1.

S
ummary- For the pre-jam experience, we will be teaching the people at the event basics about playing

a ukulele. We will begin by demonstrating how to hold a ukulele and check that everyone feels

comfortable with this. We will then show them basics about how to strum and where to do it and help

them with tuning. They will then be taught how to read a tab. Once they feel comfortable with this, we

will be teaching them how to play the C, G, Am, and F chords. For this, they will have handouts with the

tabs for the chords on them so that they can look at them up close while the tabs are also projected on a

large screen. These chords will be color coded on both the handout and screen in order to make them

easier to see and differentiate between. Once they have learned the chords, they will be led through

transitioning between the chords. Finally, participants will be taught several strumming patterns that they

can apply later on to the songs.

2. Rationale- This experience is meaningful because by learning these basic skills, they can apply them to

music making throughout the rest of their lives. There are a lot of songs that can be played on the ukulele

with just the four chords we will be teaching them. Therefor, they can transfer these chords to many other

songs in the future which will make learning new songs much easier. We will be going over transitions

between the different chords, so regardless of what order they are played in different songs, they will be

well prepared to do this. They are also being taught how to read tabs. This will allow them to learn even

more songs in the future that may use other chords. Learning the different strumming patterns will also

help them with being able to play many different styles of music. This will allow them to branch out and

explore the many different genres of music that they could be making on their own.

3. Objectives-

Students will learn ukulele/musical terms.

Students will learn to hold a ukulele.

Students will learn different ways of strumming the ukulele strings.

Students will learn to tune a ukulele

 Students will learn to play the Am, C, F, and G chords.

Students will be able to transition between these chords

Students will learn to read ukulele chord charts

Students will be taught different strumming patterns to use for different styles of music.

4. Anchor Standard #1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #3. Refine and complete artistic work.

MU:Pr6.1.H.5a Perform with expression and technical accuracy in [group] performances of a

varied repertoire of music that includes chordal accompaniments, demonstrating understanding

of the audience and the context.

5. Materials-

Ukuleles

Powerpoint with tabs

Handouts with tabs

Tuners

6. Procedure- The participants will,

1. Learn to hold the ukulele

2. Learn basic hand positions for playing - left hand presses strings on frets, right hand strums. They

will be shown multiple ways to strum (thumb only, index finger, imaginary pick, etc.) and given

opportunity to feel those different options and choose what feels comfortable to them

3. Learn basics of tuning - the ukes will be pre-tuned but we will give a brief explanation of how to

tune the uke so they can feel comfortable doing so in the future

4. Learn the Am, C, F, and G chords- we will be going through each chord one chord at a time.
 5. Each chord will be explained with a demonstration of how to properly place the specific fingers

in the specific places. Also will be using visual aids to help with this process.

6. Make sure to go through all chords and ask if there are any questions about how to play a specific

chord.

7. Practice transitioning between each chord, first without strumming, only focusing on the left

hand.

8. Work on increasing the speed at which they can move between each chord, still only using the

left hand.

9. Add in the right hand and begin transitioning between the chords by playing each one 8 times and

then moving on to the next with a brief pause in between.

10. Take away the pause between the chords and transition as seamlessly as possible through the

chords.

7. Assessment- We will know if students have made gains related to the objectives by checking in

with them after each step of the procedure to make sure they understand. There will also be other

teachers mixed in within the group while one teacher is up in front. These teachers that are mixed

in can be observing those around them to check and see that they are doing things correctly. We

will also ask if any volunteers are willing to play things by themselves or in a small group so that

we can better assess what is going on and if things are sounding well.

8. Adaptations- We will be having several visual aids to accommodate for different learning

styles. The handout should be able to help with anyone who cannot see the screen or who just

needs a closer look at all of the tabs. For someone who is struggling with ukulele, we could have

them just strum downbeat chords when we are doing different patterns. If they are still

struggling, we could ask them to go back to just using their left hand so that they can focus on
that or just on their right hand, depending on what they are struggling with. If someone is more

advanced and needs more, we will be teaching different strumming patterns, some more difficult

than others. They can do some of the more difficult patterns or even make up their own.