Porthcawl

u3a

Ukulele

Status:Active, open to new members
Leader:
When: On Friday afternoons
Weeks 1 & 3
Venue: Porthcawl YMCA

Led by Mike O'Brian our Ukulele Group meetings
will be on the First and Third Fridays of the month, Meetings in YMCA at 2 p.m..

As usual it will be Practice, Theory and FUN FUN FUN.
We will also be starting to practice some more melodic playing and as a bonus…
(mainly for me) Moving away from the Key of C major.

What do you think of if somebody mentions ukulele? I guess most people think of George Formby playing songs such as “Leaning on a Lampost”. Indeed George Formby is probably the most associated name with the “Uke”. But did you also know that George Harrison was a keen Uke player as is Joe Brown and Frank Skinner. Even Ed Balls has been seen with one!

So what can you play on a Uke apart from “Leaning on a Lampost”? How about some Beatles songs such as “Yesterday” or “Yellow Submarine” or some Blues such as “House of the rising Sun” or how about some folk music such as “Wild Rover” or “Ar Hyd y Nos”  or a modern folk classic such as “Hallelulah” by Leonard Cohen or even some classic classical such as “Paschabel’s Cannon” or “Air on a G String”. The range is infinite and what you want it to be.

Know nothing about music? Can’t tell a musical note from a squashed currant? Don’t worry, you don’t need to. To begin with we can show you how to play and give you an introduction into the basics. If you want to go further, later then we can help you there as well.

What is a ukulele? It is a 4 stringed instrument a bit like a small guitar. There are 4 types of Uke called Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone. The Soprano is the smallest (about 21ins or 53cms long) and probably the most familiar, then the Concert, then the Tenor and finally the Baritone. The Baritone is a little unusual and you won’t see many of them. Sopranos start from about £15 new from a music shop or the Web. Prices then go up and you can pay over £1000 if you really want to, don’t actually know anyone who has.

Need some music to play? Don’t worry we can supply that and there are lots of sites on the web where you can download lots of free music.

So why not have a go? We meet on the first and third Fridays in the month from 2.00 till 4.00 at the YMCA on John St. We look forward to seeing you and helping you to start your musical journey.

Friday17th April 2026

Full list of Groups

Groups listed alphabetically

  • Astronomy
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons
    Weeks 1 & 3 at 2 p.m.
  • Book Club 1
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Friday mornings
    Last Friday of month
  • Book Club 2
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Wednesday mornings
    week 2
  • Book Club 3
    Status: Full
    Monthly on Thursday afternoons
    Week 1 @ 2 p.m.
  • Canasta
    Status: Active
    On Monday afternoons
    Week 1 & 3
  • Ceramics
    Status: Waiting list
    Weekly on Wednesday afternoons 2:00 pm
  • Coffee Morning
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Saturday mornings 10:30 am
    Last Saturday of the Month
  • Conversations Group
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4 at 1.45 p.m.
  • Crafts
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons
    Week 1 & 3
  • Evening Talks
    Status: Dormant
    Weekly on Friday evenings
    Through July
  • Exploring Poetry
    Status: Active
    On Monday mornings
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • French for All
    Status: Active
    On Tuesday mornings
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Gardening
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Tuesday afternoons
    Week 4
  • History
    Status: Active
    On Monday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • International ZOOM
    Status: Active
    On Monday afternoons
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Italian for All
    Status: Active
    Fortnightly on Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Kaffee Klatsch
    Status: Active
    On Tuesday mornings
    Weeks 2 & 4 - 11 a.m.
  • Latin
    Status: Active
    On Monday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Litter Picking
    Status: Active
    On Tuesday mornings 10:00 am
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Mah Jong
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Mindfulness
    Status: Active
    On Tuesday afternoons 1:30 pm-3:30 pm
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Monthly Meeting
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Wednesday afternoons
  • Origin and Development of Drama
    Status: Active
    On Monday afternoons
    Week 2 & 4
  • Painting Workshop
    Status: Waiting list
    Weekly on Thursday mornings
  • Philosophy and Ideas
    Status: Active
    On Friday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Photography for Everyone
    Status: Active
    On Tuesday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Play Reading
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Psychology
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Thursday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    Week 3
  • Quiz
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday afternoons
    Week 2
  • Rummikub
    Status: Active
    On Friday afternoons
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Scrabble
    Status: Active
    On Monday mornings
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Search for Knowledge
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday afternoons
    Week 3
  • Singing for Fun
    Status: Dormant
    On Friday afternoons
  • Social Cycling
    Status: Active
    On Thursday mornings
    Ad Hoc
  • Social Dance
    Status: Active
    On Thursday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
    2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month
  • Sustainability
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Tuesday afternoons
    Week 2
  • Table Tennis
    Status: Active
    Weekly on Friday mornings
  • Technology Help Desk
    Status: Active
    On Monday mornings
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Ukulele
    Status: Active
    On Friday afternoons
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Understanding Modern Art
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Monday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
    2nd Monday
  • Walking
    Status: Active
    On Friday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Welsh
    Status: Active
    On Thursday mornings
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Whist
    Status: Active
    On Monday afternoons
    Weeks 2 & 4
  • Wildlife
    Status: Active
    Monthly on Tuesday afternoons
    Week 1
  • Writing for Pleasure 1
    Status: Active
    On Friday mornings 10:00 am
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Writing for Pleasure 2
    Status: Full
    On Friday mornings 10:00 am
    Weeks 1 & 3
  • Writing for Pleasure 3
    Status: Active
    On Friday mornings 10:00 am
    Weeks 1 & 3