I got asked to teach the ukulele.

Now I'm not trained in music really, I mostly just do my own thing, and I have been working more on my theory and everything, but I know the all the basics and some intermediate things and advanced things, but they're quite random.

A family friend asked if I would be interested in teaching their child the ukulele! I think I could definitely give them lessons for a while. Chords and chord progressions stuff, I could teach the kid a few strum songs, maybe get em to sing along while they play eventually.

They asked because they said they have guitars, but they are too big and confusing for the child, so they thought ukulele would be a good choice.

I was just hoping you guys could tell me if this is a good idea, I'd hate to find that I'm a bad or confusing teacher and then I'd ruin the fun of the ukulele for a child, which as we know, would make them much-less likely to continue with it.

I'd really appreciate any comments in regards to this matter.

Thanks and have a good one,
-Dane

Dane said:

Now I'm not trained in music really, I mostly just do my own thing, and I have been working more on my theory and everything, but I know the all the basics and some intermediate things and advanced things, but they're quite random.

A family friend asked if I would be interested in teaching their child the ukulele! I think I could definitely give them lessons for a while. Chords and chord progressions stuff, I could teach the kid a few strum songs, maybe get em to sing along while they play eventually.
They asked because they said they have guitars, but they are too big and confusing for the child, so they thought ukulele would be a good choice.
I was just hoping you guys could tell me if this is a good idea, I'd hate to find that I'm a bad or confusing teacher and then I'd ruin the fun of the ukulele for a child, which as we know, would make them much-less likely to continue with it.
I'd really appreciate any comments in regards to this matter.
Thanks and have a good one,
-Dane

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Dane, What a great opportunity for you. Helping someone else learn to make music will teach you a thing or two. Don't worry about ruining the fun. That's not going to happen. If the child wants to play and practices, you both will have a great time. This should be fun for you and the child. If it's not, then why do it? You will know if they practice or not. It helps to make sure the child has a descent starter instrument. There are plenty of excellent beginner uke books and plenty of very good beginner pdf files out there. Look through some and find one that makes sense to you. You'll have to teach from it. I pick a choose from many different resources.
Keep it simple. Teach the string numbers/note names, how to hold the instrument, where to strum the instrument, etc. Start with a basic quarter note (steady beat) all down strums with the thumb (F and C7 are a great place to start. Lots of 2 chord folk tunes). Am and G7 next and then the sky's the limit. Good luck. You'll do fine. I look forward to hearing about your successes.

Its always a good idea to teach kids what you know. Especially an instrument or any skill. I been informally teaching a couple local kids uke, and I am no teacher either, but I am not charging or doing it for profit, I am doing it to spread the instrument and desire to learn one. The Uke is perfect to teach kids, because you can have them playing a simple cool song in just one sitting, unlike most other stringed instruments. It gives them confedence in knowing they can play something. If they choose, they can move onto guitar, or something else too in time. But they will always play the Uke. I don't know music therory, or even how to read music, but I play, and have played guitar for years regardless.

Spread the wealth my friend..

I say go for it... worst thing that can happen is it doesn't work out. Let them know from the start you aren't a trained music teacher.. I have only been playing a few months(and no music experience) and I am able to teach my kids a few chords and notes... Theres another thread around on ways to teach a child. Lots of videos and websites.. Good luck!

Aloha Dane,
What a perfect oppertunity to share the gift of music ....it will create lasting memories for the both of you...Have fun and enjoy!!! MM Stan..

I'm kind of in the same boat - starting to teach my granddaughter (6). It depends on the age of the child, of course - and I should say on the emotional age of the child because I've known kids who were more mature at 8 then others in their teens.

Still, the bottom line is keep it fun and keep it in little bites. Most children have very short attention spans - while you have their attention they can absorb information like a sponge, but once their attention wanders you might as well call it a day.

Don't even think about approaching a young child with theory and such. Not even scales, at first. Ask the child what he or she would like to play, then show them how to play a very simplified melody of that song. From there you can go on to teach them other songs or work on a couple of their favorites, going from one-finger melodies to easy chords and so on. At some point you'll need to teach them how to tune, but wait until a natural point is reached - like when they try to play a song and they realize that it doesn't sound right. That way they understand tuning as part of the instrument instead of some abstract concept.

Above all, don't push the child once it's obvious that their attention has wandered to some faraway place.

Finally, some very fine blues and folk musicians had successful careers and never really learned much about theory at all - some have said that theory is for guys like me, who have little or no reserve of natural talent to fall back on!

John

Thank you very much everyone for your replies. And OldePhart, I disagree on the last thing you said. I played for most of my time up until now without learning theory. And I made lots of stuff (maybe not amazing stuff, but unique in its own way) and now from starting to learn theory, it's like I had a puzzle, and now I'm just putting the pieces together. But if I had buckled down and learned theory earlier, I may not have created some of the things that I did, but I would have progressed much quicker. And I think as with anything, you master something, and learn all the rules, and then you break the rules intentionally, so all the unique-ness comes in time.

Some people start out with a more creative look and a curiosity for sound, and some people start out with a goal to be good at an instrument. The first people fiddle around and make cool stuff and have fun, and the second people focus on skill and dexterity and mastering tough songs. But at some point the 2 people meet at a common point.

Thanks again everyone =)

Dane said:

...And OldePhart, I disagree on the last thing you said. I played for most of my time up until now without learning theory. And I made lots of stuff (maybe not amazing stuff, but unique in its own way) and now from starting to learn theory, it's like I had a puzzle, and now I'm just putting the pieces together. But if I had buckled down and learned theory earlier, I may not have created some of the things that I did, but I would have progressed much quicker. And I think as with anything, you master something, and learn all the rules, and then you break the rules intentionally, so all the unique-ness comes in time....

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Oh, didn't mean to imply that theory isn't important - or even rewarding in it's own right. Just don't get hung up on theory especially when working with young children. Some examples of what I was talking about - the electric guitarist in our band is far, far more talented than I and can play rings around me (also plays a bit of keyboards, drums, ukulele, and anything that will make noise, it seems). Everytime I try to explain why something works or doesn't work, or how to transpose or substitute a different chord, or anything like that he goes glassy eyed and gets confused. I also worked with one guy who did lead vocals and lead guitar and was very, very good at both, but especially guitar - he knew so little theory that much of the time he didn't even know what chord he was playing! He'd chart stuff for us and drive me nuts! He'd say, "yeah, see, it's this wierd G chord" and show me the fingering and I'd be..."ah...dude...that's not a G, it's a C over G" (for example).

B.B. King claims he never learned to play chords - though I take that with a grain of salt.

Again, theory is tons of fun, it's important, but it's basically math and unless you're working with a child who is fascinated by math I'd avoid it 'til you get them firmly hooked on playing.

Just my $0.02.

John

OldePhart said:

Oh, didn't mean to imply that theory isn't important - or even rewarding in it's own right. Just don't get hung up on theory especially when working with young children. Some examples of what I was talking about - the electric guitarist in our band is far, far more talented than I and can play rings around me (also plays a bit of keyboards, drums, ukulele, and anything that will make noise, it seems). Everytime I try to explain why something works or doesn't work, or how to transpose or substitute a different chord, or anything like that he goes glassy eyed and gets confused. I also worked with one guy who did lead vocals and lead guitar and was very, very good at both, but especially guitar - he knew so little theory that much of the time he didn't even know what chord he was playing! He'd chart stuff for us and drive me nuts! He'd say, "yeah, see, it's this wierd G chord" and show me the fingering and I'd be..."ah...dude...that's not a G, it's a C over G" (for example).

B.B. King claims he never learned to play chords - though I take that with a grain of salt.

Again, theory is tons of fun, it's important, but it's basically math and unless you're working with a child who is fascinated by math I'd avoid it 'til you get them firmly hooked on playing.

Just my $0.02.

John

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Ah sorry, I wasn't clear, I agreed with all that you said except for the last line "some have said that theory is for guys like me, who have little or no reserve of natural talent to fall back on!"

And not that I disagree with YOU, just the statement. Sorry for the confusion

Dane said:

Ah sorry, I wasn't clear, I agreed with all that you said except for the last line "some have said that theory is for guys like me, who have little or no reserve of natural talent to fall back on!"

And not that I disagree with YOU, just the statement. Sorry for the confusion

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OH, that part; that was supposed to be a self-deprecating joke. Guess I should've used a smiley

Unfortunately, there's a fair amount of truth to the part of the statement about my lacking talent. Music is in some ways very frustrating for me because it's the one thing that I haven't been able to learn from a book. I know a lot of theory - but translating it into the ability to actually play well is an entirely different matter.

John

OldePhart said:

OH, that part; that was supposed to be a self-deprecating joke. Guess I should've used a smiley

Unfortunately, there's a fair amount of truth to the part of the statement about my lacking talent. Music is in some ways very frustrating for me because it's the one thing that I haven't been able to learn from a book. I know a lot of theory - but translating it into the ability to actually play well is an entirely different matter.

John

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I beleive everyone to be creative, and talent is gained through experience and dedication, I'm sure if we sat down and spoke, I would find several things that you are talented at creatively. The trick is translating that skill to the medium of ukulele. My father is an architect, my brother shapes and designs surfboards, my mother is a cycling journalist. None of them currently play instruments. But I know they could, because I've seen it with so many people, they figure out exactly what is that spark from their specialty (it can even be a hobby) and they learn to translate it to music.

There are a few threads about how people creatively form songs and such, it's really a process. Most creative people it's not like they just sit down and it pops in their head and bam they've got it. Creativity is a process. Most of my stuff starts out by just finding a few notes I like together, or a funky bass line or riff, and then I just start hearing music in my head and I have to try to find how to "unlock" it from my ukulele.

Aloha, Dane.

I've started hundreds of new ukulele players with Tonya's lesson plan:

http://ukuleletonya.com/files/beginner_lesson_pkg.pdf

I keep dozens of copies of this in my cars, as I always run into uke curious and uke beginners at the many local kanikapila jams. Ric

How old is the kid? And you said the parents play guitars, right? How about offering them group/family lessons?

It would probably be much more fun and encouraging for the kid to play along with mom and dad as they learn the uke, too. And it will give them a special family activity to do together. Beats watching mindless tv.

I mean, for all the time people spend being "soccer moms" or coaching little league, it seems putting in a couple hours a week learning something new and different with your child could actually be more productive and fun for the child.

I recently had a semi-local music teacher come by the shop, he has taught piano and other instruments and is now really excited about ukulele, anyway he said "Alot of musicians or music teachers can't or won't teach their own kids". I thought that was really interesting and based on that, I'd say try to make learning as fun as possible and ask what songs she wants to play. When she progresses and gets hooked on music, she might resort to asking her parents for tips.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

itsme said:

How old is the kid? And you said the parents play guitars, right? How about offering them group/family lessons?

It would probably be much more fun and encouraging for the kid to play along with mom and dad as they learn the uke, too. And it will give them a special family activity to do together. Beats watching mindless tv.

I mean, for all the time people spend being "soccer moms" or coaching little league, it seems putting in a couple hours a week learning something new and different with your child could actually be more productive and fun for the child.

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This is a great idea, and I'm not sure of the exact age, I'd estimate about 8-10 years old

One thing I remember Aldrine saying when he taught little kids, is when you want to tell them something, raise your right hand and have them do it too. That way they aren't strumming crazy and not listening to you when your trying to help.

CoLmes said:

One thing I remember Aldrine saying when he taught little kids, is when you want to tell them something, raise your right hand and have them do it too. That way they aren't strumming crazy and not listening to you when your trying to help.

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great idea

And I'd imagine that the first lesson can be quite critical, I was thinking along the lines of trying to get them to have fun, and to leave being able to do something (2 chords or whatever) and then leave them with some chord charts or something, or some ukulele "homework"