Teaching complex chords on the ukulele

pedagogy corner Jun 16, 2020
 

Once students get a taste of new chord flavours, they will be wanting more! 

By Vinícius Vivas

Have you wondered about how to play and teach complex jazz chords on the ukulele? Or how to make simple chords sound even better?

Sometimes we fall into teaching chords in the same way that we learned them, even when there may be a better way. Perhaps we need to try less...

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Engaging students with composition

pedagogy corner May 18, 2020
 

We are always looking for new ideas to engage our students and what better way than to bring their own creativity into the mix by teaching them musical composition?

by Cynthia Kinnunen, a Music Educator from Guelph, Ontario who's part of Team Uketropolis, offering online ukulele lessons! 

Last month, music educator Angela Dwyer gave us some great ideas about introducing...

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How To Improvise On The Ukulele: Teachers Tips

pedagogy corner Apr 14, 2020
 

This post explains how to teach students how to learn to improvise on the ukulele! These are formidable times for music educators. Many of the teaching strategies, motivational techniques and rules of engagement for face-to-face music instruction have had a major overhaul to accommodate our new online world, like with Uketropolis, we've become the premier place to learn ukulele online.

...

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How To Improve Your Ukulele Tone And Sound Better!

pedagogy corner Mar 09, 2020
 

These days, many adult players are looking for more than just ukulele lessons. Sometimes they don’t know what ‘more’ is, but they know they want it. I believe that a place to start is helping students to identify what to listen for and as a consequence, to learn how to improve their ukulele tone!

Getting started

So, where to start on this listening and tone journey to...

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How To Hold A Ukulele: Ergonomic Tips

pedagogy corner Feb 11, 2020
 

Here's a quick guide to warming up as a ukulele player and tips on how to hold the ukulele properly as a right-handed player.

Just as athletes have a stretching and warm-up routine, ukulele players should consider posture, ergonomics and warming-up for ourselves as we engage in music-making!

Stretch it out!

It's February and for many of us in the colder climates, that means we’re...

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How To Start A Song Right!

pedagogy corner Jan 10, 2020

 

One thing is for sure: the hardest part of doing anything is getting started.  Music is no different. 

By James Hill, founder of Uketropolis, online ukelele lessons.

How many times have you had trouble getting a song started?  The more players there are, the more challenging it seems to get that first word, note or chord to happen at the right time. So in this short...

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How to Teach Rhythm In Music

pedagogy corner Nov 04, 2019
 

How can we incorporate one of the most important elements of music into our online classes? Cheryl Reid gives us the best tips on how to teach rhythm.

Our main goal as music instructors is to teach musicianship, so every single exercise we do should sound musical and rhythmically “in the pocket” from the first lesson onward. Rhythm needs to be integral to everything else we...

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Meet the Music Teacher: Christina O’Brien

pedagogy corner Oct 02, 2019
 

Christina shares some of her experience using Ukulele in the Classroom… in the classroom!

Ukulele has been hands down the BEST instrument I have used to build music literacy skills in the classroom.  After hearing about James Hill’s Ukulele in the Classroom (UITC) series from a friend, I looked into the level one books and decided it would fit really well with my...

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Ukulele Lesson Ideas: Starting the school year right

pedagogy corner Sep 02, 2019
 

Here are a few ukulele lesson ideas to help get your students back in the groove for the new school year.

By Angela Dwyer

(Psst... If you're looking for online ukulele lessons then head to the Uketropolis homepage to find the best beginner ukulele courses up to advanced levels!)

It’s September! Here in Canada it means that beach days and bar-b-ques are replaced by school days and...

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Meet the Teacher: John Nash

pedagogy corner Aug 01, 2019
 

John explains the impact of the JHUI Teacher Certification program on his own teaching.

I entered the JHUI Teacher Certification program in the summer 2017 and it had an immediate impact on my teaching. I was not only gaining ukulele-specific teaching skills, also a new understanding of pedagogy and how to develop it.

While working through the three years of the of the JHUI program...

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