Welcome to the SchoolUkestras site!
Hi! I thought I better make a specific page for beginners and
teachers in schools. Here you will find music and stuff that
is useful for kids who are learning the uke!
You'll be pleased to know that we are starting Jukestra! The Junior Ukestra! First classes in Charlestown on Wednesday 15 February 2012. More info here!
You've also landed right in the middle of a whole bunch of
pages linked to 'The Sum of the Parts (music)', a site for community
music, adult Ukestras,
The Do Riders,
and other musical projects of Mark Jackson.
We started teaching ukulele in Newcastle region primary
schools in Term 4 2010 and as of Term One 2012, Ukestras are
happening at
Waratah
and Cardiff South
Public Schools.
Songs
Easy Two Chord Songs
Deep in the Heart of Texas
is the first song I teach most people. It is two chords, and
has a long period where you do not play uke so you can change
to the next chord! Total beginners can just stick on F & C
all the way through, but if you are feeling up to it, modulate
to G & D for a little more challenge! Here is
the music printout for it and
this is
the youtube of the Muppets singing it. Too cute!
Jambalaya is the second song
that is taught. Although it is an old pop(ular) song, it is
another two chord song, which makes it easy to learn and to
play along to. This is the Music. And this is
the youtube clip.
Ask Mum, Dad or (better still!) your grandparents about these
songs. They will probably know them!
Modern Songs
All of these songs are in C - just to make it easy to start with.
Somebody That I Used To
Know by Gotye is a pretty new song. It has heaps of
different parts, and sounds great as a group. The youtube
clip can be seen here,
and here is the music and the riff (the catchy bit).
The
Middle is by Jimmy Eat World is an
easy song with only three chords that also sounds great. It
was released in 2002, when it hit the Top 100 List. Here
is the song with lyrics, and here is the music
Perfect by Pink is an ideal four chord beginners song.
It also has great lyrics (although watch out for the version
that isn't all that polite!). This was a Top Ten hit in late
2010/early 2011. Here
is the youtube version that doesn't swear, and here
is the music for that.
Billionaire - by Travis McCoy (featuring Bruno Mars). Nice
chords, not so sure about the dream of being so rich!!
As is common, be careful about singing words that may
not be appropriate! Here
is a nice acoustic version of Travis and Bruno. And here is a video of
Bruno Mars when he was four, doing Elvis impersonations.
Catch my Disease
is the Ben Lee
song that was a hit in 2005. The video
is of the Ukastle Ukestra performing it at the 2011 Melbourne
Ukulele Festival.
And then there is always Hey Soul Sister
by Train, the song
that kids always ask for.
Other Useful Stuff
You need four chords to write a pop song (Hey Soul Sister,
Perfect, a million others). Have you seen the Axis of
Awesome?
Start here -> How
to write a Pop Song
If you want to know more - here is a diagram and some
notes about how to start playing scales.
Even more info is available at James Hill's website.In July 2011 Mark is performing with his Ukastle Ukestra at the Hawaii Ukulele Festival then heading to Vancouver to learn about advanced Ukulele Pedagogy from the best - James Hill.