MUSIC Dave duMonde

We've been testing on ukulele in each of our Music classes all this week. As a teacher, it's so rewarding to see how far they've come in learning a musical instrument! While some students catch on quickly playing chords and songs in no time, others take a little time just to remember how to hold the uke correctly; they forget that their thumb always needs to be pressed on the back of the ukulele neck; they have a tough time learning where to place their fingers for the chords. Many struggled through the test material with mistakes, but nonetheless, they made it! It's a learning process, and this week has been remarkable--despite the anxiety of the "big" test, it's so cool to see students breathe a sigh of relief and light up with a sense of accomplishment when they finish playing the last note of their aural assessment.

Many new purchases later, we've got a little uke culture happening at Selma. Every recess has seen several students hanging out with their brand new ukuleles playing newly learned songs, showing each other tricks and practicing together. We even have several songwriters in our midst (psst--our Songwriting unit is coming up soon!) and we've recorded a few songs in the "studio" (my office). As we move past learning the basics about melody & rhythm, we'll begin to see students stretch out into their creative space, writing songs, learning cover tunes and adding music to their projects in other classes. What a thrill to have a creative culture at our school!

Enjoy this lil' ditty by Ada, Mae & Ella...