Rusty Atwood introduced Lee Urban.  Lee was formerly in two Law Firms, then Portland’s Economic Development director.  After that he enrolled in an extended teacher program, and then gravitated to the ukulele.  

Lee started by telling us that the power of the ukulele is that it is OK to smile, laugh and giggle.  That is what the ukulele is all about.  The ukulele brings to mind Tiny Tim, Arthur Godfrey,and  silly shirts. It is small and has a very easy learning curve.

The ukulele was brought to Honolulu from Madeira  8/23/1879, on the British ship Raven’s Craig. Both the  King and Queen of Hawaii fell in love with it.  There are two ways to pronounce it, and either is OK.  The name can be translated to mean Leaping Flea, Jumping Flea, or Gift from Afar.  In 1915, Hawaii introduced the ukulele to the world at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.  It was introduced again to rest of USA, in 1949, when the first plastic UK was created. Authur Godfrey sold 350,000, for $2 each, in a year.  He sold millions over the next few years. Rock and Roll killed the uke for a while, but in the 1980s, Independent bands picked it back up.  Now ukesters are taking over in the elementary school.  There was a old out concert Thursday night, at the Merrrill. Hundreds came to the uke festival last year and thousands are  expected this summer.

Studies show:  The ukulele breeds group cooperation and teamwork.  The Ike has been shown to help students achieve because it is fun to learn.  Ukuleles heal the world. After a four day class, one nine year old girl said  “It is going to be a better world if people teach other people to play the UK.” Powerofuke.com is a commercial enterprise which says they unleashes the power of business, through the ukulele.  Neurologist have said that bringing one to the hospital helps to eliminate fears.  The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital just got 20, and will give them away.  The Survivor Girl Ukulele Band assists girls to escape prostitution in Calcutta.

Learning to play it is easy.  You never have to practice.  All playing is fun.  Find a song you like, and then you play it.  It is far more important to make music than to be good at making music.  Lee proceeded to teach 13 Rotarians, who had never picked up a Ukulele before, to play.  He taught the basics:  Singing, Strumming, and Fretting in less than 10 minutes.  While learning the basics, the group serenaded us with Row, Row, Row Your Boat, in three versions, first with the chords C6, then the chord C, and finally with the the chord C7.  After that, he spent another three minutes teaching the orchestra Down in the Valley!  They received a standing ovations, from two people!!!!  Selfies and autographs were gladly offered after this premier concert.

 

Lee Urban and accompanying ukulele players.