For retiree Rosie Micallef, the musicians who sit alongside her while she strums the ukulele have become the family she doesn't have nearby."If you're feeling down they'll pick you up.""My daughter had just joined the navy and gone away. I was sitting at home doing nothing and a friend suggested to join the group," she said.
The retired aged care worker is among 50 rotating strummers who perform weekly, including at aged care homes."Don't sit out there looking at the walls, pick up a ukulele.""They seem to still get a lot of joy out of the music … and so that comes back to us," he said.Mr Newitt hadn't played music since high school when he came across a ukulele at a pawn shop.
She is a longtime advocate for ukulele clubs to be included in community health professionals' treatment toolbox."It's about people stepping into understanding that they're capable of doing things and not taking on a sick role."When the US annexed Hawaii it prompted many, including musicians, to leave. Their music travelled with them and, by the 1930s, Australians couldn't get enough of it.
"It opens the door to social connection. Through music you meet people that you would never have encountered anywhere else in life."He joined a world record attempt for the largest ukulele ensemble in Cairns in 2011 and he's been hooked ever since."Something about singing releases endorphins and gives you euphoria. The brain doesn't care if it's good or bad singing, you get the hit, guaranteed.
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Source: 7NewsAustralia - 🏆 11. / 71 Read more »