Building a community for music

Steve and Wendy Schaefer of Dufur have been joined by their daughter Ursula Schaefer and her partner Caleb Prescott. Caleb and Ursula will manage the store and website.

Gorge Community Music hopes to supply and support the local music community, said Wendy Schaefer. In addition to instruments – their primary focus in terms of inventory is the ukulele – the store plans to offer classes, lessons and a community for musicians.

“We want to build, essentially, a music school here,” said Prescott, who manages the store. “We will be promoting the uke and other instruments. We see ourselves as advocates for music. We want to supply musicians, but also be a place where musicians can come and hang out.”

In addition to ukuleles, they stock banjos, electric guitars, drums and musical accessories. Special orders are available, and both new and consignment instruments. They will be renting public address systems and selling amplifiers.

In addition to music supplies, there will be a teaching space in the upstairs portion of the store with two private lesson rooms, a classroom and a performance stage for special recitals and events.

Wendy Schaefer was first introduced to the ukulele while living in Hawaii, and has been teaching ukulele for many years. “In Hawaii, the uke is not a toy, it's a real instrument,” she said. It was in Hawaii she made her first instrument, and when she and her husband Steve moved to Dufur in 2004, they set up shop.

Steve imports and sells wood for instrument builders as Hawai’ian Hardwoods Direct. This on-line store provides products for guitar and ukulele builders around the world, primarily Hawaiian koa and mango woods. The woods are some of the most valuable instrument woods in the world, Steve said, and are not cut green. “The wood is salvaged from dead or diseased trees, planted for this use,” he explained.

Wendy custom builds ukuleles and teaches music.

“The uke is unsurpassed as an instrument for teaching music,” She explained. “It's simple, inexpensive and portable. But it can play melody, harmony and rhythm, all on one instrument.”

“Plus it's the most social instrument I've ever encountered,” she added. “It's very good for singing, and you can have a whole room full of people, singing and playing the uke, and still hear everyone singing.”

She has been teaching group classes, using the J. Hill method, Tuesdays through Thursdays since March.

She also hopes to bring in a full complement of music teachers to offer lessons in as many instruments as possible. “If you are a musician, we invite you to become part of our brick-and-mortar music community,” she said. Details and a student registry are available on the store website, gorgecommunitymusic.com.

Qualified teachers are being sought to rent studio space for private lessons as well.

Steve and Wendy Schaefer relocated Hawaii to Dufur in 2004. Steve brought his experience with Hawai’ian hardwoods and online marketing with him and established Hawai’ian Hardwoods Direct.

Wendy brings her love for making music to the new store. She has been actively teaching music in Dufur since 2010 when she enrolled at the James Hill Ukulele Initiative, the first teacher certification program for ukulele in the USA and Canada. She graduated with the first class in July, 2013. She built her first ukulele in 2003 while living in Hawaii. Her Hawai’ian style, solid Hawai’ian koa or mango wood ukuleles will be offered for sale exclusively at Gorge Community Music under her “Ho’okipa” label, along with a great supply of Kala ukuleles at various price points.

Gorge Community Music can be contacted via email at team@gorgecommunitymusic.com, or call 541-296-2900. Online registries for students and teachers are also currently available.

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.

Greg Weast, former owner of Columbia River Music, continues to maintain a shop in the back of the store for instrument repair.