https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a6KEVY0IyI

This week, we learned how to play the ukulele. I have novice skills in this instrument, which I’ve played a few times (recreationally) but have never had any formal lessons for. During this lesson I learned that ukulele is now widely taught in schools. When I was at school, it used to be recorder, but they have apparently made the change due to pupil demand and relevance. Ukulele can be found in many contemporary songs, and gives the children the chance to sing along to what they’re playing (something they couldn’t do with recorder). Ukulele also demands more from the child’s motor skills, therefore this is a great instrument to help children lacking in any fine motor skills areas (e.g. clear, neat writing).

The challenge I assume children may face during this lesson is learning to read the chord notation. Chord grid notation for any stringed instrument is relatively straight forward to read once the foundation of understanding is there, however many children may become frustrated while trying to work the notation out, and might close their mind off to learning the instrument. This would make informational, fun and light-hearted online instructional videos quite useful, as all children would have a clear view to see the video and the instructor in the video may have more techniques/methods for teaching ukulele (especially in a child-friendly format).

Image found: https://pixabay.com/en/bear-christmas-ukulele-hat-funny-565027/