The DC Area SOJO (Sing Out Jam Out)

For what it's worth, let's sing a few Neil Young songs to celebrate his 79th birthday. See you at SOJO!

Seasoned SOJO'ers already know the program, but below are all the details which may be helpful to our new members.

MOST IMPORTANT POINTS:

1. If you have copies of Rise Up Singing and Rise Again, please bring them. If you don't, we may have some extras available for you to borrow (one time only, please). Both books are easy to find and order online. And here's a link to find YouTube Videos of any song in either book. https://www.riseupandsing.org/songs/search
2. Feel free to bring lyrics and chords to hand out for songs not in the book. If you'd like to bring a song that most people don't know well, see if you can find a YouTube link and post it in the comments when you RSVP. We'd like to listen a few times before the SOJO to get the hang of it.
3. Bring something to drink, as singing is likely to make you thirsty.
4. We appreciate but do not require, any contributions ($5, or whatever) to help pay for renting the room.
5. Please do RSVP. It helps us know how to set up the room and allows us to contact you if we have to cancel.

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FURTHER DETAILS, if you like:

• Our regular gatherings take place on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. We meet from 2 to 5 p.m. with a break around 3:30. You can come for the whole time or just part of it. If you can arrive a little early to help set up or stay a little late to help put things back in order, that would be great. Occasionally we take pictures of our events. If you would rather not be photographed, just politely let the person with the camera know and step out of view. We'll be very respectful of your wishes.

Whether you're new to SOJO or not so new, we look forward to singing and playing with you!

# SONG CIRCLE on ZOOM: The 151st Tuesday Evening Virtual SOJO

Time: November 19, 2024, 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

***EVERYONE GETS TO LEAD 1 OR 2 SONGS OF THEIR CHOICE***

Newcomers are welcome (!!), but MUST be cleared by the organizer/ host (Jay H) prior to receiving link notices & admission to these virtual sessions. For such clearance, please send a Direct Message through MEETUP to the organizer/host to introduce yourself and provide relevant info regarding your interest in virtual SOJO; this may include simply filling out the standard questions posed in the SOJO Meetup profile page. A proper name and a clear picture are also helpful. In addition, please add our co-organizers names (Jay Hirschman and Valerie W) to your MEETUP Connections list so you actually receive their MEETUP direct messages, and check your MEETUP settings to be sure direct messages will get through.

To ensure timely receipt of link notices, all CLEARED newcomers and known regulars are encouraged to RSVP through MEETUP to announced events ASAP, rather than waiting until the last minute to notify the
host/co-hosts of your interest in attending (you can always change your RSVP if your plans change). Link notices for each event are sent out twice through MEETUP -- first, usually between 5:00-7:00 pm on the Monday evening prior to the session; and, second, apx 2 hours or so before the Tuesday evening session. If you have RSVP'd as an attendee & do not receive the link notice on Monday night via e-mail (after you've checked your e-mail filtering settings in Meetup & your spam folder), please alert the host/co-host asap via a Direct Message in Meetup so we can explore alternate means for getting the link to you before the actual session begins.

NOTE: For security reasons, the link notices are NOT provided with our event descriptions or comments sections for these virtual events and we create a unique Zoom link and password each week.

ABOUT US:

We started Tuesday Evening Virtual SOJOs on the day of the Winter Solstice (12/21/2021) and have met and shared songs and conversation on Zoom every Tuesday evening since. We will continue to hold virtual SOJOs at 7:00pm every Tuesday evening so long as there is sufficient enthusiasm & support for the sessions. These are in addition to SOJO's separately scheduled on the 1st and 3rd Saturday afternoon sessions, which are usually in person, but occasionally are virtual.

HELPFUL INFO FOR NEWCOMERS

Please be sure to Turn On "Original Sound for Musicians". There are lots of online instructions and YouTube videos which show you how to do this on your specific device. Due to a change in Zoom, you have to turn On Original Sound for Musicians every time you join!

Below are some other helpful tips for newcomers from our overall SOJO lead organizer, Margi:

We'd like as many different people as possible to lead a song. We're looking for participation, not perfection. You can sing and play an instrument, sing a cappella, even sing along with a recording (just don't stream it from a website on your computer - it will be out of sync). So please give it a try -- lots of sharing will make it more fun for everyone. If you would rather not lead a song, you can always suggest one. Just type your song and page number into the chat section of the Zoom screen, and you'll be in the queue. If you'd like to do a song not in the Rise Up Singing or Rise Again books, try to screen share the lyrics and chords before you start singing your song. Generally, we give everyone a chance to lead (or suggest a song for someone else to lead) during 'Round 1.' Depending on time remaining, we will proceed to 'Round 2,' in the order of songs entered into the chat section.

This is the way a virtual singalong works.

One person leads a song. Everyone else sings and plays their hearts out, but they are on mute. So everyone hears just one person, but they can see the faces of everyone else singing or playing along. If you unmute even one additional person, there is delay, echo and cutting out. But even though you can't hear the other voices, it's kind of nice actually. We are still together. And we can unmute between songs and talk to each other.