Our Patron-voted Song for February 2020 is… (Patreon)

{Patron-only post}

Aloha, Patrons!  

A warm welcome to the many new Patrons who've just joined us! Please see the bottom of this post for notes on how to join our private Facebook group (the best place to get support and ask questions) and other helpful tips.

For this month's Live Lesson, I will teach 2 songs: "In My Life" by the Beatles + "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I 

This month's vote stirred up lots of discussion about new vs old songs, wanting variety in our monthly songs, ideas for how to vary or alternate genres for our monthly vote, including the possibility of allowing me to choose the songs to maintain variety.  I hear you, and I thank you for all your input.  This community is a growing, living thing, and for me, leading a community of this size is a role that I have to learn.  I definitely need your help!  

Next month, we will vote from a selection of current songs.  Beyond that, we can try different genres for the monthly vote.  There are so many great songs to learn, so I will do my best to keep the mix interesting and relevant.  I ask that everyone keeps an open mind about learning all kinds of music.

I want you all to know that constructive comments shared with aloha are always welcome.  Let's respect our community and our fellow Patrons - please comment with kindness.  We're all real people, and we can talk to each other as individuals who share a love for music.  I've learned a lot from reading your comments on the poll, and will keep those ideas in mind as we move forward.  I will try to do a better job of getting feedback from you all.  Please know that I try to do what is best for the community at large, but indeed it is impossible to make everyone happy (and as an idealist, it's something I have a hard time accepting).  The one thing that I can guarantee is that, for any song I teach, I will create an enjoyable arrangement for players of all levels.

"In My Life" was the poll winner, and it truly is one of my favorite songs.  I'm very happy to teach it, and I know it will make for a great lesson.  You can see my version of the song here., and I will teach an arrangement based on this version.

I also want to teach "Dance Monkey," because it is popular right now and we need something fun and upbeat, so this month we'll have a bonus song. :)  Watch the original here, I'm working on my own version to post as well.

I hope you'll join me for the Live Lesson for these 2 songs on Thursday, February 20 at 5:30PM Pacific Time.  Iʻll post the chord charts and lesson info tomorrow before the lesson.  You can find all Patron events on our Patron Google Calendar.  

Patrons at the $5+ tiers can tune in for the Live Lessons. $3 Patrons will receive access the day after the Live broadcast. All Patrons will get access to the recorded lesson next month.  If you'd like to change your pledge and join us for the Live Lesson, click here for help on editing your pledge.  For tips on getting the most out of a Live Lesson, check out Patron Mark Pierce's Guest Post on the topic!

Next month: What are your suggestions for new songs?

For next month's vote, our choices will be new songs.  What does that mean exactly?  It's open to interpretation, but I'd loosely define it as any song that's hit the pop charts in the last year or two or is in the zeitgeist.  You can comment below, and you can also go back to the February 2020 Song Poll to keep commenting and up-voting your song suggestions for next month.  One of my current favorites is "Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa.  Excited for fresh choices. :)

Look forward to seeing many of you online on Thursday!

xo cynthia.

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About the Song of the Month

For each of our monthly song vote winners, I teach a Live Lesson for $5+ Patrons and, the following day, give access to $3 Patrons. All Patrons will get access at the beginning of the following month. Click here to find all available Live Lessons.

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COMMUNITY NOTES:

1. Join our private Facebook group (email patronhelp@cynthialin.com with your Facebook email address) - lots of activity, sharing videos and advice, and support and encouragement!  If you're not on Facebook, you can post on the Community tab here on Patreon. If you have questions about Patreon or ukulele or otherwise, posting the question to our very helpful and active Community will generate the fastest answer.  

2. More Facebook public groups - we're using Facebook as our community gathering place because it has the best community features.  Find all the CL groups here, including the CL Uke Newbies group and several active regional groups (NYC / LA / Portland / Hawaii and more).  https://www.facebook.com/pg/cynthialinmusic/groups

3. Learn to use the Cynthia Lin Song Index, created and maintained by the amazing CL Community Managers!   The super helpful CL Song Index organizes all CL songs, Patreon posts, YouTube videos, and tutorials.

4. Download the Cynthia Lin Patron App, created by our Patron Community Manager, Rich! Android app | iOS app 

5. Find all Patron events on our Patron Google Calendar

6. Find answers to many Frequently Asked Questions in our New Patron Guide/FAQ post.

7. To edit your pledge, visit https://www.patreon.com/join/cynthialin