A-Chording to Cynthia | August 2020 Patron Newsletter (Patreon)

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

Aloha, Patrons!

Happy August to you!  Last night, I enjoyed the full moon on the beach, and I'll be celebrating my birthday all month (Leo season 🦁).  Sending all my aloha to you, and wishing you happy and healthy uke-filled days.

I'd like to warmly welcome our new Patrons and "Quarantine Newbies" aka "Qukes"!  (I promise, I am working on those Quke shirts, after the album release!)  Please read on below for newbie-specific info, and introduce yourself in the comments!  

Thanks to all of you, new or not, for directly supporting my work and for helping to create a powerful and positive online ukulele community.  I also want to give a huge shoutout to our Community Managers, who give their time and energy to support our Patron family. 

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Exciting news: my trio U3 (me, Ukulenny, and Abe Lagrimas, Jr.) will release our debut album In Waves on August 28th!  

We finally have a release date, and I can't wait to share the new music with you.  Patrons will be the first to hear about pre-orders, new merch, and album release events.  Please save the date Sat 8/15 3pm PT for a special Patron-only album preview livestream with the band! 💙🌊

and speaking of Lenny and livestreams...

CL x Ukulenny Monthly Livestream is now officially Patron-supported 🤗

Since quarantine began, Ukulenny and I have been hosting livestreams to bring the online ukulele community together.  If you tuned in for last month's fun-filled Uke-Splosion Livestream, you saw that Lenny has been hard at work, figuring out the intricacies of aligning audio through the internet, and manipulating green screens so that we can "share the stage" together.  

In the pic above, we're both streaming into Zoom (me from Hawaii, Lenny from Oakland) with green screens, and Lenny is using OBS to take our images from the Zoom call and rearrange them virtually.  It was way more fun to jam together in this format (than in the black squares of Zoom land).  On top of that, we are using Audiomovers to "virtually" play together (in reality, only one of us can hear the other, but it feels like real jamming for the person following!).

If you've been following our livestreams, you've seen the evolution of these technologies, and I am super grateful to Lenny for exploring the technical possibilities.  Since Lenny is spending both time and money on the software and gear to achieve this, I've decided to allocate some Patreon funds to support his efforts and keep taking these livestreams to the next level.  Big thank you to the Patrons for supporting this joyful community event, which we'll continue to host on the last Saturday of the month, at 3pm Pacific time.

Tune in for our August 29th Livestream: we'll celebrate the new album with an In Waves themed play-along, and a special band "performance"! 

Be well, friends, and keep sharing your ukulele aloha!  I hope to see you online this month!

xo cynthia 🌺

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If you are a new Patron, welcome!  Please introduce yourself in the comments below. Feel free to share how long you've been playing, what kind of uke you play, if you have an uke club to play with, what songs you've been working on, etc.  

Please take a look at the WelcomeGuide/FAQ post and please be patient as you get familiar with the Patreon platform. If you have questions about Patreon, I encourage you to post your questions to one of our Community groups. Our community has tons of friendly folks who can help you faster than I can. Scroll to the Community Notes section at bottom of this post for ways to join and post to our Community. If you have a question that the FAQ doesn't answer, please comment there to help us continue to update the FAQ. 

Fellow Patrons, please help me answer any newbie questions. Thank you!

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August 2020 PATRON EVENTS CALENDAR

See all Patron events on our Patron Google calendar (also accessible through our Patron App). 

• Thurs 8/6 @ 5:30PM Pacific Time - Beginner Live Jam ($10+ Patrons) - Lesson on "Electric Slide" and the rock strum
• Sat 8/15 @ 3PM Pacific Time - Patron-only U3 Album preview Livestream (All Patrons)
• Thurs 8/20 @ 5:30PM Pacific Time - Patron Monthly Live Lesson ($5+ Patrons) - I'll teach "Rainbow Connection"
• Thurs 8/27 @ 5:30PM Pacific Time - Intermediate Live Jam ($20+ Patrons) 
• Sat 8/29 @ 3PM Pacific Time - CL x Ukulenny Livestream In Waves-themed jam and celebration (public on YouTube)

Details for all Patrons events will be posted separately.  To edit your pledge level, visit https://www.patreon.com/join/cynthialin and select your desired reward tier.

I also invite you to join me most Wednesdays at 5PM Pacific Time for my 5@5InstagramLiveShow. Follow me @cynthialinmusic to get notified when I go live. 

Click here to Track my Livestream events and get updates and reminders. 

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*New* - Regional Squad events that are open to Patrons

For those who may not have a local uke club gathering, you can join these friendly folks!

• Tues 8/11 @ 6-7PM Eastern Time - Zoom Jam with NYC Squad leader Jenny (NewUkeNewYork) - open to all, more info via fb event 
• Sat 8/15 6PM BST (UK) time - Zoom Open Mic with PNW Squad leader Connie - Connie is hosting an event at a time that's friendlier for our UK/EU Patrons. Contact Connie at pnw.cl.ukesquad@gmail.com
• Tues 8/25 6PM Pacific Time - Zoom Open Mic with PNW Squad leader Connie - Contact Connie at pnw.cl.ukesquad@gmail.com

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July 2020 Recap - Patron Events and new Videos:

• I participated in a fun Ukulele Underground collab playalong, performing The Electric Slide with Aldrine Guerrero on ukulele and Ukulenny on U-bass. That video is now up on YouTube for all to see.
• I shared an arrangement of the 4 Non Blondes song "What's Up?" for the July Beginner Live Jam  ($10+ Patrons).
• For our July Patron Live Lesson ($5+), I taught an island reggae arrangement of Bill Withers' "Lean on Me." That lesson is now available to all Patrons.
• Lenny and I celebrated SF Uke Fest with an online SF Uke-splosion Livestream (Public event).
• Brian Liu joined us for our July 2020 Intermediate Live Jam, teaching us licks inspired by the song "Angel from Montgomery" ($20+ Patrons).

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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 / the Pacific Northwest / 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