Page 40 - Level 1 Ukulele Lesson Plans

4. Finger Dexterity (3 mins): ‘The Finger Game’ Please see instructions in lesson plan 3.
5. Tuning (5 mins): ‘The Tuning Song’ written by Lucy Milan Davis
NB: Before the lesson make sure two of the children’s G strings are out of tune.
Remind the children how to hold their ukuleles. See activity 5 ‘Tuning’ from lesson plan 1 for instructions.
Tell the children that during the beginning of class, the mischievous pixie crawled around under the chairs and made some of the children’s G strings out of tune! Explain that you will be conducting an investigation to find out whose strings are out of tune.
Play a G with your tuning fork and ask the children to hum the note they heard. Then, one by one, ask each child to pluck the G string on their ukulele. After each turn ask the children if the note sounds the same. See if they can figure out whose G strings are out of tune! Once the group knows which strings are out of tune, play the tuning fork and then ask one of the children with an out of tune G string to play it again. Ask the children if it’s too high or too low. Show the child how to tell which peg to turn (the one that’s connected to the right string). Get them to turn the peg and pluck the string to figure out which way makes it higher and which way makes it lower. Then help them to get their string in tune. Repeat with the other child whose G string is out of tune.
Sing the whole of ‘Time to Tune the Ukulele’ twice, encouraging the children to join in singing the whole song and plucking “GCEA Green Children Eat Ants.” Remember to pluck a C as you say ‘Yum!’ at the end.
Time to tune the ukulele, time to tune the uke.
GCEA Green Children Eat Ants.
Listen to the strings you’re playing, listen to the strings you’re playing. GCEA Green Children Eat Ants.
Are the notes too high, are they too low?
GCEA Green Children Eat Ants.
Time to tune the ukulele, time to tune the uke.
GCEA Green Children Eat Ants. Yum!
6. Song/Game (8 mins): ‘See Saw Up and Down’ (traditional)
Have 8 hearts drawn on the whiteboard (in two rows of four). Everyone sings the song as you tap the hearts in time with the pulse. “What was I tapping in time with (the pulse)?”
“Now I’m going to sing ‘See Saw’ in my thinking voice and I’m going to tap the beats in time with the pulse. BUT, I’m going to stop before I get to the end of the song. See if you can join me and sing in your thinking voices too!”
Stop on the fourth heartbeat. Ask the children which word fits into the heartbeat you have stopped on (down). Write ‘down’ inside the first heartbeat.
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