Ukulele skill levels for group instruction

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aarondminnick

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Our community uke group, the Buckeye Ukulele Society, is starting to introduce more formalized group instructional sessions and workshops. As many of you know, one challenge with group work is matching skill levels to instruction.

I was wondering if there are any more-or-less standardized lists of skills out there that are already mapped to levels. For instance:

Novice
Can tune ukulele to GCEA
Knows simple major and dominant chords: C, F, G, G7, A

Intermediate
Knows typical major, dominant, minor chords in keys of C, F, G, D
Knows strum patterns...

[etc.]

I figure someone out there has already made an effort to standardize these levels so I thought I'd tap the group mind before we create our own scheme. Any references available?

Thanks!
 
Having started on in my town about 16 months ago, our situation was more like this:

Novice: Just bought/borrowed a ukulele.
What's a chord? How do I strum? What do you mean, the second string - is that from the top or the bottom? How do I hold it? How do I press my fingers?
Wants to play My Darling Clementine.
Gets frustrated easily and asks a lot of questions.

Beginner: Knows A few basic chords by heart. Can strum up and down. Knows which string is which.
Wants to play Iz's Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Is that a C chord? I thought a C chord looked like this...
Having more fun playing but still has to look up most chord patterns.

Intermediate: Knows some minor and seventh chords by heart. Knows a couple of strum patterns.
Can use a digital tuner.
Working on barre chords.
Wants to play Jason Mraz and pop songs.
Asks about different uke sizes and shapes.

Intermediate level two: Can play the Bb shape without hesitation and move it up and down the neck.
Learning ninths and diminished chords by heart.
Helps novices and beginners tune up before the music starts.
Starts to make chord substitutions on his/her own. I prefer a major here instead of a seventh...
Wants to play some jazz and blues tunes, too.
Comfortable playing with others.
Looking at buying another ukulele.

Expert: what everyone else thinks the group leader is and what some former guitarists who just got a uke think they are.
Pretends to know everything but still has to look up the diagram when he/she sees a notation like F#dim or Caug in the songbook.
Owns more than one ukulele.
Posts on forums and blogs about ukuleles.
 
The user who goes by Hippie Guy had a really well thought out description. Some thought it was a little "hardcore" because it focused on knowledge as well as ability but there was a lot of thought and reasoning to it. I think it got brought up again over Christmas I can't find the thread. It had a couple of stages of novice before beginner a couple levels of beginner, and goes up to expert and possibly master if I recall.

I am pretty low on that chart, but I am learning.
 
Brian1 said:
The user who goes by Hippie Guy had a really well thought out description. Some thought it was a little "hardcore" because it focused on knowledge as well as ability but there was a lot of thought and reasoning to it. I think it got brought up again over Christmas I can't find the thread. It had a couple of stages of novice before beginner a couple levels of beginner, and goes up to expert and possibly master if I recall.

I am pretty low on that chart, but I am learning.
Click to expand...

Article from Brad's site: A Breakdown Of ‘Ukulele Playing Levels
 
That link is super helpful for me. My 7th and 8th graders are all over the map. I can take that as a foundation to cleverly find a way to do a little pre-assessment survey just to have an idea of where kids are at. It can be super helpful for you and help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety associated with such an ordeal.
 
ichadwick said:
Having started on in my town about 16 months ago, our situation was more like this:

Novice: Just bought/borrowed a ukulele.
What's a chord? How do I strum? What do you mean, the second string - is that from the top or the bottom? How do I hold it? How do I press my fingers?
Wants to play My Darling Clementine.
Gets frustrated easily and asks a lot of questions.

Beginner: Knows A few basic chords by heart. Can strum up and down. Knows which string is which.
Wants to play Iz's Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Is that a C chord? I thought a C chord looked like this...
Having more fun playing but still has to look up most chord patterns.

Intermediate: Knows some minor and seventh chords by heart. Knows a couple of strum patterns.
Can use a digital tuner.
Working on barre chords.
Wants to play Jason Mraz and pop songs.
Asks about different uke sizes and shapes.

Intermediate level two: Can play the Bb shape without hesitation and move it up and down the neck.
Learning ninths and diminished chords by heart.
Helps novices and beginners tune up before the music starts.
Starts to make chord substitutions on his/her own. I prefer a major here instead of a seventh...
Wants to play some jazz and blues tunes, too.
Comfortable playing with others.
Looking at buying another ukulele.

Expert: what everyone else thinks the group leader is and what some former guitarists who just got a uke think they are.
Pretends to know everything but still has to look up the diagram when he/she sees a notation like F#dim or Caug in the songbook.
Owns more than one ukulele.
Posts on forums and blogs about ukuleles.
Click to expand...
Nice categorization. Its very difficult to help folks. It seemed like many of the attendees never played their instuments unless they were at an event. I base this on what they said "wow, I haven't touched this since last meet." You have to be motivated and play to get any better.
 
Ukuleleblues said:
Nice categorization. Its very difficult to help folks. It seemed like many of the attendees never played their instuments unless they were at an event. I base this on what they said "wow, I haven't touched this since last meet." You have to be motivated and play to get any better.
Click to expand...

I have also noticed that. There are some people who join clubs and groups for social activity when they get there. (I am not saying there is anything wrong with that) And there are some people who join a group of people because they want advice and share the past weeks/months experiences and see how others approached the same problem. This seems to be universal and not just a ukulele issue.
 
I should have added:

Novice and beginner players usually have the low-end music-store/box store ukes like Mahalo, generally soprano, too. They are surprised when you pull out a tenor and ask, "Is that a ukulele or a little guitar?"

Intermediate 1 players are moving up to Kala, Mainland, Ohana, Lanikai. They ask about brands and where to buy better ukes.

Intermediate 2 players bring in the archtops and reso ukes, as well as the hardshell cases. They talk comfortably about tonewoods and strings.

Experts drop names like Mya Moe and Boat Paddle into the conversation and talk wistfully of the old Martin they once saw in someone's attic... they sniff condescendingly at GHS strings and argue over whether passive or active pickups are better.
 
Our club abides by James Hill's definitions:

Beginner: A student at this level is brand-new to the ukulele. He/she has perhaps learned one to three chords but stops in-between chord changes to move the fingers to the next location.

Advanced beginner (optional level): A student at this level knows a handful of chords and can move from one chord to another without pausing. Student may have trouble with, say, the B-flat chord shape (the C chord in D6 Tuning). Student has learned a strum or two and/or a finger pattern for picking.

Intermediate: A student at this level can hold a steady rhythm and is competent with a variety of basic chords. Understands simple chord progressions (such as I, IV, V chords), can sing and strum at the same time, and learns chords to simple tunes fairly quickly.

Advanced: A student at this level can hear I, IV, and V chords, has mastered some chord inversions, knows there is life above the fifth fret, and has been there with barre or 4-fingered closed chords. Plays lead and backup easily with others and keeps steady rhythm.
Click to expand...

These seem to hold true enough for our jam sessions. We always put less experienced players with more experienced players. It helps the newbie learn what they need to know and to have a mentor, and it helps the vet player get better by teaching the basics.

For instance, we have a older gent who has been playing uke for 3 months. I had him teaching a person who walked in off the street 10 minutes before our jam started. She caught on relatively quickly and had a great time.
 
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