Bad Singing - Mediocre Playing - Great Community*
Costa Mesa Ukulele Club
We are the Costa Mesa Ukulele Club and invite you to join us. We are both the best and the worst uke club in Costa Mesa that I am aware of.
We don’t know what we are doing, but we are having fun and using play as an act of resistance to the craziness of the world around us.
ALL are welcome at our sing and strum alongs. It doesn’t matter where you were born, who you love, or who you voted for. Use the golden rule as your guide and you can hang with us. Don’t be a dingus!
Grab you uke or uke bass and sign up below to get a copy of the songbook for the next strum along.
Who Is Running This thing?
My name is Moses and I love Costa Mesa! I was raised on The Beach Boys, Bowie, Reggae, and Punk Rock – but am a sucker for a great pop song.
I can only play cowboy chords and can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but I was a professional drummer and music teacher, so that should help us limp along for a while.
Hopefully someone else comes along who is more qualified to host this. It’s a very low bar and we all hope it happens soon.
When and Where Do You Meet?
We will meet the first Monday of every month. More information can be found here.
What Songs Do You Play?
We will play songs that have 2, 3, and 4 chords. Easy stuff. Stuff that anyone can sing along with. It may be Bob Marley, NOFX, Kasey Musgraves or Taylor Swift. YOU help choose the tunes. If it’s easy and catchy, we will sing it loudly. We’re not playing the old timey Formby stuff.
Please sign up for our email list and suggest any songs you’d like to play. Bonus points if you lead it.
If you’d like to play the old timey stuff, we recommend you check out a group at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach. They are fantastic people and way more talented than us.
Who Can Come?
Anyone, any age. Some people may be partaking adult beverages and some songs may have some potty words. My kid heard worse on the playground in 1st grade.
Can I Just Come And Watch?
Nope – this ain’t a concert performance. Ya gotta participate with some singing (good or bad) and play an ukulele (good or bad).
I Don't Know How To Play Ukulele
That’s not a question and thats ok. Just watch this video by the wonderful Bernadette and you will know 99% of what you need to play along with us. After just one hour you will likely be a better ukulele player than I am.
Most of the songs we play use the C chord. The easiest chord there is. If you learn that, you can just strum it anytime it comes up in a song and sing along the rest of the time.
The goal is PARTICIPATION over perfection.
What Does A Typical Strum and Sing Along Look Like?
Since we meet at a place that has food and drinks, please feel free to come a little early to eat, drink, and get settled.
When the ukulele jam starts, we will begin with a simple 2 chord song, then a song or two that has 3 chords, and after we get a little too confident we may try a 4 chord song. After that, anyone can go up and play a song for us or teach us how to play along.
The goal is PARTICIPATION over perfection.
Can I Choose A Song For Us To Play?
Yes, please! If you don’t, we’ll keep singing All Star by Smash Mouth over and over.
After you sign up for the club, you can email me the song details and I’ll get some chord sheets and lyrics printed out.
Can I Bring My Guitar To Jam?
No. Guitars have 6 strings and thats like at least 3 more than our 4 string ukuleles. That would be way too confusing for us to have so many strings.
For now we are sticking with Ukuleles and Bass Ukuleles.
Do I Have To Wear A Bowtie or A Silly Hat?
Not unless that’s your thing. Wear “normal clothes” or let your freak flag fly. We just want you to have a good time.
What If I Don't Have A Ukulele?
That’s ok! If you don’t have the funds or are not sure it’s right for you, we have a few extras to loan out.
It’s helpful if you let us know you are coming ahead of time so we can make sure to have enough ukes and songbooks.
If you are looking for a recommendation to purchase your own, I would recommend starting with a Concert size. Talk to me and we’ll get you sorted.
Can I Donate A Ukulele?
Yes! That would be helpful since I promised above that we would have extra and I only have 1 extra to loan out. Help me to not be a liar! 👖🔥
