I started playing the ukulele three years ago after attending a class in Harvard Square led by the marvelous Danno Sullivan.

Not only is Danno an inspiring teacher, he also has a terrific sense of humor — sprinkling his classes with droll asides and insights.

Since then I have been strumming on a regular basis — thanks to Danno’s handouts, the wonderful Daily Ukulele songbook, and the amazing group mind of the internet (where one can find chords and lyrics for almost every song under the sun).

Soon after discovering the chords for Coldplay’s song “Viva La Vida” on line, I realized that many of my favorite pop songs have a surprisingly simple structure — four chords.

And some do fine with just three chords — as in the case of Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

And thus my life as a budding songwriter took root…

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

I had written lyrics in the past with a friend, pianist/composer Steve Sweeting (and you can listen to one of the songs we created together called “Stuff” by clicking here if you are curious).

I had also collaborated on a couple of songs with a guitarist friend (again as a lyricist).

And I had co-written a couple of songs with bandmates in a pop/rock band.

But until I picked up a ukulele, my songwriting efforts had been restricted to what I could cobble together using Apple’s blessed GarageBand program — songs consisting of my vocals plus various loops and samples from the GarageBand library.

Now, in the past three years, I have written a bunch of ukulele-based songs.

And in the past month I have attended three singer-songwriter open mics — accompanying myself (solidly but not very gracefully) on the ‘uke.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

In addition to helping me write songs, the ukulele has also given me a new way to hang out with my mom, with my dad, and with other friends and family members.

All I have to do is pick up a ‘uke, open up a songbook, and start strumming.

Almost invariably the mood in the room shifts to something lighter and (literally) more harmonious as everyone starts to hum and sing along.

I find this to be somewhat magical and amazing.

And it inspired me to write the song featured at the beginning of this blog post — a version which I recorded with Doug Hammer playing a shaker egg and his Schimmel grand piano — as well as a GarageBand version I recorded by myself using my Apple laptop (which I have included below.

I highly recommend that anyone reading this blog post consider buying a decent (but inexpensive) ukulele.

Then you can check out all sorts of fun, free, instructional videos on YouTube AND start attending a wonderful, welcoming ukulele Meetup gathering near you.

They happen all across the USA — and in many other countries around the world.

And the sound of many ukuleles being strummed together is quite heavenly.

I think the largest group of strummers I’ve been part of was at The Cambridge Center For Adult Education in one of their front courtyards.

I helped organize it, and we had at least 40 people strumming and singing together with delightful leadership by the aforementioned Danno Sullivan!

ps: Since I first published this blog post, I’ve released a lot of music on various streaming platforms and have also created a new website which you are welcome to visit by clicking here.

Here are some links to songs I have written using my various ukuleles (I now own four of them) and then recorded with Doug Hammer playing piano — “Ode To Water,” “Can We Slow It Down?” “Heaven Here On Planet Earth,” “Boil A Frog Slowly,” “The World Within,” “Asleep At The Karmic Wheel,” “Waltzing With COVID-19,” and “Democracy Is Under Attack!” 

Thank you for reading and listening to this blog post!

Thank you, too, to Danno Sullivan for his excellent instruction and ongoing inspiration.

Thank you as well to the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for offering ukulele classes with Danno (and to Michael Cicone — then head of educational programming at CCAE — for hiring Danno in the first place).

Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer for his fun — and very patient — photography sessions.

Thank you to Liz and Jim Beloff for their wonderful Daily Ukulele songbooks.

Thank you to Steve Sweeting for helping me get started as a songwriter.

Thank you to the generous photographers at Pixabay for their colorful ukulele photos.

And one final thank you to a few of the goddesses of music — Euterpe, Hathor, and Saraswati.

I welcome any comments — ukulele-related or otherwise — that this blog post may inspire!