I absolutely love teaching the ukuleles in 4th and 5th grade! However, every child is different, and some children may prefer other instruments, such as xylophone or recorder. So, we first started "In the Jungle," learning and identifying the home/rest/away chords in the song, and began to play on the ukulele. But then, we switched over to learning/playing the melody on xylophones and recorders. Some kids shine playing different instruments. So, I want every child to have an opportunity to TRY every instrument part for "In the Jungle," but they are eventually going to choose their favorite part to practice more and perfect. It always seems to work out, and we will have a good number of students on each part. Once they practice their individual part and learn it well, we will put all the parts together for a class "cover" of the song "In the Jungle." Below are some pics of the kids in progress!
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We have put the ukuleles aside for a short moment...we have more to learn about chords! We've already learned that two chords go really well together, the home and away, but another chord comes in at a close third....the resting chord! The resting chord is a very comfortable chord, but it doesn't quite feel like home. We may want to stay on the resting chord for some time in a song, but we cannot end a song on the resting chord if we want the song to feel finished.
To experience this chord, we studied the song "Happy Birthday." I asked the kids to listen for the chords in the song, and they eventually realized that the two chords we already knew were not enough for the song. During the part where we sing the name of the Birthday girl/boy, both the home and away did not sound right. It must be the resting chord! After learning a little more about the chord, we played all three chords with the song on xylophones! Next up...three chords on the ukulele! The next song we have learned on the ukulele is "Down in the Valley," which also contains two chords, the C (home) and G7 (Away). The kids are working hard to go back and forth between the two chords! They also learned how to strum a little differently for this song. The song has an "odd" feel, which means that we count "1,2,3,1,2,3" like a waltz. Therefore, instead of strumming down-up-down-up like Long, Long, Ago, the students need to strum in a down-up-up pattern to fit the three beat repetition.
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