuff YOU like then send a list of 12-15 songs that rock your world and we will do them, OR - if there are just a few you really want us to do - send a list of those and I will compile a 'members choices' composite list.
All the best - and best of luck scrubbing off the greasepaint!"

From the 24th October Meeting:

"The nights are drawing in now, and Wednesday saw 22 of us taking the opportunity to find refuge in a warm, well lit pub to play a selection of music from the bumper book. That sounds like a good evening out to me! We welcomed two new members, Val and Eddie - hello both, we hope you enjoyed it and that we will see you both again soon, shift work permitting.
Marion was tune chooser, and it was a nice selection of the familiar and the not quite so well known. We carried most of them off pretty well and of those that were a bit less convincing, some might be consigned to the scrapheap of musical memories, while others may be polished up to play again. Thank you Marion! Remember, if you particularly enjoyed any of them you can be song curator for another evening soon. Just pick about 15 songs from any of the hundreds we have in our books and send the list to myself or Mark. We can't play your faves if you don't tell us what they are.
As an additional bonus, we have decided that if you create a list for us to play (or have already created one we have played) then you have an extra song choice for Brungstrum 5.
So, for Brungstrum 5 -
Everyone can pick one song they think would be good for the gig book. Think audience recognition, think different (maybe a current hit? Maybe one with different arrangements, maybe male/female parts - as it were - or maybe one you just love).
Everyone can pick a song that has been used on an advert. We posted a link to a comprehensive list a couple of weeks ago. Here it is again: https://www.songfacts.com/category/songs-used-in-commercials
If you have played a song at an Open Mike evening or do so before the book is compiled, you can add that one.
If you create or have created a playlist, you have an extra totally free choice.
It's your chance to shape the repertoire of the group - many previous Brungstrum submissions have become firm favourites, so get your thinking caps on and make your suggestions.
Next week is our Halloween week. Download the new updated Spookelele book from the website - it has a whole load of new tunes compared to the old version. And you wouldn't want to look silly would you. Unless you DO want to, in case dressing up in a suitably spooky manner is encouraged, and if you want to bring food to add to the party atmosphere then don't let me stop you :)
The week after is Open Mike from 7pm followed by the normal session at 7.30pm. I'd encourage anyone to have a go - if you've seen previous Open Mikes you'll have seen those who were nervous performers before being transformed butterfly-like into ukuelele stars!
See you on Halloween"

From the 17th October Meeting:

"Last night we had 21 or so people playing a selection of BrungStrum music that was universally acclaimed as better than the previous week’s comedic efforts, but variety is spice. Although billed as some of our lesser-known songs, overall this felt like comfortable territory and confirmed my faith in the “Strum Wot You Brung” process as the way to get decent music – by which I just mean stuff we like – into our ukes.
It wasn’t perfect; we were a bit ragged without a bass and a few songs that seem tantalisingly close to working still failed. We’ll have another look at some of those. I suspect a solo run through one or two that we could then adopt as our group version could be one way forwards. Even so, it was good to hear strong singing and playing for songs that clearly have more general resonance than anything to do with Grandma's feather bed.
The last AGM in April seems a long way ago, but a point raised there and beforehand was the amount of noise and general chatter between songs can reach an off-putting level. I think last night was particularly poor, with people still noodling while songs were being counted in and not having the courtesy to remain quiet while one or two song issues were being resolved. Walking on Sunshine was a case in point. The informality and friendly chatter of our group is a strong point, but let’s see if we can hold it together a bit better from now on, please. In the last pub, I had to resort to a microphone to keep order. That’s a pain for me and for you, but don’t be surprised if the dreaded duck call of power reasserts its authority.
Next week, we should have playlist from Marion, which we’ll circulate slightly nearer the time. And after that, we’ll have Halloween. I am just putting the finishing touches to a few pages of our new scary songbook and you’ll have that as well, along with a separate new songbook from Trevor.
Don’t forget that we have our next open mic session looming on 7th November, which gives you the chance to insert a song fairly and squarely into BrungStrum 5, the content of which is all to play for.
I hope to see you all next week for Marion’s choices.
All the best"

From the 10th October Meeting:

"Hello Everyone
If anyone was in doubt about our tolerant and gentle membership, then last night 18 of us – including a new James, welcome – proved that we can be entertained by all sorts of supposedly comedic nonsense: Swimmin with the Wimmin (filthy), Aba Daba Honeymoon (Just plain silly), Act Naturally (self doubt), Banana Split for my baby (sexual inequality), Brand new key (distinctly suggestive), Chippy Tea (dietary challenges, old-school domestic expectations), Daytrip to Bangor (think of the carbon footprint), Egyptian Ella (fat shaming), Grandma’s Feather Bed (unhygienic, at least), Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian (sex tourism), Mama don’t ‘llow (stern parenting), Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (misogynistic psychopathy) . . . there seems no end of things that the 20th Century thought funny. We even ended with a belated tribute to Chas (of and Dave fame), as old-school a popular comedian as it’s possible to imagine.
Added to these comedic delights, we sprinkled a fair few non-Gig-Book songs from the Bumper Book as contrast, but I swear to you that Blue Suede Shoes or Radiohead’s Creep provoked at least as much laughter as the supposed humour in Dave’s comic selection. But fair play to Dave. He knew he’d get stick and took it with good grace and some of the songs would have been ok on their own in a wider selection of other music. I know that sounds like describing a s**t sandwich, but playing crap songs ironically is still playing crap songs.
Next week, unless anyone comes up with a new playlist, Jon will provide us with one he has been holding in reserve. You are welcome to come up with a list of up to 15 songs that you’d like us to play – either personal favourites or a theme of your choice – and we have gone around this idea enough now to accept repeat offenders.
Our next big event will be Halloween, which actually falls on a Wednesday this year so you won’t feel alone walking through Bedford in your ghoulish outfit on the wrong night. We’ll have a new book for that in a week or so, including some from previous years but with a smattering of new songs, plus a few more from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, thanks to Trevor’s efforts. Pumpkin or candy-related calories will no doubt be available and there will certainly be some dressing up – you have time to practice. Strumming with claws and singing with fangs isn’t easy.
The next open mic will be on 7th November. Remember, any song you play at open mic for the next two sessions can be a shoe-in for BrungStrum 5. And a reminder on the rules for that: one song you really think should be in our 2019 Gig Book – any era, any genre, but audience-focused – plus any song from this list http://www.songfacts.com/category-songs_used_in_commercials.php that has been used in advertising, plus your choice of any song you have personally performed in our open mic sessions. There is time to think on that as we won’t be putting it together for a while.
Finally, joking aside (if I really can say that), let’s not forget that last night went rather well both because of and in spite of Dave’s list. It provided structure, however flimsy, and even if we did need to provide our own humour, it was still fun.
Next week will be the same – fun with ukuleles in the pub – but different – no banana splits, I suspect. Come and join us, it will be good.
Cheers"

From the 3rd October gig:

"Hello Everyone
It’s almost hardly worth talking about the session last night, which combined our usual Wednesday with the Bedford beer Festival gig because if you are reading this you were probably there. I didn’t count, but our attendance was pretty high, perhaps around 30. That not only makes for our biggest gig, but our biggest Wednesday for some while.
And it was worth it. The gig combined most of what you would want – decent sound and playing from ourselves, a large and appreciative audience whose humour increased with the number of beers sampled, but that always included some singing and dancing. We had genuine requests for an encore rather than anything too polite. It seems like we’ll pick up one or two new members at least, and one person approached us about another gig. All that and £50 for charity. If only I’d been able to drink . . .
In short, thank you everyone who came last night. I hope you enjoyed it, too. I think a special mention must go to Rex for supplying kit and expertise for the sound. A few points on that score: the last two gigs (Sutton and the Beer Festival) have been quite a contrast in terms of numbers of players (16 without three of our strongest singers vs 30 with full strength vocals), location (in a field vs indoors), audience (minimal and quiet vs loud, close and numerous) and kit (our PA vs Rex’s kit including nifty wifi mixing), but the sound quality of the two gigs has, I think, been the best we have achieved. That is mainly down to Rex’s condenser mics and grouping people together. Not only have the ukes sounded natural and loud enough, but the vocals have been rich and varied with all the women’s voices coming through and the louder men blending better into the overall mix. It doesn’t always sound like that from *within* a loud group singing because all the sound is being projected forwards, but trust me, we sound entirely respectable even if you felt you were unable to hear yourself.
We will work on ways of relaying information about the next song, the count in, etc to the whole group from the front (eg by having someone count us in from the centre of the group who may not be either of the lead vocalists.), and we’ll think again about ways of helping us to hear ourselves, but unless there are special reasons to go otherwise, consider the set-up that we employed last night and at Sutton to be the way forwards.
This means:

• No electric-only or amplified ukes except the bass (probably no banjo-ukes either but we haven’t had that to contend with).
• Two vocal mics only, preferably with one male and one female lead, but at least with one doing the M/C stuff and the other being a strong singer. We can try to arrange these so we can bring in other lead singers for particular songs as they develop through open mics or otherwise.
• Two condenser mics for the rest of the group, with more women under one and more men under the other – not too strict a grouping to allow for sharing between friend and relatives, but it makes a huge difference for songs such as The Tide is High/Rudy.
• A relaxed attitude about whether you think your personal contribution to the sound can be heard – if it can’t it will only be because we have such a big group that the mics aren’t picking up everyone, but in that case, there will be plenty of sound for the audience.

Moving on, we have the possibility of a gig on Monday 4th December for the Emmaus Community at Carlton. Please check your diaries and let us know whether you can manage that. It would be 6pm to 8pm but shared with spoken word people, so I am not sure how long a set we would have. Email me this week or come with a hand to raise on Wednesday and we’ll see if it’s a goer.
We don’t have a playlist on Wednesday unless you come up with one, but I suggest we choose to play stuff that isn’t in the gig book – just for a change. You lot come with ideas; Norman, come with ideas and good health following your little episode on Wednesday; and I’ll come with the missing scarf.
See you on Wednesday.
Cheers (as people who can drink beer like to say)"

From the 26th September meeting:

"Not too hot and not too cold. Just right in fact! Both the weather and the session were comfortable last night - we finished off going through the gig book in reverse order, polished up a few 'arrangements' and scored a last minute winner with a few reserves we will have on the bench for next Wednesday's fixture at Bedford Beer Festival. 21 of us (including a late-comer, sorry - a puncture, a very very slow creep home and then borrowing my wife's car) made it last night - if you can make it to the Corn Exchange in the same numbers or more that would be great!
Gig details:
Next Wednesday evening we are playing at Bedford Beer Festival at Bedford Corn Exchange, so there is no pub meeting obvs. Apparently this is a promotion from last year's Saturday slot - Wednesday (being the first day) is very busy. We are going to play from 8pm for about an hour, have half an hour off, then play for another 45 minutes, with 15 minutes then alotted for encores (!). Those of you with a horological bent will have added all that up and got to 10.30 - although we may shorten the break to 15 minutes and thus finish at 10.15. Depends how long the queues for the loos are I reckon... I know the next day is a school day, but if we can all make it to the end of the night that would be great. If not, please make your move either after the first half or after the main set but before the encores. If you are going to do that, make sure that you and your eqiuipment are on the periphery of the group so it doesn't cause absolute chaos! Minimum equipment: A uke, the relevant songbooks (more later) on paper or a fully-charged up tablet (me - guilty!) with a stand to balance it on precariously. Depending on space, we may share songbooks between two to reduce the clutter. Additional: It's going to be noisy, so amplification of your ukes will help. If you have a uke with a pickup, a lead and an amp then that's the one to bring. I am informed that there are 'at least two' sockets available (!) so if you have a battery amp, bring that. Can people bring extension leads with multiple sockets if possible? We are aiming for 'ukes +' rather than electric guitars, so if you bring an amp, do not turn on any 'gain' or distortion, and we will try to have a pretty low level of amplification (depending on the ambient noise) - we aren't The Who. If possible the amps wil be along the wall behind us rather than at our feet - we will then all be able to hear what we are all playing. Don't be offended if we ask you to turn down during the soundcheck - it isn't a comment on your playing, we just need to get a balance! If you can get there 7-7.30 that would be good. There is little or no parking at the Corn Exchange - so you will likely have to carry whatever you bring from whatever parking you can find. That should stop you bringing your Marshall stack! If you do have heavy stuff, there is a drop off point with a lift up to the floor where we are playing. I have a phone number you can call when on your way and they will come down and meet you - email me if you need it. If other group members could be ad hoc roadies for whoever needs it that would be appreciated.
Songbook - we will be using an updated gig book. I'll make sure that's on the website. I have tried to include any changes to arrangements but they are pretty minor so don't worry if you weren't there last night, and I will try to remind everyone before we start any tune that has been tweaked! We may skip songs as we go through the set. We also decided (perhaps controversially) to include five other songs that we might play depending on the mood/drunkeness of the audience. They are: Delilah (that's the controversial one!), Amarillo, The Wild Rover, City of New Orleans and Obladi Oblada. These have been added to this version of the gig book at the end. If you really object to Delilah (should actually we play it), that's the time to get a pint - those at yesterday's session (of all sexes) were keen to include it just this once. There is nothing new - it's the gig book with four extra songs from the Bumper book and one from Souvenir 1, but best to have everything in one place and all the same version, so please download this version and use it. If you cannot download it, please email me and I'll send it to you directly. Can you also just open the file once you've downloaded it to check that it opens and displays correctly. Opening it for the first time at the Corn Exchange and finding it corrupted would be problematic!
Phew - sorry about all that, but best to put it all down in black and white. Obviously the next meeting at the pub will be Wednesday 10th October. I hope to see you at the Corn Exchange on the 3rd.
Cheers"

From the 19th September meeting:

"After a slightly slow and shy start to the open mic last night, we got into the swing of things pretty well, with a good selection of songs and singers in our first half hour, including David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Joe Cocker, Harry Chapin and Billy Bragg, or, if you prefer, David N, Rebecca, a Mark and Joy duet, Trevor and finally Jon, unless I have forgotten anyone. If so, think cock-up not conspiracy.
We then headed into the familiar but not exhausted far reaches of the Gig Book and worked backwards from the end, barring Happy Birthday – and that was despite the fact that four of our 17 singers owned up to having a birthday in the previous week. It was good. If you weren’t there, we missed you. The Gig Book nights always remind me of what a great repertoire we already have.
These are all songs we can bash out pretty well, but in a spirit of incremental improvement, we looked at ways of making the three lines of G in Sloop a bit more interesting by adding Cs and Ds (3rd and 5th frets of the A string) in some places. It will make sense when written down.
We also looked at singles strums for the second half of the chorus of I’m a Believer, which added a good change of pace, sorted the counting in YMCA rather better, decided probably to skip Please Don’t Let me be Misunderstood as a gig song and changed to a monologue for the first verse of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. As with last week’s pre-gig changes, if we don’t all do this at the Beer Festival then it won’t be a hanging offence, but you’ll perhaps have a chance to revise some of the changes next week.
Talking of gigs, in case you missed the Facebook post, our Sutton afternoon on Saturday went well so long as no one mentions Urban Spaceman (a blip that we were able to laugh over) and the relatively thin audience. We sounded good. I gather from Norman that the Pirate Day also went very well.
In two weeks, we will decamp en masse to the 41st Bedford Beer and Cider Festival for the Wednesday evening session in The Corn Exchange. You are all welcome to join us, whether you are regular giggers or not. Full details will be circulated next week.
Gigs and open mics are obviously only part of what we do. The bulk of it is playing the music you have chosen, largely through the Strum Wot You Brung process, and we want to kick off BrungStrum5. This time, we would like you to choose two or three songs using the following criteria that we agreed last night:
1. Any one song from any era that you think really ought to be in the Gig Book for 2019. That could be Anarchy in the UK; it could be the National Anthem; it could be Bohemian Rhapsody; it could be My Way . . . It’s up to you entirely, but aim for something you think our audiences would want to hear and perhaps to join in with. Whether we can play your choice and whether it makes it into the Gig Book is a different matter, but think popular rather than obscure.
2. Any one song from this list of songs http://www.songfacts.com/category-songs_used_in_commercials.php that have been used in advertising. That’s a broad spectrum of just under 700 ear-worms. Advertisers are canny. They know a catchy tune and how to link it to attractive lifestyle choices so there is plenty of variety within that list.
3. Any one song that you have already sung at one of our open mic sessions or that you promise to do in one of the next two open mic sessions. If you haven’t done open mic, then this final route isn’t open to you . . .unless you get your act together over the next couple of months. Think of it as both a reward for people doing it and an incentive for others to get a song in our next book with no questions asked. For those of us who have done open mic, we’ll have to think which of our songs are suitable for mass singing etc, but that’s a nice bonus.
As a couple of general thoughts, people last night felt it would be good to have more songs that included a bit of fingerpicking and more where we can split into parts and harmonies. Perhaps that will help you in your choices.
Please send any songs or links to song sheets to Jon and me by the end of October and we’ll do our best to get a songbook out in November.
The end of October? Halloween? You bet. We are aiming for another Halloween night of pumpkin shenanigans so if you have any Halloween songs that you’d like us to add to the existing selection in the Spookelele songbook (available through all good Ukulele Bedford websites), send them to us this month. I dare say we’ll still want to do some of the familiar songs from that book but a Spookytwokulele spectacular would be fun. These don’t have to be too tightly linked to All Hallows Eve: anything from Smashing Pumpkins, the Automatics’ Monster, Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, Evil Woman from ELO, Nelly Furtado’s Maneater, the Specials’ Ghost Town, Scary Monsters (and super creeps) from Mr Bowie, Zombie from the Cranberries . . . the list could be endless, but it isn’t. I’ll stop there.
Finally, next week won’t be entirely gig focused but there will be the odd run through of our improvements. Other that that, we await your playlist and, especially if you are thinking of getting back into the ukulele groove after the summer, your company. Cheers"

From the 12th September meeting:

"Last night, as promised, we kept it domestic by sticking to the gig book. We ironed out more problems than the creases we ironed in, but found one or two more places that need a bit of steam. The gig book now has 56 songs in it, and we managed to hoover up 22 plus a few repeats in the evening. Perhaps next time we have a gig evening we should start from the back.
For those of you who weren’t with us, we spruced up Things, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Half the World Away, and Mamma Mia. In short:
Things: Women sing the whole thing. Men remain silent during the bracketed bits, except for the first line of the chorus. That contrast worked well and we found that adding male voices to the first line of the chorus gave it a bit more oomph.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams: in the second line of Ah-ahs before the final chorus, the rhythm is the same as the first line of Ah-ahs. As written it looks like there are two ah-ahs in the D chord before coming back in with I walk a. We can ditch those.
Half the World Away: rather than our previous ending, we are aiming to be closer to the original by keeping the words flowing and level rather than with a pause between the Don’t and the feel.
Mamma Mia: For the intro, we’ll all aim to pick. So, that’s starting with the G string and then the A and back and so on for a bar on the C chord. Then again for a bar of C+ and so on. The same goes for the instrumental break and the outro, with a single strum on C to finish. In addition, we’ll go for the o-o-o-ohs played tacet. It sounded good last night.
If you don’t have time to look at these before Saturday's gig, or just play the way you know that’s fine. There will be no fines, disciplinary procedures invoked or even raised eyebrows, but it would be great if we can just make all these slightly crisper. We found a few holes in You Got It that need a darning needle before its next public outing.
Talking of Saturday and the next gig, details have been sent out via email and on the Facebook group.
Next week, it’s our open mic starting at 7pm and then from 7.30pm we can play whatever we like – perhaps a bit more from the other end of the gig book, perhaps your playlist if you send me one. Whatever, I am sure it will beat laundry.
I hope to see you on Saturday."

From the 5th September meeting:

"Email issues meant that only some Facebook users got to see David’s playlist before last night, but I think everyone enjoyed it whether it was a surprise or not. It covered, mainly, Brungstrums 1-3, but also Mr Sandman and The Boxer from the Bumper Book. When we got the hang of various pauses, a newer version of Galway Girl on paper went really well. That’s been send to you via email so as to change the nature of your excuse for not having it – the dog deleted my homework doesn’t quite work, does it? Other highlights were Take on Me, with Lydia and David’s vocals hitting the right spots, and our managing You Got It without obvious incident – the rapid shift to the choruses often catches some of us unawares.
Our mix of cha-cha-cha, tremelo and sloooow endings needs more scrutiny, especially for gigs. This lead to a brief reprise of various ways to do the tremelo thing. I think we identified six versions that, with practice, would lead to the same sound:

• Straight up and down on all strings with the rigid forefinger doing the strumming, and the wrist/forearm making the movement.
• Straight up and down with two or three (or even four) rigid fingers doing the strumming, and the forearm/wrist needing a slightly larger movement to make all fingers clear all strings.
• Four fingers making a rapid drumming (as on a desk) movement across all strings, with the wrist held rigid and the thumb supporting at the base of the uke neck.
• The middle finger held reversed and tickled across the strings. Put your thumb at the base of the neck and the back of your hand facing the headstock, keep your index finger straight and out of the way and tickle rapidly with the side of your forefinger, as invented by and demonstrated by Covey Wood on YouTube (for some reason I can’t find the link - sorry).
• Up and down rapidly with the side of the thumb, with the fingers of the same hand supporting the underside of the uke. For speed and a regular rather than pulsing rhythm, support the body of the ukulele in some way, otherwise it will move against your hand, and try to keep your strumming digit(s) moving rather than stopping at the end of each stroke – imagine the way a cellist aims for a smooth transition between pushing and pulling the bow on a long note.

All these techniques need practice and you only need proficiency in one, so try them and choose a favourite. Start slowly and build it up - none takes long to learn, but you do need a bit of time. Personally, I prefer the last two on this list: the tickly one for intros such as El Condor Pasa where I have time to get my hands in the right place, and the thumb one for endings, even though it is the gentlest of the options given. I often forget that this is my preference and just do number one, which is at least loud because it's played with my nail. The next step is deciding how many beats or bars of tremelo is required at the end of various songs, and that bring us on to next week.
Rather than an individual list, we’ll stick in the gig book (David’s amended version has benn circulated by email) next week and try to tighten up some of our starts and stops. We may also do a few things like standing up, making eye contact, spending part of the evening with people with similar vocal styles etc, but it won’t be too heavy or directed – we’ll still spend most of it playing the music that, collectively, we have decided is worth pushing to a wider audience.
That has to be a recipe for a good evening, so please come along.
Cheers"

From the 29th August meeting:

"Despite being in bank holiday week, our numbers built to 22 last night for a bubble and squeak of an evening – tasty cooked up leftovers from previous curations, served by Jon. This included Summer Holiday, Hotel Yorba, Happy Together, Island in the Sun and Somewhere Only We Know – which could almost have been a holiday theme, if it weren’t for Pumped Up Kicks and 24 Hours from Tulsa to bring us down to the miseries of everyday post-holiday existence (but in a good way). We got right through Viva La Vida for the first and, I suspect, not the last time, and even had wine with our meal . . . or whine, anyway, in the form of Wonderwall. If you were there, I am sure you can work out which bits would have counted as squeak.
If you weren’t with us, rest assured that you will be welcomed back for the autumn with our usual mix of raucous cheer, next week in the form of a playlist that David Neale is working up for our delight. We may devote at least part of the evening to practising gig songs as well, as our next outing in Sutton on 15th September isn’t too far away. As well as reacquainting ourselves with the songs, we’ll try to tighten up a little on things like tremolo endings so that we can present ourselves in as crisp a light as possible.
If you aren’t into our gigs, then come along anyway. We always play those songs well because we know and like them, and I am really looking forward to what David comes up with for the rest of the evening. It’s bound to be fun.
All the best"

From the 22nd August meeting:

"Last night we crept up to 19 players, for Trevor’s fine alternative playlist, covering just a few from the Bumper Book and mostly some of the rarities from Brungstrums 4 and 3. We started, though, with Say a Little Prayer, as a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin in a performance that would have left her spinning in her grave had her funeral not been next week. Whether that took us on the wrong track or for other reasons – such as not knowing the songs - we struggled with our timings and rhythm for the first part of the evening, before settling later for a good selection of music, enjoyably played.
I take three things from this. Songs we don’t know well are always going to be a struggle – that’s a tautological no-brainer. Secondly, we need to learn to listen and correct ourselves better as we go along in light of what the rest of the group is up to. That’s not a pointed criticism, just a general reflection that sometimes we start and finish together while managing to control any drift in the middle, whereas at other times we plough on to inevitable collapse through sheer doggedness. One of the ideas for a learning session that we can revisit after the holiday season focuses on listening. Making eye contact with the rest of the group during those wobblier sections of songs may help bring us all back to heel. Third, some songs that are associated with a strong individual vocalist may need a different treatment when transferred to a ukulele group. It would be great if, for example, we could sometimes merge the solo performances from our open mic sessions with backing and quieter strumming from the rest of the group, just as a change of pace.
All those musings aside, Trevor found us some good songs that needed revisiting. I had Starlight running through my head over night, and I was pleased that we got through most of Ukulele Anthem unscathed. Once again, the session reminded me of how useful the BrungStrum process has been for introducing us to new music that we all have a stake in. We’ll start thinking about BrungStrum5 before long, I suspect.
Other news in brief: the next open mic session will be on 19th September, plenty of time for you to hone your solo Bohemian Rhapsody/Stairway to Heaven mashup (other song choices are available). Don’t forget our next gig on 15th September at Sutton. The more the merrier. The Strum Like a Pirate Day programme for the same date has now been published on Facebook. And Colin tells us of concerts in Stevington that may interest those of you who can face listening to instruments with six strings: http://stevingtonguitarconcerts.co.uk/concerts/ Tim Edey, BBC Radio 2’s musician of the year for 2012, headlines.
Next week, we’ll have someone else’s playlist, perhaps yours if you send me one. Failing that Jon or I may put something together, possibly looking at more of the BrungStrum dropouts. And if none of that happens, we’ll go around the room asking for your choices on the night, so if you want to avoid an evening of Abba, Kylie and Half Man Half Biscuit, do have a think about what you’d like to play. It’s bound to be a good evening, whatever happens.
All the best"

From the 15th August meeting:

"A lean summer-weight, beach-ready Ukulele Bedford gathered last night for Rex’s collection of largely underplayed songs from the Bumper Book. It didn’t take long to discover why some of them were underplayed (Hey Jude, or the car crash that is Rawhide), but others saw a welcome return or showed promise. What is it about Crocodile Rock that makes everyone laugh, even without Ian’s suggestion of making a medley with Speedy Gonzales? We'll probably never know (especially the Speedy Gonzales thing).
For much of the night we had an audience of two men and a dog (yes, literally). They (the men) may be interested in us playing for a new local mental health awareness charity before long, I think as entertainment rather than therapy, but it works both ways.
Within our group of 15 people, we also saw the welcome return of newly retired Colin after about 18 months absence, and we look forward to him becoming a regular again.
Next week we have a playlist from Trevor, mainly BrungStrum leftovers from his previous curation, but with plenty of room for additions from the floor. You'll have had it by email or can find it on our Facebook page.
After that, who knows? Perhaps you do if you have been working on a list at your beach hotel, or while pretending to work while your boss is at their beach hotel. Coming up with a list isn’t for everyone, but don’t be shy about choosing your favourite songs for an evening. So far they have all gone rather well.
Have a good week."

From the 8th August meeting:

"After a slightly slow start last night we built up to around our usual summer number of 20 players for what became a sort of Spandau Ballet sandwich. The open mic – thanks to Rex for organising the sound again – saw a few of the usual suspects get up, with Dave S and Norman treating us to an unrehearsed duet for a change, and with a bit of spare time before the main session, David N gave us his second SB song of the evening.
The sandwich filling was Norman’s playlist of 20th Century favourites, spiced with Human as our one 21st Century dollop of mustard. The sandwich was topped off with a few extras, including a rendition of Fernando that won’t trouble the West End. What’s that line? “I am not afraid to say the roar of ukuleles almost made me cry.” Something of that ilk anyway, and we ended the night with Gold – that makes three Spandau Ballet songs in one night to close our sandwich. And yes, I know a sandwich is normally defined by its filling rather than its bread, unless it’s something poncy and as full of holes as my analogy, like sour dough, but as Spandau Ballet sang "Why do I find it hard to write the next line?"
Next week we have a playlist from Rex of slightly lesser-played Bumper Book tunes. See the Facebook group or your email for the full list.
There will be plenty of scope within the evening for other songs from different books, but it’s good to have a foundation to work on. The following week, we have a list from Trevor, so there is no need for me to cajole any more from you for a little while, but that needn’t stop you thinking.
This much is true. Have a good week."

From the 1st August meeting:

"A decent holiday-level contingent of sweaty pluckers cantered through Ian’s homage to girl’s names last night, with reasonable success. We started with The Beatles’ Anna (go with him), which few of us had heard – definitely an album filler in my mind – steered our way through Barbara Ann with more success than previously, sniggered at the quaintness of Frankie’s gun going “blooty-too”, mumbled Good Night to Irene, welcomed Lulu Back in Town (where we also pleaded Ruby not to go), finally found the tune for Runaround Sue and, I think, realised how long and turgid Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is when you strip it back to uke group chords. Not for nothing was psychedelia all about wrapping things up in swirling harmonies and bright colours.
I think that was 27 name songs, and then we squeezed in a few extras for good measure. Thanks, Ian. It certainly gave us a different flavour for an evening.
Next week, we will be under Norman’s curation, and we’ll have more opportunity to add our individual choices as we go through. We hope to get you Norman’s list in good time. I bet I can think of a few songs that will be on it, but I am sure there will be some surprises – this gets perilously close to a new game: Ukulele Curation Bingo!
After next week,we don’t have anyone fully lined up for curation, although there are one or two possibles. If you feel like slipping us a list, please do. It could be themed, like Ian’s, your personal favourites, or just a scattering of tunes that you think might put a smile on our evening. Here’s a little secret: people think it’s going to be hard work deciding what we could play, but when you get into it it’s good fun. Before you know it your lists could be generating more lists.
Have a good week"

From the 25th July meeting:

"Despite the school holidays, rumours that it may be a tad warm in the pub, and the inclusion of a few tricky songs in Debbie’s fine playlist, some 19 sun-baked souls turned up for last night’s session. And it was well worth the effort. As a relative newbie, Debbie was blissfully unaware that some of the songs she picked had caused us trouble in the past. But just as most traffic flows unscathed through an accident black spot, we managed to sidle our way through a fair amount of them with reasonable decorum if not panache. The old-school rock (Smoke on the Water, Since You’ve been Gone) could have done with bass, drums, a stack of amplification and fewer E chords, but they raised a smile and that works for me. The somewhat inappropriate There Ain’t No Sunshine is one worth revisiting when brains have cooled. Thank you, Debbie.
Prepare yourself for our next open mic on Wednesday 8th August. Preparation can involve learning a new song, finding your ear plugs or just booking your babysitter for half an hour earlier than usual. We’ll start at 7pm.
Next week, 1st August, we have a new playlist from Ian of “Songs with girls names in the title”. This is a mix of songs we already play, songs we have had that don’t get much airing and a few new ones. To avoid the skipping between song books, Ian has created this as an entirely new book, but we’ll still try to make time for your own choices. You will have had it sent to you via email - and it is also available on the group Facebook page.
Enjoy the sun – or the weekend’s thunder."

From the 18th July meeting:

"It was hot. Blimey, it was hot. Certainly as far as the temperature was concerned, and actually the playing and singing wasn't far behind either. 25 or so of us steamed through Barry's playlist, which was packed with favourites. For the most part we did them justice, all bar a few for which my 'creative' interpretation of the tune bore little resemblance to what the writer intended! My homework for this week is to actually listen to Runaround Sue :) and apparently we've been singing the last few lines of Half The World Away wrong for years! If I have anything to do with it then we will revisit those next week to try and get them right.
And that might well happen, as we have now run out of playlists. If anyone would like to put a list together for next week, please do so and send it over. You might like to choose a list that is themed in some way (there must be lots with the words "hot", "sun" or "I wish it would bleedin' rain" in the songbooks somewhere) or just pick your personal faves. New member, old hand, previous list picker - all welcome to do it. If nobody steps forward I will produce a list that contains ones we didn't get around to from previous lists plus some other odd-ball choices. And the two mentioned above. If we get no other takers I will post a list by the end of the weekend.
Speaking of the weekend, (these links don't just happen you know) we have an informal gig at Trevor's house for his wife Erica's birthday. Saturday at 7pm for an hour. We won't be taking the PA, or any amps - just your music (the latest gigbook) and a ukulele will be fine. I will circulate Trevor's location details via email to everyone before then - if you don't get the emails for some odd reason but do use Facebook, please just message me and I'll send them when I have them.
Have a nice week - and keep cool (as if any of you could ever be anything else!)"

From the 4th July meeting:

"Last night found about 25 of us (including a new John - hello, John!) playing through a selection of tunes picked by Graham, with choices from the floor being added as we went along. As seems to be becoming the norm, Graham's list included both oft-played favourites and some more obscure songs that have been lurking unloved in the dusty corners of the songbooks for far too long. I think last night's most unknown find was probably 'Fire and Rain' - I didn't know it, and in fact didn't even know it was a James Taylor song. We gave it a good go, but probably lost on penalties! The mix of knowns and unknowns (don't get me started on the known unknowns etc!) seems to work well. Upcoming list providers are Lisa and Barry. When we get to play them is a slight mystery because...
... we may not be in the pub next week. There's a football tournament going on (you probably noticed) and after England's convincing demolition of Columbia (ahem), they will be playing in a quarter final on Saturday. Win that and they will be in a semi-final next Wednesday at 7pm. In that case the landlord, not unreasonably, would like his pub full of Ingerland supporters who will probably buy more per head than a couple of shandies, so we will not be meeting. So if England win on Saturday - no uke meeting next Wednesday. If England lose - meeting as usual. Talk about split loyalties!
Whether we have a meeting next Wednesday or not, we do have a gig next Saturday (14th) in a field in Wilden, performing at a birthday party. It's an evening do, playing from 7.30 until about 9.30 with a break in the middle (not earlier as I misremembered last night). This is a full PA and 'amplified ukes if you have them' affair. We ought to get there at about 6.45 - Crow Hill Farm, Ravensden Road, Wilden MK44 2QS . If we do as well as we did at Felmersham, it will be excellent fun. Mr bassman Martin won't be there, so maybe it's Tom's chance to make his debut as the group's John Entwhistle (look it up, youngsters!)?
We also have a more relaxed, informal gig the weekend after at Trevor's house in MK to celebrate his wife's birthday. More details next bulletin, but it will be purely acoustic - he has to live with his neighbours afterwards!
So - see you Wednesday, Saturday or Wednesday - keep practicing that E flat chord!
All the best."

From the 27th June meeting:

"Last night, around 20 of us braved the open mic session and Kathryn’s playlist – and a worthy enterprise that all proved to be.
In the open mic, everyone performed well, but I think special mention should go to Jon for combining the two great events of the current era (admittedly for a rather limited definition of era) of a new Half Man Half Biscuit album and a football World Cup in the one song, “Swerving the Checkatrade”, and then to Ian for Craig Robertson’s “That Dress”, which Ian performed faultlessly despite no preparation. The sound was good as well, and for that we have Rex to thank, who has now taken over this aspect of the open mic from David. David celebrated his well-earned rest by rushing home to get his music. Easily done.
For the main evening, Kathryn’s excellent playlist provided a solid backbone of good and varied songs, largely from the more modern end of our spectrum, and we welcomed Debbie as a newcomer who promises to be back. From her email address alone, which includes “hooded crow”, we can tell that the ranks of birdy uke players in our midst has swollen even further. Excellent.
Next week, Graham will provide the song list, with Lisa doing so the following week. As usual, there will be plenty of space for suggestions from the floor, but this new-ish system of soft curation is working well. We hope to post Graham’s list on our Facebook page early next week, but if you don’t see it just come along and enjoy the surprise.
This Saturday, 30th June, we will be playing at The Sun in Felmersham in the afternoon. Expect to be playing from around 3.30-6 pm but with a long break in the middle to celebrate the bicentenary of the town bridge. Please arrive from 3pm for sound check and set up and expect to be standing up outside or under a gazebo unless the weather is bad. If we are indoors, we half fill the bar.
I look forward to seeing you all next week. And if it’s as hot as last night, remember that the pub has ice.
Have a good week."

From the 13th June meeting:

"Without Jon and with a bass uke but no bass amplifier – stuck with Jon in his faulty car – there was the potential for last night to be much more difficult than it proved to be. We got away with it, largely thanks to the structure provided by Joy’s excellent playlist. This approach of soft curation really seems to work.
Digging through the songbooks between Joy’s choices, we managed to unearth other neglected delights as well. Dream a little dream has sat for too long unplayed and we did it justice. Daytrip to Bangor has perhaps sat even longer, but I am not sure we were the best advert for north Wales’ tourism. It’s amazing how not having the chords written in every verse, even for a simple pattern, throws us all off. On a few occasions we really missed the bass, such as for Dirty old town, but we can return to those songs in due course. Generally though, I think the 25 of us – including a new Christine, welcome – did ok and people seemed to enjoy themselves and to appreciate Joy’s time spent coming up with a list.
Next week, it is Trevor’s turn to curate, and we are going to try a slightly different approach. Rather than just pluck songs at random, Trevor has grouped his selection into keys to see if we gain any momentum or can spot any patterns in our performance of different songs in those different keys. If we find that either as a group or individually we sing or play better with songs in, say, the key of G, then that could be used to guide future song choices. Of course, this does raise the possibility of there being several songs in a row that just don’t suit individuals. Live with it. It’s only an experiment, and I am certain that this won’t see the exclusion of all future songs in Eb minor.
Rather than calling for songs from the floor to supplement Trevor’s list all the time, we’ll play a group of songs in one key, then see if that raises any ideas from the floor, and then move on to the next key group and so one. If your grasp of musical theory and keys is as flimsy as mine – I know there are some songs that are beyond me, but I never really know whether that’s to do with key, range, timing or what – just carry on singing and playing as usual and let others ponder about the stroky-beard implications of how we all do.
The following week, 27th June, we’ll start at 7pm for the open mic, but if you’d like to send me or Jon a list that we can base the rest of the evening on, then so much the better. It could be themed (how about summer songs, as the nights will have started drawing in by then!); it could just be songs you like; you could pick prime numbers from the songbooks . . . but please stretch your brain around some choices and let us know.
Don’t forget that we have a gig in the afternoon at Felmersham on 30th June. That 200th Anniversary of the town bridge won’t celebrate itself you know.
All the best"

From the 6th June meeting:

"It would be interesting to see whether, given a list of 15 songs selected from our songbooks, you could work out who chose them. Last night, Dave Shiers was our curator and some of the choices definitely reflected on him – in a good way. We had Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, 21 Pilots, Kraftwerk, U2, Katy Perry and many others. There was a good mix of the familiar and the rare and, as might be expected, some good challenges. One song, for example, suddenly sprung a Dmaj7 chord on us at the end. The volume of playing noticeably dropped for the duration. Another, Pin ball Wizard, that we have been astutely avoiding for years, proved a bit much, but it is certainly playable, especially with barre chords up the neck. One advantage of publishing a list in advance is that people can practice some of these trickier tunes, and I tip my hat to Dave for making us have a go.
For next week, Joy has come up with a list, and we have an offer from Trevor and possibly Kathryn after that. It doesn’t make sense to plan this too far in advance or you’ll find your choices have already been used up – not that there is anything against playing the same song two weeks in a row.
We have a few more details on forthcoming gigs. On 30th June, we’ll be at The Sun pub in Felmersham once more, this time celebrating the 200th anniversary of the village bridge. Like you do. It looks like we’ll be the filling in a morris dancer sandwich, playing from around 3.30 for 45 minutes and then completing our set for perhaps an hour more after the dancers have hung up their bells and put their sticks safely out of reach.
On 15th September, we are looking to play for two hours with a 15-minute break at Sutton Village Hall. This is likely to be between 2-4pm. Last year they had two other musical acts (loosely speaking – no one was quite sure when warmup ended and performance began for one of them), but this year we rule the roost. This is the same date as Strum Like a Pirate Day and we will be working out how we can have a presence at both events.
The next open mic will probably be on 27th June and our next learning session is likely to be on 4th July. Details to follow.
Finally, I think all 20 of us present last night should thank Dave again for a fun, interesting and challenging evening last night. If any of you would like to be our curator soon, let us know. All we need is your list of 20 songs. Surely most of us have spent an idle moment wondering what our song choices would be if we were cast away on Desert Island Discs. This is just the same but without having to suffer awkward questions about your childhood and the highs and lows of your career from Kirsty Young.
I look forward to seeing you all next week.
Cheers"

From the 30th May meeting:

"Last night, there were 29 of us in the pub, including a new John – welcome – and it was good to see Nikki and Ollie back. We sped through 15 of Jon’s list of 20 songs and still had plenty of time for more from the floor. This curated approach seems useful as a way of keeping things moving, and it saves my throat a bit. After all, I am sure your evenings are better without me haranguing you for a song every five minutes.
Publishing the list before we play elicited positive comments on Facebook, and if you practiced one of the five songs that we didn’t play and felt you missed out or – shock – wasted your time, then why not suggest it as one of the fillers in the next playlist. That playlist will be conjured up by Dave Shiers and we hope to get it to you before next week. We also have Joy and Trevor working on similar lists for the future.
Why don’t we have yours? All you need do is come up with a list of 15-20 songs that you’d like to play and let me know. They could be personal favourites, or you could list to a theme. You don’t even have to know how to lead them. And if a song doesn’t work or we run out, then we revert to suggestions from the floor – it’s relaxed, soft curation.
Musically, we were a little ragged on occasion last night when playing songs that have been lurking untouched in our books for a while, but it was a good selection and I think we’ll resurrect some of them more often. The songs we knew well, we sang and played well. That’s nice. But we also made a good fist of Proud Mary and Blame it on Me, and City of New Orleans is in danger of becoming a group standard of Wagon wheel proportions.
We have had a request for a gig in Gamlingay at Woodview Farm open day on 9th June – yes, very soon – but it looked a little borderline last night as to whether we would have the numbers. It would be in the afternoon as part of a fundraising event for MAGPAS. We haven’t committed to it yet, so if you are up for it, email me by the end of Friday and I can make the call.
Finally, we have had quite a few people say that the new venue is more social, with more chat and general interaction. This is good, and I think we all still like it. But there is a slight downside, as voiced at the AGM, that more chat makes it harder for people to hear instructions and even counting in. One table in particular last night struggled to hear, so please bear in mind the impact that your chat, post-song analyses and riff-noodling between songs has on everyone else. And if you can’t hear what’s going on, don’t be afraid to speak up. Let’s see if we can maintain viable levels of banter and order without recourse to the Duck Call of Power (some of you will remember its chilling tone) or a microphone.
I look forward to seeing and hearing you all next week and to finding out what Dave Shiers’ angling in the archives will yield. I can hardly wait.
Cheers"

From the 23rd May meeting:

"Following our slightly underwhelming – but actually still rather enjoyable – street party gig at the weekend, it was good to get back to a straight evening session with no pressure last night. I think there were around 29 of us and we played as broad a temporal, geographical and stylistic mix as ever. The approach last night was what I shall call “soft curation.” In other words, rather than badgering everyone for their personal choices, I came with a flexible list of songs that, I hope, still allowed space for people to say “Can we do the next one in the book?” or “Can we play X?” To my mind, this kept the evening flowing well and stopped us just panicking and playing the same few songs as the previous week. I thought it was great, but let me know if it seemed to work for you.
If any of you would like to be a soft curator soon, speak up. All you would have to do is give me a list and I can do the announcing – or you could. You could take the same approach I took last night of old and new stuff that we haven’t played much recently (I suspect Haole Hula was new for some people, despite its being a gig staple of old), or we could have a night that just focuses on your favourites from 1967 – so long as they are in our books – or songs that mention colours or the weather or whatever you choose. We’d perhaps run it for the first half of the session and make sure there was space for others – soft, see.
Next week, time and memory permitting, Jon is going to be our Mr Softee, and will come with a list of around 15 songs, but there will still be space for perhaps the same number again called from the floor.
Don’t forget to let us know if you are up for a daytime session in a local elderly care home or if you want to be part of a regular bunch on a Tuesday at the Wellington Arms that Tom is coordinating, or if you have any views on the timing for our open mic sessions. The limited feedback on that so far is that the earlier start is easier for setup, less intimidating for new performers and less intrusive over the break. On the other hand, for those who did brave it, they had a bigger audience who – perhaps crucially – had already started drinking. On balance, we are likely to go early unless you tell us otherwise.
And finally, we haven’t forgotten about our learning sessions on singing and playing and hope to have a couple more lined up before too long. As ever, if any of you have knowledge that you’d like to share, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
I am looking forward to next week already. As we have only one Half Man Half Biscuit song in our books, Jon is going to have to dig deep into our repertoire and that can only be good.
All the best"

From the 16th May meeting:

"What brought so many people out last night? Was it the open mic? Was it the prospect of the open mic being in the middle of the evening? Was it a decent evening to be out but just too cold for a barbecue? Who knows, but we reaped the benefits of a great evening with up to 31 people present, including guests and visitors. Norman brought two guests who sloped off to a prior engagement part way through – they were keen to mention that their leaving wasn’t a criticism – and we welcomed Michelle and Algernon for the first time, although many of us knew them from BLUD. Last week’s new Ron returned, and we had a good turn out from the regulars.
When given the choice of what to play, we kept coming back to the GigBook, partly to reassure ourselves on some details but mainly because these are songs that we like to play, and we like to play them well. So we did. It would be fair to say that there weren’t many rarities in our songs from last night, but if there is one thing that being a lifelong birdwatcher has taught me it is that rarities are much less common that other things, however much we sometimes wish otherwise.
Songs of note for me were Memories are Made of This, the Rudy/Tide is High mash-up and It’s All About You, and all for the same reasons. When split, either between the sexes or between tables, our singing was so strong that everything seemed to work. That gives a nice added depth to our sound. It’s also worth mentioning that Oliver’s Army is now certainly gig-worthy. We have resolved the ending by simply cutting off all the ohs and ahs – no ending is a better ending.
The sound quality of the open mic is to be commended and it was good to be playing to a fuller audience than when it is in its usual early evening slot. Opinion is a bit split on when to have it, but the experimental move was certainly worth the effort. I would love to hear what you thought about the timing, whether you were one of the brave souls who performed last night, were a member of the audience last night or just couldn’t make it. It was slightly disappointing that no one who was asking for the timing to be moved at the AGM got up and sang.
As to the music of the open mic itself, Lydia performed George Ezra’s Shotgun – a great song done well last night; David performed a different version of Teenage Dirtbag that he hopes we can adopt; and Jon and Mark got away with an unrehearsed For What is Chatteris? Along with Joy Division Oven Gloves later in the evening, this gave us an unprecedented double of HMHB songs. Does that make it One Man One Biscuit? If I have missed anyone from the list, I apologise – one consequence of having the open mic at the same time as the break is the possibility of missing someone's performance when nature calls.
Next week counts as a normal (and therefore assuredly excellent) week – no open mic, no learning session, just a whole crate of fun from 7.30pm. Please come with some ideas of what you’d like us to play. Perhaps we can give some of our rarities a bit of an outing. Surely we can’t have two weeks with double HMHB and no Beatles? If it hadn't been for Ukulele Lady last night, surely the Uke gods would have been alerted to strange goings-on in Bedford.
This Saturday, because a Royal Wedding and an FA Cup Final aren’t entertaining enough in one day, we will be playing the street party at the Wellington Arms, Bedford. Be there by 1.30pm to set up and play between 2-4pm. There will be time for beer and scones as well, and the weather forecast looks great, so come and join us.
Until then, strum well."

From the 9th May meeting:

"We have had two good sessions since I last reported. First, the gig at Wilden May Fair went well, with 20 of us braving the heat and, I think, holding the whole fete together rather well. We played and sang well and the audience seemed to enjoy our selection of songs. For both the piercingly loud Tannoy announcements and the bagpipe band that lead the May Queen’s procession, you could see people literally covering their ears in pain. For us, there was no such nonsense. I think every song provoked at least a tiny bit of applause. In a split set totalling two hours, we didn’t get near to completing the whole of the Gigbook, so we should have enough songs to keep us going for the season.
Then last night we were at it again. Some 24 people – including welcome newcomer Ron – turned out and played a bit of everything, with the only complete non-event being Bat out of Hell (again), but we did struggle with a few of the more obscure choices where the half-remembered tricky bits only hit our brains just after they were needed. Mostly we had a good mix from the Bumper Book, several BrungStrums and even Spookelele.
Next week sees the return of our open mic, but in the middle of the evening rather than as an early start. As usual, we are going to limit it to 30 minutes and one song per person unless there are no takers for the final few minutes. New and irregular performers will have priority, and we’ll see whether moving to this new slot is worth pursuing. The plan so far is that we will break at 8.45 and restart our usual session at 9.15. For that half hour, people can perform open mic, watch open mic or drink and chat at the bar, or any combination of those three appealing activities.
The next gig on 19th May at the Wellington Arms, Bedford, is shaping up nicely. At present it looks like we’ll be playing for up to two hours between the end of the Royal Wedding and the start of the FA Cup Final, as a way of stopping people from sloping off home for the afternoon. We may be under gazebos or indoors, depending on the weather, and it’s all for charity. Talking of the Welly, Tom is coordinating our response to their asking for a few people to play regularly on a Tuesday evening. You can engage with that discussion on our Facebook Group or on the new one Tom has set up specifically - www.facebook.com/groups/UkesofWellington,.
I hope to see you all next Wednesday for open mic and another selection of your chosen songs from any book from around the room."

From the 2nd May meeting:

"There were 20 players in the pub last night, but by the time Lydia had finished with us, we sounded like a choir of 30. It was a great night and the improvement in our collective singing from half an hour of simple, well-considered tuition paid off almost instantly.
Lydia went through exercises and procedures that will be familiar to anyone who has had a singing lesson, but the key thing is that we then put it all into practice and it worked. Wow! Isn’t education marvellous? To summarise the key points that I can recall:

• Breathe from the abdomen rather than the chest, and make sure you have enough breath to power your voice
• Warm up your voice with tongue-twisters (“the teeth, the lips, the tip of the tongue”) to get the mouth working in the right shapes
• Sing within your range rather than strain to hit every note of a melody – other people will be able to reach the extremes but your best projection will come from within your range (that’s a paraphrase that Lydia can correct in Facebook)
• Sing near to other people with similar vocal ranges. It builds confidence to hear the same sounds coming from people near you, and with confidence comes volume.
• Stand up to aid breathing and projection.

Reading this now is one thing, but doing it makes a difference. So, for example, at gigs it would make sense to arrange ourselves in vocal groupings – so long as we all get near a microphone. It also means we shouldn’t worry quite so much about songs being brought in that are in a funny key – instead we should have the confidence to let people who are comfortable with it lead, in the sure knowledge that there will be plenty that the rest of us can do beyond struggling to hit all the melody.
One other thing worth considering is that Lydia knew what we needed because she has been with us for a couple of years. There was talk at the AGM about bringing in external people to run workshops. They wouldn’t have that knowledge. Sometimes having an external opinion is really handy and we don’t know everything between us, but I have been in many workshops run by notable – world-famous even – ukulele players that have missed the mark completely. Let’s see if there is more we can do within the group before casting our net much wider. Martin and Trevor have both offered to lead something for us, so we have more knowledge to tap into already.
If you are up for a workshop elsewhere, our friends at Burton Latimer have organised “An Evening with Peter Luongo” on 14th May. His workshops at the GNUF have sold out, so this is probably your only chance to learn from the ex-musical director of one of the world’s most famous uke groups, the Langley Ukulele Ensemble. The evening costs £10 and is bookable via the BLUD Group Facebook page.
After Louder with Lydia, we played a few Gigbook songs before taking choices from around the room. This resulted in a load more Gigbook songs (because we like the Gigbook) and a few other Bumper Book and Brungstrum4 favourites, ending with Space Oddity. We weren’t faultless, but the singing was great and we are certainly gig-ready.
Talking of gigs, here are details for Monday’s Wilden May Fair gig. Location: Wilden Village Hall, High Street, Wilden, Bedford, MK44 2PB. There is one main road through the village and the hall is on the northern side of that. Arrival time for set up: 1pm. Playing from 1.30-2.30 and 3-4pm . . . or thereabouts. Dress code: colourful and confident or branded (UB T-shirt) or both. Bring music stands, the latest Gigbook on your charged device and a way to stop it blowing off your stand. We may be either in the village hall itself or in a gazebo outside. Note that the event starts with a children’s procession from the school to the village hall, leaving at 1pm. As the obvious route is along the High Street, there may be parking restrictions in place.
If you haven’t told us you are coming to the gig but find yourself free, just turn up. There will be space.
Next Wednesday, we’ll be back to a 7.30pm start for a normal session. And by normal, I mean good and perhaps even loud.
See you on Monday."

From the 25th April meeting:

"After a slightly underwhelming rendition of Wake Me Up as our Avicii tribute last night, I picked on each of the 24 of us at random for a song and everyone came up trumps. We ended up with a light-fingered tour through most of our books, with slightly more focus on the new Gigbook than others. We included old favourites such as The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (filed under T for The, semi-logically) and Sway, as well as perilously modern songs like Country House and Exes and Ohs and everything in between. Mamma Don’t ‘Llow and Ra Ra Rasputin had rare and welcome outings. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. Thank you everyone.
Next week, we start at 7 pm for what I shall term “Louder with Lydia”, a half-hour session on, I think, vocal projection techniques. Some of us certainly need more help on getting our voices across and Lydia considers this to be a learnable skill. I have no idea what the session will include. Be prepared for physical and vocal work that may more typically be associated with alcohol. Oh; we are in a pub. How convenient!
After 30 minutes of getting Louder with Lydia, we’ll probably do a similar thing to this week – personal choices from around the room, again with perhaps a bit of a push on some of the new Gigbook songs. Why won’t that be a splendid evening? No reason at all.
Looking slightly farther ahead, please do let Jon or me know if you are available for the gigs we have coming up. As well as the ones Jon mentioned in last week’s email (7th May at Wilden and 19th May at Bedford’s Wellington Arms being the soonest), we have the Sutton Village Day on 15th September, and we are looking into the possibility of a gig for ourselves in Bedford Park again, as this went well last year. Gigs are good. And with a bit of help from Lydia’s training and our updated repertoire, we should be able to make them even better, so do consider joining us for one or more. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a natural performer, there will be space for you in the back row, and there will always be a place for you on a Wednesday evening.
Strum soon."

From the 18th April meeting:

"Typically, people avoid AGMs lest they get lumbered with more work, so it was really gratifying to see 28 members and regular visitors turn up and engage well with the club last night. We’ll pull together a fuller note about the meeting before long, but in summary from my recollection of the meeting:

• we have had a good year, with good attendance, gigs, communications and web presence
• our bank balance is healthy enough for us not to need to introduce fees for anything other than potential workshops led by external experts
• we added two more charities to our list of recipients of our money from gigs for the coming year, ie FACES Bedford and Prostate Cancer UK.
• we will now distribute last year’s donations to Air Ambulance, British Lung Foundation, Each, Macmillan and Primrose.
• we are pleased that Rebecca has now joined the Committee, with all other Committee members remaining in place
• we will look into on-stage branding in the form of pull-up banners, possible music stand covers and cards promoting our web presence
• we will look at ways to increase our skills development programme over the coming year
• we will try moving the next open mic slot to 8.15pm and see how it goes
• we endorsed the idea that while our gig book should cover a wide range of styles and ages, it should not contain material that is likely to cause offence either to audiences or players, and that playing for ourselves on a Wednesday would have more latitude.

Our new pub is the best venue we have had, but numbers attending have been a few lower than at our last venue. I would be really interested to hear from anyone who is still reads this but who we haven’t seen for a while as to why that might be. Is it because of the venue? Or is that coincidence? Have you just got out of the habit? Are you feeding your ukulele urges in other ways, such as through different groups? Or, Heaven forfend, have your ukulele urges dwindled? Ukulele Bedford is very healthy, so I am not worried about competition, but it would be great to hear from you if you have been out of our playing loop for a while.
After the AGM, we spent the rest of the evening wallowing in the hot tub of our new Gig Book. Download gigbook2018.pdf from our website if you haven’t done so already. Jon has done a great job in pulling it together quickly, and last night we were mainly checking that all the reformatting had worked. As a result, musically, we hardly put a foot wrong last night . . . the odd finger and vocal cord went astray a few times among an evening of generally very strong singing and playing, but no feet.
The bring-and-buy session at half time, I think, turned into more of bring-and-take-home-again, but it was worth a go and perhaps we’ll try again at some point.
As we were rather prescriptive last night – ironing out any last Gig Book wrinkles – we are going to be much less so next week. But that will happen only if you bring your choices. If you leave it to me, you might find yourself celebrating Björn Ulvaeus’s birthday all night, and I know some of you really wouldn’t want that. Just pick any song from any book and we’ll give it a whirl.
We start at 7.30pm, not earlier as advertised previously. This is because Lydia needs to postpone her vocal workshop until the following week, 2nd May. So if you turn up for an early start next week, you’ll just have to drink more. But do turn up. Last night showed us to be in good and robust form. There’s no reason to think next week would be different.
You will receive a separate email from Jon today or tomorrow about the forthcoming gigs. As explained last night there is a question mark over this Saturday’s as the venue may not be ready for us in the light of electrical work needed (and Wembley’s busy, apparently).
All the best"

From the 11th April meeting:

"Over 20 people braved the fog and springtime murk to join us last night, where we were first entertained by six takers in the open mic. Special mention must go to Rebecca in this. She joined us only in June last year, with hardly a chord to her name, but now she’s up performing solo at least as well as those of us who ought to know better. Norman and Lisa also stood up creditably, perhaps for the second time each, with David, Mark and Jon making up the numbers. Jon’s reworked words to Delilah – think more grappling for the tv remote control rather than murder – went well and may be heard again.
After that, we played a fair selection of definite gig songs, possible gig songs, ex-gig songs and nothing whatsoever to do with gig songs and generally proved that we can do this thing and enjoy it at the same time. Washboard Dave proved that he can tap, scrape and bang along to a different range of songs from his usual fare, so we’ll still be employing his percussive magic for gigs even as we lose some of his previous repertoire.
Next week, we will have a brief AGM at 7pm. It will be all over by 7.30pm but do please come along and have your say. So far, no one has come to me with agenda items but do let me know if you want the group to discuss anything. This will include elections, a financial statement, the disbursing of money to charity, gig signage/branding banners and, perhaps, future content of our 7pm slots as well as any other relevant business. I will send a formal agenda around by Monday, so if you want anything added, let me know this week.
At 7.30pm, we’ll play and sing some stuff, as yet unspecified, but I may well pick on you for a choice. Hide one up your sleeve to save embarrassment.
In an extra twist at break time – and thanks to Pat for the thought – we’ll also have a vaguely uke-related bring-and-buy sale. Do you have any beginners’ books you want shot of? Any spare koa-wood ukuleles that you’d like to offer for a fiver? Audio kit that is taking up too much room in your living room? Ukulele-themed trinkets from some thoughtful relative who hasn’t seen your house décor? Spare signed busts of George Formby? If so, bring them along, haggle with your ukulele friends and return home happy with your new purchase/sense of freedom. And if you felt like donating any of the ensuing profit to Ukulele Bedford, so much the better. We'll have a tip jar out, but I am not looking for a huge cut.
I look forward to seeing you all next week for what looks set to be a promising game of at least three halves. It will be good. I promise."

From the 4th April meeting:

"Last night 20 of us continued to look at the newer songs that could be added to our gig list, and I think most of them were pretty successful. There are a few endings to sharpen, a little meandering over timing to straighten and one or two where we need to convey more emotion, but overall I think we will achieve our aim of bringing our repertoire up to date with more popular songs for our many audiences. It won’t be completely out with the old and in with the new, but expect some of the older and less famous songs to end up as Wednesday night fare only.
Our first gig of the year is perilously close, so expect a new gig book before long – bear with us. These things take time and our aim is to have songs that span the decades and that make audiences respond positively – we’ll be very happy with free drinks and applause, quite happy with applause and at least ok with maintaining full consciousness. Even that would be progress. If you haven’t spoken up about what you want to see in our out of the gig book, let Jon or me know this week.
Next week is the first of our run of three 7pm starts, with the open mic. Be there ready to start singing from 7pm if you want a slot. As usual, if we are oversubscribed, those who have performed recently may have to wait until the next time. There is something uniquely challenging (aka scary) about open mics in general, even (or perhaps especially) among an audience of friends. It doesn’t feel as though it should be that way, and I am sure that practice will mean progress, so do come along and give it a go. It definitely improves individual performance.
After the open mic, we’ll revert to a mix of choices from around the room and tidying up songs from the gig list. As these are all songs that we like and know quite well, it promises to be a fun and flawless evening. Come and see if I am right.
Don’t forget that we will hold our AGM the following week. I don’t anticipate that being either long or contentious, but if you want to raise anything with the group do let me know.
All the best"

From the 28th March meeting:

"Last night we reprised a few of the songs from the previous week as possible gig candidates and made rather a better job of it than before. We added a few rarities, such as Time Warp and Werewolves of London (because horror isn’t just for Halloween), along with occasional favourites such as Hotel Yorba and the delicious chaos that is Ace of Spades. The fact that Motorhead’s finest is filed under T for The Ace . . . was only the start of the fun.
There were 25 of us last night, which the room seats comfortably with seats to spare, and I think everyone had a good time. The new pub is definitely a more social space than we have ever had, so if you haven’t been for a while, come along next week . . . and the week after – it would be great to see you back. It was good to see Norman after a few months’ absence.
There will be a fair amount of pondering over the gig possibilities now, but as we have one on 21st April and one on 7th May, we’ll get on with it and make sure we practise any additions. That may be what we start doing next week, but Easter week is always a bit of an unknown, so please come with some songs bookmarked and ready to go.
After Easter, we have three 7pm starts on the trot. On 11th, we have open mic night, with our usual 30 minutes of pre-session surprises – usual rules, one song per person, newcomers have priority, any music goes, from a Bumper Book favourite to your own composition. Remember, the more of you who come forward, the less caterwauling there will be from me.
On 18th April, we will have our AGM. Again, this will start at 7pm and will be all over by 7.30pm. If you have any agenda items that you’d like us to discuss, please let me know as soon as possible.
Finally, and perhaps most exciting of all (no pressure), Lydia has offered to take us through some vocal training, probably on 25th April. This will also be a half an hour and people can expect to work partly without their ukes and to make unexpected and embarrassing noises, all with the aim of improving our individual and collective singing. We’ll be mainly working on voice projection, I think. Details will be worked out in due course, but if this can go towards making Ukulele Bedford an even greater musical force, then bring it on.
See you all next week."

From the 21st March meeting:

"Despite being well-attended (24), last night was one of our more challenging evenings. Still better than a night at home with the telly by a long way, but perhaps not vintage Ukulele Bedford. Why? We missed a couple of our stronger voices and it rapidly became clear how much we rely on having a few confident performers throughout the room to bolster and marshal our collective efforts.
Musically, we continued our canter through possible gig songs, focusing mainly on Brungstrums 1&2. Within those, Please Don’t Let me be Misunderstood and The Tracks of My Tears stood out as being better than I expected, but we weren’t really on good enough form to judge their gig-worthiness. We know, for example, that Message to you/Tide is High is one of our stronger split songs, but not last night when not enough people were singing.
After the break, we reverted to people’s choices, and improved. It would be great if more people had a few choices in their back pockets otherwise not only is the music all chosen by the usual suspects, but, in the moment, we tend not towards adventure – not that familiarity is always bad.
There are still a few songs from our more obscure books that could be candidates for the gig book in due course, and we’ll have a go at a few of those next week, along with more comforting fare. Don’t worry; Capybara won’t be a gig option (unless you all request it). Make sure you have all our books downloaded on to your chosen device, but if not, do remember that one of the great features of our new venue is that the free wifi works properly.
For next Wednesday, 28th March, please come with a list. As you know, we try to fit in all choices, so that we play more and natter less. Whether you have been with us for years or just a few weeks, pick your song and we'll play it. After all, it is now officially spring – an optimistic season of growth and discovery. Ukulele Bedford can be part of that."

From the 14th March meeting:

"Last night, in a great evening complete with impromptu singalong audience of up to four people (!), we played a fine mix of tribute songs and potential gig book songs. We started with Urban Spaceman, for Stephen Hawking, continued with Happiness, for Ken Dodd, and even managed both Amarillo and Woolly Bully, for Jim Bowen. And who knew that Mr Bowen had been part of Peter Kay’s 2005 Amarillo recording? Google, apparently, under inquisition from Marion.
In our quest to liven up our gig list with audiences in mind, we had a good run through bits of Brungstrums 4 and 3 and some of the Bumper Book, with most of the candidate songs coming up to scratch. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Exes and Ohs, Friday I’m in Love, Mamma Mia, L.O.V.E, Road Runner, Lola, and even rarities such as Always Look on the Bright Side of Life . . . plenty of choices for songs that people will know and that we enjoy playing. They won’t all go in, but it’s good to hear us play these well.
Next week, we’ll continue with the quest as we have a few more suggestions to try from other books that may prove suitable for gigs. If you want your favourite song to wow our audiences, come and have your say. If you can’t make it, let Jon or me know the song and we’ll try it and see how it goes.
Of course, the other side of this equation is that we will need to cut some songs from the book. We can still play them among ourselves, but we have already found that songs like You Say You Don’t Love Me – which we enjoy and we play well – leave audiences unmoved, and we regularly skip others that just don’t resonate. And that will never do. So, to quote Shakespeare's Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March". What would you slash from the current gig book? Let Jon or me know and we’ll add it to our deliberations.
There were 21 or so of us last night, ranging from founder members to near newcomers, so we are getting a good spread of people to help choose our future repertoire, and I think everyone had a good time as well. It would be even better if you came along, too. After all, the new pub remains brilliant.
I look forward to seeing you all soon."

From the 7th March meeting:

"Last night saw about 20 of us (I ran out of fingers) run through an eclectic selection from our back catalogue. From perennial faves such as San Fransisco Bay Blues and Eight Days A Week all the way through to seldom (or never) played numbers such as Folsom Prison Blues and Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep. At least we now know why we don't play some of these very often!
A feature of the evening was the singing, I thought. There was a lot of it, it was loud, in tune and added a lot of texture and variety to the songs. Great stuff!
We welcomed Rex, a new member who it turned out was a near neighbour of Cath and Graham donkey's years ago. We hope you enjoyed the evening Rex and that we see you on a regular basis.
We have two gigs coming up.
The first is on Saturday April 21st at Bletsoe Village Hall. Playing from about 8pm until when we want. Indoors, with a bar. Probably two or three shorter sets with a break between.
The second is Wilden May Day Fete. Bank Holiday Monday 7th May at about 2 pm for about an hour or until people start throwing things at us. Outdoors: cover, power etc TBC.
For both of these, please can you let me and/or Mark know if you are able and willing to join in. We need to confirm them as soon as possible, so if you can let me know by the end of this Friday that would be great.
With that in mind, I think next week we will look through our songbooks to see which of our huge selection we would like to add to the gig book, as the set ought to be freshened up. (As our between songs banter ought to be, but you can't have everything I guess!). So can everyone have a think about any songs you think we do well, that audiences are likely to know and even join in with and that could be made 'gig-ready' fairly easily. We can also revisit some of the ones in the gig book that are there but rarely played out to polish them up.
Until then, have a good one."

From the 28th February meeting:

"Even the Beast from the East couldn’t prevent Ukulele Bedford’s open mic session last night, where we had six performances in our allotted half hour. These included The Rather Hot Chilli Peppers (AKA David, Lydia and Martin), Joy’s first solo performance with a Bessie Smith number and Andy’s debut with a Bob Dylan song. Mark, Lydia and Ian completed the line-up before a few other players arrived. Well done to all, and thanks again to David for logistics.
As ever, the open mic seems to kickstart better singing for the rest of the evening, which is something we need to consider. If anyone remembers next week (I probably won’t be with you) you could perhaps start with a couple of familiar songs which have a capella verses or that split the room to get everyone’s voices warmed up early.
Anyway, 15 of us braved the weather last night, and until the break had made good inroads into bits of the Gig Book that we haven’t seen for a little while. We perhaps need to do Blue Skies again soon, but starting with Gig Book songs has certainly kept our skills up to scratch. We then moved on to one or two BrungStrum4 choices – Pumped up Kicks, Cake by the Ocean and It’s all About You went well. Homework is to listen to Rule the World. The singing is good; our timing isn’t great, perhaps, as Martin suggested, because the song doesn’t lend itself so well to the pulse of massed ukulele strumming. But perhaps because we don’t all know it that well.
At the break, the Gamlingay contingent headed back to the beastly east, so any update on the second half will have to be on Facebook from those who remained.
Next week, who knows? Jon should be back after lurgy, but with nothing else planned and no obvious anniversaries (Albanian Teachers’ Day, anyone?) to give a theme, why not come armed with your choice of songs to play. Often that freedom of choice provides our best nights, and none of us likes to miss those.
Finally, we have been asked about whether we want to play one of Bletsoe Village Hall’s Saturday music gigs on 21st April. If you are free and interested, let me or Jon know. To be honest, I don’t know what sort of gig it would be, but if people are free we could ask for more details.
All the best"

From the 21st February meeting:

"Following our previous week’s loved-up Valentine’s Day effort, last night’s choices were, in general, much more lively. After a smattering of Gig Book songs to prove we can still play, we moved into Souvenir1 and barely touched the Bumper Book all evening. For the more challenging learning element of the night, otherwise known as BrungStrum4, we made some progress with Shut Up and Dance (definitely more to come there), enjoyed Pumped Up Kicks (we know that one now), and Trevor led a small number of singers (it wasn’t quite a solo, whatever some people thought) in Fidelity, which also shows promise.
I didn’t count, but numbers seemed to be about normal, with the welcome addition of a new Mike for the first half. He will be back when his fingers toughen up – it’s a hard business this ukulele malarkey. On a softer note, one member commented that “people seem to be having much more fun than they used to in the old pub.” Result!
Next week’s main event will be the Open Mic. Turn up and be ready to sing solo(ish) or listen from 7pm. That’s one song per person. Any song goes, amplified to the masses. New performers have priority. Then turn up in your hordes, armed with your choices from any book, to sing collectively from 7.30pm.
All the best."

From the 14th February meeting:

"According to Tuesday’s blog on the ever-splendid UkuleleHunt website, “It turns out every love song ever written is a steaming pile of garbage.” Perhaps that’s little harsh, but for an emotion that’s supposedly full of joy and all-consuming passion, the peak of human feeling, it has certainly inspired some real dirges from songwriters across the ages. But never mind. The 18 of us present last night – depleted, presumably, because of the foul weather, half term and the need to visit a romantic petrol station to buy chocolate and roses – fought our way through over 20 of the 24 songs in our various books with the word “love” in the title. We left out a couple of prehistoric ones that none of us could remember, including, with just a hint of irony, I Love a Ukulele. Themed nights are always a mixed bag, and we certainly found some good stuff in ours along with the romantic tosh, and we did get through a lot of music last night.
We also found time for a late Cranberries tribute with Zombie and both Love me Tender and Unchained Melody, neither of which were in any of our books, perhaps surprisingly.
Beyond that, we are getting to grips with Road Runner. The stops and starts need to be really crisp to make it work for performing out, but the Am->E->Am change is better after practice. Rockabye is teetering on the edge of singability for us, but I don’t think it’s time to reject it yet.
Next week it’s a general open request night. We’ll play anything you want from any book, from the Boat Book to Spookelele, so make sure you have everything from the website on your chosen device. We’ll go through one or two more of the less-played BrungStrum 4 songs in a bit more detail as well.
I suspect we won’t necessarily go as far as UkuleleHunt, which this morning lists all its anti-Valentine’s songs (at least three of which are in our books) to console the lovelorn and the hungover, but we aren’t continuing this week’s theme. So, think energy, think volume, think power . . . and now think of some tunes and have them in mind for next week.
If you can’t find anything you want to sing in the current books, perhaps you should be gearing up for our next open mic session in two weeks’ time, when you won’t be restricted to any of the 800 or so songs that we already have in the bag. Anything goes, so get your songwriting boots on or dust down your favourite ukulele hip-hopera ditty and share it with the rest of us.
Until next week, strum well"

From the 7th February meeting:

"Last night entertained 23 of us with a few gig book songs, choices from around the room and a bit more familiarisation with BrungStrum4, and a very fine evening it was too.
We started with Lily the Pink, as near as I could find to a song about a feminist icon, given Tuesday’s centenary of votes for (some) women. The original Lily, one Lydia E. Pinkham was, as well as a businesswoman selling her renowned potion for “women’s troubles”, an anti-slavery campaigner. Her potion was popular with men as well as women during prohibition era America, as it has been described as a 40 per cent proof eye-opener! We also sang My Girl, in honour of one of the original Temptations who died this week.
From BrungStrum4, we sidestepped the Girl Power of Never be the Same Again and instead tackled Lightning Bolt, Human, Pumped up Kicks, Island in the Sun, Roar, Somebody that I Used to Know, Somewhere Only We Know and It’s All About You. The last of these we split around the room and it started to sound really good. I would expect to see us gigging with some of these songs this year.
Talking of gigging, we have two potential outdoor bookings for the summer: May Day celebrations at Wilden, and Sutton’s Village Day in mid-September. More details/recruitment drive will follow in due course.
Next week we meet on St Valentine’s Day, when the world celebrates the beheading of the patron saint of beekeeping, epilepsy and boils . . . oh, and LOVE of course. By my reckoning, there are over 20 of our songs from all books that contain the word love (or lover – or even “luv” – thanks, Slade) in their title. We have hundreds where the word “love” is mentioned, from World Without Love through to Ukulele Anthem. Pick one or more and suggest it. Just for this week, if a song doesn’t mention love, we won’t play it, whatever its sentiment.
Continuing with our aim of getting BrungStrum4 up to scratch, we’ll have a go at Rockabye, at least. Listen to it again. It’s a great song, with love as its third word. We may also have another try at Roadrunner, which mentions love in the second verse. Please find a few minutes to practise moving from A minor to E and back for this one. I play E as 4447 (a barre across the fourth fret and my little finger on the 7th fret of the A string), but there are plenty of other options shown here: http://ukulelehunt.com/2009/04/22/e-chord-ukulele/ It was noticeable last night that our 23 players dropped to about seven when the dreaded E came up and we could all do without that dip in our sound. We did the same with Dmajor7, but that’s a rarity. E, however, is common and can be done. Trust me on this one. Or don’t, and come and find out how someone else plays it.
I look forward to seeing you all next week. Romantic costumes, rose-tinted ukes and other sentimental gestures are entirely at your discretion.
Love your uke"

From the 31st January meeting:

"We started last night in the Gig Book, with a tribute to the Super Blue Blood Moon, or at least that was the excuse to thrash our way through Bad Moon Rising/Deeper and Down. Later, we managed Blue Moon and that (blue) cheesiest of rhymes “Out on the briny, with the Moon big and shiny . . .” How Slow Boat to China ever came to be a classic with such a feeble line is beyond me, but a classic it is and we played it well.
After the Gig Book intro and a few old favourites, we bent our heads around BrungStrum 4 again. Let Her Go from Passenger has potential as does Island in the Sun from Weezer. Whether Mardy Bum will ever work as a group song is more debatable, but such experiments are at least part of the point of these songbooks. A stretch is good for us.
There were 28 players last night, along with a few locals and a party of perhaps 16 or so people having dinner. Not only was our area still comfortable with a few more people than we have had for a while, but service also didn’t seem to suffer from the pub being a bit fuller. Every week, I feel more at home in the Kings Arms.
If you haven’t been for a while – and it was good to see Terry for the first time for around six months – come and try the new place. They had different beers on this week, so there is even more to tempt you.
We still have a few BrungStrum 4 songs to give a proper airing and there will always be tunes that you just have to get out of your head and into the room. We forgot both It’s Only a Paper Moon and Werewolf of London in our astronomical tribute, for example, so there is always scope for more music, whatever the state of the Moon.
All the best"

From the 24th January meeting:

"Our second week in our great new pub, The King’s Arms, proved that the venue can do even more for us. Acoustically, it is noticeably better than anything we have had before and this was really born out in the open mic. A few brave souls - all men this time but only through illness* - showed that the acoustics in our new space are as well suited to solo performance as they are for our collective hollering. Even without amplification, it was a distinct improvement, and I have no doubt that it will prove up to the task of female soloists next month.
After the open mic, we started with the Gig Book – it’s easy to forget that the songs in there are ones we like rather than just ones that we think audiences will – and found that we hadn’t forgotten much there.
A foray into BrungStrum 3 provided us with Exes and Ohs, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, It Must Be Love, and the relative rarities of Fox on the Run and Four Strong Winds, neither of which we know as well as we think we do. But we did make a good stab at the spiced-up Rhinestone Cowboy, with its added sus chords.
Rather than being all sat round in a circle last night, we were more cabaret style, with three or four to a table. This seemed to go down well with the 22 present, providing a little more intimacy with table mates, while still being in a small enough space overall to interact across the room without shouting too much. That mix of pub and club feel is good. We’ll do it from now on.
We didn’t tackle any of our BrungStrum 4 songs last night, so a bit of a reprise of the previous week’s efforts and a go at a few of the other songs that we haven’t chanced much would form a good grounding for next week’s session, along with a smattering of your own choices from any book. BrungStrum 4 even includes Happy, which was requested from the bar last night, but that we shied away from. We did concede to I’m Yours, though, which resulted in an approving yelp from the staff and the locals, who, crucially, actually seem to like us.
If you haven’t joined us at The King’s Arms yet, you really should. No, not in a we-really-must-keep-in-touch-even-though-I-see-more-than-enough-of-you-at-Christmas sense. I mean you really should. You’re missing out and that’s not right.
All the best
*By which I mean some of our women were poorly rather than it was only men who were sick enough to think anyone wanted to hear from us."

From the 17th January meeting:

"I always like to be positive about our evenings, not just because they are a highlight of my week, but also because we have had some genuinely great times in all of our venues. What I have always left out of my weekly reports is the poor lighting, the stickiness of the tables, the vagaries of assorted landlords and bar staff, questionable acoustics, ropy beer and less than plush seating. You don’t need to know about that, and our playing surpasses such mundane concerns. No more. It’s time for a full and frank disclosure about our new venue, The Kings Arms, 24 St Mary’s Street, Bedford MK42 0AS: it’s brilliant! Good beer, amenable host, decent acoustics, a proper pub feel, but with just enough privacy to give us that club feeling as well.
For me the only issues will be whether it proves big enough – it was fine for the 22 of us last night – if we carry on expanding, and remembering to bring a cushion for the wooden benches if I have been cycling again on a Wednesday. Even the parking (free in the pub car park, by the way, not the rumoured £2.70 in the nearby rob-and-display) was easier than expected, and there were still spaces at the end of the evening.
So, that’s it. The various Foxes and Hounds can fade into sticky memory. It was useful to have a private function room. I am not sure our open mic evenings or learning sessions would have got off the ground without it, but we can find ways round that. Our new home is The Kings Arms, and very welcoming it is, too.
Musically, last night, we rediscovered the joys of BrungStrum1, a slightly neglected volume that has all sorts of delights, and then we played around with BrungStrum4 again, along with a modicum of Bumper Book favourites, and it was a great evening, full of the right buzz.
Next week, we’ll start early, with the first performers for the open mic ready to launch themselves to the rest of the world for 7pm. Usual rules apply: new performers have priority, everyone else is first come first sung. One song per person. Solo, duo, trio or other small groupings are all fine. No crowd surfing. Any song is acceptable, up to and including Bohemian Rhapsody in length (but perhaps not Tubular Bells). The power is cut at 7.30pm, when we revert to normal. Expect a little preliminary faffing as we work out where to plug things in and where to stand.
From 7.30pm, we’ll recharge glasses and have our usual blend of choices from the floor and more attempts at new songs from BrungStrum4. Remember, they were all choices from our current membership so it would be rude not to give them all a thorough test, even if a few don’t make it on to a regular play list.
Now for something special. Most of you will have heard of James Hill, arguably the best ukulele player in the world. Here's proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDHdBG_5ac . I have been lucky enough to see and meet him several times at venues large and small and can confirm his brilliance and easy-going nature. Anyway, he and his equally brilliant cellist wife, Anne Janelle, are playing at Upwood Village Hall in Cambridgeshire on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th April. Thursday is already sold out, but Wednesday tickets cost £15 from pndmcleod@btinternet.com or 07709 930398. More info can be found on the Facebook page for Upwood Village Hall Performing Arts or Upwood Ukuleles. The pair are also playing at Vine Theatre, Berkhamsted, on Friday 20th April, but I don’t know about ticket availability.
Before all that Canadian brilliance, come and join us at The Kings Arms next week and prove that last night wasn’t a fluke. You’ll enjoy it. Honest.
All the best"

From the 20th December meeting:

"Some 20 of us spent half of last night on Christmas songs and half on requests, which included several from Brungstrum4 that may deserve a public outing in due course. The other half of the evening involved extraordinary cakes, including these sparkly blue vodka-flavoured Christmas pudding cupcakes, made by Rebecca. And yes, that made our festive special feel like an evening of three halves.

We’ll be back in the Fox and Hounds, Goldington Road, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 3rd January 2018, all being well. We’ll probably ease our way into the New Year with a few favourites and a bit of deeper learning of different BrungStrum4 songs, or anything else that you are desperate to play.
On 17th January, we’ll be starting at 7pm for the open mic session, so you have plenty of time to practice your turn. Also in January, we’ll have a session on timing, time signatures and getting the pulse into music – not quite sure when . . . we have to sort out the timing.
It’s been a great year for Ukulele Bedford, and I’d like to thank you all for being part of it, whether you simply chose to remain on the mailing list and appreciated the humour, engaged through Facebook, joined us occasionally, were a staunch regular through Wednesdays and gig days or helped keep us in order through the committee.
In no particular order, this year we:
· Had some great gigs again, from fetes and beer festivals to playing our first wedding (thanks to all)
· Joined forces with other groups for Strum Like a Pirate Day (thanks to BLUD)
· Introduced a regular open mic slot, which has seen many newcomers take to the stage (thanks to David and others)
· Helped with a proper recording session (thanks to Pena)
· Run two successful learning sessions to try to help raise everyone’s playing game (thank you Jon (and me))
· Bought a bass ukulele for the group and deployed it with great effect (thanks to Martin)
· Got decked out in Ukulele Bedford T-shirts (thanks to Graham)
· Opened a web shop for merchandise at www.zazzle.co.uk/ukulelebedford (thanks to Jon)
· Introduced new songbooks Brungstrums 3 and 4, taking us into the century that we are already 17% through (thanks to all our contributors)
· Improved the quality of our sound at gigs (thanks mainly to Jon and David)
· Kept our finances in check (thanks to Joy)
· Changed venue to the Fox and Hounds in Bedford rather than Clapham (thanks to all for rallying round to smooth the transition)
· Welcomed quite a few new friends, from beginners to experienced players, and versed them in the noble art of kazooing
· Kept you all informed in weekly rounds up
· Increased our average and peak attendance massively, from a peak of 26 last year to a peak of 39 this year and an average of around 25. That’s brilliant, and you are all very welcome.
There’s no reason why 2018 can’t be at least as good for Ukulele Bedford, and it will be even better if you join in with your new Christmas-present ukulele . . . or weren’t you that good this year?
I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together, so thank you all.
Have an excellent Christmas and New Year"

From the 13th December meeting:

"Last night saw – in Jon’s words as neither of us quite counted - a blizzard of ukulele players in the Church Lane Community Centre.
We welcomed a new Pete and a new Jim and worked our way through assorted songs of choice and bits of Brungstrum4, which are also, of course, choice songs. Most disappeared as quickly as Marion’s excellent cakes, but we savoured a few of the new ones and, I think, liked the taste. Katy Perry’s Hot ‘n Cold looked easy to start with, but we tinkered with nuance at the end to tighten it up a bit, and despite Lydia’s best efforts at re-keying and leading from the front, we still haven’t quite grasped Robbie Williams’ Angels. We are getting better, but it still feels a bit more like a non-league football chant than the stadium anthem it will become. We’ll come back to that one, for sure.
Next week will be our final week at the Community Centre, and it’s Ukulele Bedford Christmas. We’ll mainly play songs from the Christmas book, that you can download from our website (ukulelebedford.co.uk/themusic.php). Any infrequent visitors – welcome back if you are thinking of coming – please make sure you have the current book and not the old BUG one.It would be lovely to end our year in the company of some of our older friends as well as our regulars.
When we have had enough of mistletoe, snow, improbably-beaked reindeer and bells, bells, more bloody bells, we’ll play a selection of this year’s favourites - it will be like a tin of Celebrations for your ears!
As usual for this venue, there will be free tea and coffee. As less usual, there may be a plethora of Christmas jumpers, glitter, extra calories (if you bring them) and festive cheer, but please bring your own flagon of ale or drip-feed of egg-nog to lubricate your singing voice. Let’s see the year out in style.
All the best."

From the 6th December meeting:

"I suspect that for some of last night’s 29 players in the Community Centre, this was the first time they had played in company while stone-cold sober. It’s ok. It didn’t show. In fact the venue is bright, plenty big enough and the break became more of a social event rather than a tedious wait at the bar, so I think we’ll all be happy there for the rest of the month.
The evening went as planned, with a good smattering of open micers – including Norman’s first go - , some nice choices from the floor, a successful reprise of the previous week’s BrungStrum4 songs and a deeper look at two more from our new book. It was also good to see John Box back with us again.
Robbie Williams’ “Angels” will be really good to sing – or at least to hear. The key doesn’t suit everyone, but the timing is foxing us slightly. We’ll come back to that because it has such potential. Imelda May’s “Road Runner” is a different beast: fast, with plenty of stops and not too tricky, especially after practicing smooth transitions between A minor and E.
Next week, we’re in the Church Lane Community Centre again, and we’ll tackle a few more of the BrungStrum4 songs as well as people’s choices. If you arrive a little late and no one is immediately there to let you in, try tapping on the windows to the right of the entrance. If it’s as good as last night, you’ll want to be with us, and definitely inside the hall rather than in the car park.
A request: relative newcomer Pena is a singer/songwriter and has asked if some of us can help with ukulele backing on a song she is recording in Bedford on Saturday 16th December in the early evening (5.30-7.30). She is looking for seven or eight competent soprano or tenor uke players, preferably electro-acoustic so that we can plug in, to join her in a proper recording studio. Space and time are tight, but if you are interested, let me (Mark) know as soon as possible and I can send more details and organise a list. This is a one-off, and if 25 of you want to sign up, I shall just pick people, even if I know that 23 of you could do it.
Finally, as we are now nearer to Christmas than to either Halloween or Bonfire Night, it’s only fair to remind you that we will be having our bout of festive jollity on 20th December. We’ll be playing from the Christmas Book that is on the website, so make sure you have that downloaded on to your chosen device before you put the sprouts on to boil. There will be festive nibbles, but only as much alcohol as you bring with you.
Have a good week."

From the 29th November meeting:

"It’s been another good week for Ukulele Bedford.
On Tuesday, our gig in the Engineers’ Arms at Henlow attracted 18 players, with a full range of experience, amplifiers and ukuleles. We played well to a small but appreciative audience. Then, last night, a baker’s dozen of us tackled a mix of songs from assorted books and before focusing on a few from BrungStrum4.
The device of picking songs from our names worked well to bring different songs to the surface last night: Lady Madonna, Mrs Robinson, Ida sweet as Apple Cider, Jolene and Pretty Flamingo all had rare outings, and there will be plenty more songs starting with the first or last letters of your forename or surname for next week.
From BrungStrum4, the improvements in Hidden in the Sand, Lightning Bolt and Pumped Up Kicks from simple repetition were excellent, but, thanks to Martin, we hit on a great way to improve House of Gold . . . learn and practise the tune! The improvement on this one song alone, from ok and promising to full speed and almost gig-ready in a matter of four runs through was fantastic to hear and be part of.
Next week, it’s all change for half an hour or so, in that we are going to run our Open Mic session from 7pm, followed by a similar evening to last night – your choice, perhaps picking songs that reflect your initials, and then working up a few more from BrungStrum4. We may see how much of this week’s improvements have stuck as well. Remember, though, WE WON’T BE AT THE PUB. Join us instead in Church Lane Community Centre, 147 Church Lane, Bedford MK1 0PW (map at www.facesbedford.org/contact). Be there early for open mic, and remember to bring your own flagon of gin/crate of ale if you can’t cope with two hours away from the bar. Tea and coffee will be provided.
I look forward to seeing you all next week. After all, you wouldn’t want to get left behind as we surge through into our 21st century repertoire, would you?
Strum well"

From the 22nd November meeting:

"I have a sore throat and headache this morning. I am tempted to blame Ukulele Anthem. There were times last night when we definitely passed from tuneful to cheerily raucous, but that’s ok. We all need sugar and salt, and we were at least occasionally tuneful.
We started with our learning session on chord cheats, full notes for which we’ll post on the website shortly. They just need tidying for e-posterity. Do let me know if anything wasn’t clear – there was a lot of information to absorb in 30 minutes. We’ll probably run half a dozen of these sessions and then repeat and amend them as necessary. If anyone would like to step forward to present one, let me know. Possible subject include timing, strumming patterns, special strums, stage presence, singing tips, fingerpicking, arrangements in parts . . . we’ll focus on things that help the whole group rather than soloing, but it will only happen if we have volunteers.
The rest of the evening was split between gig book practice and the final tranche of BrungStrum4, which, I think, proved slightly easier than the previous week.
Having now gone through the whole of BrungStrum4 once, we can definitely say there are some good songs in there. If we get to gig-level competency for even a quarter of them, we will have modernised and popularised our set massively, so thank you once again for all your contributions. They could put Ukulele Bedford ahead of the strummers’ pack. After all, this is the century we are living in. We can always visit earlier decades, but a ukulele group for today without today’s music is surely heading towards obsolescence, and we aren’t having that.
Next week is our last thoroughly normal session of the year. We’ll be in the pub (before decamping to Church Lane Community Centre for December only), with no open mic, no learning session, no last-minute gig preparations and no obligation to hurtle through new songs. It should be good. The rough plan is to take a couple of the BrungStrum4 songs and give them several runs though the Ukulele Bedford mill and see whether they still seem fit for the ukulele.
The rest of the evening will be your choice. Does that sound too broad with around 700 songs on our website? Let’s make it a bit easier. Unless there are songs that you are desperate to play, why not try to come with up to four song ideas taken from any book – one song whose title starts with the first letter of your forename, one with the last letter of your forename, one with the first letter of your surname and one with the last letter of your surname? That should be plenty to keep the evening flowing smoothly and allow for duplication with our plethora of Davids.
Before then, we have a gig at the Engineer’s Arms, Henlow, on Tuesday, playing from 8pm, so set-up from around 7.30pm. We’ll be standing. Bring your music, your music stand and a battery-powered amplifier if you have one, but if you just have a uke, we’ll still be happy to see you.
Until next week, keep strumming."

From the 15th November meeting:

"Ukulele Bedford turned out in some force last night for the third part of BrungStrum4, which proved interesting, challenging, entertaining and promising in almost equal measure. We struggled with more songs on first outing than in the first half of the book, but that doesn’t mean the songs were worse for us in any sense. It’s inevitable that the songs with more challenging timing or strums are going to be harder work, but they could still become club standards when we get to know them. I doubt if anything we tackled was really harder than Bye Bye Blackbird or Blue Skies, both of which we have been known to play well in public. On first play, Pumped Up Kicks and Road Runner went well; on second play, Rule the World has potential as a great sing-along crowd pleaser; and Mardy Bum and Rockabye, at least, showed glimmers of what they could become in due course.
Next week, we’ll start at 7pm for a half-hour learning session of tips, cheats and good practice, aimed mainly at our less experienced members, but, perhaps, with something for everyone. Come along and learn or contribute or both. Or just come and sit in a corner, tugging at your beard and sucking on your pipe in a knowing, professorial manner - but come anyway.
After that, we’ll hurtle through the final section of BrungStrum4 – Somebody that I used to Know to Yellow – before reminding ourselves that we can sing and play complete songs without stumbling by strolling through some of the older songbooks. In following weeks, we’ll revisit BrungStrum4 frequently, but in less of a whirlwind. You never know, we may even make some of the new songs presentable to a wider world.
December: for the three meetings in December, that is 6th, 13th and 20th, we will be at the FACES Bedford offices in Church Lane Community Centre, (https://www.facesbedford.org/contact) and not the pub. There will be free tea and coffee, but no bar. You are welcome to bring your own drinks – no need to smuggle them in in a paper bag. We’ll give more details next week. There are bound to be some sort of festive shenanigans. There will be no Ukulele Bedford meeting on 27th December, but we’ll be back with all our remaining pomp and glitter on 3rd January.
But, hey, it’s still November, so not time to dwell on the C word just yet. Come and enjoy what the rest of November has to offer first.
All the best"

From the 8th November meeting:

"A slightly slimmer group than usual – 22 by the end of the evening – enjoyed both the open mic session and our second batch of new songs from BrungStrum4. The sound from the open mic was better, thanks to the use of a microphone for the uke rather than a clip-on pickup and we had a good selection of songs.
One effect of starting early with the open mic is that the main session is ready to go bang on time. In practice, this meant we were able to run through a few of the new songs more than once. As usual, there were a few that seemed straightforward on first playing, others that will sound much better with practice and perhaps one or two that won’t make the grade. "It’s All About You" is just asking to be split into parts, and our singing was especially strong on that one right from the off.
We will do them all again. Yes, even "Let It Go" and "Happy" that were unfairly dissed before being given their fair chance. All songs are equal before the uke until they prove otherwise, and one or two outings isn’t enough for that. There are quite a number of songs that we can play easily from the start that then don’t end up being performed regularly, as well as some that we never get the hang of properly. You can never quite tell what’s going to stand the test of time.
If our playing was a little ragged at times last night, it’s only to be expected with new songs, and it shows how we miss the unifying beat of the bass when it’s not with us. We hope Martin will be back with the bass next time.
Next week, we’ll be running through BrungStrum 4 from Mardy Bum to Shut Up and Dance - the Kylie segment - possibly reprising a few of the songs from earlier in the book as well. As with this week, we’ll start with a few familiar warm-ups and revert to requests for the final half hour or so. If you still don’t believe in the 21st century, there should still be scope for a full mix of music from across the decades. Your best preparation for next week is to put Trevor’s YouTube playlist on repeat: http://bit.ly/UB-BrungStrum-Four-21-to-30. And if you believe the internet (and why wouldn’t you?) there’s good money to be made as Kylie impersonators. You never know. There could be good things to come On a Night Like This.
The following week, 22nd November, as well as scooping up the last of BrungStrum 4, we’ll have our second learning session from 7pm. This is aimed at our less experienced members, but is open to all, either as participants or contributors. The provisional title is “The Ukulele Bedford guide to chords, chord inversions and sort of cheating”, and will cover ways to play quicker, smoother and more easily. It should dovetail with the barre chord session (see the notes on our website), but if you missed that don’t worry. It will stand alone.
I hope to see you all next week, Kylie costumes optional, as usual."

From the 1st November meeting:

"After a few familiar songs last night, including Blueberry Hill as a Fats Domino tribute, we got stuck into the new millennium with the first 10 songs from BrungStrum4.
As expected, some worked well straight from the box, others will need a few performance upgrades and yet others may quietly sink back into the file, rarely to be heard again. On a first outing, it wouldn’t be right to cast any of them aside entirely, but some may work better as solo performances than as group songs. We will revisit them all over coming weeks... even those sneaky songs from the 1990s whose release date the compilers hadn’t spotted. Personally, Rag n Bone Man’s Human and the two 21 Pilots songs were highlights, and there were indications that our singing on Angels could be really good in due course. I was also pleased at how the group made a spirited attempt at tackling everything in front of us. A special nod must go to Jon for his work on this compilation, and, of course, to you all for suggesting its contents.
Next week, we’ll be starting at 7pm for our open mic, before tackling songs 11-20 of BrungStrum4, or thereabouts. As with this week, there may be reasons to delve deeper into the book, but try to familiarise yourselves with songs from Fidelity onwards. Fidelity, incidentally, goes really well with the C and F played as barre chords with a bit of bounce in them, but we can worry about that if we decide to pursue it.
For the open mic, we’ll play it the same as usual: one song per person, new performers have priority, get your name on the board to perform, and a clear 7.30pm cut off. Any song and any level of performance is acceptable. You can use it to try out new material, to improve your confidence with a microphone, to put the rest of us right about a song we keep getting wrong, to practice duets... so long as it’s you and a uke, it qualifies.
Last night proved that there is nothing about this century to be worried about from a ukulele viewpoint (la, la, la, - Trump, climate change, Brexit negotiations, North Korea. I am not listening - la, la, la!). I have every confidence that next week will prove just as life-affirming. Come and join us. It will do you good. You’ll enjoy it."

From the 25th October meeting:

"The pub last night had more than its fair selection of witches, ghouls, ghostly drinkers and the like . . . and then we turned up! Our Halloween bash provoked even more costumery (and carbohydrate consumption) than usual and proved that there is life in the old Spookelele book yet.
Thanks to new people and Jon’s radical departure of actually listening to some of the songs before he arrived, we managed a few more from the book this year, even if we did stumble a few times. It was great fun, and honourable mentions must go to Rebecca, Jeanette and Joy for bloody cup cakes, and witches and zombie fingers respectively - all much tastier than they have a right to be from their ghastly appearance – and to Lydia for traversing stairs with a splendid Dalek outfit, and a special call must go to Graham’s DEATH, complete with veil and trip-hazard scythe.
Moving on. Next week will see us strip back the make-up and launch into the 21st century with the start of Strum Wot You Brung 4. The book BrungStrum4 is downloadable from the website on 'The Music' page. Note, it’s about 40 songs long and just shy of 8Mb. By now, most of you will know the drill: download Brungstrum4.pdf on to your chosen device. Don’t risk accessing it live on the night. If you can’t get to it from the website, let me know and I’ll send it as an attachment.
We are going to focus on running through the first 10 songs next week, before letting you choose from any other book after that. The following week, we’ll go to the next 10 – possibly reprising some from the previous week - and so on. It’s all done alphabetically, and without any reference to the song’s chooser (several people chose the same songs anyway), so if ‘your’ song doesn’t get an airing until later in November, don’t take it personally.
For a real treat, try this YouTube playlist of the whole lot (if the link doesn’t behave, just search for BrungStrum4 on YouTube). There are the best part of 90 minutes of 21st century classics there just crying out for the Ukulele Bedford treatment. It’s full of songs that you will know, songs that you will never have heard, and possibly a few you never wanted to hear, but we’ll promise to give them all a good airing. After all, these are your choices, be they rowdy punk, shameless pop, cartoon classics or just plain strange. Come along, You’ll enjoy the challenge. If you are lucky, you may even enjoy the music.
While you are on our website, you can also download Jon's guide to barre chords from the music page. Although it stands alone, it's mainly a reminder of what Jon actually said last week rather than being the last word on all things barre. There are plenty of more confusing ways to look at it online.
Finally, if proof were needed that we appeal to a broad range of audiences, we played a gig at Faces Bedford last Saturday. It was a fun afternoon, studded with applause and compliments. And cake. We never forget the cake.
I look forward to welcoming you all to the 21st century with BrungStrum4 next Wednesday. Until then, get on to that YouTube playlist, and imagine it louder and with more ukuleles.
PS If you were expecting Open mic next week, you have another week to practise."

From the 18th October meeting:

"Last night saw the first of our learning sessions, with Jon very ably informing us about bar chords, running through everything from the idea of using moveable shapes to help you find more chords than you think you know, to how to make them sound as good as open chords. In academic terms, Jon’s approach would be termed a practical seminar rather than a lecture. We’d really like feedback on it, from information content and quantity to length and teaching style. Was it more useful than being pointed to YouTube links, how much can you remember today, what questions were left unasked and unanswered? Feedback will help us make it better. Possible future topics include special strums and strumming patterns, shortcuts and cheats, time signatures, simple picking patterns . . . or anything that you wish to learn or impart. Feedback anonymously to me if you’d prefer, or discuss it in public via the Facebook group. The next learning session will be in about a month.
After the bar work, we strolled through the various books, picking delights as we travelled, with the usual mix of strong finds, occasional meh moments, and the odd mystery. Somehow we missed the chance to cock up the Beachboys’ classic Barre Barre Ann … sorry … Homework is to listen to Fire and Rain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIqqASadfNc It’s been nestling unnoticed in the Bumper Book for years.
On Saturday 21st October – yes, very soon - we have a gig for FACES (see www.facesbedford.org for more about the charity) to help open their new premises. Expect tea. Expect cake. Expect a good time. Be there and ready to play with your uke, your kazoo, your music stand, the Gig book on your chosen device, bright clothing and your most relaxed, family-friendly disposition by 1pm at the latest. Where is there? Church Lane Community Centre, Church Lane, Bedford MK41 0PW. Find a map here. There is parking round the back or at Aldi. We’ll be setting up from about 12.30pm, so the usual help with standing on leads, wrestling mic stands into submission, making the amp howl with feedback and distracting us with conversation while we plug things into the wrong sockets would be appreciated.
Next Wednesday, 25th October, is our Halloween. Download the Spookelele Book from the website, don your costume, prosthetics and make-up and expect a few orange-coloured and suspiciously ghoulish foodstuffs to enliven the evening. We’ve done it before. It was good.
Thinking about costumes, it’s probably worth a reminder that you can buy all manner of Ukulele Bedford merchandise through www.zazzle.co.uk/ukulelebedford Hmm. Sexy!
I look forward to seeing you all playing live on Saturday, or playing undead on Wednesday."

From the 11th October meeting:

"Somewhere in the high twenties of us had a fine old time last night. Following our brace of successful gigs over the weekend, request night proved that we remain in fine fettle, vocally and ukulele-ly. This often happens – is it the amount of practice that we have done, or the slight relaxation that follows a gig? It matters not because our post-gig workout sounds good and is great fun.
Next week, we start early for a half-hour session on barre chords (or bar chords, or barré chords . . . up to you). If you want guidance on the bar, be there from 7pm. If you are happy to help, ditto. If your bars are up to par, get a drink from the bar and we'll see you up thar at 7.30pm as usual for another request night.
Talking of bars, the bar for submissions to BrungStrum4 (21st century songs only) comes down on Friday. We have enough entries to be ruthless with both the date and the era.
Finally, we have a gig on 21st October in Bedford, at the official opening of FACES new premises. FACES is a charity run by our own Wendie. (find out more at www.facesbedford.org) Among other things, FACES intends to use ukuleles as a force for good to to help rehabilitate vulnerable and abused youngsters, so it would be great to show just how positive our own ukes can be. The gig will be in the afternoon, and there will be tea and cake. More details to follow.
If that all that sounds very positive and relaxed, so it should. But remember, Halloween’s Spookelele night is only a fortnight away. Dust off your scary trousers and come along.
Cheers"

From the 4th October meeting:

"Last night was quite unusual, but in a good way. First, we had our open mic session, including two or three first timers, Lisa, Pena and possibly Graham. Graham – who may well have open miced before - gave one of three tributes to the late Tom Petty during the evening, and Pena scored maximum points for braving the open mic with her own song on her first visit. Lydia struggled bravely through, despite technical difficulties with the mic stand – one of the troubles of being a leftie in a rightie’s world. I am sure I heard Lisa mutter “I am not doing that again”. Lisa, you were great. We’d all like more from you. Standing up to sing is a brave thing to do, even among friends . . . And I should know better than to try a song with the words “Now, lend me your ears and listen, to another embarrassing song.” Talk about tempting fate! Anyway, thank you to everyone who took part, for David for setting up, and for the audience for turning up early to hear our efforts. The next open mic will be in about a month.
We welcomed Pena (rhymes with henna), Pete (rhymes with neat) and Dick (rhymes with trick) for the first time among our 24 or so players, and just managed to remember to give them kazoos before the final song. As initiation goes, I think that’s suitably low key. We hope to see them all back in due course.
For the main part of the evening, we practised the playlist for this weekend’s wedding gig, largely successfully. We are looking forward to the combined forces of Ukulele Bedford and Burton Latimer Ukulele and Drums Group helping to make it a day to remember for everyone involved.
And I’d like to hope that people will make the evening gig at Bedford Beer Festival memorable too, although beer and memory don’t mix that well. Drop a USB stick into a pint of bitter if you don’t believe me.
Next week sees us post-wedding and post-hangover and in between specials, so it will be a request night. Any song from any book on the website – you choose, we play. Simple. Choose before you come to keep the evening flowing. Even simpler.
Don’t forget the learning session the following week (barre chords explained, justified and practised), Halloween on the horizon and this is your last call for post-2000 songs for Strum Wot You Brung 4. We have around 30 so far, but a few more wouldn’t do any harm. We have a strong mix from punk to Disney already, but there is still scope for your favourite modern song.
If you are coming to the wedding on Saturday, there is a later version of the wedding songbook (as of Thursday, 5th), which supersedes the one we used last night. It is on the website on the music page - please make sure you have this latest version if you are playing at the wedding!
Enjoy your week."

From the 27th September meeting:

"Souvenir1 had a good thrashing at our session last night. As well as the familiar songs that have crept towards the gig book – Oliver’s Army, Make Me Smile – and the inevitable and excellent Joy Division Oven Gloves, we did justice to Release Me, Mack the Knife, Brown-eyed Girl and even Ace of Spades. Cecilia still causes problems with its bo-bos and wo-hos, but we definitely have the measure of the ba-das in Only You.
Returning to the English language, we had another try at White Wedding, Close to You and Shame and Scandal in the Family for the wedding gig in 10 days’ time. With one more run through next week, we’ll be ok. Close to You saw significant improvement, albeit from last week’s rather low base.
BrungStrum1 finished the night, with Country Honk, Space Oddity and You Got It rounding us off nicely. The only thing lacking was beer – the pub was between barrels of everything – but the 22 of us present made up for the lack of liquor with loudness and laughter. It was good.
Next week, I am sure the beer will be back on, and it’s Open Mic time. Turn up early and get your name on the board for one song and subsequent applause. We’ll start at 7pm and run into our usual evening session straight afterwards from 7.30pm. New performers will have priority, and if we run out of time – as we did last month – you can spend another month practising before unleashing your brilliance on our corner of the world.
Don’t forget to send Jon and me 21st Century songs for Strum Wot You Brung 4. Up to three songs per person is fine. We already have enough to make the new book work, but don’t miss out on your chance to contribute. The last thing we want is for it to be dominated by this stuff.
Enjoy your week"

From the 20th September meeting:

"It was another relatively quiet night at the Fox and Hounds last night, until we pitched up, of course. Just shy of 20 of us had a slightly chaotic but educational evening. Not for the first time, I started with a song that I thought everyone knew that turned out to be more of a solo effort – Don’t Fence Me in – but after that we played more familiar fare, until launching in to learning three songs for the forthcoming wedding gig.
Billy Idol’s White Wedding was ok on first play, and, after listening to the original, was pretty good on our second go. The Carpenters’ Close to You proved more problematic. Even with simpler chords than we have played it in the past, the sheer range involved is quite daunting. By comparison, the third choice, Shame and Scandal in the Family, with all of two chords, should have been easy . . . ah, well! There is time to have another go at that reggae strum.
Among the choices from around the table was The Beatles’ And I Love Her, which none of us remembered playing before, but is certainly worth repeating. We also played Cracklin’ Rosie for the first time in an age, which shows how easy it is even for our gig songs to slip through the net.
You should all have received an email with dates from Jon last week. One possible addition is a festive get together with Burton Latimer Ukulele and Drum Group, among others, on16th December. Details to follow. I gather that the BLUDGroup has already booked next year’s Strum Like A Pirate Day. AAARRR!
Before all that, though, we have gigs, open mic and Strum Wot You Brung 4 to consider. Songs are trickling in slowly for that. Please keep the flow going. There really are plenty more good tunes from this century than you may remember. Just think of all those adverts that get stuck in your head, or play a YouTube mix of number ones and you’ll recognise them. Once you have found a song, if you aren’t sure of how to find the chords and lyrics, try searching on UltimateGuitar.com, Scorpex ukulele, Ukulele Wednesdays or ozbcoz.com. If it’s not in there, it may not translate well to uke. Or, you have unearthed a new gem that we’d like to hear. Either way, let’s get some new ear-worms going.
Next week, as well as another go at the wedding songs, we’ll perhaps focus on Souvenir1 and BrungStrum1 for a while, unless you want to play something else. It’s more of an idea than a full plan, but at least make sure you have those songbooks on your tablet.
Until then, strum hard and strum often."

From the 13th September meeting:

"This week’s Ukulele Bedford session counts as straightforward and relaxed, but no less enjoyable for that. About 20 of us gave BrungStrums2 and 3 a decent examination, paddled in the gig Book and dipped briefly in to the Bumper Book for Jackson – somehow the version that I have running through my head has a bit more going on than our simple three-chord effort. I am sure it is possible to liven up some of our simpler songs through more harmonies, solo breaks, backing singing, without bringing in a brass section . . . there is so much to do!
We have a few events coming up that we need to start preparing for. Expect an email from Jon about dates and your availability, but we have a wedding (playing jointly with Burton Latimer Ukes and Drums) and beer festival at the Rugby Club on the same day, the chance to play at the opening of a new charity premises in Bedford, Halloween, the next open mic, Strum Wot You Brung 4 (21st century edition) and the learning sessions – all before the festive season jumps out from behind the bushes to surprise us, as happens every year.
The next open mic will be on 4th October from 7pm – usual rules apply (tune up before you stand up, announce your song, one song per person unless time allows for a second one later in the session, all done and dusted by 7.30pm). Other dates to come. If you prefer 25th October over 1st November for Halloween, let us know. The BrungStrum will probably be in the week following the spooks.
As I suggested last night, asking what ukulele skills you’d like to learn rapidly takes us into Donald Rumsfeld territory about known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns, but do let me know if there is anything you really want to improve. The sort of things we are thinking about are barre chords, chord inversions and when to use them, short cuts, strumming patterns, reading TAB. We aren’t looking at a full course and will focus on skills that would benefit the whole group. But it’s up to you.
Next week? No idea! But I bet it will be good.
Strum well"

From the 6th September meeting:

"With neither Mark nor Jon at last week’s gathering, I understand that Trevor and other members of the committee took control for an evening that sounds like it went fine. Certainly, if the result of practising all the gig/strumalong songs for yesterday’s Strum Like a Pirate Day are anything to go by, it must have been successful.
Our set yesterday went really well – even the dreaded strumalong section – and I was delighted with our appearance as well as our sound. We weren’t perfect, but – and I think this is real progress – we made light of our faults and played with genuine spirit. Three of us graced the open mic platform as well, which I am not sure would have happened without our own practice nights.
I think around 80% or more of the attendees had dressed up in an array of black-white-and-red stripy, pantalooned, booted and waistcoated outfits, with enough of a plastic arsenal of flintlocks, cutlasses and false beards to keep the local recycling team happy for months. There were prizes for best-dressed pirate. For my money, our own David’s plastic Kalashnikov, bowler hat and “I heart Mogadishu” topped the charts, but he was robbed – that what you get for playing with pirates. If they run another one of these events next year, go along. It was very good and Ukulele Bedford are definitely of a comparable standard to the other groups playing. Interestingly, I didn’t hear anything from Hawaii or anything pre-1955, with the exception of our own Shimmy like my sister Kate. Mind you, I have lost most of my hearing (temporarily, I hope) so I didn’t hear very much of anything.
Back to Bedford. This week, we don’t have anything immediate to practise for, and we are in between BrungStrums, Open Mics and the new learning sessions, so we’ll just play what we choose, in as relaxed or excitable a manner as we feel.
I will simply go around the room in turn asking for your choices and whatever you pick from any book, we’ll play – or at least try to. If you don’t have any preference, we’ll move on until someone thinks of a song.
Don’t forget to keep sending in your choices of 21st century songs to Mark and Jon for the forthcoming Strum Wot You Brung 4. I know the century is a mere 17 years old, but there has been a lot of good new music among the dross. Just go out and find it.
Cheers"

From the 30th August meeting:

"As Eric Clapton nearly sang, “Darlings, you were wonderful last night!” His original “Wonderful tonight” was one of the rarities we unearthed from our books, along with other strangers such as 24 hours from Tulsa, Budapest and The Lambeth Walk, along with other non-geographical splendours. The fact that Wonderful Tonight rolled around the room a bit more than intended only reflects the alcoholic nature of the song.
The evening started with another successful open mic, with more singers wanting to take part than we had time for, and most of the audience arriving in good time for the show. Singers ranged from our youngest – Oliver - via occasional visitors – Phil - to our more established – Joy and Ian, and everyone made a decent fist of their choices. Thank you all, and David for the set up. For the next one in around a month, we will introduce a slightly clearer timetable. The “Blackboard of Ukulele Promise” is on the shopping list.
Talking of audience, was it the rain, the end of the holiday season, the open mic or simply Ukulele Bedford’s general magnetism that brought 38 of us out to play? That’s just one down from the record for the current pub, and it was great to reconnect with some of our more distant souls. We can’t be doing badly if founder members and recent converts to the ukulele all still come and enjoy themselves.
We also just about cracked “We Are Sailing”, which is a relief, and I think will make a great strumalong for the Pirate Day coming up. And talking of that, the songbook has arrived in digital format and is available to download from Bludgroup.co.uk I am assuming that this is the definitive version, in which case, for our own people, we need to be aware that in the reformatting, Slow Boat not only now has a Bb rather than an F in the new third line, but also lacks a bar of F at the end of the second verse and on the penultimate line. Have a look and you’ll see what I mean, but we’ll still play our version as normal. Worse is that the formatting has taken out the two or four beat instructions for the end of We Are Sailing, so please make sure you have our version available on the day to help. You’ll be playing that again next week.
Now that the monthly open mics are proving their popularity, we are looking to have another half-hour pre-session session in the middle of the gap. This will be aimed at beginners and improvers as a skills exchange. Some of our more experienced players will be on hand to help if you are stuck with barre chords, want tips on strumming loudly, want to learn the easy way to change from Bb to G to D and back again, etc. As with the open mics, these sessions will be time-bound and the rest of the evening will continue as normal. This will be a way of fulfilling some of our education brief without slowing the rest of the evening too much. We haven’t worked out what approach it will take, who will do it or what to try to put across, but if you have any thoughts please let me know. The only things I am pretty sure of is that it won’t be a proper course and that the content of these sessions will be decided by your wishes (as students), our abilities (as tutors/facilitators) and group need (whatever that means). To start with, I think we’ll focus on ukes. Later we could spend a bit of time working on our singing.
Finally, don’t forget to send your 21st Century songs in to Mark and Jon for our fourth Brung Wot You Strum evening, which will be upon us later this month. We have already had at least one good and surprising entry, but I am sure there are more to come.
Have a good week."

From the 23rd August meeting:

"Nineteen of us graced the pub with our ukes last night, while, presumably, the rest of you were enjoying your holidays in the sunshine. If so, you missed out on one of our slightly more challenging evenings. We started with the Gig Book as preparation for the forthcoming Strum Like a Pirate Day, and decided on a subset of our repertoire for our straight performance. We then dived around the various songbooks for players’ choice, where difficult rarities such as Bye Bye Blackbird (used to be a resident fixture but is now an infrequent visitor - what a lot of chords!) vied with two-chord specials such as Jambalaya and Drunken Sailor, before returning to make a meal of We Are Sailing. The main song is fine and the singing is great, but it suffers a bit of a crash landing. This is one of our strumalongs for Pirate Day, so expect a definitive version of it to come your way within the next few days.
Next week, we’ll start at 7pm with the open mic session. Come along and grab a slot. Play one tune of your choice to an appreciative audience. This could be your opportunity to try out something from the 21st Century for BrungStrum 4, or to lay to rest a demon from one of our current books – your choice. And if you cock it up, we'll understand. What’s not to like?
From 7.30pm we’ll play whatever takes our fancy as usual, with just a brief nautical foray to top up our readiness for boarding the Pirate Day special. And for the sake of dispelling any confusion, there will be dressing up for Pirate Day. If only I can work out how to attach a four-foot inflatable parrot to my shoulder . . . Towards the end of September (either 20th or 27th), we’ll have Strum Wot You Brung 4, your choice of tunes from the 21st Century. Re-releases don’t count, but there is plenty of good material to choose from. Don’t believe that T-shirt doing the rounds. “I may be old but at least I saw all the good bands” works as a slogan, but let’s keep the ukulele spirit by remembering that ours must be the least curmudgeonly of instruments. We are going to run BrungStrum4 entirely digitally, in keeping with the theme, so start finding 21st Century songs and chords and send a copy to Jon and myself and we’ll compile the e-book and circulate it before the event. You have weeks yet to perfect "Who Let the Dogs Out", or "Oops, I Did it Again!"
Enjoy your Bank Holiday."

From the 9th August meeting:

"Last night saw 22 of us brave the 'October-in-August' weather. After a tribute to Glen Campbell ('Rhinestone Cowboy'), we decided to carry out our own version of weather magic by ritually preforming 'Bring Me Sunshine'. It didn't seem to work! But we persevered with the Bumper Book and a few diversions into Brungstrum3, playing some old and new favourites (including San Francisco Bay Blues, Dream a Little Dream, Friday I'm In Love, Ex's and Oh's) and a few less visited tunes (some of which were Daydream, Enjoy Yourself, Diana, a couple of Buddy Holly numbers, From Me to You). It's amazing how we 'miss' some songs and then rediscover them - there are a couple there we might play a little more often I think. We also learned to listen to what the bass was doing a little better, thus all slowing down at roughly the same rate at the end of a song or two and managed to curb our enthusiasm and play things without accelerating. Excellent stuff!
The next group outing is the Strum Like A Pirate Day (9th Spetember). The three tunes that we have chosen for the song book (and therefore to lead) are The Tide is High/Rudy, We are Sailing and Slow Boat to China. In addition we have a 30 minute slot to show our undoubted talents before we lead the mass strum of those three songs. So next week, we will certainly play those three songs and possibly have a think about which songs to play in the other half an hour with possibly a few 'spares' in case our thunder get stolen by a previous group playing one or two of our choices! When we practice the songs next week, in order to make it a little more 'realistic' we will say that only those who are going to the day itself should count the songs in and lead the singing etc.
The next Open Mic Night will be on the 30th of August, so if you want to try something out then get practicing. Additionally we will soon have a Brungstrum 4 evening. You have the chance to suggest a song (or multiple songs) for the group to play. More details later - but have a think about your possible choices. The wrinkle this time is that the song has to be from this century. Yes, that's right - the year 2000 onwards. Blimey.
Until next week - keep warm and dry!"

From the 2nd August meeting:

"What a great week we have had! First, the gig in Bedford Park went really well. Despite their being a massive 18 of us playing, I don’t think we outnumbered our audience at any point, and it was great to break Kathryn and Wendie into the fold. I love the fact that we have founder members and newcomers playing together – we play to enjoy it rather than to attain some musical perfection, and we can all do that however far along our personal ukulele path we have travelled. Our playing was probably the best of this season. We had a fair amount of applause, even from strangers, and our host is hoping we’ll return.
Last night, we started with the open mic session, which saw six brave souls deliver a range of songs from obscurities and instrumentals to a duet singalong. Thank you all; we’ll have our third open mic in about a month. Start practising at home today.
Starting an evening with the open mic means we are ready to play our main session a bit sooner than usual. Although that also means it takes a little longer to get to beer-o-clock, the evening still flew past. We welcomed Sheila and Dave, recruited via the Bedford Park gig, and new occasional visitor Martin (Lydia’s dad) among our 35 players, and bounced around mainly between BrungStrum3 and the Bumper Book. Yet again, we unearthed rarities: Raindrops keep falling on my head (no one knows why it says to speed up for the second half), Sixteen tons, Dream a little dream, When I’m 64, Amarillo and And I Love Her all had a fair outing.
In what I deemed an “experiment” but might otherwise be called a mean trick, I asked us to try standing and singing “Whiskey in the Jar” without looking at the music, and while making eye contact with other people around the room. It was bloody hard – I couldn’t manage it and I knew what was coming! As well as being just a fun and different thing to do, my hope was that if we do similar things in the future, we can gradually learn how to engage our audiences a bit better without losing our place in the music.
For those of you with diaries to fill, note that we have turned down the possible gig on 1/2 September, are completely committed to Strum Like a Pirate Day on 9th September (I even have the inflatable parrot ready), and are doing two gigs on 7th October – a wedding in the afternoon followed by the Bedford Beer Festival in the evening. It would be great to do both of those events proud.
Next week, I hope, regular bassist Martin will be back. Jon is also going to start thinking about gearing our gig book towards a beer festival in October, so expect – and get ready to suggest – a few more drinking songs from anywhere in our repertoire. And if you don’t fancy Lily the Pink, Whiskey in the Jar and I am a Cider Drinker all night, bring suggestions of your own to quench your musical thirst. Perhaps go for Dreaming rather than Chippy Tea or Right said Fred, if you’d rather have a cuppa than a pint!"

From the 26th July meeting:

"We had a great evening last night, with plenty of strong singing. I know, because I was concentrating more on the bass than the words so I could hear what you were all up to. There were around 25 of us again, which seems pretty good for the summer holiday season. That number included Eamonn and Alan as newcomers - welcome both.
We started with three from the Boat book - We Are Sailing, Slow Boat to China, and The Tide is High/Rudy - because these are the three songs that we have promised to lead in September's Strum Like a Pirate Day at Isham, hosted by the Burton Latimer Ukulele and Drum Group. Barring the comedy Abmaj7 chord at the end of Sailing, those went well. Our homework is to listen to the ending of that song and see if we can make it up differently next time. Remember, Jon won't be with us at Isham, so we can't rely on him to bellow "Oh, Lord" to the pirate masses!
We then moved on to requests, which saw the Bumper Book, Souvenir1 and Brungstrum2 rifled through for gems. Good morning, America, and How Sweet it is to be Loved by You stood out as rarities that I suspect will get more play before long, and we did I'm Yours more justice than usual.
On Saturday, we have our gig in Bedford Park. We'll be setting up from about noon, and playing from 2pm for two hours or so. It won't take two hours to set up, so if the weather is decent, join us for a picnic before the music starts. You'll find us outside somewhere near the Pavilion, arguing with gazebos, amplifiers and leads . . . always leads. There is free parking at the Robinson Pool, so long as you get a ticket. The map attached shows roughly where we'll be. Park by the Robinson Pool and head towards the red heart. It's NOT in the bandstand. Don't forget a chair, your music and stand, your kazoo and your uke. Join us. It may be as near as we get to a summer party, although we have threatened a home event in our pub garden.
Next Wednesday, we'll have our second Open Mic, from 7pm. Turn up early, play a tune to delight your friends, and then bask in the glow of success for the rest of the evening. It worked well last time. We'll have 30 minutes of individual music and then straight into our usual evening. That will be mainly another request night, unless we can think of anything that we ought to be doing. For the Open Mic, you could choose a song that you really want us to hear, one from our current repertoire that you'd like us to get right, something you have written yourself, a tune that works better as a solo than as a group, an idea for BrungStrum4 . . . you name it. It's not about competence - it's about having fun and giving yourself the license to perform in front of a generous bunch of fellow players. We'll have two voice mics set up and clip-ons for the ukes, so planned or spontaneous duets and even on-the-spot backing singers can be accommodated. Everyone now practice their doo-wops.
See you all soon."

From the 19th July meeting:

"Without either our regular bassist or our loudest vocalist, there were times when the 21 or so of us there last night struggled a bit, especially when not playing our most familiar songs. Cecilia proved to be the car crash of old – it’s those bo bo bos that get us – and we had to have a couple of runs at one or two other songs that we may have otherwise muddled through, but perhaps we learnt something in the process.
It wasn’t all a challenge, though, and it was good to dust off a few tunes from BrungStrum 3. The singing was strong on Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Good Riddance, and Land Down Under goes surprisingly well. We welcomed Wendie as a newcomer who has rarely played with other people, and who has promised to get kazoo lessons from a three-year-old relative. We’ll be listening, Wendie!
Bear in mind that we have our own Gig in Bedford Park in a couple of weeks’ time – more details to follow. There will be no restriction on numbers for that one, not least because you’ll need to bring your own chair. Talking of gigs, our Sutton bash last weekend seemed to go down well with the audience, even if we weren’t at our best in some ways. We accelerated rather harshly through the first two numbers but barely at all through Hot Tamales, but overall we impressed. We had good smatterings of applause throughout the set, had to do an encore – I know – and have already been possibly snapped up not only for a return gig there next summer, but also possibly for a wedding. We were praised for our choice of music and the length of our set – 90 minutes rather than the hour we anticipated – and generally put the ukulele in a good light. I don’t know about you, but I always walk a little taller after a well-received gig.
Next week, we’ll perhaps briefly iron out any remaining issues with our gig repertoire, but mostly it will be a request night. Each of you please choose one or two songs from any of our books and we’ll do our best to play them flawlessly. Any choice is a good choice, at least until we start playing.
Until next Wednesday, strum well."

From the 12th July meeting:

"There was an ample sufficiency, as cliched tautologists might say, of ukulele players in the room last night, but as to numbers, I have no idea. More than 20, less than a zillion. We spent most of the evening in the gig book, in preparation for this Saturday's gig. If you are coming, be at Sutton Village Hall by 4.30pm - directions here www.suttonvillagehall.org.uk - ready to play at 4.45pm, unless you have a note from your mum. Set-up time could be an issue, so please be prompt.
We may have resolved the confusion over THAT line in Shimmy LIke my Sister Kate, but Pete then uncovered another anomaly in it. That particular crack will remain papered over for another week.
As well as gig songs, we tackled the few remaining tunes from BrungStrum2, Wipeout and YMCA being the most successful.
Next week, as well as basking in the glory of our successful Sutton gig (you can tell I am not superstitious, can't you?), we'll do a mix of BrungStrum3 and your own choices from any book, so make sure you have everything downloaded and a song in mind.
The Burton Latimer day on 9th September now has a pirate theme. In the absence of any Somali songs in our repertoire, we'll be looking for nautical-themed ditties, mainly from our Boat Book. There will be a mix between us performing as a group and us leading a strumalong for other groups. Let me know this week which songs you think we should go with, otherwise I'll choose and you'll only have yourselves to blame.
Finally, we're gearing up for our gig in the park - that's Saturday 29th July in Bedford Park. We'll play from 2pm but join us there for a picnic earlier. And bring your own chairs.
I look forward to seeing you all soon."

From the 5th July meeting:

"Last night was as near to a standard night as I think Ukulele Bedford gets. And if standard is as pleasant as that then we are doing very well. There were around 25 of us, honing and playing songs from BrungStrum2 and the Gigbook, partly in preparation for, well, gigs. Notable last night were that our two newcomers for the previous week returned, suggesting that we are still welcoming, and the return of Oliver now that his school has broken up for the summer. It was a warm, but not unbearable evening.
Marion once again was called on to try to breathe life into Rum and Coca Cola, and we started to get somewhere with Pictures of Matchstick Men. There will be a few songs from Brungstrum2 to reject in Jon’s great consolidation project, but not that many, and I rashly promised to do Sukiyaki in an open mic session rather than inflict it on the whole group. I think this just shows what decent taste we all have.
We have a few T shirts spare, but just one of each size in one colour. These were the sample shirts and are your absolutely final chance to secure one. We are going to offer them to you for the ridiculously bargainaceous price of £4. How do you get one? Early next week, I shall post on the Ukulele Bedford Facebook Page what sizes and colours are available. Comment on the posting to claim your shirt – one per person. Unless you have a spare body of a different size, you are unlikely to need two! You will then all be able to see which shirts are still available and which ones have gone. As all of you barring a few newcomers had the chance to order in the main print run, I am not expecting fisticuffs over this. And the reason I am putting this up next week rather than now is so that you can register with the Facebook Group if you haven’t already done so. Don’t forget the alternative, pricey route to summer fashion madness: www.zazzle.co.uk/ukulelebedford
Next week, we’ll finish Brungstrum2, do a bit more with the GigBook and then possibly head into Brungstrum3 again, and I am sure there will be space to play your personal favourites.
Finally, check your diaries for 15th July for our afternoon/early evening gig at Sutton and 9th September to be part of a gathering of uke clans near Burton Latimer. The theme for that one appears to be nautical, so dig out the boat book and give me your suggestions to pass on to the organisers. After four, everybody . . . Capybara, bara, bara, capybara! (If that means nothing, see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbnESRlQG4)
Until next week, strum well."

From the 28th June meeting:

"We had a great night last night, starting with a new feature - open mic. In our half-hour slot, six brave souls got to their feet and entertained the incoming tide of members before we made a meal of Brungstrum 2. There is no better way to practise performing solo in front of an audience than by performing solo in front of an audience, and knowing that you are in front of friends all willing you to succeed is a great help. Thanks to David for sorting the technicalities. We'll aim to run an open mic about once a month, so get in your supply of throat lozenges and get practising. Perhaps it was just me, but I thought that although the open mic section of the evening was separate, it seemed to encourage stronger singing for the rest of the night.
We also welcomed newcomers Rebecca and Carol, and hope to see them back soon. Remember a free kazoo is for life, not just for a Wednesday.
Warning: extended metaphor alert! For the main part of the evening, some 28 of us had a BrungStrum2 sandwich, comforted by the bread of the Bumper Book at each end of the evening. Perhaps surprisingly, there was rather less gristle in this butty than expected, with only "I'm Bored" and possibly "La Bamba" being spat out on the pavement of deletion. "Don't dream it's over" and "Gold" needed a bit more chewing than expected and we nearly fed "How Sweet it is to be Loved by you" to the dog under the table until we discovered that it really was much tastier than it looked. Thanks to Graham for encouraging us to keep that one on our plate.
Next week, we'll probably serve from the same menu - a bit of Bumper familiarity, followed by the second half of BrungStrum2. Join us. It's tasty. What else are you going to do now that the nights are drawing in?
Finally, we have confirmed that our next gig is at Sutton Village Hall on 15th July, playing from 5pm to at least 6pm, or until we have gathered enough rotten fruit and veg to make a ratatouille. About a dozen people have said they'll make it so far, but does that include you? Let me know if you haven't already.
Have a good week."

From the 21st June meeting:

"Last Wednesday saw a goodly number of us (I didn't count) brave the sauna like conditions of our room at the pub. Even with the windows open - thus delighting the locals with our music - it was absolutely roasting!
We started off with a few old favourites to warm us up (as if we needed it!) and then worked our way through Brungstrum 1. The intention was to see which ones were worth persevering with and which would be consigned to the dustbin of UB history. As it turns out (if you didn't know it already) the members of UB have almost immaculate taste and are excellent judges of a good tune, so there was virtually no wastage. Unless James can beat 'Atom and His Package' tune into our heads, that might be a casualty and Bo Diddley's 'Before You Accuse Me' is going to need some blues picking to rescue it from 'generic blues' status. It turns out that none of us is the uke equivalent of Eric Clapton.... whodda thunk it.
We then finished with some more oldies but goldies, before we melted out into the night.
Pushing our luck, this Wednesday we will try a similar exercise on Brungstrum 2, bracketed with more familiar tunes at the start and end of the evening.
Don't forget the new Open Mic slot from 7 until 7.30. If there is a tune you want to air to a group of supportive friends then this is the perfect opportunity, David's FB post gives more details.
I am typing this on my tablet over a dodgy wifi connection in Whitby, so apologies for any misspellings etc.
See you all on Wednesday, you might want to check my neck for telltale puncture marks, though!"

From the 14th June meeting:

"We seem to have settled on around 22 players when the sun is out, but not the same 22 each week. Last night we were a bit short of louder singers, but after a hesitant start (who knew Here Comes the Sun had such squirrelly timing?), we gradually got into the swing of a request night that featured a lot of older favourites and a few rarities, including Ringo Starr’s Act Naturally and Ain’t Misbehavin’. Tom, Jon and Dave S all made valiant attempts at fingerpicking introductions to different songs, something we could do with perfecting as the change of pace that gives would add colour to our live performances.
Next week, just turn up and play something. I dare say Jon, Trevor or other members of your committee will give direction. I won’t be with you, but that’s no reason for you not to enjoy yourselves. We have agreed to play a gig at Sutton village hall on the afternoon of Saturday 15 July. There were enough willing hands last night for us to confirm with the organisers, but there will be plenty of scope for those of you who weren’t with us to join as well. We don’t know all the details yet, but if you are free to play for at least an hour on that afternoon, please let me know directly.
In two weeks’ time, 28th June, we hope to have our first open mic session. The plan is for there to be up to 30 minutes of songs – one per performer – from 7-7.30pm followed by our usual whole-group evening. First come first heard. Just arrive in good time to get your name on the list and then sing and play. We’ll amplify both your voice and your uke. If we don’t fill the 30 minutes, you could try a second song. If we overfill it, we’ll run on to a different week, but it won’t impact unduly on our normal activities. I am really looking forward to seeing what you have to offer, but don’t feel you have to stand up in public. We all understand that one of the great attractions of our group is playing together.
Enjoy the last-ever Ukulele Festival of Great Britain if you are heading to Cheltenham this weekend. If you’re not, enjoy whatever Bedford has in store."

From the 7th June meeting:

"What a well-dressed and hygienic bunch we were last night, with many of us clad in our brand-new Ukulele Bedford T-shirts. As a request night, it was all very relaxed, with many of the songs being drawn from the Bumper Book and more from BrungStrum3. We still manage to turn up a few songs that we have barely tried before: Save The Last Dance For Me, Walk Right Back, Time Of Your Life, Radioactive and a curious World War 1 medley were different. I say curious because it was like ordering a sandwich from Subway with everything in it. Just because you can put bacon, raspberry jam and mango chutney in one bread roll doesn’t mean you should. I have always suspected that we shouldn’t play Cecilia either, mainly because we usually car crash it, but we may have solved that one. It's all in the wo ohs.
Next week, we’ll choose more songs from any of our books, so have a good look through and decide what you want to play and we’ll do it. In some cases, your vote really does count, so don’t spoil it by not having a song up your sleeve.
Two other matters: when we do gigs for charity, the charity is often already nominated, but occasionally we accept a donation for us to pass on. Felmersham was one of those and we now have the pleasant task of giving to a charity of our choice. We asked around last night for people’s suggestions. The four that came up were Macmillan, EACH, the Air Ambulance and Primrose. There was also a suggestion that rather than adopt one charity we could have a suite of choices. But what do you all think? Is there a charity that you would really like to see our money go towards, and is there one that would really turn you off? My preference would be to donate the whole of each gift to one cause – if we split the current £50 four ways, that would be four amounts of processing costs before actually helping anything. Let me know and your committee will do the rest.
Secondly, we have talked about having an open mic slot for ages but never actually done it. Now we have a plan, cunning or otherwise. Starting in about three weeks’ time – after holidays – we are going to try starting one session a month at 7pm, with the time from 7-7.30pm being a one-song per person open mic opportunity. Everyone will be able to give it a go, either singly, in pairs or in other small groupings. The normal Wednesday evening group session will then run on from 7.30pm. This means that people will get a chance to perform in front of a friendly audience – there will be no heckling of UB members – while the rest of the group assembles, buys drinks etc. We’ll run it on a first-come-on-the-night, first-on basis initially, and I don’t expect to get through all the offers in the first week. We expect to be able to amplify both vocals and ukes.
Open mics are great for building confidence, trying new songs or new arrangements of old favourites, introducing instrumentals (eg Dave's Apache), bringing possibilities for variations in gigs (including giving Jon a rest!), but they aren’t for everyone. We’ll be maintaining our collaborative vibe for the rest of the night. And if that means more nights like this week’s, bring it on!"

From the 31st May meeting:

"The last evening of spring saw 22-ish of us enjoying our ukes last night. Some basked in the glory of our first official Ukulele Bedford gig at the weekend (generally excellent, with improved sound thanks largely to David and the successful initiation of a few of our newer members into the world of live music - it's fun and only slightly scary); others were already sporting new UB T-shirts (come and get yours next week, please); and, as well as being substitute bassist, I enjoyed that fact that my latest £2 car-boot amplifier is a lot lighter to carry up the stairs than my other one, even if it does make me sound like a station announcer.
Other highlights included Pete's new home-made plywood uke, which looks and sounds really good even in fresh unwaxed form, and being able to welcome newcomer Ollie with a kazoo to add to his collection of instruments with which to annoy his parents. It wouldn't be fair to ask whether this collection and his attendance at boarding school are connected. We hope to see Ollie back in the summer.
Musically, we concentrated on the bits of the gig book that we didn't play at the weekend, followed by new favourites from BrungStrum3. We'd like to revamp the gig book to reflect the tastes of our members and audiences rather better, so if there are any songs we play - or should play - that you think would go well to our mix of audiences, please let me or Jon know. Similarly, if there are any that you think we can drop, we'd like to hear that as well. It doesn't mean we can't carry on playing them on a Wednesday for our own entertainment, but there should be only so many times that we allow a good song to fall on deaf ears. Personally, I think the days of Chattanooga Shoeshine Boy, You Say You Don't Love Me and possibly Coney Island Washboard Roundelay as gig songs are numbered, but I really want you, collectively, to have the final say. And I would be sad if we didn't play any of those three again on a Wednesday.
Next week, we'll have a request night. Look through our song books and decide what you'd like us to play. They could be old favourites, forgotten gems, gig contenders, songs we have struggled with or tunes right from the centre of our comfort zone, but do please have a couple of choices up your sleeve.
Until next week, strum for the summer."

From the 24th May meeting:

"I think there were about 22 of us last night, but I was rather too concerned with my technical difficulties to count. Without our regular bassist, I was feeling smug about having brought my bass. . . until I realised I had no lead. An emergency clip-on pickup sort-of saved that part of my evening. I then found that my Fluke kept going out of tune, despite being notoriously stable under the heat. I suspect a loose tuning peg to be the problem. However, for no obvious reason, I had a spare uke, so rather than my evening falling completely flat, it went decidedly shrill as my sopranino had a rare and piercing outing. It won’t happen often.
But hey, the evening wasn’t about me. We floated through a bunch of songs from 1967’s Summer of Love in preparation for some of our members’ trip to Cheltenham and its mass busk. I am not sure there are many keepers in there beyond our usual repertoire. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? Yellow Submarine? The Green Green grass of Home? Perhaps not, but Puppet on a String showed surprising promise.
We then went into the gig book, reminding us that there are a whole heap of songs that we play well, which is handy as our first gig of the season is at The Sun pub in Felmersham on Sunday. Join us there to play (set-up at 4.15) or just to drink and sing from 5 pm. We’re booked to play until 7pm.
We also have a possible gig at a church barbecue in Bromham Park on Sunday 11th June at 6pm. It’s short notice, so if you are interested, let me know by Sunday evening, either in person at Felmersham or by email, and we’ll make a quick decision.
T shirts are likely to be with us either next Wednesday or the Wednesday after. Remember, you need to pick them up from the pub on a Wednesday evening, so bring your uke along.
Next week, we might start to refine the gig list a bit, giving a bit more time to some of the potential additions – getting the timing and endings right every time shouldn’t surprise us at a gig! But we’ll do other things as well, so if gigging isn’t your bag, there will still be plenty of good music and good company to be had. And I won’t even bring my sopranino, probably.
See you all soon, I hope"

From the 17th May meeting:

"I don’t know how many of us there were last night – 25+ at a guess – but everyone seemed to be having a great time, requesting all sorts of songs, from classic romps such as San Francisco Bay and Whiskey in the Jar, via rarities – for us – such as Obla dee Obla da and Every Day, to a few new favourites from BrungStrum 3 such as Exes and Ohs and Boulevard of Broken Dreams. I love the way these nights bring out a different selection, and we did them all justice, perhaps a little rough justice in some cases, but justice nonetheless. There was less of the slightly swirly timing issue than we have had in some weeks, but we still need to work a bit more on endings. Correction: we still need to play better on endings. Not work, play.
Graham sold another six T shirts last night and we’ll let people know when the order will be fulfilled before long. We must have sold about 50 now, but if you didn’t get your order in (chump!), then you’ll now have to resort to the pricy option on Zazzle
Next week, we are all going to take a mind trip to the Cotswolds. The last ever Ukulele Festival of Great Britain takes place in Cheltenham in a month’s time and several of our members are going. One feature the festival always has is a mass busk in the town park, and we thought it would be helpful to attendees and fun for us all to go through the busk gig book next week. The busk book is online HERE, but you won’t find it on our own website because it simply isn’t ours. Download it to your device rather than rely on the pub's wifi. Much of the book is familiar, but there are a few new songs to get our heads around. When we have dealt with that book, we’ll move on to something else. I don’t know what yet. Perhaps you can tell me.
Finally, we have a gig at The Sun pub in Felmersham on Sunday 28th May – a friendly and familiar venue. We’re booked from 5pm-7pm – one of the busiest times at the beer festival*. If you want to join us, even if you are completely new to gigging and think you sound like a goat (not the most sensitive of strummers, goats), then come along. We like goats. Please arrive by 4.15pm so that we can do all our tripping over microphone leads and knocking over beer before we start making a coordinated racket.
Until next week, strum like summer depends on it.
*Yes, beer. Come early and stay late if you like the stuff."

From the 10th May meeting:

"With numbers in the high twenties again last night, the room seemed comfortably full for a wade through the some of the murkier parts of the Boat Book. One or two songs we managed better than ever – Smoke on the Water, Proud Mary, Summertime – others like The Tide is High/Rudy are going really well these days, but there are few that could now sink gracefully into the choppy waters of musical obscurity. Be warned though: Capybara will be back. I promise.
The Gig Book provided more reliable entertainment for the second part of the evening and we’ll try to make sure we keep plugging away at a few of those songs as the gigging season approaches. We may have a couple of dates in July, but we’ll confirm nearer the time.
Graham sold a few more T-shirts – I think there will be 41 high-fashion statements on the streets of Bedford this summer so far. If you want a T-shirt to help you experience the full Ukulele Bedford lifestyle, you have until next week to grab yourself a bargain – a mere £7.50 per shirt, however slim, svelte, well-built or downright lardy you may be. Just turn up next week and give Graham a cheque.
Paul will no doubt process all the pictures he took last night in due course. Nothing will be used without the subject’s permission, so the secret nosepickers among you have nothing to fear.
Talking of noses, as we almost were for no obvious reason, while you are tying a knot in your hankie to remember to bring a cheque for Graham, tie another one for a couple of songs you’d like to play because we’ll have a request night next week. It could be any song from any of our books, so make sure they are all firmly written to your chosen device. If you want any direction at all – other than please to think about the songs before you come as it helps the flow of the evening – it’s perhaps to choose songs that you might like us to try playing out. You know, in front of an audience of real, scary, hairy people. We’ll probably delve into the Gig Book again as well, if you haven’t already requested songs from there, but let’s see how it goes.
Finally, I notice that ukulelehunt.com is celebrating 10 years in existence today. In case the site is news to you, I would check it out. I have learnt a huge amount from that website and the book Ukulele for Dummies that its author also produced. And no, I am not on commission.
Until next week, keep picking, plucking, strumming and singing."

From the 3rd May meeting:

"With numbers in the high 20s last night, our room felt comfortably full if not rammed solid. If there is one uke problem we like, it’s having too many people – but we haven’t, so come along next week.
We breezed our way through most of Souvenir1 and a handful of other songs, ranging from most decades of the last century, and they all sounded good. We seem to have a nice blend of salty old timers and fresh young ukers in the group at present, making for a range of competencies that keeps everyone on their toes.
The most exciting part of the evening, though, wasn’t the music, but the great T-shirt try on. As promised, we had a T-shirt from every colour in our new range and every size, and orders came in briskly. If I recall, we had pre-sold 35 shirts on the night, a nice boost for club funds. Graham will bring shirt samples for the next two weeks before putting in the one and only order. Don’t miss out or you could be left with just the expensive psychedelic options from our webshop.
It was perhaps a little unwise to think that we could take pictures as well as try the shirts on. Call me old-fashioned, but there is something not quite right about wielding a camera when so many people kept appearing in various states of undress.
As and when we do start to take more pictures of the group for our own website and publicity purposes, do please let me or any member of the committee know if you don’t want your image used in public. We can’t promise not to share them with Interpol for crimes against music if the request comes in, but we wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone.
Finally, there is movement on the gig front, with three possibles being lined up. We have yet to confirm dates and venues, but it does mean we need to get our gig book in order. So next week, we’ll start with one of the songbooks – let’s go to the Boat book for a real change – and then head into the gig book, with, perhaps, time for a few requests from elsewhere. We’d quite like to bring some of our very newest songs from BrungStrum3 to the public’s attention, so any requests from there may even be heard.
I am looking forward to next week already. See you there."

From the 26th April meeting:

"Wednesday’s pub session had a bit of everything, and everyone. A record-breaking 39 players turned up, so we could welcome newcomers Pat and Pete and our returning guests from Northampton Ukes. We even had a surprise return visit from Ian. A few regulars were missing so the prospect of a night with over 40 ukes is very real.
Musically, we seemed to fly through Brungstrum1, covering a few of our more obscure tunes better than I think we have previously managed. Even Songs of Love, from the Divine Comedy via Father Ted, nearly worked. After the break we had free choice, which ranged from Elle King back in time to the Jurassic period, or thereabouts, but with a definite post-1960 bias.
Next week, we’ll do the same thing – tackle one or two songbooks to start with and then go around the tables for your own choices. Make sure you have everything downloaded, particularly Souvenir1 and the Boating book, which I think are two we have played least in recent months.
We need to play with the seating arrangements somehow because it is becoming hard to hear and react to one another across such a big space. Our slightly wavy version of Losing my Religion last week suggests room for improvement. We'll try starting with a smaller square of tables with space for people to stand behind. It will be work in progress, but bring a music stand - if you have one - in case you need it.
As well as the music next week, we are promised a fashion show of sorts. The T-shirt samples should be with us so that we can compare colours and fit. The T-shirts will be a measly £7.50 each, regardless of colour or girth, and this will be a one-off order. Future T-shirts will have to be ordered via our forthcoming web shop but they could work out at around £22 each, so our unique offer is clearly the one to go for. Order three. Why not? We’ll be taking orders over the next three or four weeks with delivery probably in June. Order forms and more details will follow soon. It will certainly be payment with order, and for those of you who may need to post your order to us, there will be a deadline and you will have to collect from the pub on a Wednesday evening. You have been warned.
Expect in-house paparazzi action next week as well. We could do with some photos of the new venue, the new group and our new T-shirt models to give everyone on our website and Facebook a reasonable impression of just how beautiful Ukulele Bedford has become.
Say cheese!"

From the 19th April meeting:

"We're not doing badly when 20 players constitute a quiet night - some of you may remember the times when a quiet night meant six of us, half of whom wouldn't sing! Last night, we finished our run through BrungStrum2 and then headed into the Gig Book to refresh our memories of some of our more recent additions. We still need a bit of ironing on a few songs, but Oliver's Army, Space Oddity and Make me Smile are pretty smooth. Losing my Religion had a few more swirly rumples, but our singing is so strong on that song that I am sure it will be publicly presentable very soon.
Talking of laundry, as we almost were in my stretched analogy, Graham's contact for Ukulele Bedford T-shirts is coming up trumps as well. We'll have six colours to choose from (Burgundy, Light Graphite, Royal Blue, Red, Pink, Black), with samples and prices to follow. Expect to be able to develop your farmer's tan in style this summer.
Special mention for last night must go to Dave and Martin for the rhythm section. Martin is getting to grips with our new bass and Washboard Dave kept his sonorous rattling, tapping and squeezing up all night in an attempt to widen his repertoire. Good stuff!
Next week, 26th April, we'll head either into BrungStrum1 or Souvenir1 to start with and then see where the muse leads, perhaps back into the Gig Book again. There will be plenty for all tastes as usual.
Strum well"

From the 12th April meeting:

"With 30 players this week, we were close to filling our new space, but with a bit more creative thought and use of such radical tactics as standing up we'll be able to fit even more in. When we are all on song, it's impressive, and makes for a great night. Highlights for me this week were California Dreaming, our second rendition of the Tide is High/Rudi (the tide was out and we were stranded in the seaweed for our muddy first attempt), Marion's near-solo singing of Rum and Coca Cola, and Martin's getting to grips with the new bass.
We welcomed Stephen and Robin as new to the group. I don't think either were expecting to be roped into kazoo playing, but that's the way we roll. As hazing rituals go, getting a free kazoo on your first night is pretty gentle.
Next week, we'll start with the front half of BrungStrum2 before moving on, perhaps to the gig book. There should be plenty in that lot to keep us happy.
Finally, just to let people know that we are on the case with Ukulele Bedford merchandise. Current thinking is that we'll soon be able to take one big order for T-shirts, with a range of other products available through a print-on-demand web shop after that. So, save your cash this Easter and prepare to splash out on your new summer wardrobe/Ukulele Bedford cat flap/ear guards. You know you want them.
Until next week, have a good Easter break and strum like your chocolate eggs depend on it."

From the 5th April meeting:

"Last Wednesday found 27 of us, including two new guests from Northampton Ukes and a substitute bass player (Mark), play our way through bits of BrungStrum3, followed by roundtable choices from the Bumper Book. We seem to have cracked Radioactive now that the chords are in the right places, and, after a slightly shaky start, our group singing was good, even rousing on occasion. The harmonies in Memories are Made of This came through nicely. We need more songs where we can split the room in various ways.
Next week, we’ll start with BrungStrums2 and 1, before possibly cooling ourselves in more familiar waters towards the end of the evening. Have a look through those books and decide what you’d like to play, especially if you didn’t get your song played this week.
Before our main session this week, we had a Ukulele Bedford members’ meeting, at which the current committee was unanimously re-elected for the coming year. Thank you all. We also decided that acquiring a proper bass was a good thing to do and a reasonable use of our funds. Finally, we had a chat about club regalia, ranging from T-shirts (optional) and tablet cosies to stickers and pop-up banners. We have a clear steer that you’d like something, so we’ll get on with that in due course as well.
I look forward to seeing and hearing you all next week.
Strum well."

From the 29th March meeting:

"Our second evening at our new venue saw around 25 of us (Trevor and I couldn't count the same number. That's what two shandies does for you - just say no, kids!) having a right old time.
We started with a few well tried and trusted favourites to get us going, then moved to the interim BrungStrum3 book to revisit some of the newer tunes that we have been test driving over the last couple of weeks. This selection of songs has turned out to be an excellent one, ranging from Nat King Cole all the way to Elle King via Green Day and Meatloaf, touching most points in between. We are making a pretty decent fist of many of them - and it is great to be playing some songs that don't need the dust blowing off them before we start! We ended the night with a few more evergreens to send us off into the spring darkness. If there was one feature of the night that I noticed in particular it was that the communal singing was both loud and excellent!
We had a new attendee (hello Steve - we hope to see you again when your other commitments allow) and Lydia returned after a couple of weeks away after suffering a horrendous sporting accident :) to lead us through her contributions to Brungstrum3.
Next week sees a General Meeting at 7pm (so just half an hour before the regular time). The committee either needs re-electing or replacing and the group needs to discuss the purchase of a proper bass uke from our funds. Only members can vote on these matters - you need to have filled in a membership form either on paper or electronically and returned it to Trevor. If you haven't, please either let us know and we will send you a copy via email or I am sure Trevor will have paper copies there next week.
Next week the plan is to play a few more Brungstrum3 songs and perhaps to revisit the previous two Brungstrum books to winkle out and revisit the gems in those, with generous helpings of member suggestions from the bumper book before and after. So have a look through and see what you'd like to play."

From the 22nd March meeting:

"At least 30 of us found our way to the new Fox & Hounds last night for our first evening in the venue. It was great. The room is a decent size, the acoustics are fine, the beer is significantly cheaper and better than the old pub and the range of soft drinks is greater as well. And the music? That was great as well. We finished the new songs in Brung-Strum3, barring Imagine Dragons where we await Lydia's direction, and reprised some of last week's new songs to even greater success. All the Strum Wot You Brung nights have been good, but I think this selection may be particularly enduring.
Next week, 29th March, I suspect there will be a similar approach - a second run through new tunes followed by a quickfire selection from other books, and either Jon or Trevor will keep order. We have plenty to keep us going. Now, a reminder that our General Meeting will be held on 5th April at 7pm, but with the venue now shifted to the Fox & Hounds, Bedford. The agenda remains the same: elections to the Committee and a discussion on puchases, including a bass ukulele.
Finally, my thanks once again to everyone who rallied round so quickly and successfully to find us a new home. All the indications are that we'll be happy there. If you haven't been with us for a while, why not be nosy and pay us a visit?
Strum well"

NEWSFLASH - New Venue!!

"For the forseeable future, Ukulele Bedford will meet in Bedford at the Fox and Hounds in Goldington Road. Repeat Fox and Hounds, Goldington Road, BEDFORD, NOT Clapham. We'll be in a function room upstairs.
Parking at the pub or in Caves Lane next door.
I look forward to seeing you all there next Wednesday for the second half of BrungStrum3 and would like to thank you all for helping us resolve our imminent destitution so rapidly. We won't have to squat in the empty restaurant I passed on the way home last night after all."

From the 15th March meeting:

"Unlike the mythical curate's egg, last night's session was genuinely good in parts. Most of the new tunes that we tackled from BrungStrum3-interim.pdf went well, and I think people generally liked the chaotic excitement that learning new songs together brings.
It was nice to include some more modern tunes (i.e. some from this millennium!) and they went well. The instrumental version of 'Apache' proved more challenging, but consider it 'homework' - we will come back to it!
Less good though was the bombshell (or eggshell) that that was our last evening in the Fox and Hounds. The pub's decision to relaunch its kitchen makes our position there untenable. We'd have liked more warning and discussion, but we have had two good years in that pub and I am sure we will thrive elsewhere.
As well as it being our last night at the pub, Sunny/Sonny - the barman - is also leaving this week. We wish him well in all he does in the future."

From the 8th March meeting:

"After three weeks enforced absence, it was great to be back with a room full of ukulele players on Wednesday, and especially good to be able to welcome five newcomers: Kathryn, Julie and Charlotte, and Barry and Janette. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as the rest of us and that we see you all again as soon as you can make it. After all, you have more kazoo songs to learn. Wednesday evening took us on a gently meandering route (or possibly a pinball machine frenzy, but the pace seemed fine to me) through the Bumper Book, both Brungstrums and the old Part1D file, just missing out the Halloween, Christmas and Boating specials. Perhaps another time – werewolves aren’t just for the witching hour.
Next week (15th March) sees Strum Wot You Brung 3, a thrilling evening of new songs that you want us to try. If you’ve just been with us a short time, you have as much say as the rest of us. We aim to be egalitarian.
The process is simple:
Find a song you want us to play and email it to either Jon or me by the end of Sunday and Jon will compile a new songbook from everything sent
Or
Find a song you want to play and send it to Jon or me by the end of Tuesday and we’ll print 15 copies and bring them along
Or
Turn up with 15 paper copies for sharing on Wednesday.
For this to work, everyone, please check your email or the website (ukulelebedford.co.uk/themusic.php) on Tuesday and save Brungstrum3.pdf to your device of choice. I suggest a tablet or laptop rather than your smart fridge. Bring it on Wednesday (again, not the fridge). Please don’t rely on the Wi-Fi or 4G connection at the pub to be able to read the new file on the fly. Any music goes, from ukulele screamo to tin pan alley. But please make sure you know all of the tune - verses, choruses, middle eights, random shouty bits, operatic solos, the lot. And if you don’t want to lead it vocally, especially if the song is a bit unusual (and we like unusual as well as familiar), bring a device to play it on so that we can hear it. The group will generally make a good fist of the chords of a new song, but we may need a steer on the melody.
Finally, consider this your formal invitation to the next Ukulele Bedford General Meeting, to be held at 7pm in the pub on Wednesday 5th April. So far, the only two agenda items for consideration are elections to the Committee, and the possible purchase of a bass ukulele. Everyone is welcome to attend and speak, and members are entitled to vote. You can join – for free – on the night if you haven’t already done so. The usual session follows straight afterwards, so if you are already in the pub for the General Meeting, you are likely to have a seat for the night.
Right. That’s it. Stop reading and go and find some new tunes."

From the 1st March meeting:

"After three long weeks of snot and dentistry, I hope to be fully fit and with you all again on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I gather that Jim and Trevor kept all in order for a decent session this week, but I have no more details to tempt you with. Thank you, both. Strength in depth is always good.
Moving on to next week (8th March), we'll have a request night: any song from any of our books will be up for grabs, and if you aren't quick enough to select one we'll move on to the next person - or worse, I'll pick more of them. That would never do.
In two weeks (15th), we'll have Brung Wot You Strum 3, your chance to shape our repertoire, so get your thinking caps on and come up with new tunes for us to murder. Murder? Well, it will be on the Ides of March so there is a precedent. Bring 15 paper copies of your chosen song or songs (no more than three each), and if you can't print them yourself, let Mark or Jon know beforehand and we'll make with the paper.
Good places to look for songs just waiting for our entertainment include:
https://www.scorpexuke.com/
http://www.doctoruke.com/songs.html
http://ozbcoz.com/songbooks/
http://ukulelehunt.com/2017/02/15/songs-with-chords-you-know-2017-update/
There's nothing to stop you creating your own arrangements of your favourite songs. But please, if you bring a song, then either be prepared to lead it or have some way of sharing it with us all if you don't feel that's your thing. We'll try to bring amplification this time, so that if you are the only person singing on the first run through you won't be drowned by 25 ukes. We'll all do our best to join in and help, but we don't know everything.
Don't be surprised if it takes several weeks to get through all the new songs. After 15th, we may mix them up with more familiar fare for a few weeks so that we don't have an entire month of mystery."

From the 22nd February meeting:

"This week we had a more select bunch (about fifteen of us) which made the pub a bit less crowded and certainly a bit quieter - which probably pleased those in the other bar trying to concentrate on Leicester losing in Europe :( . But we welcomed back an old friend (hi, Colin!) and were visited by a couple of potential new recruits who have promised to return bringing their ukuleles next time.
Musically speaking we stayed within the confines of the Bumper book for most of the evening (although we managed to find a couple of the more obscure numbers that turned out surprisingly well) and dipped into the Extra Songs (AKA 'part 1d') for some variety. Next week we might do some more from 'Extra Songs' and perhaps dip our toes again into the two Brungstrum books and start thinking about what people might like to suggest on the next Brungstrum evening.
A reminder that it is Ukes4Unicef in Berkhamsted this Saturday (Google it if you don't already know what it is) - a great day out.
Until next week, keep well (and those currently suffering the lergy, get well) and keep strumming."

From the 15th February meeting:

"Wednesday's session saw well over 20 of us (I forgot to count!) finish off the rest of the Gigbook that we started to run through the previous week. We know these quite well and some of it actually sounds like proper music! It was nice to play a few tunes that we don't normally play weekly - 'Blue Skies; and 'I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter' were great.
After the break, we went to the other extreme and had a go at BrungStrum1 - which contains quite a lot of songs that are still frankly a bit of a mystery and proved more challenging. 'Country Honk' (which is 'Honky Tonk Women' with a stetson and chaps), 'Fever' and 'Have I The Right' were pretty enjoyable though and will probably merit a revisit before we forget what we did!
Next week, we will start off with your selections from the Bumper Book (pick a couple you'd like to play in advance), try a quick ten minute strumming patterns session (bring your printed sheets!) and then choose a few of the more cheerful ones from UB Songs 2015 part 1d.pdf (on the website as 'Some Extra Songs Vol 1').
In about three weeks, we are going to be having another BrungStrum evening. This is your chance to shape our repertoire. Have a think about songs you'd like us to play and even possibly sing. When you've thought of one, see if you can find the chords online (most things are there somewhere) and if possible a link so the rest of us can hear it (YouTube is normally good). More info next week!"

From the 8th February meeting:

"It comes to something when 25 of us feels like a quieter night, but what we lacked in numbers bulging into the annex last Wednesday, we made up for in song and strum. Taking the Gig Book roughly from behind, we started with the encores and almost-set-list, working towards the front half of the book with increasing confidence. We are close to being comfortable with Oliver’s Army and Space Oddity now and seem to be getting better with balancing our backing singing on Memories are Made of This. We just need to get some gigs sorted now.
Next week, we’ll tackle the front half of the Gig Book before moving on to audience requests from any book, perhaps interrupted with the odd bit of strum work. Then, a couple of weeks after that, we’ll introduce “Strum Wot You Brung 3”, your chance to shape our future repertoire. If you don’t think we play enough show tunes, enough country, enough 21st century pop, enough rap, opera, death metal or Bach, this will be your chance to convince us all that Slayer and ukulele are a perfect match. Start looking for our next showstopper now, and we’ll give advice about format and so forth in due course.
Until Wednesday, keep tickling the dog’s fleas."

From the Ist February meeting:

"The 29 of us present on Wednesday had a great run through a range of songbooks, finding gems, quirks, works in progress and lost causes as usual. It’s rare that Mrs Robinson or On the banks of the Ohio get an outing – both successful – but perhaps even more surprising is how rarely we now play one of our old standards from the Gig Book, Bye Bye Blackbird. Some of you may remember we spent months getting the chord change to Cdim in the right place (still got it!) and then working out a competent ending (lost it!). Never mind.
This brings us neatly on to next week, when, among other things such as the possible return of strumming pattern edukashun, we’ll have a proper look at the songs that need brushing up from the Gig Book (downloadable from the website). There may be more of them than we first thought, but we are in with a good chance of making them all sound good, or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. If we run out of those, we’ll play something else. There’s no chance of being sent home early.
Finally, in case you were wondering what your committee was discussing in the corner before you arrived, we looked briefly at setting up a secure members’ register, plans for our members meeting and election in March, possible purchases and publicity. We’ll share more about all of that before too long, and don't be surprised if Trevor pounces on you (digitally and metaphorically - maintain the surprise should he turn physical) to fill in a simple membership form soon.
May your strumming be well-patterned all week."

From the 25th January meeting:

"We had somewhere between a shedload and shipload, but just less than a full pubload, of uke players on Wednesday for a jolly hack through the entrails of Souvenir1, with the added spice of a tiny bit of education. Pink Floyd may not need none of it, but we should all be open to learning, and Jon's strumming patterns were a good place to start. We tackled six simple patterns in the one song and will have another go at them next next week (so remember to bring your printed strumming patterns sheet), perhaps with a different tune. I think it added a nice bit of variety for part of the evening, and will be good for our gigging potential.
Next week, 1st February, rather than run through a book in order, we'll be taking your suggestions from the floor. We'll perhaps start with BrungStrum1 because it's been a bit neglected, but requests from elsewhere are also fine. For newer members of the group, all this means is that we'll simply take turns choosing a song from any of our songbooks. All choices are valid, and we'll try them all, so there is no right and wrong. If you don't care what we play, haven't picked anything, or just had your idea stolen by your neighbour, we'll move to the next person swiftly just to keep the evening flowing. Do have a look through the music this week and make a mental note (preferably including a page number), otherwise in the heat of the moment we'll end up reverting to all our favourites and this sort of evening works best when members unearth surprises from the books.
Have a good week."

From the 18th January meeting:

"We had another packed house on Wednesday, so much so that you had to arrive early to get a seat. I didn’t and I didn’t, but that’s ok. It’s worth remembering that you can breathe easier and sing much louder and better standing up . . . so long as your eyes are good enough to read the music. So my apologies to Lorraine whose shoulder I was looking over. That’s as good as my voice gets. It’s also worth remembering that none of the early stars of the uke used a strap to hold their instrument while on stage. Perhaps clothing was stickier in those days. Yuck.
Anyway, we made a decent fist of a fair chunk of Souvenir1, and only really dragged our knuckles on the same songs that always trip us up – we somehow make Cecilia harder than it deserves to be. The introduction of a better bass amp definitely improved the transmission of Martin’s efforts now that the plucking of all four strings comes through.
Next week, 25th January, we’ll see whether there is anything left in Souvenir1 that we want to tackle and then we’ll have a go at the best of BrungStrum1. Jon has also promised to return to looking at strum patterns that we last looked at a few weeks ago. This definition of "few" being near geological. To give a bit of variety to our play, we’ll practice some familiar tunes strummed in less familiar ways for a bit, but mainly we’ll be enjoying our music as always.
Be there and be early."

From the 11th January meeting:

"I barely feel I need to send an update this week because so many people turned up last night that most of you know what a great night we had. With welcoming Lisa and Lorraine to their first session, Stuart to his second and Annabel and Andy to their third as well as a great many of our established players, we had a new record total of 35 people. I know. 35. Brilliant!
To misquote Jaws, "we're going to need a bigger pub!" Well, not really. There is still room for overflow in to the annex, and the room works well. It gets pretty warm with such a vibrant crowd though, so my best advice for the busy nights is to wear sheddable layers. Even I was down to a T-shirt for the second half, and I'm known for being half-lizard. But don't be put off by the numbers; with or without kazoos, Ukulele Bedford is buzzing!
Musically, we carried on with some Ds, Es and Fs from the Bumper Book before heading to W for "Where do you go to my lovely", as our tribute to the late Peter Sarstedt. I suspect that's as much of a ukulele song as "Eye of the tiger", but we managed both creditably.
As well as the general bonhomie, I think one highlight was "Don't you want me". For the first time in a while we had enough women in the group to make splitting verses between the sexes work. Long may that continue.
Next week, we'll head into the exotic territory of Souvenir 1, downloadable from our website if you haven't already got it. We may have a smattering of BrungStrum1 as well.
I look forward to seeing you all next week - can we break 40?"

From the 4th January meeting:

"We began 2017 with a jaunt through the Bumper Book, with a mixture of old favourites and some that we play less often. 24 of us were there - glad to be back after a week off, and perhaps equally glad to have cleared the Christmas songs out of our system. Among the songs we played was 'Rockin' All Over The World' as a tribute to the late Rick Parfitt. We seemed to be doing that kind of thing a lot in 2016, let's hope the grim reaper decides to take on less work in this new year as far as musicians are concerned. Dave strapped on his washboard for a run of four songs and the kazoos made a tuneful (?) guest appearance. What with Martin's bass as well, we will soon be a full orchestra!
A very jolly evening, perhaps enhanced by the fact that the usual bitter was 'off' so we had to make do with the slightly stronger 'Stuffing' Christmas brew!
Next week, more Bumper Book follies - so have a look through and see if there is anything you'd like especially to play.
Happy New Year to all!"

From the 21st December meeting:

"I think we ended 2016 on a record high of 26 players for the night, ranging from local veterans and many Ukulele Bedford founder members to newcomers. And a fine thrash we made of it, with Christmas and gig songs all going well. We welcomed Andy (a guitarist) and Annabel (a flautist), who seemed to be having a good time with four strings. Is guitar to ukulele as flute is to kazoo? Discuss for 10 points over Christmas dinner. We also welcomed occasional visitor Tim, who aced the percussion all night.
Overall, we have had an excellent year. From what I can remember we:

• played some great gigs (we'll aim to get more of the gigs we really want to play a bit more next year), including beer festivals and the Morgan rally
• introduced five or six new songbooks
• modernised our gigging repertoire
• increased our attendance throughout the year
• cruised the Ouse, ukulele style
• changed our name. We are Ukulele Bedford
• introduced sound governance to the club without scaring the horses
• made a shiny and well-received new website
• gave the club a decent financial footing
• scared the living poop out of people with dodgy Halloween costumes and artery-clogging cake
• had a blast with free kazoos (eventually!)
• paid tribute to departed artists such as David Bowie and Leonard Cohen in our own four-stringed way
• enjoyed a great atmosphere every week
• made new friends
• generally had a great time.

Next year could be even better if you come along and help make it so. We next meet on Wednesday 4th January from 7.30pm. Join us for whatever the New Year brings.
Merry Christmas and such!"

From the 14th December meeting:

"On Wednesday, we had our second Christmas, with the addition of the late Greg Lake's I Believe in Father Christmas - thanks, Dave S - and more Bumper Book and kazoo-inspired madness. It was yet another great evening. Several of us rediscovered the difficulty of multi-tasking: singing and playing at once is generally ok, but adding jingle bells brings a whole new level of brain melt.
Next week, 21st December, we'll meet as usual with a mix of the Christmas Book and your selection from the gig book (Gigbook2016v3.pdf), downloadable from here. That way we're in with a good chance of at least one of us knowing everything we're going to play.
Christmas is a funny time for absences and remembering, and it would be great to see you, even if you haven't been for a while. You don't need to be a member to come along, and there are still a few kazoos for the taking.
We look forward to welcoming you all next week."

From the 7th December meeting:

"There were 23 of us playing on just the right side of chaos on Wednesday, and what a great night it proved to be. The new Christmas book is definitely a cut above the old one, with a good mix of the jolly and the jolly melancholy. We only skipped a couple of songs, so if the people who requested that we put Felice Navidad in our Christmas offerings turn up next Wednesday, we'll give it a go. None of the rest of us knew it.
After half time, we broke out the Tequila, or at least The Champs tune of that name, with our shiny new kazoos. That's one legal high the government forgot to ban! Our kazoo chorus for the old Ralph McTell song, The Streets of London, could be held up as an example of pure cognitive dissonance, and a right laugh to boot. Pure gold. We still have kazoos for anyone who hasn't claimed one yet. (James didn't manage to break them all.) Just turn up and a kazoo can be yours, with all the consequent buzzy-lipped pleasure that brings. You do know how to kazoo don't you? You just put your lips together and hum.
Next week, it's still kazoo Christmas, so bring your kazoos - and your ukes, obviously - along, and we'll have another bash at Christmas tunes for half the session, along with a stroll through one of our more familiar books. Music starts from 7.30pm as usual, but don't forget the General Meeting that will preceed it at 7pm. Be there if you'd like to help with the running and shaping of Ukulele Bedford. Let us know and there will almost certainly be a committee place for you.
Keep strumming, keep buzzing!"

From the 30th November meeting:

"Wednesday saw us plough through the remains of Part1D. There is some good stuff in there individually, but played together you realise how many minor key songs it contains, even ones we like. We must have created that book at a low ebb in our existence, but it just goes to show that even the world's finest ukulele player can be wrong: in James Hill's recent and excellent gig at The Stables, he said "Anyone who doesn't think the ukulele is a happy instrument is blowing in the wrong end!" All I can say is that he hasn't tried playing Crying in the Rain followed by Daniel. We skipped Sylvia's Mother for the sake of our collective mental health.
It wasn't all gloom by any means. It was great to see Sophy back, and Jon with even half a voice is a welcome return, and I think our playing was pretty strong.
Now, for insomniacs and Ukulele Bedford players alike, do you realise there are only three sleeps until Christmas? Woo-hoo! Time for a new songbook. Any members who have been with us for a while will have our old Christmas book that starts with Away in a Manger. Ditch it. Delete it. Never let it raise its dreary head again. Instead, go to our shiny new cheery Christmas book, pinched and only marginally tweaked from London's Ukulele Wednesdays group. It's attached and will be on the website shortly and should put us all in the mood for festive excess. We'll get stuck in next week, tinsel and all."

From the 23rd November meeting:

"Last night there were so many of us that we have even started to fill the annex, and at least five regular players weren't with us, so I think we can say that Ukulele Bedford is in pretty good shape. We welcomed back Mel and Peter and hope that our new observer, Terry, will join us with a uke next time.
The Bumper Book revealed a previously unplayed Rod Stewart song - I don't want to talk about it - and other more familiar gems, including a washboard quartet for Dave. We managed only a brief foray into Part 1D, but found some of the good stuff, including Dreaming and the Shoop Shoop Song. There is more to be revealed in that book, so guess what we are doing next week - possibly with added kazoos!
After next week, we'll be into December so expect the new Christmas book before long, but for now, please have a look at the Bumper Book and Part 1D (under Some Extra Songs Vol. 1 on the website) and come armed with requests so that we can keep the evening moving."

From the 16th November meeting:

"I ran out of digits trying to count how many players we had on Wednesday, but it was a very humid and healthy turn out. Notable this week were newcomers Ted and Phil - welcome both - and the return of Norman's military-grade banjolele. It's probably just as well that Norman brought that on a week when our loudest singer was tucked up in bed with a Lemsip or we'd have been hearing from Noise Abatement. I think Phil was expecting just to come and observe, but found himself in charge of the House Uke that lurks behind the bar for just such occasions.
We started the evening with Hallelujah, as a Leonard Cohen tribute. Then, just when you think we have winkled the last nuance from the Bumper Book, someone comes up with songs we haven't played for an age - in this case Mr Tambourine Man, a different Five Foot Two medley and Only the Lonely. We then went to BrungStrum2, which moves from the two-chord simplicity of Pay me my money down, to the surprisingly successful Losing my religion. We've mostly picked up the timing of that pretty well.
Next week, 23rd November, we'll move away from BrungStrum2 for a bit, except for trying Sister Josephine that I forgot about this week. Instead, we'll have a go at the catchily titled "UB Songs 2015 part 1D.pdf" Some of you will have this already under its old name of "BUG Songs 2015 part 1D.pdf", but everyone else can download it from the website under 'Some Extra Songs Vol 1' on the Music' page. There are some good songs in here, but it's fair to say that others are simply hideous. I'll be putting in a vote for playing "It's in his kiss". As usual, we'll start with your suggestions from the Bumper Book, so flick through it this week and come up with some ideas, otherwise you'll be getting Radiohead, Kylie and Abba. Don't say you haven't been warned."

From the 9th November meeting:

"You either enjoyed or missed* a lovely lively evening on Wednesday as we once again found lesser-played tunes from the Bumper Book, topped up in the second half with a few of the spicy new numbers from Brungstrum2. It was good to welcome Bob and Stella back to the fold after a long gap, and Ron seemed to be enjoying his second visit as much as his first, especially as he has now come out as a true leftie. We're hardly taking over, but I think there were four of us again in our total of 18 players.
Next week, we'll take a similar tack - Bumper book and Brungstrum2. One song we have been avoiding from BrungStrum2 has been Sister Josephine because Dave and I were putting together a better version. Let's try the one I sent you a couple of weeks ago. So, this evening, have a flick through the Bumper Book and see if there is anything you'd like us to try. If you wait until Wednesday evening to do that, you'll only ever come up with things we play a lot. That's ok, but let's see if there are any more nice surprises to be dragged from its depths. All future songbooks will have an index!
After that we can more or less declare BrungStrum2 to be normal fare rather than exotica and we'll move around the other books before gearing up to Christmas with a new festive selection.
* And if you enjoyed missing it, what's up? It was great."

From the 2nd November meeting:

"Last week's post-Halloween session was the musical equivalent of a long comfortable soak in the bath. The Bumper Book still manages to come up with a few soapy surprises, but overall, the 18 of us present spent the first half of the evening simply relaxing into tunes we know and like. For the second half, someone turned the bubbles on, in a good way. BrungStrum2 has some fine new tunes in it. We also welcome Lydia to our fold as a fellow leftie, making three southpaws on the night. That surely puts us above the national average.
Next week, 9th November, we'll do the same thing: your choice from the Bumper Book for the first half and your choice from BrungStrum2 for the second. If we aren't careful, we may even get to know some of these new tunes rather well. It will be good. Be there. And if you are desperate to do something from one of our other books, pipe up. We'll just do it."

From the 26th October meeting:

"Our witching hour has come and gone with a suitable degree of ukulele and cosplay silliness. We attracted a wider range of ghouls, vampires, witches and the undead than previously for our Halloween bash, as Tom's photo attests. And even though none of us had looked at the book since last year, we still managed to nail a fair number of Spookelele tunes and stumble over others: Bela Lugosi's certainly dead; Scooby Doo is nowhere to be found; but I think we traced A Devil in Disguise. I don't think we'll be calling Ghostbusters in the near future, except to explain the missing middle eight, and Thriller still seems to be one thrill too far.
And if all of this sounds too cryptic (not a sly Monster Mash reference), don't worry. Suffice it to say that we had a fun evening and have finished with prosthetic tomfoolery for the year, unless anyone goes for reindeer antlers and a red nose in December.
Next week, 2 November, we'll be sailing the gentle waters of the Bumper Book or other more familiar shallows, with perhaps the occasional foray into the back page depths of BrungStrum2 to spice up our trip. Come armed with tunes you'd like to play from any of our main books and we'll try to fit them all in. Join us. You'll enjoy it."

From the 19th October meeting:

"We spent rather more time wallowing in the Bumper Book last night than we perhaps intended, so didn't finish going through BrungStrum2. It was a good wallow, and we did at least have time to discover why classic rock merchants Rainbow tended more towards grungy guitar than ukulele. Hey, we can't win them all, but we at least had curiously unidentifiable wobbly Japanese sweets from Joy's trip to keep us going. We also welcomed a new Ron, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. We look forward to seeing him in full Halloween costume next week . . .
Next Wednesday, 26th October, will be our Halloween epic, so download the Spookelele book from our website (it was created by Moselele, in that there scary city of Birmingham), get your ghost sheet out and slither along to join us. It will be fun."

From the 12th October meeting:

"Wednesday evening's run through the first half of BrungStrum2 proved popular and fun, if a little challenging at times, but we eventually remembered most of the tunes. Just this first half covers rhythm and blues, folk, country, Britpop, new wave, and chart pop, and remember that this all came at your suggestion so it's really fun to see how our range is expanding. There are some sure-fire keepers in there. I think we made particularly good stabs at Losing my religion and I don't like Mondays, with Baker Street showing potential. Just wait for that shipload of kazoos to liven that one up! As for Spandau Ballet's Gold - Unbelievababble!
Next Wednesday, 19th October, we'll go through the second half of BrungStrum2, which takes us from Status Quo and the Andrews Sisters, via the classic rock of Rainbow, a Japanese whistling classic, to YMCA and beyond. And if that leaves you feeling a bit exposed and Dizzy (like your head is spinning), we'll probably finish the night wrapped in the comfy cardigan that is the Bumper Book. Who knows, perhaps we'll even play the song from page 95."

From the 5th October meeting:

"Last Wednesday's nostalgic stroll through Souvenir1 was good fun, if a little chaotic. Next Wednesday (12th October), we'll be playing more of your songs that you brought in for "Strum wot your Brung 2". Lost the paper sheets? No matter. A totally dust-free, hot-off-the-presses BrungStrum2.pdf will be on the website by now. This file includes not only all the songs brought in for the two meetings of Strum wot you Brung itself (I hope), but also a few leftover pieces that people either brought beforehand, such as YMCA, or didn't get around to bringing out on the designated evenings, such as Sukiyaki (one instrumental was enough).
Finally, on 26th October, our last meeting before All Souls Night, we'll be having another Halloween Special, playing the Spookelele collection that is on our website. There will be cosmetics, prosthetics and dressing up. There will be edible ghoulish delights, and possibly a pumpkin-coloured uke. There will be as much ukulele playing as ever. Order your spooky costume today. You really don't want to miss this one."

From the 28th September meeting:

"There was a great atmosphere in the pub last night for our riffle through the Bumper Book. Any session that involves both Kylie and Abba works for me, but there was plenty of real music as well, from as far back as 1933. Next week we'll start in Souvenir1, from the far end of the book. Expect Yoshimi battles the pink robots, Wild Thing and Wild Rover early on."

From the 21st September meeting:

"I came back from a week's camping in Cornwall with the sound of thunderstorms in my ears and the memory of a horrid drive home (six hours after leaving St Ives, we were still stuck in Devon), so it was great to spend last night rambling through our Souvenir Songbook, reminding me that travel isn't always so taxing. It was good to remember that some of the songs that we now play regularly at gigs were new to us in January, thanks to our mini-tour of other groups' songbooks. All in all, I think we had a great night and are making real progress on some of our rarer songs.
Finally, don't forget to send through digital copies of any of the last couple of week's new songs. I am looking forward to getting to know BrungStrum2 in the coming months. Next week, make sure you have BrungStrum1 and the Bumper Book with you and some suggestions as what you'd like us to play."

From the 14th September meeting:

"Wednesday saw the second half of our BrungStrum session, with us trying (and mostly succeeding) in wrangling something vaguely musical from the printed sheets. Personally I really enjoyed the tunes with different strumming patterns and little picking patterns - it's nice to give us something to practise a bit and allows us to make some tunes sound somewhat different. Having said that were were some simpler two and/or three chords singalongs which got the room going as well. Good stuff. If you brought something for us to murder, please send Mark and me a digital copy if you haven't done so already. We will compile them into a digital book for future use. Thanks to all those who found new songs - it's a chance to steer to group's repertoire in the direction you want it to go!"

From the 7th September meeting:

"We had great fun last night cavorting through a wide range of new music - well, new to us - for "Strum wot you brung 2". I am not sure if we broke into the 21st Century, but we certainly troubled the nineties. What you enjoyed (or missed) included Mustang Sally, Losing my religion, St Tropez, You're so vain, Country house and Wipe out, to name a few. We covered blues, an instrumental, gentle hippy nonsense (sorry, read "classic rock"), straight pop, calypso and more. Not surprisingly, we didn't manage to get through everyone's contributions, and, of course, not everyone was there last night . . . so
. . . For the next two weeks, we'll rattle through any remaining new songs that you'd like to bring in while mixing and matching between old favourites and last night's finds. At that point, we'll draw a temporary line under new contributions and bed this lot into our repertoire properly by turning it all into a new digital songbook.
To get your choice played, simply bring a dozen paper copies next week or the week after and then send a digital version to me or Jon for inclusion in the new songbook.
Right, I won't be with you next week as my summer holiday beckons. It will be in neither St Tropez nor a big house in the country, but no one seems to write songs about tents in Cornwall.