Join the Club: Highland Lakes Ukulele Club welcomes beginners to virtuosos

After years of on-again/off-again guitar picking, Mario Martinez despaired of his musical abilities. He struggled to move his fingers smoothly along the fretboard and pluck the six strings.

“I’d been tinkering with the guitar for about 20 years, but I never really got anywhere,” said the Burnet resident.

Then, he discovered another instrument by joining the Highland Lakes Ukulele Club, which meets at 5 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the Marble Falls Public Library, 101 Main St. 

Don Crowder was in charge when Martinez become a member in 2017. Martinez didn’t know what to expect, but the instrument has changed his life.

“I found out there was a lot more to the ukulele than I thought,” he said.

Now, he wants to help others on their musical journeys.

The ukulele has enjoyed some popularity thanks to musicians like virtuoso and composer Jake Shimabukuro, but people often raise a questioning eyebrow when Martinez pulls one out to play.

“When other musicians or people see it, they say, ‘Oh, you play a ukulele,’ like it’s a toy,” he said. “But it’s not a toy. It’s a beautiful instrument. It’s revered in Polynesian islands, where it was played for kings.”

Portuguese sailors introduced the instrument to the Hawaiian and Polynesian islands in the late 1800s. Today’s players can perform just about every genre of music on it. The variety of ukuleles has also grown, including some with six strings. Among his collection of 54, Martinez has ukuleles that look like electric guitars, electric basses, and even banjos.

“I play it differently than what you think of as a ukulele,” he said. 

As an example, Martinez activated his iPad, pulled up some background music, and began playing Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” 

“See, you can play just about anything,” he said, strumming away.

Four-string ukuleles, with their small fretboards, are great choices for beginner musicians. It’s easier to make chords along the neck of a ukulele and get your fingers over the frets. Still, you can’t just pick one up and begin performing. It takes practice and a little help.

As Martinez fell in love with the instrument, the Highland Lakes Ukulele Club gave him a place to grow as a musician. Then, in 2020, the club and the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When society reopened, the club remained disbanded.

Martinez kept practicing and growing his skills, even joining the praise band at First Methodist Church of Burnet. He chuckled as he told the story of when he approached the youth director about joining the musicians and revealed that he played the ukulele. There were those raised eyebrows.

Once Martinez began playing, the eyebrows shot up again, this time in amazement. He continues to play with the church group and has even begun working with—get this—a rock band.

The instrument has an uplifting impact on a person’s life, whether they play it or listen to it, Martinez said.

“When you hear a song on a ukulele, you really can’t cry and you can’t really be sad,” he continued. “It’s beautiful or it’s happy. It’s one of the two, or both.

Playing an instrument takes you out of your worries and woes, he said.

“You think of nothing but playing the instrument,” Martinez explained. “It’s a way to escape from whatever is going on in your head. It’s stress relief.”

Those positive effects encouraged him to share the intrument with other people. He reached out to Crowder, who had relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and asked about restarting the club. Crowder told him to go for it, which Martinez did about 14 months ago.

Martinez now leads the Highland Lakes Ukulele Club, a friendly group of people who welcome and support all musicians, from beginners to experienced. Membership is free and the goal is the same: Get people playing and make it as easy as possible for them to continue to do so. You don’t even need a ukulele to get started. Martinez has some to loan.

Martinez breaks down songs to a level that beginners can handle. The songs, notes, and chords are also available on the club’s website, so people can practice between meetings.

“I think about the students, their capabilities, and try to figure out the best way to get them to play because I learned from my own experience with the guitar that if it’s too complicated, then you’re not going to be passionate about it or stick with it,” Martinez said.

The club isn’t just for beginners. The emphasis is on making progress, growing as a ukulele player, and having fun. If it’s not fun, Martinez added, then what’s the point?

One of Martinez’s hopes for members is they are empowered to take their ukulele playing to whatever level they desire. The club provides a supportive venue for people of all skills. Martinez hopes members and his private students will reach points in their ukulele journey where they feel a need to share their knowledge with others, just as he did.

“The club and what I do is about maybe shattering myths about the ukulele and promote it,” he added. “It’s not just a ‘plinkety’ instrument. It’s something you can make something really beautiful with. It’s like our (club) motto says: spreading love and joy four strings at a time,” Martinez said.

For more information on the Highland Lake Ukulele Club, visit its website at sites.google.com/view/highland-lakes-ukulele/home.

editor@thepicayune.com