Exciting Times !

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Hi Folks,
Hope you are all doing well and playing lots of great music. This is just a quick update to let you know that I am fine and that despite a couple of minor health wobbles, I am back in business, playing gigs and running workshops. Recently I made the difficult decision to cut back on my commitments and do a bit less, as my diary was beginning to look like an abstract painting. I decided to retire from the duo McShane & Shaw which was taking up a great deal of my time, as was singing in Millhouse Green Male Voice Choir. Combined with my other musical projects, it was beginning to be more than I could manage. Now that I have trimmed things down, I feel a lot better and know that I made a positive decision.
Recently I ran a few workshops for ukulele groups along with my scheduled workshop days in Penistone. All of them have been brilliant and have reaffirmed my love of playing and sharing music with like-minded people.

In other news, I played a couple of solo gigs recently and really enjoyed playing my newly acquired Taylor guitar as well as my ukuleles. It was a great honour to be invited to perform at a friend’s 90th birthday party. This was a delightful event among many of old friends. Composition and arranging has always been one of my musical passions. Currently I am working on a collection of solo finger-style ukulele arrangements, which I will release in a book with downloadable recordings at the beginning of 2025.

As MD for The Penistone Folk Ensemble, I have enjoyed organising and directing ceilidhs and concerts over the past two months. Our sell out concert at Wentworth Woodhouse was well received by the 150 strong audience. In the first half, it was music by the 18th Century Irish harpist and composer Turlough O’Carolan with guest soloist Alejandro Barnett and narrator Dave Alton. 17th Century music from the Playford collection was the focus after the interval. We were privileged to be joined by our dancers, performing dances of the period. We also played for a couple of fundraising ceilidhs, raising money for the children of Gaza through UNICEF and to support Barnsley Youth Choir, who do great work with young people of all ages in our area. 

As you can see, I am not at death’s door but have made some sensible decisions about my workload! This means that I am teaching and playing solo as well as managing other projects much more efficiently now. I hope to see you all at a workshop or a gig sometime soon.

Finally, I now have a brand new updated and redesigned website ! Please take a look and please join my mailing list if you are not already on it.
Here is the link: https://www.chrismcshanemusic.co.uk


Workshops and Courses, Bookable for Ukulele Groups

Ukulele Toolkit 1Beginner to Intermediate level. Learn to play beyond the basics with a variety of interesting strumming techniques and how to apply them to range of song styles.

Ukulele toolkit 2Beginner to intermediate level. An invaluable session to enhance your song accompaniments – fingerstyle techniques and how to apply them to songs you already sing.
Options: i)either workshop as a half day session. ii) a full day to incorporate Toolkits 1 and 2         iii) a full day, as above plus evening concert featuring Chris McShane and your group.

Melodic Ukulele 1 Beginner to intermediate level. Half day session.A fun workshop, getting to grips with reading tablature, playing familiar melodies, from pop and folk to Mozart and beyond!

Melodic Ukulele 2 Intermediate to advanced level only, not suitable for beginners. Half day session. A follow-on workshop from Melodic Ukulele 1. Building upon your existing melodic playing, fingerboard dexterity and tablature reading, we will explore some more challenging pieces.

Ukulele Ensemble Intermediate to advanced level only, not suitable for beginners.Group playing in parts, incorporating melodic, fingerstyle and strumming skills in order to play any style of music from Pop to Classical, Jazz to Folk, as members of a ukulele ensemble.
Options: i) a half or full day workshop at your choice of venue. ii) a full day workshop at your choice of venue plus evening concert featuring Chris   McShane and your group. iii) a full day workshop at St. Andrew’s Church, Penistone, currently twice a year. An     opportunity for individuals to play with others from all around the UK.

Command the Stage Performance skills for ukulele groups or individuals from beginner to advanced level. Half or full day.A masterclass to hone every aspect of your stagecraft. This workshop covers an in-depth appraisal of your repertoire, engaging with the audience, presentation, dealing with stage fright and nerves and more. Highly recommended for groups wishing to perform in public, the session is designed to help your group up its game and stand out from the crowd. Let your performance shine!

Songwriting for Ukulele Players Beginner to intermediate level players. Full day.An introduction to writing your own songs. Designed to look at differing styles and techniques, this workshop enables you to create lyrics, melody, chords and structure in your song writing. There will be lots of fun exercises to get your creativity flowing before we write a song together.
Options: i) a stand-alone full day session ii) a series of 3 full day sessions, spaced throughout the year




Contact: 07854459220
chris@chrismcshanemusic.co.uk
https://www.chrismcshanemusic.co.uk
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