Port Townsend Ukulele Festival

Fort Worden State Park

Thursday was our first day at the Festival. Hundreds of students and teachers were milling around Fort Worden in Port Townsend. Leah gave me a mini-driving tour of the grounds and showed me where our classes would be held. We each had chosen a different class for the morning session. I was in a class taught by Craig Chee about the theory behind soloing during a jam session. Craig is a wonderful teacher and made this mysterious process understandable! I was too busy trying to learn new uke tricks yesterday, so I didn't take many photos, but I did manage to snap a picture of each of my teachers.

Craig Chee, explaining a few basics of soloing

For the late morning session I met up with Leah for Sarah Maisel's "Doo Wop Till You Drop" class. I needed a breather after all of that music theory in Craig's class. Sarah ran through basic chord progressions that can be used for many styles of songs, including Doo Wop, Rock 'n Roll, Pop and Jazz. This was a very inspiring session!

Sarah Maisel

Leah and I had lunch in the Commons on the grounds of Fort Worden. It's always fun meeting up with people from previous classes and talking about our uke experiences. During lunch break there are other things to see. There's a mini music store, a lounge for people to jam and a bulletin board set up with other things happening during the day.

Our third and last class of the day was with Gerald Ross called "Intro to Swing Ukulele." This class was challenging, but definitely worthwhile. We'll be taking part two and part three of this class for the remainder of the Festival. 

Gerald Ross demonstrating the lap steel guitar

We have other "drop-in" classes scheduled for Friday and Saturday. There are teacher concerts tonight and Saturday. All-in-all, this is one great festival!

Original Ukulele Applique Art by Kathleen