Ruby's Ukes is Vancouver's Ukulele school with classes, workshops & Vancouver's Ukulele festival. A Ukulele haven for all those interested in learning, playing, & buying all things Ukulele.....As featured on CBC national Radio Documentary "Four little Strings".
Ruby's Ukes presents a Ukulele Course Extraordinaire that takes places weekly in a beautiful
downtown Heritage Building - learning a swing, jazz, blues, & folk
repertoire. Classes are 90-minute
sessions and will leave you smiling and a whole lot smarter! Usual size for each class is approximately 25 students - we find this the perfect size big enough for great atmosphere and a fun time learning, and small enough to receive what is being taught and integrating it!
Register May 2012
Due to popular demand we have added a
4 week Absolute Beginners Saturday Class starting this weekend!
With Daphne "Ruby" Roubini at the helm
Saturdays 10am - 11.30am
May 26th ~ June 16th 2012
Cost: is $78
Where:
525 Seymour Street, Vancouver (at Dunsmuir). There are buses, skytrain,
and parking nearby. The Easy Park on Richards Street is $4.50 for the
day on Saturdays.
For more information and easy, secure, on-line registration click below:
Please feel free to pass this information on to any friends who may be
interested this course is the perfect foundation for anyone starting out
in the world of Uke!
We also have Ukuleles to borrow at no cost during class.
Ruby's Ukes student Concert is coming up
Saturday June 16th
I will be confirming location in a matter of days) but save the date!
This will be a chance for existing students from each of the four
classes to perform for other students, friends, family and the
'uke-curious' amongst us. If you are a past student you are invited to
perform a tune too, spaces are limited so send me an email to let me
know you are interested. It's gonna be brilliant fun! I think we may
have outgrown the Vancouver Live Sound Studio for the student concert as
that can hold only 80 people...So look out for a message from me
announcing where it's going to be. This is fund-raiser for Callanish
Society and the Ruby's Uke School improvement fund.
Ruby's Ukes Annual Ukulele Picnic and BBQ is set for Tuesday July 10th 2012
this year. At Second Beach in Stanley Park.
This
is the third one we've had and It's brilliant. Just bring something to
put on the BBQ, and a potluck to share (anything is fine!), your Uke,
something to sit on, the Vanukes book to jam from, and something to
drink. We will have some song sheets too to share. Fun starts at 6pm
till dusk... or beyond if you bring a flashlight or candles to read by!!
10 Week Courses start again September 11th 2012!
Absolute beginners: No previous playing experience or very little.
Beginners: very little or just some Ukulele experience, or another instrument.
Intermediate: Can play the basic strum pattern, chords and read tablature
Advanced: Can play chords, strum and read tab well and would like a uke challenge!
Ruby's Ukes Ukulele Courses run Sept, Jan, & April every year...if you would like to go on our email list to hear about registration when it opens or to put your name down for our next series of classes please send me an email. I am working at putting on more classes as soon as possible!!
NEW "Uke Can" Saturday Workshop Series
Once a month on a Saturday 2pm-4pm $35
Some upcoming Workshops in 2012:
June 16th: "Uke Can - Absolute beginners" Daphne Roubini
July 21st: "Uke Can - play Swing Uke" Guido Heistek
Sept 8th: "Uke Can - Absolute beginners" Daphne Roubini
Oct 20th: "Uke Can - Play Blues Uke" Guido Heistek
Nov 17th: "Uke Can - Play chord melody Guido Heistek
Follow the link below for more information, and simple on-line registration!
"Ruby's Ukes On the Go" Workshops
contact us to find out how to book a workshop...
"Uke can play"
Corporate team building events the perfect light hearted event for your team;
Or a different party theme for any social event or party.
“Team
retreats are meant to help employees build team spirit and challenge team
members to develop new ways of enhancing their work. Having Ruby come,
with her many ukeleles and teach us the basics, accomplished all of the above.
Learning to
play the ukelele challenged us to stop and listen to each
other. We exercised parts of our brain seldom exercised in
a mental health setting. We learned, we laughed and we had a sense of
accomplishment, as we strummed and created beautiful music together.
This was
just what the doctor ordered!!!!!!!”
Liz Choquette
Vancouver
Coastal Health
"Uke can heal your life"
workshops for those recovering from long-term stress or illnesses; We are currently doing a series of workshops for the Callanish Institute and booked to present at the Music Therapist Association of BC.
"How do we
take care of ourselves as professionals working in the midst of pain and
suffering day after day?
Many
professionals find that shutting down the heart and putting up protective
boundaries is the only way to carry on.
I have spent
over 25 years working with people with cancer and have always known that
shutting down could never be my way. I want to do the opposite. I
want to keep opening my heart more and more to the people that present
themselves to me each day. At our first
meeting Daphne introduced me to the sweetest of all instruments, the
ukulele. What a magnificent discovery! On hearing the first song
Daphne sang and played for me, I felt my heart immediately soften and
open. I knew then that the ukulele is an instrument of the heart,
and that it could be of great service to my self-care plan.
So now
at night, every night, before I go to sleep, I sit in bed with my ukulele and
sing two or three songs to honour the moments of connection in my day, the good
and the difficult, and then drift off to sleep with my heart wide open. The insomnia I have lived with for quite a few years has literally
vanished! At night, my mind has tended to go over and over the struggles
I have witnessed in the day. Who would have known that the little ukulele
could be the new sleeping aid of the future?
My
deep thanks to Daphne for the inspiration to bring the ukulele into my
life."
Janie Brown,
RN, MSN, MA
Executive
Director, Callanish Society
Or...
Youth workshops in your school or youth program; Seniors homes
the perfect way to have a different "sing song"!
We will bring our own
Ukuleles and Songbooks to sing from. We are also planning a program in
the future that will bring Ukulele playing into Hospitals &
Prisons... Please don't hesitate to contact me for more information and to book a workshop!
The First Annual Ruby's Ukes Ukulele Song Contest 2012
Go to the Ruby's Ukes Facebook page to veiw Winners! Congratulations!
What a great contest Jessie McNeil won the professional studio recording at Andrew Smith's studio
Vancouver Live Sound.
The categories and winners were:
Best original song played on the Ukulele ~ Ultrasound "January Moon"
Best Ukulele cover ~ ensemble piece ~ Jazzalele won with "Blue Monk"
Best Ukulele cover ~ solo artist piece ~ Jessie McNeil "Swing low Sweet Chariot
All songs performed on Ukuleles only (any type including
Ubass) with no other backing instruments.
Panelists will be George
Hinchliffe from The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, Mathias Kom from
'Burning Hell', James Hill our local Uke hero, Nils
Von Hahn from Vancouver Folk Fest & HIghlife Records, Jim D'Ville
from 'playing Ukulele by ear', Ralph Shaw the
"King of the Ukulele", Don Harder sound engineer formerly of CBC, Phil
Addington from Bone
Rattle Music, Sarah Mackinnon from 'Hey Ukes', Andrew Smith from
Vancouver Live Sound Recording, Guido Heistek and yours truly Ruby.
I look forward to the 2013 Ruby's Ukes Ukulele Song Contest!
"Four little Strings"
the CBC National radio documentary featuring Ruby's Ukes,
and award winning reporter Pamela Post's personal Uke journey and the
healing aspects of the Ukulele, aired Friday May 20th at 1pm (local
time) on the program 'Living Out Loud', as well as North by North West
on June 12th at 7.30am.
Here's the link for you the enjoy!
Spread the Uke Love....
Ruby's Ukes is also Vancouver's Ukulele Boutique selling
Vintage
Ukuleles real little darlin's & all manner of Uke accessories...
We have Kala brand & Flea Ukuleles for sale by appointment at Ruby's Ukes School downtown. For Ruby's Ukes Ukulele Repairs & Restorations email Andrew Smith on
The Ukulele went to the Jazz festival this year! Black Gardenia performed as part of the TD Vancouver Jazz festival on July 1st on the Ron Basford free stage on Granville Island 5pm-7pm. To find out about gigs or listen to Daphne Roubini
"First Lady of Uke" in her band Black Gardenia go to
www.blackgardenia.ca. We are delighted to announce our first album "No Moon at All" is about to be released March 2012!! Check back for details our CD launch party!
“A relaxed approach to old school jazz with tinges of blues, country
and western swing with some very fine vocals from Daphne Roubini and
some of the hippest Ukulele that you can hope to hear.” Ken Pickering ~ Artistic Director & co-founder of TD Canada Trust International Jazz Festival.
Black Gardenia plays at The Revel Room, 238 Abbott Street, Gastown every Sunday 7pm-10pm, no cover.
The Vancouver Ukulele Festival 2013
After
a sold out Festival this year we look forward to putting on an even
better one next year! The next Vancouver Ukulele Festival is February
23rd & 24th 2013 pencil the dates in! We have some great out of town guest instructors booked already!
If you would like to hear about Ruby's Ukes Ukulele events just send me an email and I will put you on our list ~ Thanks!
Live long & Uke On....
Contact us to register or go on our email list, check back later for latest updates to our website ~there's much more to come! ~Ruby
