Positive Ways to Teach Music and Ukulele During Pandemic

by | Apr 1, 2020 | Kids and school

It’s back-to-school week but we cannot go to school so Jenny is finding positive ways to teach music and ukulele online.

Today is the first day of e-Learning at schools in Illinois. 

Spring Break is over, but we are not back at school. With the Covid 19 pandemic, teachers are at home learning how to teach online. Students and families are also at home missing their routines. And, some of us are experiencing tragic losses of relatives and friends. All of us are uncertain and anxious.

So, what can we do that is positive?

I have found that the following practices have helped me in this trying time. 

  1. Building a daily life with routines that include outdoor exercise, meditation and music.
  2. Going on a diet with regards to the news-checking only a few times in a day
  3. Playing my  ukulele to keep me happy
  4. Sending music-grams to loved ones in this trying time.

For my public school teaching job, I teach orchestra. Musical ensembles such as band, orchestra and choir cannot be taught in the traditional way with everyone playing or singing at the same time. All of the video conferencing apps have a time lag of about a measure of music. This makes it impossible for groups to play together online. The beautiful videos we see of people playing together from different places involve headphones, a count-off and lots of video editing. 

So, we have to come up with new ways to teach.

Positive ways to teach music and ukulele

This is where my experience with online ukulele teaching comes into play. I can use the following resources to better reach my school students.

  1. Organizing and creating YouTube videos to teach new music.
  2. Sharing videos and  reflection questions to deepen thinking about music. Encouraging students to think about how music brings joy to people, especially in this difficult time.
  3. Encouraging students to share with family members and each other by sending music-grams.
  4. Sharing screen casting videos to explain the intricacies of musical notation.
  5. Video conferencing to discuss feelings about what is going on.
  6. Video conferencing with students muted but still practicing with piano accompaniment to give the feeling of a live rehearsal.
  7. Paying it forward with gifting joy of music to others.
  8. Using music for private expression.
  9. Sharing music education sites to teach music theory and history.
  10. Encouraging musical composition and creativity with music notation, sound engineering and video editing software.
  11. Encouraging students to create parodies of existing songs to bring humor and levity to what is currently going on.

Please let us know what you think. Your ideas will help all of us!

I am hopeful that these ideas will be useful to my public school students and to my colleagues. I am also hopeful that we will be able to use some of these ideas to create an even better online ukulele learning experience for you. 

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment below. We send you our best wishes for health and happiness in this uncertain time.

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  1. Teach a Rest Position

Create a standard position players use whenever they are listening:

  • Place the ukulele flat against the body.
  • Rest the strumming hand gently on the strings.
  • Keep both hands still.
  • Look toward the leader.

Call it “rest position” and demonstrate it at the group’s first meeting. Use the same phrase consistently: “Ukuleles in rest position, please.”

This physically mutes the strings and gives everyone a clear visual signal that playing has stopped.

  1. Use One Attention Signal

Choose a signal that can be seen or heard across the room. Possibilities include:

  • Raising one hand
  • Playing a short, distinctive chord
  • Saying, “Rest position”

Explain the signal before rehearsal begins: “When you see my hand raised, finish the chord you are playing, mute your strings, and look up.”

Avoid competing with the group by repeatedly talking over the instruments. Give the signal, pause, and wait until everyone is ready.

  1. Set a Clear “No Noodling” Expectation

Many players noodle because they are excited, nervous, practicing a difficult chord, or unaware that it is distracting. Address the behavior without embarrassing anyone.

Try saying:

“Between songs, please mute your strings so everyone can hear the instructions. We’ll always give you a moment to check chords before we begin.”

Then build short, intentional practice windows into the session:

  • “Take 20 seconds to find the opening chord.”
  • “Quietly check the change from C to G7.”
  • “Let’s try that strum together once.”

Players are more likely to stop playing at random when they know when practice is welcome.

  1. Amplify the Leader, Not the Entire Room

In larger groups, a small microphone, portable speaker, or amplified ukulele can save the leader’s voice and make directions easier to follow. Amplification should provide clarity—not to overpower the players.

Test the equipment before the session, position the speaker where everyone can hear it, and keep spoken instructions short. A microphone cannot replace an attention routine, but it makes a good routine much more effective.

  1. Create Predictable Transitions

Noodling often fills uncertainty. Tell players exactly what is happening next:

    1. “Finish the final chord.”
    2. “Rest position.”
    3. “Turn to page 14.”
    4. “Find a C chord.”
    5. “Watch for my count-in.”

Use a visible or audible count-in before every song. Once players learn that nothing begins until the leader counts them in, spontaneous starts become less common.

6. Operate iPads for music.

Many ukulele groups read off iPads, and everyone buys the same app. forScore is one of the common ones, but don’t get anything until the group leader tells you which one they use. From there, the leader or the singer/songwriter shares the music by AirDrop, so everyone is reading off the same page. Corrections land with the whole group at once, and nobody is working from an outdated copy.

 

A Simple Group Agreement

At the beginning of a session, say:

“To help everyone hear and learn, we use rest position whenever someone is speaking. When I raise my hand, please mute your strings and look up. You’ll have time to check chords before each song, and we’ll always start together on the count-in.”

The goal is not silence for its own sake. It is to create a group in which instructions are brief, rehearsals move smoothly, and everyone gets more time to make music together.

 

Here’s a list of etiquette expectations from ukulele group members to make the group learning more effective and fruitful for everyone. 

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