As we transition seasons, I’m excited to announce a new term of weekly ukulele classes, monthly songwriting workshops, and regular jams – all offered online *and* in person here in Portland, Oregon! Read through some brief descriptions below, browse the Shop, and/or check out the Event Calendar to find the best options for you.

Weekly Classes

Ukulele Theme Study: The Music of Hawaii

I really enjoy the opportunity I have as a teacher to share my expertise and provide meaningful learning experiences for my students, as well as to learn right along with them! This term, we’ll be learning together about The Music of Hawaii. As I followed the news of August wildfires on Maui, and processed my own thoughts and feelings about it from a distance, I realized I hadn’t yet truly investigated the ukulele’s relationship to Hawaiian culture and history. It’s time! I hope you’ll join me. Ukulele Theme Study of The Music of Hawaii. We’ll study a mix of popular Hawaiian songs, as well as traditional music and lesser known writers from Hawaii. It’s mixed level, so advanced beginners through experienced players are welcome! Click here to learn more and register to attend on Zoom or live in person.

Ukestra (Ukulele Ensemble)

We had a really nice monthly group of ukulele instrumentalists meeting monthly earlier this year. This term, we’ll met every week! This class is best suited for those who are familiar with reading music notation and/or tablature on the ukulele, and are eager to play with others in different parts. In other words, as in an orchestra, we will play instrumental pieces of music with a melody, harmony, and bass part, and perhaps others. The music we play mostly includes traditional music from various traditions (e.g. Shenandoah), along with instrumental arrangements of popular songs (e.g. God Bless the Child). Click here to learn more and register to attend, in-person only.

Workshops

Beyond Beginner Ukulele Workshop Series (Weekly)

It’s fairly easy for some folks to pick up the ukulele and get themselves started. However, at some point, everyone needs a bit more guidance, perhaps some accountability,  and the fun and support of a community to get them to the next level of their playing. This weekly Beyond Beginner Ukulele Workshop Series is designed to help players get beyond the feeling of being on a “beginner’s plateau”. Over the course of 8 weeks, we’ll cover rhythm, ear training, how to sing and play at the same time, and instrumental music for ukulele, including how to read music and/or tablature. Register for any and all of four workshop topics, or purchase the whole package. Click here to learn more and register to attend, in-person only.

Songwriting Basics & Beyond Workshop Series (Monthly)

The creative process can be an inspiring, fulfilling, yet lonely journey. This songwriting workshop series is designed to support your individual writing experience in meaningful community with other songwriters. This Songwriting Basics & Beyond: Workshop Series introduces participants to the fundamental elements of songwriting, and explore different approaches to engaging with them. Each songwriting workshop will feature one of three elements: lyrics, music, and arrangement. We’ll study existing songs that offer interesting examples of each element, but we’ll spend most of our time working with prompts and invitations to engage with these elements more consciously in our own writing. Click here to learn more and register to attend, in-person only.

Ukulele Jams

Monthly jams resume, both online and in person!

Online Ukulele Jams meet live on Zoom, 1:00-2:30pm on the following (mostly) 1st Saturdays: October 14, November 4, and December 2. Join my e-newsletter for full details, our 2023 Jam Songbook, and the Zoom link. Free and open to all, but donations are gratefully accepted here.

In-Person Ukulele Jams meet at Artichoke Music, 2:00-3:30pm on the following 3rd Saturdays: October 21, November 18, and December 16. Jam Songbook provided. $10 per person – registration link to come!

Whew!

So much musical fun coming our way. See you there! If you have any questions, please reach out to me any time.

The newest member of the family …

A couple of weeks ago, I went to pick up my new custom tenor ukulele from my friends Aaron, Nicole and Henry Keim (a.k.a. Beansprout Musical Instruments). I have been teaching and performing on ukulele long enough now, it was time to up my game and work with an instrument that I also want to work *for*, that will demand as much – if not more – of me as I will of it.

I knew Aaron would be the one to make whatever my next instrument would be. He is an expert craftsman, a deep listener of old records, and a curious soul ever on the journey, which means he’s the perfect bridge for this wood to travel from it’s latest iteration to its newest. Aaron works exclusively with salvaged wood that would otherwise be discarded. He knows where this wood has been, that it long preceded him and will long outlive him. A true artist, in every sense of the word.

I share a bit about the origin of the wood in the video below, but Aaron explains it best in the video he made on this gallery page on his website. Check it out, as well as the countless other instruments he’s made.

We went back and forth about how to describe the sound of this instrument. I know Aaron can get a bit nervous when an artist friend orders an instrument, whether they’ll like it, whether it will achieve the sound they were looking for. Truthfully, I think a lot of us don’t really know how to describe what we want, which can’t make his job easy. But I have not been able to keep my hands off this thing since I picked it up and I’ve realized that – intentionally or not – he’s achieved a sound in this instrument which is exactly what I strive for in my own voice: gentle, but full-bodied; breathy and pleasant, but present and with substance. Indeed, an instrument I will happily spend the years to come earning the right to play.

The newest selection from the repertoire …

What better way to celebrate a new instrument than with a new song! Earlier this summer, I taught at the Northwest session of the Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp (a.k.a. Caz Northwest) and it was just the change of scenery and tempo I needed to write this little tune that had been swirling just below of the surface for me.

Oscar and I have been tearing through the series of children’s books about different science topics called The Magic School Bus. We started with dinosaurs, which was epic enough (did you know the dinosaurs lived for *hundreds* of *millions* of years?!), but went full throttle recently, reading The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System and The Magic School Bus: Explores Human Evolution almost in tandem with each other, back and forth, back and forth.

One night, as I put him to bed, I said, “Goodnight, Boo. I love you to the moon and back!”

He responded, “I love you to moon, too, Mama. … But the sun is farther, isn’t it? I love you to the sun and back!” And so it went … to Jupiter … to Pluto … and finally: “I love you to the end of the sky and back, Mama!”

I turned out the light and thought to myself, we don’t actually know where the end of the sky is, do we? Or if there is even an end to the sky at all? And isn’t that exactly what love can feel like … you launch and there is no coming back.

The End of the Sky

You and I are the blink of an eye / Going round the sun, just a speck in the sky

Something so small can be something so big at the same time / I know why, I know why

Powers of ten, again and again, to the end of the sky and back to

You and I, going round the sun

Me and you, we got nothing to do / But pass the time as we pass on through

The days are too long, the years are too short at the same time / I know why, I know why

Ringing the bell, back down the well, to the very first cell and back to

Me and you, just passing the time

Hold on

Let go

How far does it go?

Powers of ten, again and again, to the end of sky

Follow the path, narrow and vast, but there’s no coming back from loving you

You and I … just passing on through, on this speck in the sky

As an artist, there are ebbs and flows, phases and chapters, refrains and bridges … in other words, it’s rarely a straight path, but the good news is the path is always leading somewhere. Thus far in the pandemic, I’ve taken a step back from my work as Avery Hill the Songwriter, for a variety of reasons. Now, also for a variety of reasons, it’s time for Avery Hill the Songwriter to get back to work. 🙂

I would love to invite you to a different kind of a show… This Friday, January 20, 2023, I’ll be playing my first solo, two-set show in let’s just say a really long time. And A LOT has happened since the release of my last album in 2015. So, I’m going to be trying something a little different at this show…

Set 1 will feature a group of songs and stories that I will likely never perform together again. They are a tender group of songs that represent an important pivot point in my work as a songwriter. I’ll be honoring some important folks in my life, and also letting some of them go…

Set 2 will feature songs that point to new themes and questions in my writing. As I prepare to record my next album, I’ll be inviting YOU to be a part of the process of choosing which songs to include, which ones need a bit more work, and what additional themes and questions these songs seem to invite. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts and reflections!

You can attend in person, catch the livestream, or watch the livestream later. Thanks in advance for taking this risk with me – let’s have fun!

In-Person Tickets: https://artichokemusic.org/class.aspx?cls=875052

Livestream / Recording Link: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtichokeMusic/streams

It’s hard to believe we are at another year’s end! I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season, whatever you may celebrate (or not celebrate, as the case may be). As for me, I’ve enjoyed baking cookies and singing carols with my son, getting out for walks in our brisk winter air, and – of course – planning for new ukulele classes in Portland and online!

As we prepare for a new year, I am reminded of the many new beginnings music offers us every day. I often tell my students music is a journey of “Choose Your Own Adventure”. There are so many elements of music to explore, you never really lose the feeling of being a beginner. And yet, no matter how long we go between practice sessions, the music is always there, ready and waiting whenever we return. Learning music is a relentless process, but I also like to think of it as relentlessly forgiving …

You may recall I took a break these past several months to work on my YouTube channel and prepare some self-paced online courses. I’m excited to return to weekly ukulele classes in Portland next month, both in person and online! Here are some short descriptions and links to get you started:

101: Ukulele For Beginners

Did you splurge on an ukulele over the holidays, or receive one as a gift? Or have you had one in the closet you are ready to dust off? This 8-week class will cover / review all the basics you need to know for early success in your ukulele playing.

IN PERSON: Thursday evenings, January 26 – March 23 at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon. Click here to register through their website.

ONLINE: I don’t currently have an online offering for this class – are you interested? Please fill out this 2-question survey to help me form an online cohort! 🙂

Theme Study: Ukulele Motown!

Stop! In the name of love! What’s goin’ on? I heard it through the grapevine…

I often teach a themed class each term that allows us to explore a certain genre / era / artist through the lens of our ukulele playing. This term, it’s all about the music of Motor City (Detroit) in the 1960s! We’ll learn popular favorites (referenced above…) and expand our musical skills and technique in the process.

IN PERSON: Thursday evenings, January 26 – March 23 at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon. Click here to register through their website.

ONLINE: Wednesday mornings or evenings (Pacific time), January 25 – March 22 live on Zoom. Also available as an email course. Click here to register through my website.

Instrumental: Ukestra / Ukulele Melodies

I’ve recently begun teaching more instrumental music for ukulele, both in person and online, as well. Because the pieces we play translate so differently when playing all together versus online, I offer two different workshops. However, the material often overlaps. In both cases, we focus on learning notes on the fretboard, how to read music notation and/or tablature, and maintaining good tone as our ukuleles sing!

IN PERSON UKESTRA: January 10 Intro to Ukestra Workshop, then 1st Tuesdays of the month at Artichoke Music in Portland, Oregon. Click here to register for Intro to Ukestra Workshop. Registration for regular monthly sessions open soon, so save the dates: February 7, March 7, April 4, May 2 and June 6.

ONLINE MELODIES WORKSHOPS: Saturday mornings (Pacific time), January 14, February 11 and March 11, live on Zoom and recorded for later review. Click here to register through my website.

Public Health Precautions

We here in Portland continue to live with not just one but various respiratory illnesses during our winter months. I’ve been to a variety of music events with different policies regarding masks. It’s been tough to decide on policies and precautions for myself and my own in person events, but I’ve decided that, in weekly classes and Ukestra workshops, masks will be very welcome, but not required. I’m still working with Artichoke Music to determine dates for our in person Ukulele Jam, which I’m hopeful to restart, as well. If and when we jam in person again, masks *will* be required, since we will be singing and projecting in a larger group of folks, less able to socially distance.

I realize this may affect your choice regarding participation at in person classes and workshops. If you’re at all hesitant, I encourage you to try one of the online offerings mentioned above.

Let’s make some music!

Thanks so much for your patience as I got all the logistics squared away here. Can’t wait to make music with you again in 2023 – I look forward to seeing you at an ukulele class in Portland and/or online soon!