Ukulele is commonly used in elementary classrooms across the United States and is the most common way teachers get started with modern band in elementary schools (Vasil, 2023). Read my article about this here.

Teacher Prep

• There are four sizes of ukulele: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone.
• Hand size determines instrument size (not height). I recommend purchasing mostly soprano ukuleles and few concert ukuleles.
• The soprano, concert, and tenor all have the same tuning: GCEA
• My favorite brands are Kala and Makala. They hold the tuning well.
• West Music is my favorite store to purchase from, but you can also check your local music shops.

Prepare the Classroom

• Number all ukuleles, assign them to students, and designate a spot for them to be stored.
• Tune all ukuleles.
• Put colored stickers on the ukulele fretboard (C-red, F-neon green, G-dark green, A-purple)
• Prepare all manipulatives (center cards, fretboard chord insert charts from teacherspayteachers.com)
• Felt picks can be a good option for strumming.
• More prep ideas here: https://teachingwithorff.com/miw-ukulele-unit/

Where to Look for Songs

• Survey parents to learn what songs students like to help you decide on repertoire: https://forms.gle/K6PSwD5Z64QHtrCn7
• Talk to your students to gain more ideas, as well.
• Spencer Hale’s YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpencerCHale/videos?app=desktop
• Dr. Jill Reese’s YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrJillReese?app=desktop
• Music Will JamZone: https://jamzone.musicwill.org/
• Ukeoke: https://musopia.net/ukeoke/ (free trial, but costs $ monthly)

Tuning

GCEA – Gotta, Catch, ‘Em, All

Tonal Energy, Guitar Tuna, and Fender Tuner are common phone apps used for tuning

Starting Goals for Students

• Basic strumming skills
• 3–4 chords
• Covering songs
• In the Modern Band sequence of perform, improvise, and compose, lots of performing at first
• In the Orff sequence of imitate-explore-create, lots of imitation at first

Holding the Ukulele

(Tips from Ms. Isaacs, Picadome Elementary, Lexington KY and Dr. Vasil)

• Belly to Belly
• Cradle like a baby
• Put on the seatbelt (right arm)
• Make a lego man hand and rest the neck of the ukulele on it
• Curve your fingers like cat claws for chords
• Strum over the fretboard (not the hole) using finger or thumb
• Finger 1, 2, 3 warmup
• Have a rest position (strings down)

Strumming

• Tell students it’s like flicking honey off their fingers. Strum over the fingerboard.
• Student can strum with just the thumb, just the index finger, or using both.
• If you want to use picks, use felt ones.
• Start with simple strum patterns, advance to more complicated rhythms once students are ready (offer more advanced strums for individual students who need a challenge).
• Strum patterns are best practiced with a backbeat or a song. Be creative! You can use Soundtrap to make your own beats or have students co-create with you.
• Practice songs with different strum patterns.

Chords

• Start with one-finger chords. I let students choose whatever fingers are comfortable for them, then guide them to conventional fingering patterns (e.g., third finger or ring finger for the C chord).
• Refer to the “string closest to your toes”, the “string closest to your nose”, and “boxes” on the ukulele to help position students’ fingers.
• Remind students to lightly “pinch” the neck and make “bridges” with the fingers to get a good sound (avoiding pressing other strings accidentally).
• Remind students to avoid placing their fingers on the frets (stay in the box).
• Snake fangs for G chord

Teaching Strategies

• Allow students to choose different strum patterns on beats 1, 2, 3, 4 (e.g., just playing on beats 1 and 2, beats 3 and 4).
• For songs with more than one chord, put students into small groups and assign one chord per group as you play the play-along video.
• Once students are ready to play more than one chord, have them play JUST on the downbeat of each measure (that gives them time to get their fingers to the next chord).
• Once they have this, have them play beats 1, 2, and 3 and use the fourth beat to find the placement for the next chord.
• Try some play-alongs that students request.

Adjusting Play-Alongs for Your Needs

• Use the settings on YouTube to adjust playback speed
• Use Google Chrome extension Transpose to put songs in a key your students can play

Adding the Orff Approach

• Speech, gestures, body percussion are foundational tools in the Orff approach
• Investigate the meaning of a song to find inspiration
• Think about the National Core Arts Standards to think of extensions
• Add a B section that reflects
• Add bass bars to play the root of the ukulele chords