Ukulele In Education

Which Ukulele Method To Use

There are a number of different ukulele methods to aid teaching in the classroom and in group settings. When starting out in our school, because it was an extra curricular club and at the time my main concern was actual ukulele instruments, budget (or lack of it) was quite a big issue. I was looking for something aimed at general class music teachers rather than specialists, ideally fun and something not too expensive.

The Rainbow Ukulele Method by Pitch Publications looked interesting and fun so I decided to try it out. Certainly as a starting point I found it full of very useful information, the pack contains PDFs as well as PowerPoints, there are lesson plans, information about starting a ukulele programme, a reproducable student booklet and even helpful letters for parents.

It is aimed at primary / elementary schools but I still found it very useful in a secondary school. Initially all pupils who joined the school club used the method and we all found it a very useful tool to work through together. More recently, we tend to dip in and out of it whilst also using play along videos and using chord sheets.

The bead reward scheme in Rainbow Ukulele is a fantastic tool to keep progress fun and the pupils love to upgrade their keyrings.

A very useful feature of the Rainbow method is the use of colours for different chords. I have actually incorporated the colours (the original colours - they have now been updated) into our ukulele play along videos and find this helps the players hugely.

Dr Chris Russell has written an excellent review of the Rainbow Ukulele Method HERE.

Rainbow Ukulele

Rainbow Ukulele Method

Pitch Publications

I am now using a combination of teaching methods. The Rainbow method is still a feature but play along videos, chord drill videos and various TAB and chord sheets are my main resources.

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