I had 12 girls aged 8 to 14 and we worked through:
1) First 2 lessons of Ukulele in the Classroom;
2) an open-string plucking accompaniment I made for Aloha Oe that's easy enough for beginners -- my first arrangement!
3) a lot of emotional stuff -- they're from a seriously underprivileged neighborhood with a great deal of drug activity, etc; We use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and other stress release methods to help let go of tension and negative patterns before we start playing together;
4) a curriculum I'm creating about Ukulele History and Hawai'ian culture. They love the concepts of mahalo, aloha and ohana/community.
5) creating trust "I need to know that I can trust you with this instrument starting next spring. Do you understand why?"
For their End of Camp Performance they all:
1) gave leis to the parents, staff and admin who attended;
2) told 2 facts about Ukuleles/Ukulele History/Hawai'ian cultural concepts;
3) plucked accompaniment and sang to:
a) Frere Jacques (while walking in a circle and singing it as a round!);
b) Mary had a Little Lamb;
c) He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (they made up the line "furry little kittens");
d) chorus Aloha Oe with my adapted lyrics:
Aloha Oe, Aloha Oe, we send you blessings, peace and wisdom
We're sending love to all beings everywhere
and we live in harmony with all
One of my co-sponsoring institutions wants to expand our original plan from every Thursday of the school year to every Tuesday and Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!
"I never thought that THESE kids would respond so dramatically to the ukulele." -- Institutional Accountant
We're ordering 8 more Makala Dolphins, so each student will be able to play one for the entire one hour class (I think the experience of sharing was useful for them).
Am so grateful to be able to provide this population with music education and self-awareness techniques!
Thanks for reading my post!
1) First 2 lessons of Ukulele in the Classroom;
2) an open-string plucking accompaniment I made for Aloha Oe that's easy enough for beginners -- my first arrangement!
3) a lot of emotional stuff -- they're from a seriously underprivileged neighborhood with a great deal of drug activity, etc; We use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and other stress release methods to help let go of tension and negative patterns before we start playing together;
4) a curriculum I'm creating about Ukulele History and Hawai'ian culture. They love the concepts of mahalo, aloha and ohana/community.
5) creating trust "I need to know that I can trust you with this instrument starting next spring. Do you understand why?"
For their End of Camp Performance they all:
1) gave leis to the parents, staff and admin who attended;
2) told 2 facts about Ukuleles/Ukulele History/Hawai'ian cultural concepts;
3) plucked accompaniment and sang to:
a) Frere Jacques (while walking in a circle and singing it as a round!);
b) Mary had a Little Lamb;
c) He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (they made up the line "furry little kittens");
d) chorus Aloha Oe with my adapted lyrics:
Aloha Oe, Aloha Oe, we send you blessings, peace and wisdom
We're sending love to all beings everywhere
and we live in harmony with all
One of my co-sponsoring institutions wants to expand our original plan from every Thursday of the school year to every Tuesday and Thursday!!!!!!!!!!!
"I never thought that THESE kids would respond so dramatically to the ukulele." -- Institutional Accountant
We're ordering 8 more Makala Dolphins, so each student will be able to play one for the entire one hour class (I think the experience of sharing was useful for them).
Am so grateful to be able to provide this population with music education and self-awareness techniques!
Thanks for reading my post!
