Beginning Uke Classes

First, I'm a NEW uke player. I"m cool with about 15 chords now and have enough background to know the difference between metering, etc. I'm picking up on individual notes now.

My hope is to start a beginning uke class at the local senior center. However, I"m a t a loss to know where to start. I wrote a proposal to the Sr Ctr and they are willing to open a room for us two days a month.. and if it takes, four days a month.

If any of you know of a good lesson process, please point me to them.

Note that there was an attempt to start a group a few years ago but it fell thru. From my understanding, it was because people wanted to play and sing rather than learn theory. But, I don't know much about the entire reason(s). I do know there will probably be one or two people that play stringed instruments like guitar, mando, etc that will likely join up with us.

Thanks for any help.

Bill

We've had some free lessons at our shop. I think it's important that people have fun. Start with a few basic 3 chord songs that people can easily learn and enjoy. I think once they get a taste of that, mixing in a little theory along the way will be easier.

One of the nice things about learning to play the uke is that you don't need to learn "theory" to start.

Now before I get flamed on for this.... with the world of tabs and chorded music lyrics any one can pickup a uke and be strummin a simple song in a few min. and having fun. You can leave the theory till later.

When I first started playing I took classes at a local folk music school and the Inst. asked "Do you want to play or learn Theory" well guess what he answer was!!!

We did have to get "Hal Leonard's Ukulele Method Book 1" for the class to cover the basic chords and what note time signatures mean, but just the basics.
The Inst. had some easy songs (words/chords printed out) for us to work on.

One thing to think about is the age group you are teaching to... think about the music that would interest them when choosing songs to learn...
If kids don't care to learn "Clementine" would the older folks want to learn "Britney Spears" songs...
During the first couple lessons, teaching basic chords, ask for a couple song "They" want to learn and print out the chord/lyrics for the next few classes.

Good Luck and remember they are there to have fun and not just to learn!!!

If you want to introduce fingerpicking, check out this site.
http://www.microshare.net/tabulearn/?page_id=444

Scroll down on the right side of the page for more levels of songs.

Some sites have music that is a combination of chord charts over tabbed melody. Those are nice, since those who want to strum can strum and others can pick out the melody.

http://www.ezfolk.com/uke/tabs1/index.html

Good Luck!

–Lori

Teach C,F,G,Am, all easy chords. There are hundreds of songs to play and sing. Search C,F,G,Am on this site for a list of songs. My experience shows that if a new player is having fun and playing "SONGS" to start, they will be more likely to want to continue. Theory and the intricacies of music can come later,or not. Just my 2 cents, just have seen too many folks turned off on lessons. New to uke but have been playing guitar etc for many years. Have never had anyone request for me to play a scale or what the next chord was in the key of G.

when i started playing uke, i bumped into this site:

http://www.doctoruke.com/

hope this helps. they have plenty to songs with their chords and also accompanying you can listen to.

Thanks for all the suggestions.....

Some Class Hints

I started a small class for seniors. 8 started, still have 6 a year later.
Most of them had never played an instrument before. My idea was to teach C, F & G7 and a few songs to go with them. I always try to mix in a little theory (I,IV,V). As the group continued I added some different keys and minor chords. I have introduced moveble chords which brought in some more theory. We have dabbled with melodies and scales, but they don't seem to practice between classes. They actually asked me to teach melody picking.

My advice is to mix in just a bit of theory in every lesson without making a big thing about it. We learned Five Foot Two, had been playing and singing it for several weeks when I explained the Circle of 5ths. They all got it and I did not put them to sleep.

As others have said keep it fun, most likely none of your students are headed to "American Idol" anyway. Also stay organized and have each lesson be a building block for the next. To many instructors (IMHO) tend to wander and confuse folks. Don't overload them, just give them something to practice. Our one hour class as about 15 mins. of new stuff, the rest is dedicated to playing some songs and singing.

Good Luck...
Check out UkuleleYes.com (By James Hill).