By James Hill & Angela Dwyer

In July 2024, an exciting new chapter of JHUI begins! Below is a summary of the changes that are coming to the program. If you'd like to watch the full Zoom session where James and Angela talk through these changes and answer questions, please click here.

JHUI was founded by James and his father, Barry, nearly 15 years ago as a way to offer high-quality teacher train...

By Catherine Goykhman

Like many people, I have been teaching ukulele online with both my group and private lessons since the pandemic began. Thanks to platforms like Zoom, teaching and learning the ukulele online has become not only possible but highly effective. It has never been easier to connect with ukulele students around the world! The strategies and tips below have worked well for me and I...

By Zsolt Schäfer

I recently re-read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and discovered a truth in there that also applies to learning ukulele as an adult.

"The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is c...

By James Hill

So you wake up in the morning, you pick up your ukulele but it sounds terrible. It's time to tune!

These days, by far the most common way to tune is with an electronic tuner.  Just clip one of these to your headstock, turn it on and pluck the first string, A. It's easy to remember that A is the first string because it's also the first letter in the alphabet.

Keep plucking as you t...

Video content is where it’s at these days. Whether you’re a creator, music maker, teacher, or learner, there may very well be a need to record yourself. And there are plenty of tutorials out there about how to do this and what products are recommended.

But what about those little extras that experienced content creators and musicians learn along the way? James has a wealth of experience with crea...

What are interactive scores and what can we do with them? 

Interactive scores are part of nearly every online ukulele course in Uketropolis. Why? Because they bring music to life in a way that we could only have imagined even a decade ago. Powered by the amazing Soundslice platform, our interactive scores are "living sheet music."

Think of your trusty music books or paper scores: the pages are s...

Strap on that uke, stretch those muscles, and get ready for this musical challenge of strength, skill, and perseverance: the Ukulympics!

It’s June and that means many teachers are pushing through the final weeks of classes or looking for summer activities to give to students. Or perhaps you’re up for a challenge yourself and want something fun as a guide! We’ve got a great new musical game to sh...

Has one particular version of a song really resonated with you while others don't even come close? I experienced this with Jeff Buckley’s interpretation of the Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah." Though I like many versions of it, to me, nothing compares to Buckley's. So, why can listening to many versions of the same song be such a powerful exercise in the classroom?

“Interpretation is the ultimat...

In music, we’re taught a lot of rules and told we must follow them. But creativity is a critical part of all music-making; exploring the creative aspect of music can build confidence, expand understanding, and lead to new realms of expression. And spring is the perfect time to awaken your students’ creativity!

Improvisation. Where to begin as a teacher? How do we guide our students as they explor...

Why is it so important to teach intervals in music and how can we do it? Cynthia Kinnunen gives us some ideas on teaching music intervals with games and exercises to engage our students, both children and adults.

Intervals are the building blocks of music. We create music either by harmonizing two or more notes (chords) or by connecting a series of pitches one after another (melody). In both c...