Perry Stauffer's Ukulele and Bass Workshops 

(more available upon request)

Ukulele

folk Travis Picking for the ukulele

Level 2 *(or 1-2)

Refine your fingerpicking skills while learning Bob Dylan's timeless classic, "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." This class focuses on the fundamentals of Travis Picking, combining rhythm and melody to elevate your playing.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The fundamentals of Travis Picking for ukulele
  • Applying Travis Picking techniques to a classic tune
  • Combining rhythm and melody for seamless fingerpicking
  • Using hammer-ons to add depth and expression to your picking

Prerequisites: 
Basic fingerstyle experience and TAB reading are recommended. Familiarity with simple chord shapes will be helpful.

*Note: “Don't Think Twice…” can be swapped for "Let it Be" to make this a 1-2, or to facilitate a shorter class time.

Rockabilly Fingerpicking: “That’s Alright, Mama”

Level 2

Refine your fingerstyle technique with a rockabilly twist as you learn That’s Alright, Mama. This class focuses on a steady, driving fingerpicking approach that blends bass notes with rhythmic chord hits and melodic movement. While not strict Travis picking, this style captures a similar independence between thumb and fingers, creating a full, energetic sound that supports both rhythm and lead playing.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Rockabilly-style fingerpicking patterns
  • Combining bass notes, chords, and melody
  • Developing right-hand independence
  • Using hammer-ons for added expression
  • Maintaining steady time and groove
  • Supporting a full song arrangement with fingerstyle

Prequisites: 
Basic fingerstyle experience and TAB reading are recommended. Familiarity with simple chord shapes will be helpful.

Your first Blues jam

Baritone and Regular Uke (Low-G Preferred) | Level 2

Step into your first blues jam with confidence. This class is designed as a guided jam session, introducing a variety of common blues forms while helping you develop solid rhythm, chord, and soloing skills. You’ll learn how to navigate different progressions using closed chords and bring them to life with the minor pentatonic scale. By the end, you’ll be ready to join in and play along in real musical settings.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The basic 12-bar I–IV–V blues progression
  • The quick-change blues
  • Intro to jazz, bluegrass and Rockabilly blues variations
  • The 8-bar blues form
  • Using closed chords to move around the fretboard
  • Applying the minor pentatonic scale in a jam setting
  • Playing rhythm and simple solos in real time

Prerequisites:

No strict prerequisites. Basic chord knowledge and TAB reading are recommended. Familiarity with the minor pentatonic scale is helpful but not required.

Ten Classic Swing Endings

Baritone and Regular Uke (Low-G Preferred) | Level 2

Perfect your song endings with ten classic swing endings, plus a versatile trick to turn any ending into a dynamic turnaround. These techniques work beautifully for blues, jazz, vintage country, and western swing.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Classic swing endings
  • Converting endings into turnarounds
  • Ending set-up phrases
  • The Nashville Number System

vintage Finger-style Blues 101

Low-G Preferred | Level 2

Explore the infectious joy of finger-style blues on the ukulele. Learn essential chord structures, fingerpicking patterns, and, time permitting, vintage riffs to enhance your blues repertoire.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Enhanced blues chord structures
  • Reusable progressions
  • Fingerpicking patterns

Intro to HOT-CLUB Jazz

Baritone and Regular Uke (Low-G Preferred) | LevelS 1-2

Immerse yourself in the vibrant world of gypsy jazz. Learn the iconic "La Pompe" strumming, Manouche-style shell chords, and how to use the harmonic minor scale to create Django-inspired melodies on the ukulele.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Manouche strumming patterns
  • Shell chord voicings
  • Melodic ideas with the harmonic minor scale

SWING UKULELE - STRUMMING ESSENTIALS 

Baritone and Regular Uke (Low-G Preferred) | Level 1-2

Discover the rhythms that define swing music and bring them to life on your ukulele. This class introduces key techniques to capture the groove and style of swing, perfect for players with basic ukulele experience.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The Freddie Green Strum: A subtle, percussive rhythm for a solid swing groove.
  • The Sock Rhythm: A choppy, muted strum for a light, bouncy feel.
  • La Pompe: The driving gypsy jazz rhythm with dynamic accents.
  • Syncopated Punches: Off-beat chord hits to energize your strumming.
  • Smooth chord transitions and swing-specific syncopation.

improvisation - Classic Blues & Swing Phrasing

Baritone and Regular Uke (Low-G Preferred) | Level 2

Elevate your improvisation skills with timeless melodic phrases from blues and swing. Build a versatile riff library while learning to craft compelling solos using motifs, counterpoint, and advanced phrasing techniques.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Target notes and enclosures
  • Chromaticism for smooth transitions
  • Quotes and motifs to tell a musical story
  • Parallel major/minor phrasing

the F–A–D System

Level 2

Unlock the fretboard using the F–A–D system, a practical approach to visualizing chords and scales across the tenor ukulele. Similar in concept to C–A–G–E–D on guitar, this system is built from movable F, A, and D triad shapes. You’ll learn how these shapes connect across the neck, helping you find chords, target tones, and navigate the fretboard with greater confidence.

What You'll Learn:

  • The F, A, and D triad shapes and how they map across the fretboard
  • Connecting chord shapes in multiple positions
  • Visualizing chord tones within each shape
  • Using triads for comping and melodic playing
  • Building a framework for scales and improvisation
  • Improving fretboard awareness and position playing

Prerequisites: 
Basic ukulele skills are recommended. You should be comfortable with common chord shapes and basic TAB reading. A low-G ukulele is helpful but not required.

Closed Chords for blues and jazz

Level 2

Develop a strong chord vocabulary for blues and jazz using compact, movable 3-string 7th chord shapes. This class focuses on closed-position voicings that allow you to move smoothly across the fretboard while maintaining clear, efficient voice leading. You’ll learn how to apply these shapes in common blues and jazz progressions to create a tighter, more professional sound.

What You’ll Learn:

  • 3-string 7th chord shapes (major, minor, and dominant)
  • Moving closed chords across the fretboard
  • Voice leading between chord changes
  • Applying shapes to blues and jazz progressions
  • Comping with clarity and efficiency
  • Building a practical chord vocabulary

Prerequisites: 
Basic ukulele skills are recommended. You should be comfortable with common chord shapes and basic TAB reading. A low-G ukulele is helpful but not required.

 

Bass

Bass 101.1 – The Basics

Level 1

Just got a bass and not sure where to start? This class covers everything you need for your first jam session. Learn the major scale and how to use roots and fifths, the foundational building blocks of bass lines. By the end, you’ll be ready to follow a chord chart and play along with your ukulele friends.

What You’ll Learn:

  • The major scale and its importance
  • Roots and fifths as bass line fundamentals
  • How to read and follow a chord chart
  • Building confidence for your first jam session

Prerequisites: No strict prerequisites.

Bass 101.2 – The Basics Continued

Levels 1-2

This class builds directly on Bass 101.1, expanding your root-and-fifth foundation into simple, musical walking bass lines. You’ll learn how to use chromatic approach notes from above and below to add motion and groove, creating classic patterns such as the 1-below, 2-below and 3-below. We’ll apply these ideas to familiar tunes so you can hear—and feel—how walking bass supports the harmony in real songs.

Song Examples:

  • Basic Blues
  • Jazz Blues
  • Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
  • All of Me

What You’ll Learn:

  • Reviewing roots and fifths across common progressions
  • Using chromatic approach notes (from above and below)
  • Building simple walking bass patterns (1-below, 2-below, 3-below)
  • Connecting bass lines smoothly between chords
  • Applying walking concepts to jazz and blues standards
  • Strengthening fretboard awareness and time feel

Prerequisites
Bass 101.1 or equivalent experience is recommended. You should be comfortable playing roots and fifths and reading basic TAB.

Bass 101.3 – walking with triads

Levels 1-2

This class continues the Bass 101 series by adding the 3rd to your walking vocabulary, completing the major and minor triads. After establishing strong roots and fifths in 101.1 and chromatic approach notes in 101.2, we now focus on how the 3rd defines chord quality and strengthens harmonic clarity. You’ll learn how to incorporate 3rds into simple walking bass lines while maintaining solid time and smooth voice leading.

Song Examples:

  • Basic Blues
  • Jazz Blues
  • All of Me
  • Autumn Leaves

What You’ll Learn:

  • Understanding the role of the 3rd in major and minor harmony
  • Completing major and minor triads on the fretboard
  • Adding 3rds to walking patterns
  • Connecting roots, 3rds, and 5ths smoothly between chords
  • Strengthening time feel and harmonic awareness
  • Applying triad-based walking lines to jazz and blues progressions

Prerequisites:
Bass 101.1 and 101.2 or equivalent experience is recommended. Students should be comfortable playing roots and fifths and reading simple TAB.

Bass 102 - Essential pop rhythms

Levels 2

Expand your groove vocabulary with a practical look at essential bass rhythms across popular styles. This class focuses on how bass functions in pop, rock, Latin, country, reggae, and ska, giving you the tools to lock in with the groove and support the band in a variety of musical settings. You’ll learn stylistically appropriate patterns and how to adapt them to real songs.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Core bass patterns for pop and rock
  • Two-beat and walking feels for country
  • Basic Latin grooves and rhythmic concepts
  • Reggae bass fundamentals (space and feel)
  • Ska rhythm and offbeat emphasis
  • Adapting bass lines to different styles
  • Strengthening time feel and groove consistency

Prerequisites:
Bass 101.1 or equivalent experience is recommended. You should be comfortable playing basic root-based patterns and reading simple TAB or chord charts.

Bass 103 - Essential Latin rhythms for Bass

Levels 2-3

Transform your bass playing with the power of syncopation. This class introduces essential Latin rhythms that move beyond straight quarter- and half-note patterns, helping you create more dynamic, groove-oriented bass lines. Through practical exercises and real-world examples, you’ll learn how to lock into the feel of styles like bossa nova, samba, and Afro-Cuban grooves while navigating charts with confidence.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Navigating chord charts for smooth, confident performance
  • Core Latin rhythms: tresillo, son clave, bossa nova, and samba
  • Creating syncopated, off-beat bass lines
  • Developing groove and rhythmic independence
  • Applying Latin feels to real musical contexts

Prerequisites: Bass 101.1 and 101.2 or equivalent experience is recommended. You should be comfortable playing basic bass patterns, keeping steady time, and reading simple TAB or chord charts.