Well, sometimes good things must come to a (hopefully temporary) end! I have enjoyed getting to learn and gain confidence in the ukulele over the past 11 weeks, and I hope to get to continue playing regularly in the future. For this final post, I thought I would recap what I learned and how it benefits my students in the future.
Originally, I set out to learn more ukulele because I had very limited experience in playing it, only in the fifth grade, which I remember nothing of, with the expectation that I know I was better on the recorder (Maybe it was the clarinet calling me when I was young?) And a few days of classes in university playing, but we did not go in-depth, unfortunately. We did discuss how diverse the ukulele is as an instrument, being able to be played with chords, picking, and in multiple genres and contexts. It is also lighter and smaller which makes it easier for students to physically support, which benefits students prone to wrist and arm injuries. A class set is not horribly expensive (comparatively to other instruments, and you can get deals at conferences often.) There are only 4 strings instead of 6 on the guitar which also makes it a bit easier to get around the instrument.
When I started this project, I had my ukulele tuned in D, which is better for younger students whose voices are in the process or have not begun dropping yet. However, I learned in general that this tuning is all but obsolete in the online ukulele community, where everything is for ukulele in C, so I switched the tuning to my ukulele, having to relearn the chord names that I knew, for example, my D chord was now a C chord, and so on. Fortunately for me at this point, I did not know that many chords, so it was not too difficult.
I began looking up songs I enjoyed listening to and using different websites, I was able to learn many new chords, strumming patterns and songs! I focused on reading through things with fluency, as that is something is something I have always struggled with in my musical career thus far, and teaching students that mistakes happen and it is okay to just keep going if you have a blip is important, and highlighting that ensembles and performers at all levels have to stop and restart or resume at some point in life and that is okay! Emphasizing and modelling this will help build self-efficacy and have the students willing to try things and perform.
I practiced strumming patterns slowly, as I find it challenging to keep on the pattern when singing and playing, and while it is still tricky, I have made progress in that concept.
I thought about assignments and ideas of how to run a ukulele class at the middle or secondary school level, and what assignments would be appropriate and educational for learners. My penultimate post just focuses on the joy of playing, and taking a step away as only an educator and returning to who I am, a musician who is learning something new to enjoy it, not to be the best.
This blog has been an easy way to document my process, and I am sure I will look back on it and smile in the future.
-Katherine