Teaching ukulele group class

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Recstar24

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The high school that the middle school I teach at feeds into has an extracurricular program where adults and teens can take classes in music, art, technology and business, and the director and I have finalized that I will be teaching a teen and an adult group ukulele class in the fall. Just wanted to share my excitement, as well as open the floor to any other group class uke teachers and what they have found to be successful, as well as any pitfalls to avoid. Below is my first draft of the session blurb to be put in the catalog.

"Strum and sing along with other ukulele enthusiasts in a fun, relaxed atmosphere, while adding to your current toolbox techniques to advance your playing in a variety of styles. Open to all ability levels, the beginning player will improve their left hand/right hand coordination to strum faster and stronger, with the intermediate to advanced player learning different chord shapes, playing up the neck, as well as fingerpicking and chord-melody style. Participants will be provided song-packets featuring pop, rock, folk, and Hawaiian music, and have access to numerous ukulele online and printed resources. You are encouraged to bring your own ukulele and tuner, as well as any song lead sheets or tablature that you would like one on one work with."
 
!Congrats!
 
Sounds good to me. I like that they're pitching at both teens and adults. At some point you may need to consider splitting into "beginners" and "improvers" classes. Several of my ukulele group go to a regular adult class and that's what's happened there. The improvers get gigs from time to time which is good experience for them. It's good that you're aiming at a variety of genres to cater for a range of tastes.

Good luck with your endeavor and I hope it succeeds.
 
That's great. I haven't done a group Uke class but I have done a group guitar class. I will say this, for beginners and especially teens try to come up with a simple one or two chord song in 4/4 time that they can play after a class or two. Then go back and lay the fundamentals down more solidly. Today's youth need early gratification to stay interested. Best of luck.
 
Tootler said:
Sounds good to me. I like that they're pitching at both teens and adults. At some point you may need to consider splitting into "beginners" and "improvers" classes. Several of my ukulele group go to a regular adult class and that's what's happened there. The improvers get gigs from time to time which is good experience for them. It's good that you're aiming at a variety of genres to cater for a range of tastes.

Good luck with your endeavor and I hope it succeeds.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the well wishes. I originally pitched the director for possibly 2 levels for each group but he felt for this first time foray for them to dip into uke, he wanted to make sure there was enough attendance to sign up for one level at first. We agreed that I should be able to differentiate within the class their ability levels and accommodate by having different materials for those individuals. For example, we could be working on a song, and I may need to work with a beginner, but I could have another person working on a fingerpicking pattern or plucking out some tab.
 
UkieOkie said:
That's great. I haven't done a group Uke class but I have done a group guitar class. I will say this, for beginners and especially teens try to come up with a simple one or two chord song in 4/4 time that they can play after a class or two. Then go back and lay the fundamentals down more solidly. Today's youth need early gratification to stay interested. Best of luck.
Click to expand...

As a middle school teacher, I agree with your assessment! I'll definitely have a song or two that the teens will be able to pull off early.
 
For the last three years I've been a member of the The CC Strummers seniors uke group out of the Culver City Senior Center. It's actually listed as classes meeting twice a week for one hour each day, Monday afternoon for "beginners" and Thursday morning for "intermediates" though many of us attend both classes. The leader/teacher is Cali Rose (www.calirose.com, wife of Craig Brandau) and she is a terrific leader/teacher. In actuality, we're more like a club than classes. Cali is very diligent at arrangements and preparing sheet music and presenting the songs to the beginners, and giving the more advanced pointers on going up the neck and finger picking. We perform often with up 50 of us at a time.

Previously I played guitar for almost 50 years and I took to the uke readily, but I still attend both "classes" because they're fun and enlightening. The experience actually opened me up to taking on the bass uke, which also opened me to more theory than I ever did before. All through my guitar playing years, I was afraid to play the bass, even though I was often told to do so.

So I guess my point is that that participating made me a better player and opened me up to new experiences.
 
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This sounds great. I actually started because of a similar class. I teach at a middle school and when they started ukulele club for the kids I decided I would join. I got a school instrument. (Córdoba concert) and stuck with it all year. I made a promise to myself if I stuck with it I would buy a uke for myself. My Ohana is set to arrive tomorrow and I'm so excited. I second the use of many different genres of music. Our teacher who is the orchestra teacher in the school has kept everyone interested by exposing the whole group to many different kinds of music. We play top 40 all the way to classical. The whole spectrum. Best of luck with your class.
 
Sounds wonderful! It's going to be a lot of fun. When you get your materials together, I'd love to see them. I am always on the lookout for new things to share with my ukulele club. Sounds like you have a great plan and great music included.
 
Way to go!
I've been teaching library patrons to learn to play chords and begin to sing along while playing chords. The 1st thing I show them is how to hold the darn thing, then we go over the parts of the uke, and the strings and their names and numbers, and so on and so on. After an hour they can play a three chord song. Smaller classes are better, I prefer about 5 to 10 people.
 
It will be tricky keeping beginners happy and intermediate players occupied at the same time. The first lesson will be really basic on how to hold the uke, tuning the strings, fretting, strumming, etc... really boring stuff if you can already play some chords. Some new players really need a lot of one-on-one attention. Later classes will be easier, but I hope you have more than one hour for the class. It will go by very fast. 90 mins. to 2 hours would be good. Maybe have the newbies come an hour earlier than the intermediate players.

Good Luck
Lori
 
Recstar24 said:
Thank you for the well wishes. I originally pitched the director for possibly 2 levels for each group but he felt for this first time foray for them to dip into uke, he wanted to make sure there was enough attendance to sign up for one level at first. We agreed that I should be able to differentiate within the class their ability levels and accommodate by having different materials for those individuals. For example, we could be working on a song, and I may need to work with a beginner, but I could have another person working on a fingerpicking pattern or plucking out some tab.
Click to expand...

That totally makes sense. I was more suggesting thinking ahead if the class takes off in the way you would want it to. Having someone else there is always going to help if you have a wide ability range.
 
Lori said:
It will be tricky keeping beginners happy and intermediate players occupied at the same time. The first lesson will be really basic on how to hold the uke, tuning the strings, fretting, strumming, etc... really boring stuff if you can already play some chords. Some new players really need a lot of one-on-one attention. Later classes will be easier, but I hope you have more than one hour for the class. It will go by very fast. 90 mins. to 2 hours would be good. Maybe have the newbies come an hour earlier than the intermediate players.

Good Luck
Lori
Click to expand...

That is my biggest concern as well. I get some of those issues pop up in my middle school general music classes I teach, in which I try to always have some extra materials on hand or different ways of challenging those that have some pre existing experience and ability. I think your recommendation of maybe having complete beginners come a little earlier is excellent.
 
Your new class sounds like fun! Good luck with it.

For what it is worth, this makes me think back to a group guitar class I took as a young teen, back in the 1960's, where the instructor had us learning a scale. Then, after we had all learned the scale, had each student play a note in the scale in turn with a metronome keeping time. It was very much a game for us. We went up and then down the scale with each person playing the next note in turn. If you missed a note you were "out", like musical chairs, until only a winner remained. When someone was "out" we started the scale over. The teacher upped the pace of the metronome as the game progressed. It was lots of fun and we did actually learn the scales and everyone's fretting and noting skills increased. Kids like to play- find a way to let them.
 
Recstar24 said:
Thank you for the well wishes. I originally pitched the director for possibly 2 levels for each group but he felt for this first time foray for them to dip into uke, he wanted to make sure there was enough attendance to sign up for one level at first. We agreed that I should be able to differentiate within the class their ability levels and accommodate by having different materials for those individuals. For example, we could be working on a song, and I may need to work with a beginner, but I could have another person working on a fingerpicking pattern or plucking out some tab.
Click to expand...

I like your idea, Rec, rather than that of the director. I'd worry more about alienating both the beginner and the intermediate musician, forcing both to review the class poorly or drop out altogether, rather than filling a classroom.

Agree with Lori: you've got your hands full.
 
coolkayaker1 said:
I like your idea, Rec, rather than that of the director. I'd worry more about alienating both the beginner and the intermediate musician, forcing both to review the class poorly or drop out altogether, rather than filling a classroom.

Agree with Lori: you've got your hands full.
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I proposed two levels is that I noticed there were those levels for the group guitar classes they offer. While I understand the directors conservative approach and wanting to make sure the class is filled, I personally think two smaller classes broken down by general level is better than one big class where the ability level is so diverse you end up ostracizing students. I'll definitely offer to meet with any begInners before class, and I'll ask the director to include a google survey link where I can get an idea if they have any experience.
 
Yes, knowing what kind of experience your students have is a great help. It only takes one person who is completely lost to eat up the time of the whole group. I have had a few people who have never touched a stringed instrument before, and they needed some real hands-on help. We take it for granted that we know how much pressure to apply, and what angle to strum the strings. The fretting hand can be difficult too, with you needing to really get in close and demonstrate it. Most newbies will need help tuning, so be prepared to tune all the instruments quickly yourself. If you can get a helper for the first lesson, it can save time.
The oversized chord diagrams are helpful. I got a good batch from James Hill's site
–Lori
 
Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll all be at the same snail-crawl stage, Rec. if not, you'll have to field questions about why it was set up as it is every day; I might suggest that you pre-print a handout that includes the director's photo and email address.

Example of a class all on the same page.

 
coolkayaker1 said:
Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll all be at the same snail-crawl stage, Rec. if not, you'll have to field questions about why it was set up as it is every day; I might suggest that you pre-print a handout that includes the director's photo and email address.

Example of a class all on the same page.

Click to expand...

This class is pretty intermediate. Notice the little girl is not on the same page, and is just feeling a bit left behind. I found that it helps to tell beginners it is OK to not play all the chords if they are not able to right away. It is OK to play just the cords they are able to get to, and just air strum the ones they can't. That keeps them engaged, and helps them get some practice. Some people will need to practice at home a bit, before they can play fast enough to keep up. Let them know that it is OK. Also let them know that they are not expected to play it perfectly right away, and that mistakes are expected and totally OK. Often people will quit if they can't do it correctly right away. They get discouraged and give up too soon.

I have had loaner ukes available for the first several classes, for those who are not sure they will like the uke, and don't want to spend the money. That helps a lot with enrollment. They only borrow the uke for the class, so they can get a feel for it. I have a discussion on the different sizes and how to buy a uke. That is very helpful too. I had one student show up with a mini-guitar, that was labeled as a ukulele. That was adding an extra level of trouble that I didn't anticipate.

–Lori
 
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