Judith Ivery said the COVID-19 pandemic caused her stress at work and boredom at home, so she decided to focus on something new and learned how to play the ukelele.
She liked the hobby so much she started the Festus Ukulele and Strings Club, which meets from 5:30-6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at the Festus Public Library, 400 W. Truman Blvd. Membership is free and open to anyone interested in playing the ukelele or other stringed instruments.
“I work in a grocery store and when COVID hit it was crazy,” said Ivery, 59, of Festus. “I decided I’m going to look into developing a new skill.”
She chanced upon a ukulele-training video.
“I got on YouTube and found a ukulele video by Cynthia Lin,” Ivery said. “She’s a great teacher. I like the way she breaks down the lessons.”
Ivery said she continues to work on improving her ukelele skills.
“I hadn’t played anything since I was a teenager,” she said. “I played a little guitar and I played violin in school. I don’t think my playing experience has helped learning the ukulele, but knowing musical notes has helped.
“I feel I’m competent, but I’m still trying to take myself up a level.”
Ivery said she purchased a ukulele years ago and attempted to learn how to play back then.
“I bought one about 10 years ago and tried to teach myself from a book,” she said. “It just didn’t work for me. I put it away for years. I’ve really only been a huge enthusiast the last couple of years.”
Ivery said she isn’t sure why she likes playing the instrument so much now.
“I don’t know why the ukulele interests me,” she said. “I think they’re a little easier to stick with because they have four strings compared to six-string guitars.”
Ivery said she decided to start the Ukulele Club because, one, she wasn’t aware of any other group like it in Jefferson County and, two, she wanted to share her hobby with others.
“I’m in a couple of other clubs, one in south St. Louis County and one in Maplewood,” she said. “I thought we needed one down here.”
People of all ages and levels of experience are welcome to attend club meetings, and Ivery said she even has a few ukuleles to lend to participants.
“You can bring your own, and the Festus Public Library is lending out ukuleles,” she said. “I donated three ukuleles to the library to get it started.”
Ivery said the young Ukulele Club is off to a solid start. “It’s very new,” she said March 17. “We’re getting five or six people at each meeting.”
Ivery gives basic ukulele instruction at the meetings right now, but sees the club developing in new directions over time.
“We have experienced musicians and beginners,” she said. “I want the club to support beginning players, but also to be for experienced players.”
While the first few meetings have focused on ukulele playing, Ivery would like to see other instruments introduced to the group.
“I’d like the club to eventually have mandolins, guitars, banjos – all stringed instruments,” she said. “We’d have to develop a list of songs everybody could play on the different instruments. I’m undecided whether we’ll give performances.”
Club member Glenna Bailey said she enjoyed attending the first few meetings.
“It’s new to me,” Bailey said. “I never played ukulele before. My granddaughter does and I thought I could play ukulele with her. She lives in St. Charles.”
Bailey said the ukelele training she’s received through the club is going well.
“I don’t know that I’ll be able to be a master with it, but it’s giving me something to do,” she said.
Don Cummins of Crystal City said he is a self-taught musician and thought he would attend a club meeting to see if he could help others.
“I play banjo, guitar, ukulele. I started playing guitar at 15. This was my first time at a meeting,” he said after the March 16 meeting.
“I teach (people how to play instruments) in my home. My wife Sharon helps me teach. I have a lot of homeschool students,” Cummins said. “I’m thinking about maybe helping Judith.”
Sharon Cummins also attended the March 16 Ukulele and Strings Club meeting.
Ivery said a prospective club member need not have any musical experience to participate.
“You don’t need a background in music to pick this up,” she said. “We start with quick, easy stuff.”
For more information, visit the Festus Ukulele and Strings Club Facebook page or call the Festus Public Library at 636-937-2017.