The Food of Love

"Can you really play anything on your ukulele?" a friend asked skeptically a few months ago.

I shrugged. "A few things... mostly chords so you can sing the melody." But she had a point; I really could not yet play any recognizable songs. I got my ukulele for Christmas two years ago, and I wanted it so that I could play Happy Birthday to my homeroom students when we had their cakes. Determined at first to teach myself, even that simple song seemed out of reach to begin with.

But this year Heidi arranged for lessons for me, and I have been plugging away and making some progress for sure. Still, that question of "really playing anything" has been a sort of a mental benchmark for me. In my last few lessons we have been focusing on Christmas songs, at my request. I figure if I start now? By December I may be ready. My teacher is so gracious that he even agreed it was a good idea for him to start sharpening his catalog-- "Every year the holidays sneak up on me, and I'm not quite ready for those gigs," he laughed as we labored away on a duet of Holly Jolly Christmas.

It was late last week when it occurred to me to revisit Happy Birthday. I think it was my brother's birthday party on Saturday that reminded me of my original goal, and so I searched up an easy version. To my surprise? I could play it! And while I was not ready for Bill's celebration, I have been diligently practicing for my public debut.

Today was Shakespeare's birthday, and along with mini-cupcakes and sonnets, we celebrated by singing, too. Yep-- I played my first gig for a combined audience of 75 sixth graders.

I think I rocked it. 

A Hipster Philosopher

I borrowed my nephew's ukulele this week. After ten lessons, I was feeling ready for an upgrade, and it was just sitting in his room while he was away at college. And indeed, it was a little better for me– as much as I love love love my pint-sized pineapple soprano, I found the larger frets on his a tich more forgiving to my still-clumsy fingers.

The strings were a teeny bit buzzy, though, and I knew from my own that they probably needed replacing. The easiest thing to do? Order a set from Amazon and wait to restring it when they arrive Monday. I did that, but since we were out and about today I decided to stop into the Guitar Center and pick some up.

The teenager who helped me was super-nice and then super-apologetic when we found they were out of stock on the strings we needed. "I can call another store for you," he offered.

"No thanks," I told him. "I have some coming Monday, but I kind of wanted them right away," I shrugged.

"Right away?" he repeated. "Good for you! That's like the American dream!"

"Yeah, but I didn't get them," I sighed. "I have to wait."

"Well, that's more like the American reality!" he replied.

Thanks, kid.

The Joy in Enjoy

Ah... another day filled with donuts and lavender lattes and cat sitting, sleeping in, running errands in the middle of the day, watching The Sopranos, sitting in the sun, and practicing the ukulele.

Could vacation be any better than this?

Practice Accountability

It's something I tell my students over and over:

Skills are improved with regular practice. I use that argument to justify their daily reading requirement, often with the analogy that you'll get stronger by lifting 20 pounds every day, but you'll probably get hurt if you lift 100 pounds on Sunday.

I believe it when I tell them, and I shake my head when they don't follow through, but that was definitely me frantically practicing my ukulele for an hour before my lesson this afternoon, and for the record, I hadn't touched it since Saturday.

Oh, I didn't get hurt, but I have to confess that my lesson fees might be better spent should I actually be more prepared. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't practice at all if it weren't for the lesson.

Time Marches On

Just two weeks ago I was rushing through dark, unfamiliar streets searching for the home studio of my ukulele instructor desperately trying to avoid arriving late for my first lesson. It was with relief that I knocked on his door at 5 PM sharp.

The following Thursday I bolted out of school with plenty of time to spare, but the warren of one syllable street names seemed no more familiar to me. The light of day also confused me, and I wondered if perhaps I had the time wrong... would I be half an hour early? But 5 o'clock again found me on right on time.

Tonight? The last light of day was still draining purple in the western sky as I carried my tiny instrument to my car following the lesson. It may be only January, but spring inexorably approaches.

Sing Along

"So, did you sit around all week playing ukulele while Heidi sang?" my uke instructor joked when we sat down for our second lesson.

I shook my head, but the image of it made me giggle. Tonight as I practiced what I learned, Heidi sat down next to me on the couch. "Hey, that sounds familiar," she said.

I pushed the sheet music closer to her. "I hear it now," she told me.

"Sing it!" I said.

And as I picked carefully, she verrrrry slowly sang, I keep a close watch on this heart of mine...

and continued until the very end, when Josh joined in, too, Because you're mine, I walk the line.

And then we all laughed. I can't wait to tell my teacher about it!

Group Dynamics

I had my first ukulele lesson after school today (thank you, Heidi!), and since it was way! tooooooooo cold to leave my uke in the car today, I carried it in with my lunch and back pack. Once in my classroom, though, I couldn't just leave it in its case, and so during homeroom I brought it out.

My students must have missed the "ukuleles are cool now" memo, because the first question I got was,"Are you from Hawaii?" But a few bars of Over the Rainbow changed their tune, and soon they wanted to try it themselves.

As tempting as it may be, I've learned not to be the type of teacher who keeps all the fun stuff to myself, and I readily handed it over (if with a silent prayer that I would still be able to take my lesson on it this afternoon). I needn't have worried; everyone was very respectful, taking turns gently strumming the strings while imitating the chords they thought they saw me finger.

At last, the most dominant personality of the group took control. "I'm going to play No Type, and you're going to sing," she said. Then, noting my raised eyebrows, she added, "The clean version." While she strummed the open strings in rhythm, the rest of the kids circled around her and sang the lyrics in chorus. Behind my desk, I leaned back in my chair and watched their faces relax and shine as they performed for each other and themselves. It was a sweet and lovely moment.

The bell rang, and they handed me my ukulele and headed off to class.

A Bit of an Expert

Someone told me that in Canada, the ukulele is like the recorder here. Most school kids learn to play it as a starter instrument because it's easy to pick up quickly. I think our neighbors to the north may be on to something. If you handed me a recorder today, I could still whistle up a perky little rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb, and even feel pretty good about it, but it's nothing compared to Let it Be on the ukulele.

When I was in college I played a lot of racquetball. One of the best things about the sport is that it doesn't take much time or talent to pick up the game and really feel like you're playing it. In fact, I was sure I was a bit of a prodigy, playing mostly with beginners as I did, until I played with a friend of mine who was on the varsity tennis team. He schooled me good-- blanking me more than once in the 15 point game. At one point, I got hit in the side with the ball, and I was sure, positive, I tell you, that that was exactly how it feels to be shot. (Fingers crossed I'll never know for sure.)

Even realizing how much of a novice I was didn't discourage me, though. I played all four years. You can imagine how much of a shock it was once I graduated to find out that when you don't live on a college campus, you actually have to pay to play, and racket club memberships are pretty pricey. I still think that's what ended my potentially epic career.

I mention all this because this weekend Josh was here visiting. He was immediately enamored of my ukulele (yet another reason to love that kid), and just as Annabelle strummed and sang every day we were there after Christmas, Josh, too, spent most of his time strumming lovely chord combinations that may or may not have been songs. In any case, it all sounded great, and I definitely see a ukulele in his future (and maybe A-belle's, too).

Fortunately? Ukes are much more affordable than gym memberships.

Battle Scars

Ouch! I have a little blistery callus on my left index finger. Must be all that ukulele playing.

Just sayin.

Old Dog, New Tricks

My fingers hurt a little from practicing my ukulele. Where's my treat?

I Have this Friend...

Last night there was a knock on our door at about 8 PM. It was our neighbor and her daughter, who also happens to be a student at our school. They had a question about auditions for the school musical, Annie, and while I couldn't answer it right away, I promised I would find out first thing in the morning and let the student know.

On my way in the building today, I saw a group of girls who I had heard talking about the play, so I stopped to get a little info from them.

"Good morning," I said cheerfully. "Can you guys tell me what you have to do to try out for Annie?"

They seemed a little surprised by the question and were quiet for a moment until one of them said,"You're not seriously thinking of trying out with your ukulele, are you?"

OLW Preview

As in years past, I've asked my students to find a single word that expresses something they will work toward in this coming year. The lesson today introduced the concept and gave them the chance to consider their options; tomorrow they will post their "One Little Word" on our class's electronic discussion board.

As a way of illustrating this idea to the kids, I told them I got a ukulele for Christmas, and so I was considering the words music, play, and even ukulele to focus on this year. There were mixed reactions to this news, not all of them productive to the assignment. Some students begged me to bring it in tomorrow, others were not so warm.

"Ukulele!" someone said. "Really?"

"Sure," I answered. "Why not? Music adds joy to our lives."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. I smiled.

"In fact, as soon as I can, I plan to start singing all of the directions for every assignment," I teased her.

She looked stricken. "Why? We've been good."