Neal Chin
Award-winning artist and Maui native Neal Chin has been both an ‘ukulele educator and performer over the course of his musical career of 20 years. His clear and direct enthusiasm for music has come to life in countless workshops, concerts, and private instruction. He's been nominated for the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for ‘Ukulele Album of the Year two years consecutively, for ‘Ukulele Paintings and The Spotless Mind, in 2017 and 2018. Neal has toured across the U.S. and currently lives, teaches, and performs in Seattle, WA.
Neal Chin Workshops
LEVEL 1-2
Jammin on C Jam Blues
Learn how to play the Duke Ellington classic and jam circle favorite C Jam Blues! We’ll talk about the blues and how to start swinging and having fun with the rhythm. Great place to start taking solos, getting into swing, and jamming with others.
LEVEL 2
The Magical 2-5-1
Chord progressions are like musical sentences that weave together a story that is often felt rather spoken. The magical 2-5-1 is one of the fundamental building blocks in jazz harmony, painting a way to create motion in music. We’ll talk about what exactly 2-5-1s are and some examples of them in the wild. There’ll be a few voices with some extra material for you to take home and continue your journey.
LEVEL 2-3
The Art of the Solo ‘Ukulele - Arranging and Philosophy
While the ‘ukulele has its roots in being a percussive force in string bands, it has been used beyond accompaniment for most of its lifetime. Using chords to play melodies is a fun way to enter this style of playing, as it's a way to add color and motion to an often lonely melody. We’ll look at the basics of how it works and look at some strategies and talk philosophy for playing as a soloist.
LEVEL 2-3
Chord Etudes
“The voice of a chord is more important than its function.” We are going to unpack that quote by looking at various ways to voice the same chord progression with the simple premise that we either go up or we go down! Various 4 note chord phrases will be played in different areas of the neck as we talk about economy of movement, voice leading, and application. 3-4
Avery Hill
Avery Hill has been teaching music since 2013, and is a staple instructor of the Portland (OR) ʻukulele community. Over the years, she has run her own studio of ʻukulele classes and workshops, and is a regular instructor at the Menucha Ukulele Band Camp. More recently, she has maintained a YouTube channel for ʻukulele tutorials and has begun teaching songwriting, including at the Songwriter Soireé Retreat. Whatever the classroom, Avery strives to educate everyone's inner musician, to elevate their self-knowledge and confidence, and to enchant them with insight, presence, and a handful of good jokes. Avery is also a performing singer-songwriter, and storyteller. Her latest album is Dreams & Ghosts: A Family Album (2015), featuring the award-winning single Hello & Goodbye.
Avery Hill Workshops
ALL LEVELS
Songwriting: Writing Lyrics
For both the songwriting-curious, the long-practicing songwriter, and everyone in between! This workshop explores different approaches to generating potential lyrics, and how to identify effective boundaries for editing purposes. All levels.
ALL LEVELS
Songwriting: Writing Music
For both the songwriting-curious, the long-practicing songwriter, and everyone in between! This workshop explores different approaches to generating potential melodies and chord progressions, and how to identify effective boundaries for editing purposes. All levels.
LEVEL 1
Deer in the Headlights / Beginner Orientation
Getting the most out of an overwhelming event like this.
LEVEL 1-2
Paperless Campfire Songs Jam
This mixed-level jam will feature familiar and/or easily learned songs to sing around the campfire, on the front porch, or anywhere else you gather together. Songs will be on the easy side technically speaking, but there will be no music, so those new to learning by ear will also get a lot out of it. Levels 1, 1/2 + 2 and/or anyone new to learning by ear.
LEVEL 1-2
How To Sing And Play At the Same Time
How many times have you mastered a strum pattern, lined it up with your chord progression, only for it to all fall apart when you start to sing?! This workshop will break down the layers of both playing and singing, and guide you through exercises for building them back up to successful singing and playing simultaneously. Level 1-2
Daniel Ho
Daniel Ho beams with music—you’ll find him enveloped in the next melody for an original composition or tapping out a rhythm on just about anything within reach. He is an ‘ukulele virtuoso, slack key guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and record company owner. He is a six-time Grammy Award winner, twelve-time Grammy Award nominee, six-time Taiwanese Golden Melody Award winner, and recipient of multiple Hawaiian Music awards.
His collaborations transcend genres – from traditional and contemporary Hawaiian Music to World Music with Taiwanese aboriginals and Mongolian nomads, to duets with Pepe Romero the maestro of classical guitar, to contemporary jazz and rock with Tak Matsumoto of the Japanese supergroup, B’z. Daniel’s music has been featured in film and television in projects such as The Descendants, Soul Surfer, the TV series Hawaiʻi Five-O, and NHK (Japan). A notable mention is his performance of a Hawaiian-language rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” for the end credits of the 2008 movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.