December 2023 Community Check-In & Calendar (Patreon)

{Patron-only post: please click through and heart this post so I know you've seen it, thank you!}

Aloha, Patrons!

A warm welcome to all the new Patrons!  If you're a new Patron, please introduce yourself in the comments, and check out the New Patrons section below.  Take some time to look around, check out the WelcomeGuide/FAQ, and post any additional questions below.

🌺 Year-End Events

Thank you for a wonderful 2023!  I'm looking forward to 2024, which will be our 9th year as a Patreon Community and our 8th year of the 100 Days of Ukulele Project.

🎄Sat. Dec 9th: Holiday Aloha Strum-Along and Gratitude Giveaway - be sure to enter the giveaway before Saturday's Live Strum-Along!

🎉 Thurs. Dec 14th: Last Live Lesson of the Year.  We'll review all of the songs from our monthly lessons in 2023. (And join us 30 minutes before the lesson for the Zoom Social if you can!)  We've compiled all the lessons into a Songbook that is attached at the bottom of this post for all Patrons.  For fun, I'm also attaching the Year-end Songbooks for 2022 and 2021.  All of these lessons are available to ALL Patrons.  It's exciting for me to look back at the variety of songs that we've worked on over the past few years.  Any songs that you're inspired to revisit?

and looking ahead...

💯 Sat. Jan 13th: 100 Days of Ukulele Showcase.  Save the date for a live premiere featuring participants from our 2023 Project.  Let's get excited for 100 Days 2024! (set to begin March 1, 2024).

🎤 January 2024 Vocal Performance Workshop: Aquamarine.  Join me to work on a song that's special to me. 🧜🏽‍♀️🌊 We'll use my original song Aquamarine to train the voice on the basics of intonation, pitch, vowel formation, articulation, and breathing, and we'll build up to performance-related concepts like emotional connection, dynamics, rhythm and phrasing.  Comment if you're planning to join the Vocal Workshop in January!

📌📣 Community Bulletin Board: Share your upcoming uke events below!

Please comment below if you're attending or hosting an upcoming ukulele event. I would like to continue announcing them during our live lesson.Hopefully folks who are local to each other can find one another and meet up in real life!  We'll use the comments on these monthly calendar posts for now, and potentially start an events-specific chat thread in the Patreon App if folks are interested.

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December 2023 PATRON EVENTS CALENDAR

See all Patron events on our Patron Google calendar (set on Pacific Time, click the bottom right corner to add to your Google calendar). Please double-check all times as **Daylight Savings Time** ends in some parts of the world this month! Hawaii Time does not change.

• Tues 12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 12/26 @ 10AM Hawaii Time - Weekly Voice Workshop ($30+ Patrons)
• Thurs 12/7 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 4:30PM Pacific Time - Beginner Live Jam ($10+ Patrons).  Pre-lesson Zoom Social at 2PM HT / 4PM PT
• Sat 12/9 @ 12PM Hawaii Time / 2PM Pacific Time - Holiday Aloha Strum-Along and Gratitude Giveaway 
• Thurs 12/14 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 4:30PM Pacific Time - Patron Monthly All-Levels Live Lesson ($5+ Patrons). Pre-lesson Zoom Social at 2PM HT / 4PM PT
• Thurs 12/21 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 4:30PM Pacific Time - Intermediate Live Jam  ($20+ Patrons)
• plus tune in most Wednesdays at 5pm Pacific Time for my weekly 5@5 LIVE show, streaming on my LIVE YouTube channel.  I often share new arrangements for upcoming lessons. (on YT, on IG)

Details for all Patron events will be posted separately.  To edit your pledge level, visit https://www.patreon.com/join/cynthialin and select your desired reward tier.  (Patreon will only charge you for the difference in the upgrade).

Access the Patron Google calendar and get notifications for events on the Cynthia Lin Patron App, created by our Patron Community Manager, Rich!  Download: Android app | iOS app

Our Patron Community Manager and NYC Squad leader Jenny hosts 4 monthly free play-alongs at both USA- and UK/Europe-friendly times. Find this month's dates and more information here.

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November 2023 Recap - News, Patron Events and new Videos:

• In our Beginner Live Jam ($10+ Patrons), we had a mindful ukulele jam, using songs from the Beginner Songbook.
• The Live Lesson ($5+ Patrons) featured an arrangement for "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by Talking Heads. This lesson is now available to all Patrons ($1+).
• For the Intermediate Live Jam ($20+ Patrons), we explored my jazzy arrangement of The Cardigans' "Lovefool," with an emphasis on finding chord shapes and experimenting with strumming and picking rhythms.
• Voice students ($30+ Patrons) met on four Tuesdays in October.

My 2023 Community Focus: Developing more confident and compassionate ukulele players, singers, and teachers through Mindful Practice, Open Mics, and Song-Leading Circles. See more in January's Newsletter post.

Thanks for reading, for being here, for supporting my journey and for sharing yours.

xo cynthia 🌺

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Special note for new Patrons

If you're new, I invite you to take some time to get to know the platform - there's a lot here, and it may take a while to navigate the many lessons and posts.  The community WelcomeGuide/FAQ post is a good place to start.

To find a specific song or lesson, learn to use the updated Cynthia Lin Song Index.  Thank you to the Community Managers for creating and maintaining this helpful resource.

Please introduce yourself in the comments: I'd love to hear how long you've been playing, what kind of uke you play, if you have a group to play with, what songs you've been working on, or anything else you'd like to share.

If you have questions about Patreon, I encourage you to post your questions in the comments below or to one of our Community groups. Our community has tons of friendly folks who love sharing their uke experience. Join our Patron-only Facebook group (be sure to answer BOTH membership questions) or post your question on the Community tab here on Patreon.

Seasoned Patrons, I always appreciate it when you help me answer any newbie questions in the comments of this or any post.  Thank you! Feel free to post your questions in the comments as well.

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COMMUNITY NOTES:

1. Join our private Facebook group: In the Facebook group, Patrons can share videos, advice, support, and encouragement! Be sure to answer both membership questions so that Community Managers can verify your Patron status. If you wish to connect and are not on Facebook, you can share a 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. Facebook public groups - we're using Facebook as our community gathering place because it has the best community features. Find all the CL groups using the link below, including the CL Uke Newbies group, an all-levels group, and several active regional groups (NYC / LA / the Pacific Northwest / Hawaii and more).  https://www.facebook.com/cynthialinmusic/groups

3. Learn to use the Cynthia Lin Song Index, created and maintained (and updated recently!) 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