Why is ukulele such a great instrument for schools?

by | Oct 10, 2015 | Beginners, Kids and school, Musical instruments


Why Ukulele is such a great instrument for schools

Ukulele is becoming more and more popular in general music classes, even beginning to be more popular than the recorder. But why is ukulele such a great instrument for schools? Here’s my take on this question.

Makes You Smarter

Music study is wonderful for students because making music expresses emotion, builds community and makes you smarter. School music programs are often cut first in times of fiscal crisis. But I feel that the benefits of music study are so great that it should remain in school curriculums no matter how tight the budget. And the portable, affordable ukulele is just the ticket to keep school music programs alive in the current atmosphere of budget reduction and standardized testing.

Emotional Health

There is a reason that all human cultures embrace music. Playing music is great for one’s emotional health. Music can change and release emotion. It can match one’s current emotion and provide joy or comfort. And it can relieve stress. In school, music classes are often places where students feel emotionally safe and have fun.

Builds the Community

Playing the ukulele builds community. Students play and sing together. Strumming chords together with a steady beat requires concentration and listening to each other. Students use their eyes, ears, and sense of touch to achieve a goal. This goal is a unified creation with a beginning, middle, and end, occurring within time. Such a creation is called a song, which seems simple, but playing and singing with others creates a sense of cohesion that can unify a whole class.

Easy to Learn

The ukulele is relatively easy to learn. Students build a sense of accomplishment as they master the basics of the instrument and gradually move on to more challenging mater playing ukulele and singing can make you smarter.

Neurological Growth

Neuroscientists have discovered through the use of MRI’s that while simply listening to music lights up many areas of our brains, playing an instrument lights up almost all of the areas of the brain. It’s like fireworks going off! These MRI results make sense because playing an instrument requires the use of both the left and right hands, understanding mathematical concepts when creating rhythms, using speech centers to sing lyrics and using the amygdala (emotional center of the brain) to feel what the music is trying to say. Music is perhaps the most fun kind of brain workout a human being can have!

Conclusion

I believe we should never think of cutting music programs as an alternative when times are tight. The benefits to students are too great: emotional health, strengthened the sense of community, and neurological growth. So let’s look to the happy little instrument from Hawaii as a way to keep the benefits of school music study flowering in the lives of our students. Here’s our recommended products page for ukuleles and accessories for students. 

I hope you now understand why ukulele is such a great instrument for schools. If you’d like to try a book that teaches all these great concepts to your students, why don’t you try Ukulele for All?

Ukulele for All book cover featuring two ukuleles; easy learning method.

  • Unique UFA pedagogy begins with one chord songs to give students instant success as they learn solo and ensemble skills.
  • For today's digital learners, the INTERACTIVE Practice studio - included free - offers multi-screen video lessons, play-along recordings, and more for every song in the book.
  • The informative Teacher Edition will make it easy for you to succeed with teaching ukulele.

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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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