Jumping fleas
Talking bout hey, now (hey, now), Iko Iko onday (oooh), Jock-a-mo-fee-no-a-na-nay, Jock-a-mo-fee-na-nay.
… the kind of songs that no one can remember the names of, but everyone knows the words to.
The singers are mostly middle-aged. They sit in a semicircle playing what look like toy guitars. Most of the tiny instruments are polished wood, but one is dark purple and another is even cuter in baby pink.
This is the Taranaki Ukulele Orchestra at practice.
Squashing in together for a photo, the strumming and the singing continues.
Lean on me, when youre not strong, And Ill be your friend, Ill help you carry on.
The group sings any sort of music from the 1920s onwards, founder Dominique Blatti says.
There is no [particular] style anything is going to work well.
Ms Blatti, who has been playing the ukulele for about four years, got the group together last year after a trip to Hawaii.
Hawaii is the mecca for ukulele players, but the instrument originally came from Portugal.
Portuguese immigrants took the little guitars to Hawaii when they went to work in the sugar cane fields. They brought along the original version, which had about four strings, she says.
The Hawaiians were quick to grasp the instrument as a terrific tool and started to play it.
They called it ukulele, which means jumping fleas, because the Portuguese players fingers moved so fast.
Ms Blatti was in Hawaii two years ago and as she was watching groups of ukulele players performing together, she had an idea.
Back in New Plymouth, she advertised to see if any ukulele players were interested in getting together to do a bit of strumming and have a sing-along. It rapidly snowballed and there are now 12 members of the Taranaki Ukulele Orchestra.
Its nice for people to get together and have a group situation to perform.
The group started last May.
We were able to play a certain amount of chords and strumming and we sort of work well as a group.
So, if anyone wants to join, you have to be able to play at least half a dozen chords and know a couple of strums. If not, you have to have some lessons with Ms Blatti. She has three men who, after hearing the orchestra playing in Pukekura Park during the Festival of Lights, are keen to join … after they have had their lessons.
Its good to keep the male/female ratio even, she says. It makes it easier to harmonise.
The ukulele orchestra has played at the Basement Bar on Singers and Songwriters night and is going to perform a track on the CD of local musicians that the New Plymouth Singers Songwriters is putting out.
Thats an exciting experience.
The orchestras performance at the Festival of Lights was well received and they are looking forward to playing at the Riverside Festival and the Multi-ethnic Extravaganza, which is on at the end of March at the TSB Stadium.
As word of mouth spreads about the ukulele players, they are getting more opportunities to perform.
Its great to be able to perform publicly as well.
The ages of the players range from late 20s to over 60 and they come from all walks of life.
The older member has been playing ukulele for a long time and he regularly goes to Hawaii and also Canada, where there is a huge big group of ukulele players.
Their concert at Pukekura Park was filmed and a copy of the DVD was sent to the Canadian group, who were impressed, Ms Blatti says.
We were chuffed by that, because that group had been playing for a long time.
Ms Blatti has been playing the guitar for most of her life and teaches both guitar and ukulele.
The guitar is a wonderful instrument, she says, but its a hard one to master and play well.
A lot of people think they can play because they can play three chords and have a song.
This is not what the guitar is about.
She teaches at Omata School one day a week and is about to start a ukulele orchestra for the children there.
And the number of little ukulele players coming to her at home for lessons is increasing, so she is also thinking of starting a childrens ukulele orchestra in New Plymouth.
The ukulele is a good instrument for children to start on, she says. They can learn rhythm and sing at the same time.
It is easier than guitar if people just want to strum a bit and accompany singing.
Its relatively easy, but you have to put in the practice.
There are some Hawaiian ukulele players on YouTube who are geniuses, Ms Blatti says.
They are absolutely amazing. You could compare them to a gifted violinist or guitarist.
Posted
on
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm under