All I gotta do is act naturally

Here's a trivia question for Baby Boomers: Which Beatles album was the first to feature Ringo Star singing Act Naturally? (Answer below *.)  To my shame, I needed two guesses; shame, 'cos it's the first LP I ever bought. Nobody else had a clue, though, so there are advantages in being the old girl of the group.

Yes, ukulele lessons have started again.  This time I'm on the Improvers' Course, though I choose to call it the Survivors' Course, for most of us from last term turned up again yesterday evening.  Once more, we're being expertly tutored by Matt, and the first song he had us playing was... you guessed it, Act Naturally.

Compared to some of the stuff we were tackling at the end of last term, this one's quite easy, with no nasty chord changes.  However, things soon became a lot more complicated as we learned the basics of Rolled Strums, Touch Strums and Chnk-ing, applying them in turn to Act Naturally.  "You'll be singing this one in your sleep," quipped Matt after the umpteenth run through the song.  He was right; I woke up humming it at 5.30 this morning.

I continue to be amazed at the ease with which I've fitted into this group.  It really is close company as we sit round a table, strumming our ukuleles, but there still have been no odd stares or searching questions.  An extra challenge this term is that we break half way though each lesson for hot drinks and chats in the Sixth Form Common Room.  I've never been great at small talk but shall have to work at it, as the scope for polite conversation about "Did you have a good Christmas?" was soon exhausted, and this term I don't have my cousin Jan to support me. Maybe I'll bore them with some photos on my smartphone of the grandchildren.  Though I say it myself, I do play the doting grandparent rather well. 

Or maybe all I gotta do is act naturally.

* The LP was Help.