What a year we Ukers have had!   We have appeared at local Nursing Homes on a regular basis, some of our members have attended other groups and sessions put on other clubs.   In November, some members of the Wangaratta Ukulele group joined in our Monday Ukes4fun.  We appeared at the U3A Benalla end of year function, the local Parkinson’s group Christmas Break up and have been invited to Cooinda’s BBQ luncheon on Sunday (this time no rain please). Some of the Ukulele players have also been invited to appear at an 80th Birthday afternoon.  

We will finish the year on 8th December and return on 21 January.  
  
I would like to thank all my fellow Ukers for the wonderful year we have had and the pleasure you have given me listening to you all play together.   I especially thank Elly Smith for her tireless efforts transposing songs to make it easier for everyone to play. Elly has spent many hours of her own time making our Uke playing more enjoyable.
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Have a terrific Christmas Ukers!  Don’t forget to take your ukes with you wherever you go - you never know who else has their uke with them in the hope that others may be around wanting to Jam the time away.
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Heather Wallace

What a month the Ukes4Fun group has had.    It commenced with a train trip to Melbourne to be part of the Seniors Festival to join 2,000 other ‘ukers’ to play nine songs together.   It was such a fun and enjoyable day.  ​

Next on our agenda was being invited to entertain at the World Flavours Morning Tea which was held in the Town Hall.   We played Australian folk songs, in keeping with the Multicultural theme. ​

We followed this activity by moving to the Benalla Seniors and Community Centre to play at U3A Benalla's Get Online celebration.    There was a large group attending and we played during the luncheon break.

​Heather Wallace

September was a busy month with members of the Benalla U3A Four String Strummers attending the Whittlesea Jamming activity.   Videos of this and other U3A Benalla Four String Strummers activities can be found on our 4StringStrummers YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@4StringStrummers

October promises to be just as busy!  We are participating in the massed ukulele bands at the City Square on Sunday 5 October, leaving at 7.45 from Benalla Railway Station. 

We are also looking forward to visitors coming along to our ‘Ukes4Fun - Come & Try’ Session as part of Seniors Month Celebrations on Monday 6th October from 11.30 to 1.30 in U3A Room 1. 

​On Wednesday 22nd October we will be playing at the multicultural morning tea at the Town Hall, gathering there at 9.45 am, then returning to entertain U3A members and guests at the Get Online luncheon at 12. 

Heather Wallace

Now that the warmer weather is coming, the U3A Benalla Four String Strummers, all members of Ukes4Fun, will be playing at several activities over the next 3 months.   

On Saturday 6th September they will be attending the ‘Ukes Muster’ Jamming Day at Whittlesea, followed by a trip to Federation Square in Melbourne on 5th October to play in the massed Ukulele performance at the Seniors Festival.  

Practice has been ongoing for these events, as well as singing and playing at our weekly jamming sessions.

​Heather Wallace

The group has a very busy few months coming up! 

The U3A Benalla Four String Strummers will be appearing each week at various nursing homes in Benalla and Violet Town.    These days are a lot of fun - it is wonderful to see the Residents enjoying themselves.

Several Ukes4Fun players are planning to attend the annual Whittlesea Uke Muster again in September, an event we are all looking forward to. 

In October we have been asked if we would like to play in the Ukulele session at the Seniors Festival in Melbourne.   We have also been asked if the group would like to be part of two other groups holding activities which I will discuss in future editions of the Newsletter.
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Heather Wallace

Again, this year the ukulele group has maintained its enrolment numbers.   

​Members of the U3A Ukes4Fun group are expanding their horizons by attending other groups and singing at local retirement homes. 

Our group is the beneficiary of members bringing back to the group new ideas and songs for us to play.

Heather Wallace

​It has been a good month for playing the ukulele.    

It was a delight to see members finding songs that they think the group would like and transposing them to play on the ukulele.   

​We look forward to more members of the group taking this step and having the pleasure of hearing the group sing and play these songs.   

Heather Wallace

Playing the ukulele is such fun.   Our sessions during the month were once again well attended.  Trish brought her Banjo Uke to the session, adding depth to some of the American and Australian Heritage songs we were singing.  

We were fortunate enough to include a visitor from New South Wales during the month, her input helping us to expand our enjoyment of playing the ukulele.  

There are a few Ukulele workshops happening at the moment which some members of the group will be attending.    We look forward to hearing about these workshops and learning more about the tricks of playing the ukulele.

​Heather Wallace

The ‘Just Jamming’ players have welcomed the players who commenced playing in 2025 and it is such pleasure watching them expand their ukulele horizons each week.    The jamming sessions are such fun, and when members of the group who have harmonising skills join in, it does give some depth to what we play and sing along with.    A couple of members brought along their Baritone ukuleles and played along with the group.   Once each month we have ‘walkup ’sessions where either a single member or a group practice a song and play it for the rest of the group.

​Heather Wallace   

The Getting Started group have achieved a lot in the short time they have been learning.   Thank you, Trish Rogash, for your support with our beginning ukulele players.
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The Just Jamming group has continued where it left off in 2024.  We’re aiming to expand our repertoire and to practise more of our songs without music. Each week we aim to include a new song suggested by a member, such as Elvis’s ‘I just want to be your Teddy Bear’ in February!  ...   

Heather Wallace

Ukes4Fun – Just Jamming began on Monday 20th January, with members keen to get together, play old favourites, learn some new songs and enjoy each other’s company.
   
Now that Ukes4Fun is in its third year, we are finding it a lot easier to play varied strumming patterns on our ukes and sing at the same time!

This makes performing, including busking together in the community, more fun.
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Ukes4Fun members John, Irene, Jenny are pictured below busking outside Hide’s Bakery before Christmas, while Elly, Helen and John are busking near the Commonwealth Bank.

​Just Jamming sessions are held weekly from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm in Room 1.   We will begin to use our new Ukes4Fun - Drop In time slot, 2nd &  4th Fridays from 1 to 4 pm, shortly. 

​Heather Wallace

The Ukes4Fun - Getting Started group commenced on the 20 January.  

Group members are learning the four chords that form the basis for many songs, as well as learning basic strumming patterns.  It won’t be long before they are participating in Just Jamming sessions as well.  

Sessions, which incorporate mentoring of beginners by more experienced players, are being held weekly from 10 to 11 am until Easter.

Heather Wallace

Thanks for taking the photo and posting it on Facebook, Bev T!

There will be three Ukes4Fun courses in 2025 – a weekly ‘Getting Started’ course (in Term 1); a weekly ‘Just Jamming’ group and a fortnightly ‘Drop-In’ group.

Ukes4Fun – Getting Started                                            Heather Wallace 0418 353 244
Mondays 10.00 to 11.00 am   Term 1 (20 January to Easter)                 U3A Room 1
​​Have you always wanted to play a musical instrument?  Perhaps you have played a ukulele, guitar or banjo in the past and have always wanted to get back to playing music?  The ukulele is simple to learn and lots of fun as an activity with others.  Using ‘Uke3A Introduction to learning the ukulele’ as a guide you will learn how to hold, tune and play simple chords on your ukulele, with a variety of strumming patterns.  You will get lots of support and will have fun learning together.  Before you know it, you’ll be accompanying songs and joining our Ukes4Fun – Just Jamming sessions. You will need a ukulele of reasonable quality (ie. a concert ukulele), a music stand, and a tuner.
 
Ukes4Fun – Just Jamming                                               Heather Wallace 0418 353 244
                                                                                                       Elly Smith 0410 600 987
Mondays 11.30 am to 1.30 pm (Commences 20 January)                            U3A Room 1

• A group for uke players who can use basic cords and strumming patterns and enjoy getting together for a weekly jamming session, playing and singing songs, and having fun.
• Ukes4Fun – Getting Started sessions will be held on Mondays in Term 1 from 10 to 11 am before the weekly Ukes4Fun - Just Jamming sessions which commence at 11.30 am.

• Pop-up sessions guided by more advanced players will assist players keen to learn more complex strumming patterns and chord progressions.
• Songs played at our Ukes4Fun - Just Jamming sessions may be performed by interested players at U3A at local events during the year. News of learning opportunities at ukulele musters and other ukes related events which include skills building workshops will be shared.
• The group uses both the Orange and Green Ukulele Club Song Books as well as songs which can be found on-line in Jim’s Ukulele Song Book and Songs which can be found on ozbcoz.com.  

 
Ukes4Fun - Drop in                                                          Heather Wallace 0418 353 244
                                                                                                      Elly Smith 0410 600 987
2nd and 4th Fridays 1 pm to 4 pm (Commences 24 January 2025)         U3A Room 1
In 2025, we’ll have two extra Fridays for Ukes4Fun - Drop-In sessions. We can join in whenever it suits us to play, sing, and work on our skills. These sessions will help us to learn new picking and strumming techniques and give us the chance to get advice from more experienced players about what to try next.

The group has been very busy over the past few weeks.    We played at the recent Benalla U3A Meet and Mingle event.   It was so pleasing to be able to show U3A members what we had been practising during the year - maybe this will encourage new members next year.

In 2025 we are not only practising our skills on a Monday, we are also looking forward to meeting on the 2nd and 4th Friday each month, commencing at 12.30pm.    These additional sessions will be used to learn more about picking and strumming and allow us time to have more experienced players speak with us about what is next.

We would like to thank Renee Martens for taking photos and filming our group at its various activities.   We are fortunate to have a memorable pictorial history of our group’s development.
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Heather Wallace

October has been a very busy month for the Ukulele group.

On Sunday 6 October a group of members travelled to Melbourne to take part in the Ukulele Extravaganza held at the Federation Square as part of Seniors Week.    All players sang two songs “The Real Thing” by Russell Morris and “Happy Together”.   ​

A week later a group of the Benalla U3A members attended the annual Whittlesea Muster.    The format of day included the opportunity to take part in a series of Workshops as well as jamming sessions.    A very informative day with the opportunity of networking with other groups.

The group was also invited to play at the recent Get On-line Week Luncheon which was most successful.

On the Wednesday 23rd October the group was asked to play at the ‘World Flavours Morning Tea’ which was held at the Town Hall.

Photos to be added shortly!  Thank you Rene Martens, for taking and publishing the video on YouTube, as well as a wonderful collection of photos!

October is going to be a busy month for the Ukes4Fun group.   On 6th October a dozen or so players will travel by train to Federation Square to join other players around Victoria, taking part in the Ukulele Extravaganza at the Seniors Week Festival.    The following weekend a few of the group will be attending the Whittlesea Jamming event.   A couple of our members attended in 2023 and recommended this event.

The Ukulele group will also be playing at the Be Connected luncheon on 16th October.
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Heather Wallace

We are lucky to have such an enthusiastic group of players who bring with them many skills learned throughout years.   

​Unfortunately, I was unable to participate for a couple of weeks in August (this time Co-vid) and once again Neville and Elly combined their talents, and the group ran smoothly. 
 
The organisers of the Seniors Festival event at Federation Square have decided that the first song chosen – The Real Thing – was not a good choice and we are now joining with other Ukulele players in a Mass Ukulele Performance of Happy Together, previously sung by the Turtles, on Sunday 6th October.

On Monday 2 September four players from Benalla are travelling to Goulburn Valley U3a in Shepparton, firstly to return the little gold Travelling Ukulele and secondly to meet up with the GV U3a players and get some ideas to improve our Ukes4Fun.

The group have also received an invitation from the Whittlesea Ukulele Muster to attend their 1-day Muster.    A couple of our group went to last year’s event, participated in the jamming sessions and brought back some interesting information from the Workshops conducted on the day.

Benalla Ukes4Fun have also been asked to perform at the Be Connected luncheon on Wednesday 16th October and again at the end of the year function on Wednesday 20th November.
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Heather Wallace

​In other July news, we received an email from our mentor John Canty, from Goulburn Valley U3A, with this photograph of Benalla U3A Ukes4Fun ‘leadership team’ member Neville Young, who visited the Goulburn Valley Ukes group at one of their sessions in July.

John Canty set up the Uke3A group at Shepparton, mentors our group and now mentors new Ukes groups for U3A Network Victoria.

John wrote “I grabbed this photo of Neville with Andrew, the leader of our Uke3A group, at our session on Monday.  I welcomed and introduced Neville to the group and Andrew presented him with the ‘travelling ukulele’.  Uke3A member/s from Shepparton will need to return a visit to Benalla to retrieve the ‘Travelling Uke’”. 

We’re looking forward to a visitor/visitors from Ukes3A in Shepparton arriving to retrieve the ‘Travelling Uke’!

Heather Wallace

The group was asked to play at the recent Cooinda Christmas in July dinner.   A small group of our players took their ukes along and entertained the residents.     It was fun.

A number of our group are taking part in the combined Ukulele group appearing at the Seniors week activity on Sunday 6 October at Federation Square.  We are waiting for details of the songs we will be playing and singing so that we can practice over the next few weeks.

Our weekly sessions have been so much fun, not only learning new songs to add to our repertoire, we are revisiting some of our basic tools to improve our rhythm, timing and strumming.
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Heather Wallace

​During the month we have implemented a more structured program that is still evolving as we learn together. We have had lots of enjoyable mornings with our team walks ups. I’m extremely proud of our group and the confident manner at which they tackle this voluntary task.

We are busily working on building and extending our song repertoire. Considering the cold winter, we continue to be well supported each week.  

It’s now the middle of winter!! Warm up your fingers and strum, strum, strum, uke know what to do!!

Semester II begins on Monday 1 July, so we are moving to our new timeslot of 11.30 am to 1.30 pm.  See you then!

Elly Smith

​Rene Martens

Ps - I've added this to 'Jamming Videos'... as members of the group were in the audience, imagining all the possibilities to come...  Bev Lee