Humble instrument bringing joy to Townsville locals

Jumping into the music scene might be daunting for some but the Townsville Ukulele Group serves as a launch pad for members to put their best musical foot forward.

100 Clubs in 100 Days; The Ukes Group, Bernadette Newman

JUMPING into the music scene might be daunting for some but the Townsville Ukulele Group serves as a launch pad for members to put their best musical foot forward.

Every Tuesday night the West End Hotel comes alive with the voices and sounds of the mini-guitar players.

The group nurtures all musical abilities from beginners right through to advanced players, offering classes for those who are looking to get started.

Townsville Ukulele Group member and beginners coach Bernadette Newman said the ukulele was a great way to enter the music world.

“If you ever wanted to get started in music, (the ukulele) is a relatively easy instrument to start playing,” she said.

“Most of your pop songs have from four to six chords, so if we can teach you four to six chords, you will be up and playing very soon after that and you can choose from a large repertoire of songs.”

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The ukulele was developed in the 1880s and originates from Hawaii with the name roughly translating as “jumping flea”, because of the movement of the player’s fingers.

Ms Newman said she had been playing the uke for four years and had been “hooked ever since”.

“It is easy to start playing but it is a hard instrument to master but you can take it as far as you want with picking, strumming and chord progressions so you will always keep progressing,” she said.

“We have members who have been playing for 30 years who are still learning and we even had a lady last year who was 96 and just started learning, so it is never too late to start learning.”

The group plays a wide range of songs from different genres and eras at the Tuesday jam session, which members are able to personally nominate.

Ms Newman said members must be aware of “ukulele acquisition syndrome” as she had collected six ukes in four years and was still counting.

The group also volunteers at nursing homes and Ms Newman said the force of a melody should not be underestimated.

“We are contacted a lot to sing and play at retirement homes and ukuleles are portable instruments so it is easy to go in and have a singalong and teach them a couple of chords,” she said.

“One lady was telling me that one of the ladies at the nursing home sang Amazing Grace and her family hadn’t heard her verbalise much in 18 months.”

Townsville Ukulele Group

Contact name: Lindsay Gordon

Contact number: 0418 745 727

Email: [e-mail]

Facebook: Townsville Ukuleles

Address: West End Hotel, 89 Ingham Rd, West End

When: Tuesday evenings, beginners from 6.30pm, main group 7pm

Membership fee: Free

Originally published as Humble instrument bringing joy to Townsville locals