Ukuleles at Mustard Seed: History in the Making
Stop by the music room on Wednesday or Thursday mornings and you will hear the glorious sound of middle school students making Mustard Seed history. This year’s sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students are the first to be playing ukulele as part of the middle school music curriculum.
The ukulele is a great vehicle for learning musical literacy and musicianship because of its versatility and accessibility. It is fun to play and is intrinsically rewarding for students of all musical abilities.
Building on skills they have learned at school and from private study (for those who take lessons), we will explore melody, rhythm, harmony, form, tempo, dynamics and tone. At first, we’ll start with single-note picking of both simple melodies and harmonic accompaniments. This will increase facility with music reading and ensemble playing. Eventually, we’ll work toward strumming chords and playing different strumming patterns. Throughout the study, we’ll sing as we play folk songs and music from different cultures. We’ll also work toward playing some of our worship songs!
We have plenty of ukuleles for students to use at school. Some students have expressed an interest in bringing ukuleles from home and some have asked about purchasing instruments. Students are welcome to bring their own instruments. In order to use them in class, they need to be soprano, concert (also known as alto), or tenor ukuleles. We are using linear tuning (also known as low 4th string tuning). If you are purchasing a ukulele, make sure the instrument is tuned with C6 tuning (gcea) with a low g on the 4th string. If you already have a ukulele, it can easily be converted to low g tuning if need be. You can purchase ukuleles at most music stores. The key is making sure to get a low g on the 4th string. I also recommend purchasing a case and tuner. Most stores have package deals with these included. We have concert ukuleles at school that were purchased from Empire Music. The book we are using in class is Ukulele in the Classroom, Book I by James Hill & J. Chalmers Doane. This is also available at Empire Music.