Page 46 - Level 1 Ukulele Lesson Plans

“Does the tune start with the higher pitch or the lower pitch (higher)?” Rub out the rhythm picture on your whiteboard and write in the word ‘see’. “What happens to the tune next (it goes lower)”? Draw a line from ‘see’ downwards at an angle and write ‘saw’ (so that it is lower than ‘see’). Everyone sings the first two words to check that they are right! Follow this through until you have written in the whole song (making sure to check the tune each time). Make sure to write the words in two lines, with four beats in each.
Everyone sings the song and draws the shape of the tune in the air with their musical pencils (following the pitch picture as they do so).
“Today we are going to play this pitch picture on our ukuleles so we need to know which notes to play. The higher note is G and the lower note is E.” Add the letters to the picture. “We also need to know the rhythm so let’s add the crosses too! Now it’s a pitch picture AND a rhythm picture!”
7. Plucking the Ukulele (7 mins): ‘See Saw Up and Down’ (traditional)
Remind the children how to hold their ukuleles. See activity 5 ‘Tuning’ from lesson plan 1 for instructions.
You demonstrate singing the whole of ‘See Saw Up and Down’ as you pluck the correct strings (G/4th and E/2nd) in time with the rhythm.
“Does ‘See Saw’ start on the higher or lower pitch (higher)? And which string, according to our picture, do we pluck for the higher pitch (G)?” Tell all the children to pluck the G string (which is the 4th string and highest to the ceiling). “And which string do we pluck for the lower note (E)?” Help the children to find the E/2nd string (using the “Green children” etc. if necessary) and tell them to pluck it.
Encourage everyone to sing “G, E” over and over as they pluck strings G and E in time with the pulse.
Next, lead the children in slowly singing ‘See Saw Up and Down’ and plucking the pitch and rhythm. Remind them they can refer to the picture for help. Repeat several times.
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