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ALERT! - Dates for the Advanced Beginner Classes has been updated.

August 31, 2010

Hi - I just figured out why it takes me so long to update my website. There are just too many ukulele events and items to cover. September turns out to be one of those months where you'll want to do it all. Hope you can find the time. And I have a new advanced beginner class to announce and a couple of new ukuleles to show you.

Here are the September highlights, go to the Calendar for full details.

Strawberry Music Festival
Camp Mather, Yosemite, California
Thursday, September 2 - Monday, September 6, 2010
http://www.strawberrymusic.com

3rd Annual Wine Country Ukulele Festival
Napa Valley, California
Friday, September 10 - Sunday, September 12, 2010
http://winecountryukefest.com

Aldrine Guerrero in Concert
DaSilva Ukulele Co., Berkeley, California
Friday, September 24
7:00 pm, Please note the earlier than usual start time. $20 cash or check at the door.
www.ukuleleunderground.com

"Mighty Uke - The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog"
Ukulele Documentary Movie Screening
&
Guinness World Record Attempt !!!!!
Castro Theater, San Francisco California
Sunday, September 26, 3pm.
(More details to come)
http://mightyukemovie.com

New!!! Advanced Beginner Ukulele Lessons

Track 1 - 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.
6:30 pm - 8:30pm
$10

Track 2 - 2nd and 4th Monday of each month.
6:30 pm - 8:30pm
$10

Advanced Beginner Instruction
or How To Make the Music Your Own

Now that you know the basics you are ready to select the songs you want to play and craft your own style. We'll help you do that by teaching you easily learned but tasty techniques for adding some variety to your playing. We'll teach additional strums, basic fingerpicking and embellishment techniques, demonstrate and practice simple improvisation tricks while we explore different musical styles, how to listen and transcribe songs, as well discover how applied music theory can simplify the ukulele fretboard.

Each track will explore similar techniques but will utilize different music styles and songs. This will allow the more adventurous to attend every week with lots of material to work on, or allow the player with limited practice time to learn the same techniques but only meet twice a month.

We'll be mixing up the techniques quite a bit, and always include basic lessons, so no need to have any prior sessions under your belt. Just drop in to any class, no signup necessary.

First session is on the Monday following Labor Day, 2010

Upcoming Classes

Track 2 - September 13 & 27, 2010

Track 1 - September 20, 2010

Track 1 - October 4 & 18, 2010

Track 2 - October 11 & 25, 2010

Track 1 - November 1 & 15, 2010

Track 2 - November 8 & 22, 2010

Track 1 - December 6 & 20, 2010

Track 2 - December 13 & 27, 2010

And a couple of new ukes

Here are a couple of recently completed ukuleles. The pineapple soprano is for sale and I'll be exhibiting it at the Wine Country Ukulele Festival. The very experimental Bent Archtop Concert is something I have wanted to attempt for awhile and turned out to be lots of fun. Even though I am slightly biased, I must say they both sound quite good. Let me know what you think about how they look. The Archtop is also special because it was a gift for my best friend Mark "Spanky" Gutierrez. Many of you have run into Mark and his excellent workshops on the ukulele festival circuit, but I also want to let you know that Mark now has a great blog for all levels of serious ukulele players. He was kind enough to post a nice video review of the Archtop as well as his very custom James Hill tenor. Please visit Mark's Blog to take a closer look at the ukulele and hear how it sounds.

#233 - Bent Archtop Prototype

Click for Fullsize (1024x768) or Huge (2048x1536) image

#235 - Soprano Pineapple Custom

Click for Fullsize (1024x768) or Huge (2048x1536) image

And finally, I've been writing up some of my ideas on the many ukulele building and playing topics that I have run into since I embarked on the humbling journey of becoming a ukulele maker. I'll be sharing these musings in upcoming newsletters. I'll be offering both general ukulele building and maintenance assistance as well as somewhat technical discussions on topics ranging from what strings to use, how different woods affect the tone of a ukulele, and how to measure and test intonation. I look forward to this new project, I hope you will too.

Happy strumming!


	Home The Shop DaSilva Ukulele Instruments For Sale Signature Models Pricing and Ordering Instrument Gallery RISA Music Instruments For Sale Calendar Links Uke Event Gallery Give Away Program Subscribe to Newletter Berkeley Ukulele Club	Welcome and thank you for visiting! DaSilva Ukulele Co. in Berkeley, California is the workshop of Michael DaSilva where he makes high-quality , handcrafted ukuleles. You will also find the full-line of RISA Solid and Electric instruments and inexpensive beginner ukes. The shop is also host to house concerts, ukulele lessons and workshops, the occasional jam session and meetings of the Berkeley Ukulele Club. Check the Calendar for events. DaSilva Ukulele Co. also provides expert instrument repair, ukulele building classes and supplies. Just call or email if you have questions about these items. Please drop me a line to let me know what you like and don't like or to simply share your ukulele enthusiasm, or to get regular updates from me, subscribe to my email newsletter. Thanks for visiting.
DaSilva Ukulele Co. 2547 8th Street, Suite 28 Berkeley, CA 94710 510 649-1548 email: mike@ukemaker.com Copyright @ 2010 Michael DaSilva All Rights Reserved Directions to DaSilva Ukulele Co. From the North: 80/580 – University exit, East on University, Rt. on 6^th, Lft. on Dwight, Rt. on 8^th. From the South: 80/580 – Ashby exit, East on Ashby, Left on 7^th, Rt. on Parker, Left on 8^th. Enter at Bay 3 and look for #28.		News Click here for Previous News Items ALERT! - Dates for the Advanced Beginner Classes has been updated. August 31, 2010 Hi - I just figured out why it takes me so long to update my website. There are just too many ukulele events and items to cover. September turns out to be one of those months where you'll want to do it all. Hope you can find the time. And I have a new advanced beginner class to announce and a couple of new ukuleles to show you. Here are the September highlights, go to the Calendar for full details. Strawberry Music Festival Camp Mather, Yosemite, California Thursday, September 2 - Monday, September 6, 2010 http://www.strawberrymusic.com 3rd Annual Wine Country Ukulele Festival Napa Valley, California Friday, September 10 - Sunday, September 12, 2010 http://winecountryukefest.com Aldrine Guerrero in Concert DaSilva Ukulele Co., Berkeley, California Friday, September 24 7:00 pm, Please note the earlier than usual start time. $20 cash or check at the door. www.ukuleleunderground.com "Mighty Uke - The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog" Ukulele Documentary Movie Screening & Guinness World Record Attempt !!!!! Castro Theater, San Francisco California Sunday, September 26, 3pm. (More details to come) http://mightyukemovie.com New!!! Advanced Beginner Ukulele Lessons Track 1 - 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. 6:30 pm - 8:30pm $10 Track 2 - 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. 6:30 pm - 8:30pm $10 Advanced Beginner Instruction or How To Make the Music Your Own Now that you know the basics you are ready to select the songs you want to play and craft your own style. We'll help you do that by teaching you easily learned but tasty techniques for adding some variety to your playing. We'll teach additional strums, basic fingerpicking and embellishment techniques, demonstrate and practice simple improvisation tricks while we explore different musical styles, how to listen and transcribe songs, as well discover how applied music theory can simplify the ukulele fretboard. Each track will explore similar techniques but will utilize different music styles and songs. This will allow the more adventurous to attend every week with lots of material to work on, or allow the player with limited practice time to learn the same techniques but only meet twice a month. We'll be mixing up the techniques quite a bit, and always include basic lessons, so no need to have any prior sessions under your belt. Just drop in to any class, no signup necessary. First session is on the Monday following Labor Day, 2010 Upcoming Classes Track 2 - September 13 & 27, 2010 Track 1 - September 20, 2010 Track 1 - October 4 & 18, 2010 Track 2 - October 11 & 25, 2010 Track 1 - November 1 & 15, 2010 Track 2 - November 8 & 22, 2010 Track 1 - December 6 & 20, 2010 Track 2 - December 13 & 27, 2010 And a couple of new ukes Here are a couple of recently completed ukuleles. The pineapple soprano is for sale and I'll be exhibiting it at the Wine Country Ukulele Festival. The very experimental Bent Archtop Concert is something I have wanted to attempt for awhile and turned out to be lots of fun. Even though I am slightly biased, I must say they both sound quite good. Let me know what you think about how they look. The Archtop is also special because it was a gift for my best friend Mark "Spanky" Gutierrez. Many of you have run into Mark and his excellent workshops on the ukulele festival circuit, but I also want to let you know that Mark now has a great blog for all levels of serious ukulele players. He was kind enough to post a nice video review of the Archtop as well as his very custom James Hill tenor. Please visit Mark's Blog to take a closer look at the ukulele and hear how it sounds. #233 - Bent Archtop Prototype Click for Fullsize (1024x768) or Huge (2048x1536) image #235 - Soprano Pineapple Custom Click for Fullsize (1024x768) or Huge (2048x1536) image And finally, I've been writing up some of my ideas on the many ukulele building and playing topics that I have run into since I embarked on the humbling journey of becoming a ukulele maker. I'll be sharing these musings in upcoming newsletters. I'll be offering both general ukulele building and maintenance assistance as well as somewhat technical discussions on topics ranging from what strings to use, how different woods affect the tone of a ukulele, and how to measure and test intonation. I look forward to this new project, I hope you will too. Happy strumming! -Mike