Category Archives: For Professionals

Getting Started with Ukulele

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Are you ready to try learning just a few children’s songs to add to your group time at preschool or your library storytime?

Let’s get started!

This post covers: finding a ukulele, choosing a tuner, how to tune a ukulele, how to hold it, how to strum, how to play a chord, and how to play your first song.

Find a Ukulele

First, you need a ukulele. I recommend a soprano or a concert ukulele (they are tuned to the same pitch, just the concert neck is a little longer which makes playing chords easier for folks with bigger fingers, and means that the instrument has a wider range of notes to play. The concert also has a more resonant, richer tone, because it’s a larger instrument, but I think soprano sounds fine for preschool songs.)

If you look on your local Facebook marketplace or other places used instruments are sold, you’ll find ukuleles in varying quality and price points. Or, ask your friends, maybe someone you know has a ukulele they’re not using. All you really need is a ukulele. You don’t need a strap or a case, though they’re nice to have.

If you’re buying new, it may be best to go to a local shop that sells guitars and ukes and has knowledgeable staff, where you can try things out hands-on. I have ordered mine online. My Kala KA-15S was a fine starter instrument, though with only 12 frets, it will have a limited range as your skills build. It’s currently $99 including a bag, strap and tuner. I think the Enya Carbon Fiber is a better bet. It’s only $49 (with bag and strap, no tuner) but has a really nice sound, has 17 frets, and I am much more convinced that it would survive being stepped on by a preschooler. (This hasn’t happened in my classes yet, but I am certain it will someday!) Those links are Amazon affiliate links, and I do get a referral fee if you click through and purchase something. You can also find lots more recommendations for beginner ukuleles.

In this video, I compare the Enya, described above, with my Kala KA-SCAC-SLNG, which is a long neck soprano, which cost $259.

Choose a Tuner and/or App

There are ukulele specific tuners and chromatic tuners. I like a chromatic tuner. A basic tuner just tells you whether you’re playing a G, C, E, or A since those are the chords on a uke. If you’re tuning for C and you’re not in the range for C, it doesn’t show anything. When you’re getting closer to C, it shows that you’re too high or too low. When you’re in tune, it shows that. Here’s two images from beginner tuner in the Kala app.

A chromatic tuner tells you what note you’re playing – like that your G string is currently playing F# – and clues you into whether you need to tune up or down to find the correct note. From the insTuner app:

You could buy a clip-on tuner, or one might come with your uke. They probably work better than an app in a loud setting (like say at a preschool after the kids arrive!)

I just use an app on my phone – if you buy a Kala uke, it will give you access to the Kala app, which includes a basic tuner and a chromatic tuner. The YouKeLiLi Tuner app is an OK tuner, but I like that it also offers chord diagrams, for when I need to look up how to play a C6 chord or F#m. The main tuner I’m using now is insTuner, which is an easy to use chromatic tuner. Here’s a very brief video of Instuner in action.

Note: There are several apps which also have video lessons to help you learn ukulele: including the Kala app, the OK Music app. I haven’t used them much, but they’re probably worth checking out while you’re looking at apps.

Learn How to Tune

When you get a new ukulele, it is likely to be out of tune! If it’s a used uke, they do go out of tune over time. New ukes are shipped with the strings loose to avoid damage, and so you have to tune them up when you get them, and keep tuning them a lot in the first few weeks as those new strings stretch out and settle in.

When you’re holding a ukulele with the neck in your left hand, the top string is a G, the next one down is a C, then E, and A is the one at the bottom. To tune, you play a note on the string, check the tuner, and turn the tuning pegs clockwise or counter-clockwise till it’s in tune. The easiest way to learn this is to watch a video! Here’s my favorite on How to Tune a new ukulele fresh out of the box by Bernadette, who is my favorite online ukulele teacher.

Since it sometimes helps to be taught the same skill in a few different ways till you find the one that clicks with your learning style, you may also check out: How to Tune from Katie from One Music School – shows at the beginning how a tuning app works. https://youtu.be/2hZY_WzaS78?t=36; and How to Tune by Andy Guitar – easiest to see tuner as he tunes https://youtu.be/2VOuRBjmzAM?t=45

Learn How to Hold Your Uke

There are some written tutorials online, some with helpful diagrams, such as Zing instruments and the Wikihow.

Some key points: hold it so the back of the ukulele is pressed against your belly or chest, and your right forearm is braced against it to hold it in place. The neck is in your left hand – it rests in the space between your thumb and first finger – your thumb is on the back or top of the neck, your fingers are cupped, ready to make chord shapes on the fret board.

Again, it is helpful to learn using a video:

Here’s a couple more that might be helpful: my video, Katie from One Music School – How to Hold and Strum https://youtu.be/jxsntBDrk20?t=27 and Phil Doleman – Adjusting your left hand position: https://youtu.be/SpeggLDic-8?t=105

Learn to Strum with Your Thumb

For your first few strums, let’s try strumming with your thumb. Stick your thumb up like you’re giving someone a thumbs up, then brush it across the strings like you’re brushing a hair off the strings with the side of your thumb. Here’s a video that clearly illustrates this: [note: all my video links are set to go to a specific point in a video, like this one starts at 3:04. That is the most relevant spot in this video, and then I recommend that you watch it up till 5:18. There’s lots of other good stuff in this video, but that’s the section to focus on for now.]

This is just a beginning strum technique – it works best when you just want to strum down once at the beginning of each bar of music. You’ll quickly move on from it to the next one, which is a lot more versatile, especially when we add in down-up strum patterns.

Learn to Strum with Your Index Finger

You can strum with just your index finger, or you can place your thumb against your index finger to give it more strength (and make your strums louder.) Some people use a pick for ukulele, but most do not. This video starts at 3:02 – watch to 5:07 to get the strumming technique.

Again, if you need more tips to help you find the way that works best for you, check out these three takes on strumming, from my video, which covers thumb and index finger strums, from Bernadette – https://youtu.be/VJZg_vxODOY?t=30 and from Phil Doleman – https://youtu.be/CTWCmCKggwg?t=442 – watch to 9:20.

Learn How to Play a Chord

Let’s start with the C chord. You only need to use one finger to make this chord. Just press the tip of your ring finger down on the neck of the uke, in the third fret (the space between the second and third fret markers – learn more about your fret board). First, just strum that one string (the A string, the one lowest down when you’re holding the ukelele.) Does it ring out nicely? Or is there a dull plunking sound? If it’s dull, you’ll need to press down harder, and be sure you’re pressing beteen the fret markers. Getting good pressure on the string can be tricky if your fingernails are long – that’s why most guitar and uke players have short fingernails on their left hand!

Once that note (the C note played on the A string) sounds good, strum all four strings together to make the C chord.

Here’s a clear video:

This video also clearly describes a C: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I656wHVIGTk as does mine.

Play Your First Song

This video walks you slowly through how to play Row Your Boat using just a C chord. She shows you how to play it with just one strum per bar, and then gradually, playing it as half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes.

You can also check out her Brother John: https://youtu.be/qkfdz3FzCQc?list=PLa7A-eNabeLZmn_g8RqcHklDQF2ZbQCzW&t=72 or here’s another Brother John: https://youtu.be/bjviMp11C6A?t=207 Or here’s my video with Row Your Boat and Brother John.

Some other songs you can try playing with just the C chord: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Three Blind Mice, and Old McDonald Had a Farm.

Congratulations, you’ve learned how to play ukulele!!

Next step: play a song using two chords – C and F. Then, playing C7 and F. Or look here for links to all the uke tutorials.

Music and the Growth Based Mindset

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I’m creating a series for people who teach babies, toddlers and preschoolers and for children’s librarians about learning how to play ukulele to supplement their storytimes and group times with live music.

But I know that many of those professionals might think “but I’m not a musician! I can’t do that. I just don’t have that talent.” Sounds like fixed mindset, eh?

Let me tell you my story of how I got past that block, in hopes of inspiring you to do the same.

When I was young, I thought I was a bad singer. Because way back in fourth grade, my teacher told me I didn’t sing well enough to do a solo. So I spent years not singing solo in public (though I would join in to camp songs or hymns at church as long as plenty of other people were singing.) But, when I started teaching parent-child programs 30 years ago, I truly believed that babies benefit when parents sing to them, so I confronted the fact that part of my job was to teach the parents to sing to their babies. I had to get past my anxiety about my voice and sing out boldly – and I did it… for the sake of the babies!

But, despite that accomplishment, I still believed that I would never play an instrument well.

Because way back when I tried to learn an instrument (piano at age 5, recorder at 10, guitar at 13), I wasn’t good at it yet. I was used to getting good at things quickly, and playing an instrument just didn’t work that way. And I just didn’t have the patience or attention span to follow the recommended method of playing the same song again and again and again till I got good. In eighth grade, my teacher told me that I was incompetent at tuning a guitar. I let those judgments settle me into a fixed mindset that “some people have the talent to be a musician, and some don’t. I don’t have the talent.”

But, a couple years ago, I gave myself the ukulele challenge – I decided to apply the growth based mindset to learning an instrument. Anyone can get good at anything – they just have to work hard at it, and persist through challenges, and focus more on process and progress than on product.

It turns out that learning an instrument as an adult is much easier! I’m better at learning now than I was then, and better at motivating myself. And while as a 13 year old, I didn’t want to “play baby songs” as I learned, when I learned as an adult, who happens to teach preschool, it turns out that playing baby songs was exactly my goal! And I still don’t like practicing the same song again and again, but as a grown-up, I decided I don’t have to follow rules about how you should learn. I skip from song to song to song whenever I want to, and my skills just build across the board over time.

I started by learning just a few chords, and then finding children’s songs I could play using those chords. Once I felt confident enough to try it, I would play one song on my ukulele at each week’s class. Over time, I added in a few more here and there.

Now, I have a large collection of songs I can play. I haven’t tried to memorize them all – I have always had notes in front of me anyways when I teach circle time to help keep me focused, so it was easy to just incorporate the chords into my notes and play along. Live music is now a part of every group time I lead.

And ukulele has become so much more for me than something I do for work. Each morning after I put my son on the bus to school, I spend 30 minutes playing ukulele – building my skills, expanding my repertoire. Rather than feeling like a chore, it feels like self care – “me time.” Most Sundays, I go to a ukulele group that meets in the park where a group of about 20 of us find joy in playing songs together for a few hours. I have led camp singalongs, and led services at my church.

Rather than having a view of a specific “product”, I have approached this whole thing as a process, and focused on progress. It’s so exciting when I reach new levels: each time I master a new chord, when I learned what it meant to play in the key of C versus the key of G, when I learned about the circle of 5ths and how to transpose, when I learned different strums, and then finger picking, when I learned to play by ear. It is so exciting to me, and amazing to me that I have reached the point where I can pick up any chord chart and play the song; I can look at melody lines on sheet music or at ukulele tabalatures, and quickly pick out any simple melody. It’s just something I could not have imagined a couple of years ago. But I got there!

Just a little step at a time.

Will you join me on the journey?

Check out: Getting Started on the Ukulele

Adding an Instrument to Your Teaching

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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.

chords for ECE teachersDownload

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:

Reducing Sensory Bin Mess

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When parents or teachers first introduce a child to sensory bin play, they usually make a big mess!

While some mess is inevitable, here are tips for reducing it.

Teach Them How Sensory Play Works

One of my core beliefs is that children want to do well. If they’re not behaving well, it’s usually because they don’t yet have the knowledge or skills they need. So, let’s teach them!

Play alongside

Over time, sensory play becomes a great independent play activity for children, where they can play with little supervision or intervention from adults for quite a while. However, first you have to teach them how to do it, and then gradually fade out your support. So, expect to be right next to them the first several sessions.

Role Model

I mostly just start playing appropriately next to them, and they quickly follow along! I narrate my play, and also narrate theirs. “Look, I’m scooping the beans – oh, you picked up the scoop – see how I use it? I can pour the beans in the bucket. Can you?”

Re-Direct

If they are doing something “wrong”, tell them the right thing to do. “Let’s keep the rice in the bin.” If they’re pouring on the floor, substitute a new target – “can you pour into this bucket?” Try to avoid saying “don’t _____”. If you say “don’t splash”, all they can think about is splashing. If you say “oh, look, when I move my hand slowly, see the ripples in the water?” they will often stop splashing.

Set Limits

Once they’ve learned how to do well in general, they may still have days when they’re having a hard time not making a mess. It’s OK to sometimes say “it looks like now is not the right time for this – let’s put it away / close it up for now, and we’ll try again tomorrow.” To be as fair as possible, I try this method: first when-then: “when you show me you can play well with this, then we can have it out more often.” Then if-then warning – “if you keep dumping things on the floor, then I’ll close the bin.” Then follow through on that consequence if needed.

Setting Up for Success

Fillers

Start with fillers that are easy to clean up. I use pompoms as the first material for my toddler class. Or paper crumpled into balls. Later, I might use pinto beans – they’re easy to sweep up. Other things are harder to clean up. For example, kinetic sand needs to be vacuumed up and can get ground into carpet, so it’s not the thing to start with.

When you start, put a small amount of sensory items in a small bin inside the large bin. If they spill outside the small bin, the large bin catches it!

Don’t use too much filler at first. Don’t feel like you have to have a 3 inch thick layer of sensory material. Start with a thin layer – they can always pile it all up in one corner if they want a deeper pile.

Remember that they will mix together any item that’s within easy reach of the bin. So, if there’s something you don’t want to be mixed in, move it elsewhere. (For example, we don’t recommend putting a bin of rice right next to the playdough table or water table.)

What Surface to Put the Table On

If possible, put sensory tables on linoleum or hardwood floors – it’s way easier to clean up than carpet!

Many parents and teachers do sensory tables outdoors where they are less concerned about mess.

Many people recommend putting a mat under the table – like this mat where the edges can fold up to make a wall, or things like playpens and crafty pods and pop-up ball pits that help to contain the mess in one area where it doesn’t get tracked around. Some use fitted sheets – like in the image below (source) or shown here. Wrap the corners of the fitted sheet around some objects to create a little nest. Or use a table cloth or shower curtain liner. Sometimes you can salvage sensory material from any of these surfaces by lifting them up so the filler all slides to one corner and then scooping it from there.

One site recommended a “builders’ tray” that looks amazing, but the link is broken and I can’t find it anywhere… Amazon has a 20×20 play tray, or you could use an oil drip pan, maybe.

Allowing for Transport

Kids LOVE to transport things. So, they often want to carry things from one place to another. Sometimes just having containers inside the bin, like having two buckets in the bin where they can move things from the bin to one bucket to the next is enough. Or setting up a cardboard box apparatus where there’s a higher spot in the sensory bin and a ramp for pouring things so they slide to the lower level, like these examples from Frugal Fun:

Or having a table right next to the sensory bin with containers on it they can move things into can work. But some kids like to have a separate bucket somewhere else they can carry things to – you can decide if that’s viable for you.

If they like the sound the beans make when they hit the floor, try putting a metal pie tin or hard plastic container upside down inside the sensory bin that they can pour onto to get the sound.

Helping with Clean Up

Ask your child to help with clean-up. You may choose to get them a mini broom and dustpan or a dust buster vacuum. (For some kids having to do clean-up is a disincentive – they don’t want to make a mess they’ll have to clean up later. Some kids like cleaning up the mess so much that they’ll make more of a mess!)

Remember, sensory play is a learning process, so they will accidentally (or intentionally) spill from time to time and there will be messes. Try to take a deep breath when it happens. If you’re having a day where you feel like the mess would be too stressful, it’s fine to close the sensory bin for the day and offer other activities.

Learn more

Check out my Ultimate Guide to Sensory Tables and my Ultimate Guide to Water Tables. You might also enjoy this post on Building a Child’s 8 Senses.

Books that Sing by Theme

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I learned about the idea of “books that sing” from Nancy Stewart (Learn more about Books that Sing.) These are books that can be sung aloud, rather than read aloud – they may be illustrated versions of traditional songs, or may be new compositions. I built a year-long preschool music curriculum that included 4 of these books each month. Here are some of the books that I found and used.

Farm Theme

  • Old McDonald – Cabrera and others
  • Old Mikamba had a farm – Isadora
  • Barnyard Dance – Boynton – make up your own tune to this musical rhyming book
  • Mary Had a Little Lamb – Hoberman or Borgert-Spaniol
  • Pickin Peas by Macdonald – may be too long for preschoolers
  • Cat goes fiddle-i-fee by Galdone
  • Farmer in the Dell Owen

Winter Theme

  • We’re going on a bear hunt Oxenbury (notes here https://www.musicintheearlyyears.com/blog/2958-books-that-you-can-sing)
  • Ten on the Sled Norman
  • The Bear Went Over the Mountain – Trapani
  • Jingle Bells. Notes on the versions – Jeffers – words don’t go quite in the order kids expect and it does include Santa and Mrs. Claus; the version illustrated by Darcy May is simple and straightforward all the words in the right order, shows bob tail and sleigh and other new vocabulary well; Kovalski – not the best writing, so I might tell a new story to the pictures; Trapani – highlights Xmas traditions around the world, so may not be suitable for a non-secular setting

Stars/Moon Theme

  • Twinkle – several versions! I like Cabrera, Taylor and Litwin versions better than Borgert-Spaniol

Jungle/Zoo

Transportation

  • Wheels on the Bus, Zelinsky OR Raffi
  • Down by the Station Vetter
  • Riding in My Car – Woody Guthrie
  • We All Go Traveling By – Roberts

Spring

  • Five Little Ducks Kubler or Raffi (See more options)
  • Little White Duck;
  • Take me out to the Ballgame Simon
  • Singing in the Rain Freed (video) 
  • Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig and Mark Brown (video) which would be so easy to make up a jazzy tune to sing it to
  • There was a tree – Isadora
  • Inch by Inch (the Garden Song) – Mallett
  • Over in the Meadow – many versions! (reviews)

Beach

  • Down By the Bay – Raffi
  • Baby Beluga by Raffi
  • Seals on the Bus Hart
  • Row Your Boat – Many versions
  • Baby Shark
  • Over in the ocean – Berkes
  • May there always be sunshine – Gill

Other

  • Roll Over by Peek
  • Tanka Tanka Skunk – the children can echo each line
  • Every Little Thing / 3 birds by Bob Marley – children can clap out 1-2-3-pause
  • Hickory Dickory Dock Borgert or Baker (all diff animals) or Summer (simple – always a mouse);
  • knick knack paddywhack introduces instruments – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEHKQCtrHHw
  • If you’re happy and you know it – Ormerod

Here are other places on this site to find: lots of resources for Songs for Music Time, links to videos and lyrics for Favorite Toddler / Preschool Songs, and a post on the benefits of music for early learning.