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Cherry Jam Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

A Ukulele Celebration – beginners workshop

Ukulele Celebration of cherry blossoms

The event “A Ukulele Celebration of Cherry Blossoms” is a partnership between the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival and Ruby’s Ukes.

On Saturday March 9, I rescued my ukulele from the back of my closet and headed out for a beginners workshop at Ruby’s Ukes. My objective: learn to play Sakura Sakura on the ukulele in just two hours!

At the Seymour Building, I was greeted by Ruby with a big smile.  She asked if I ever played the ukulele and I was too shy to admit I had bought it as a decoration piece many years ago.  Ruby tuned my ukulele and I was surprised (and relieved) to hear it sounded just like a real music instrument.

The beginners’ workshop was two hours. In the first hour, we learned how to play the ukulele. Our teacher Guido Heistek cracked a lot of jokes and made learning ukulele really fun and easy. We learned how to tune the ukulele by ear (a simple melody that goes “My dog has fleas”), how to hold the instrument, how to read the music sheet, play some chords and finally play some songs. In just an hour, we went from complete beginners to budding musicians!

Ukulele Celebration of cherry blossoms

After a snack (tea, cookies, fruits and almonds), we tackled the second part of the workshop: learningSakura Sakura (a traditional japanese song celebrating cherry blossoms). That went really smoothly now that we all knew how to play.

The melody Sakura Sakura sounds really good played on the ukulele. The sound is very similar to the koto, the string instrument traditionally used to play Sakura Sakura.

Cherry Ukuleles by Rubys Uke

Now, all we have to do is practice and rehearse for the Ukulele Celebration of Cherry Blossoms concerts which will take place at Cherry Jam (April 4th) and Sakura Days Japan Fair (April 6-7).  Don’t miss it, it’s going to be amazing!  The beginners will play the melody while intermediate and advanced students will play the chords. We’ll also have a singer!

If you know how to play the ukulele, sign up for the rehearsal on Saturday March 23. For only 5$, you will learn the song Sakura Sakura, get a copy of the music sheet, have lots of fun and get a chance to play on stage during Cherry Jam and Sakura Days Japan Fair.

Categories
Cherry Jam

A Ukulele Celebration of Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Ukuleles by Rubys Uke

Learn to play “Sakura Sakura” on the ukulele in this fantastic workshop brought to you by Ruby’s Ukes Ukulele School and the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival:

  • March 9th 2013, 3-5pm: beginners workshop
  • March 23rd 2013, 3-5pm: rehearsal

Ukulele performances:

  • Cherry Jam (Burrard skytrain station), April 4th 12-1.30pm
  • Sakura Days Japan Fair, April 6th 3pm

Register online to be part of this Ukulele Celebration of Cherry Blossoms.

Categories
Cherry Jam Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Sakura bento

Pick up your sakura bento box at the Cherry Jam.

Doesn’t that look yummy? Pre-order your Sakura bento box now for pick-up during Cherry Jam Downtown on April 4 between 11:00am to 1:30pm inside the Burrard SkyTrain Station.  Holding a feast under cherry blossoms is one of the most popular activities during hanami (flower viewing).

There’s actually a funny proverb that says “dumplings rather than flowers” which means that people are more interested in the food and drinks during a hanami party than viewing the flowers themselves.  But, hey, with a bento box that looks that good, could you blame us, really?