Holiday Helpers! Musical activities for in-class or at-home

pedagogy corner Dec 07, 2021

 

Looking for something to give your students during the final days of classes before the holiday break? Or perhaps a take-home project they can work on? The Uketropolis Team has a few ideas to help keep your students busy! Or if you're looking for online ukulele lessons, then head over to our homepage!

It's that time of year when you might be looking for some activities to keep...

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Do You Have Holiday Jamxiety? - Jam Session Nerves

pedagogy corner Nov 17, 2021

The holidays are approaching and with that (ideally) comes opportunities to make music together, lifting spirits and connecting our festive hearts. But who’s going to start the music-making once the big holiday dinner is done?

Being the first to kickstart a jam session can be intimidating and create nerves. You want to set things off on the right foot. Come out with a song that encourages...

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When Things Go Off the Rails: Rolling With It

pedagogy corner Oct 19, 2021

We all have moments in our teaching when something just doesn't go as planned. In fact, sometimes an entire online lesson can feel like it goes off the rails. How can we plan for when things go wrong in our online teaching?

I recently had an experience of an online class not going as planned. Most of the time, I can roll with an activity not working well or alter my approach when...

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Engaging Music Students In Class With Less Stress

pedagogy corner Sep 22, 2021

Feeling overwhelmed in the classroom? Give yourself a break with these time-tested teaching strategies to engage your music class and keep students motivated.


You're a busy teacher. So, let's get right to it with some ideas you can use in your classroom this week to encourage participation, motivate and engage your students!

Bring expert support into your class, virtually

The Teacher...

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Learn To Play Hawai'i Aloha: Arrangement and Lesson

Learn to play Hawai'i Aloha on the ukulele, that you can learn for yourself and teach others. Continuing on with our recognition of the 'ukulele's birthday this week, celebrating the arrival of the Ravenscrag in Hawai'i in 1879.

Hawai'i Aloha, written by Christian minister Lorenzo Lyons (d. 1886), is the much-adored "unofficial anthem" of Hawai'i. It is sung in the streets, at private...

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Not too fast, not too slow. Be the Goldilocks of your classroom with "just right" pacing

pedagogy corner Aug 17, 2021

Bored students? Frustrated students? Rhythm and pacing in our classes can help keep players engaged and learning.

Learn how to organize and structure your music lessons properly. With a bit of planning and observation, we can create music classes that keep everyone on track. Let’s take a look at some things to keep in mind as you prepare and lead your online ukulele lessons. 

...

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Ukulele Summer Bingo!

pedagogy corner Jul 05, 2021

Looking for a summer activity for your students or ukulele group? Something fun that will keep them learning? Uketropolis Summer Bingo challenge to the rescue!

We thought it would be a whole lot of summer fun to create an activity for you to share with your students or ukulele group. Something that would give them a series of challenges to work through during vacation time or time...

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What's the score? Music Notation software for ukulele teachers

pedagogy corner Jun 16, 2021

Music notation software can be an incredibly useful tool. Creating arrangements, multiple parts, printing, sharing, transposing... these are all things that can be made more efficient and professional-looking with the right notation program. So which is the best notation program for ukulele teachers or composers?

There are many notation software programs and score software that can accommodate...

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Let's Get Social! Social media as a tool for your music teaching business

pedagogy corner May 12, 2021

 

Practically everyone's on social media these days. How do we best promote your online music lessons on social media? There’s a lot to learn but we’ve got a few ideas to help get you started thinking about your online strategy with this comprehensive guide to social media strategies for online music teachers.

Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or elsewhere,...

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Teaching Alternate Tunings

pedagogy corner Apr 13, 2021

 

Everyone’s talking about alternate tunings on ukulele. But can we bring them into the classroom to use with our students? You bet!

Alternate tunings are a hot topic these days. James got us excited in mid-2020 when he shared his cool BEBE tuning and made the case for jumping into the alternate tuning universe. There’s a lot to be said for exploring different...

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