Once upon a time, many preschool teachers played the autoharp when leading group time, strumming along as they sang Twinkle Twinkle or Ring Around the Rosie.

Or many played piano or guitar. Playing the music as you sing, rather than just singing a capella, helps to deepen the learning for the children and increase their musical knowledge.

Some teachers used records (or cassettes or CD’s) to provide the music for circle time. Many recordings were designed just for this purpose, and worked well – they were a good tempo, just enough repeats of the song to be fun but not drag on and on.

These days, when we all carry in our pocket a phone with instant connection to the Internet, it’s tempting to just always pull up a YouTube video for music.

But YouTube videos are generally not made for this use, they are so often over-produced, overly energetic, over-enthusiastic or cloyingly sweet. Many of them have long musical interludes when no one is singing. Or ads or “like and subscribe” announcements. They can’t adapt to the mood of the moment, or respond to what’s happening in the room that day. And playing pre-recorded music doesn’t show children how music is made, or instill in them the idea that someday they could make music too.

Bringing live music into the classroom is so much more engaging.

And I know some of you may be thinking – “but I’m not a musician! I can’t do that.” I used to think that too. Make sure to check out my next post on Music and the Growth Based Mindset.

Did you know that if you have a ukulele (or a guitar), you can learn how to play a C chord and an F chord in just a few minutes of watching YouTube videos?

And did you know that if you can just play a C chord and an F chord, that means that you can play Wheels on the Bus – and at least 4 other songs set to that same tune! (In my handout below, just for C and F, I have chords for Kookaburra, 2 songs set to Itsy Bitsy, 4 to Oh My Darling Clementine, 5 for Mary Had a Little Lamb, and 10 songs set to the Farmer in the Dell tune!)

I will be writing a series of posts on how quickly and easily you can go from knowing nothing about how to play an instrument to playing ukulele confidently.

If you already know how to play an instrument – like guitar or piano – or if you have an old autoharp sitting in the closet at your classroom, and just need the chords to be ready to play, check out this handout.

You can also check out Storytime Ukulele, where they list chords for lots of standard kids’ songs.

If you don’t yet know how to play an instrument, check out the rest of my ukulele series:

• Music and the Growth Based Mindset
• Getting Started with Ukulele – all the basics to get you through your first song!
• Learning 2 chord songs on the ukulele (C and F)