UkeWest Online Festival 2025

A continuous online ukulele festival
Course Descriptions

Course Summary

Immerse yourself in Music and ukulele at UkeWest

Ukewest is more than an online community—it’s a year-round celebration of music and creativity.
Each month, enjoy exclusive 90-minute workshops with renowned ukulele artists, and every week, connect with our lively community for strum-alongs, open mics, lessons, and goal-setting sessions.

Make new friends. Learn new things. Imagine the possibilities.

Saturday Morning Sessions 
2 Saturdays a month will feature our Social Club/Community Strum-Along Featuring micro-lessons of strum songs by Dani Joy & Perry Stauffer.

Festival Days 
Every month will feature one artist. Said artist will teach a 90 min. workshop followed by a Q/A and mini-concert two weeks later.  
Workshop days will be followed by an “after-party strum-along”

2025 Artists
Daniel Ho
Avery Hill
Viggy Kolasinski
Danielle Ate the Sandwich
Operalele - Mandy & George (UK)
Conrad Cayman
Tina Hebner
Victoria Vox
Aaron Keim
Greg Gent
Ben Hassenger
Dani Joy
Perry Stauffer  

Book Club 
When: Third Thursday @ 4pm PT (5pm MT) Monthly meeting to discuss music themed book Session will last one-hour  

Starlight Open Mic 
Monthly Open Mic via Zoom @5pm PT (6pm MT)
A chance to practice performing and manage stage fright

Upcoming Workshop July 5 with Greg Gent
Learn a Song and a whole lot more.  This workshop will teach you how to play a specific song... not just a basic 'island strum' version of the song, but a spiced up version. We’ll cover strums, chords, riffs, etc. But by learning this song, you will learn techniques that can be applied to many other songs. Margaritaville, Hound Dog, Sweet Pea, Harvest Moon, Home Grown Tomatoes, Jailhouse Rock, Moondance, Walk the Line and others. 

Course Curriculum

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July 2025 - Greg Gent - Learn a Song and a whole lot more.  
This workshop will teach you how to play a specific song... not just a basic 'island strum' version of the song, but a spiced up version. We’ll cover strums, chords, riffs, etc. But by learning this song, you will learn techniques that can be applied to many other songs. 

Songs included: Margaritaville, Hound Dog, Sweet Pea, Harvest Moon, Home Grown Tomatoes, Jailhouse Rock, Moondance, Walk the Line and others.   
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Aug 2025 - Ben Hassenger -   Become One With the Strum 
Become One With the Strum Learning to play a variety of strums makes your playing more interesting to you and your audience. We’ll explore folk, calypso, rock, polka, ska, and reggae strums along with the incredibly versatile “Benstrum” using some of your favorite songs. (Confident Beginner)
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Sept 2025 - Perry Stauffer -  The Zoo Blues 
Build a Riff-Based Solo 
Level 1–2+ | Baritone and Regular Ukulele (Low-G Preferred)  

Expand your riff vocabulary with the Zoo Blues! This class introduces a collection of signature riffs—some big, some tiny—that help you develop phrasing, groove, and improvisational flow. You'll learn how to combine riffs, micro-riffs, and embellishments to craft your own solos. Inspired by the sounds and personalities of wild creatures, these bluesy building blocks are fun, expressive, and easy to mix and match. Featured Riffs Include:  The Dodo (and Sodo), The Mosquito, The Bumble Bee, The Bad Monkey, and many more!

What You’ll Learn: 
   * A variety of original riffs  
   * How to turn short musical ideas into longer phrases 
   * Combining riffs to build full solos 
   * Strengthening your timing and blues feel  

Prerequisites: 
TAB reading recommended. Basic knowledge of the pentatonic/blues scale is helpful.
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Oct 2025 - Aaron Keim -  Fingerstyle Ukulele
Fingerstyle Ukulele- Techniques adapted from banjo and guitar are a great way to arrange music for the ukulele. Arrangements using fingerstyle techniques can make the ukulele sound like a whole "orchestra," with melody and accompaniment played at the same time! Students can expect to work on learning a picking pattern, incorporating the melody into the picking pattern and adjusting the picking pattern to suit other songs. All levels welcome.  
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Nov 2025 - Danielle Anderson -  Danielle Ate the Sandwich Workshops 
Finding Your Songwriting Voice (60 mins+) INTERMEDIATE This class is aimed to help you write personal and authentic songs. We will focus on how to write interesting and authentic lyrics, and develop them into melodies that fit into chord structure and form. Diving deeper into songwriting, our goal will be to begin to unlock your personal style and message as a writer. Beginners are welcome, but those with a basic knowledge of chords and strumming may find it easier to concentrate on the writing and singing aspects of this class. Please bring a pencil!   
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Dec 2025 - Victoria Vox - TBA 
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Course Pricing

July 1st - Dec 31st 2025

$100 USD

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