Dream Jobs: Ukulele teacher

Transcription

1 Dream Jobs: Ukulele teacher By Jill Insley, The Guardian on Word Count 1,459 Students taking ukulele lessons. Photo: Colin McConnell/Getty Images Every face and there are about 20 around the table is smiling at the teacher, Lorraine Bow. I am at the London headquarters of Comic Relief, where staff have just been given a lesson on how to play a ukulele. The lesson is part of a week-long chance for Comic Relief staff to try out new things. Other sessions have included tai chi and leadership skills, but I suspect none has been as happily received as this one. It really is fun. Bow has tuned and laid ukes (as everyone in the know apparently calls them) around the table so that everyone can choose a colour. Forget brown, black and cream: these are in rainbow colours yellow, pale blue, red, pink. And although I thought ukes were round, I have clearly got my stringed instruments mixed up. They look like mini-guitars, but with four strings rather than six. She has already tuned them all using an electronic clip-on tuner each one takes her just a few seconds to adjust. Once everyone is settled, Bow introduces herself: "Hi, I'm Lorraine and I'm a ukulele teacher. I've only been playing for three years, so don't feel intimidated." It no doubt helps that she is rather like her instrument: small, slightly quirky, calm and very forgiving. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 She gets straight down to business, teaching the basic chords. Everyone is shown where to position the fingers of their left hand on the neck (it's marked with coloured stickers, a different colour for each of the three chords C, F and G they learn), and how to strum with their right hand (strumming on a uke is usually done with one finger). Within 10 minutes they are trying out their first song, the old Tokens classic "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." It soon becomes apparent that one younger member of the class is struggling with his finger placement. Bow gently but persistently positions his fingers on the coloured stickers and, after a while, he gets it. Bow is dyspraxic, and thinks learning to play the uke has helped her coordination: "I didn't get it myself at first, but you just need to practise more," she says. "I'm a lot more nimble now, but I still spill things." Even if you don't manage to move between all the chords, it doesn't matter. Bow tells the class just to strum once for a particular chord, then change to the next one while others continue: "Don't worry about playing all the chord changes. While you're starting, just play one of them so you know where you are putting your fingers. We want to build this incrementally. C, change, change, change, F, change, change, change... Is it easier if I say it by colour? Red, two three four, Blue, two three four, Red, two three four, Green, two three four Is everybody up for a little sing?" Soon everyone is singing "In the jungle/ The mighty jungle/ The lion sleeps tonight" as you have never heard it before, and absolutely loving it. "Some of you are using your middle finger to make the C, and you're making life a lot more difficult. Can you use your ring finger?" she asks the class. "If you find you're coming in a lot later on a chord, don't worry. Just get a strum in when you can." An eminently sensible tactic, and one I adopt instantly. The ukulele fell out of favour after the death of George Formby in 1961, who was so popular that 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral cortege. But in the last few years, its popularity has soared again, partly through the formation of the uber-cool Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (their version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" rivals Nirvana's original in popularity), and secondly because junior schools have started teaching ukulele as a less painful alternative to the recorder. Bow has benefited from both developments. She started working as an events manager while she was at college, and was "randomly working at a festival when I fell in love with this little four-stringed beast." The festival was The Big Chill, where she saw the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain perform in 2006, and then again in 2007, and learned the basics of playing at a workshop offered by Hester Goodman and George Hinchliffe, two members of the band. "I was rubbish. I didn't have any coordination skills." This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 She didn't let this put her off, though, following up with an intermediate class, and in April 2007 setting up Ukulele Wednesdays jam nights for anyone with a uke who fancied getting together in a pub with other uke players for a session. Three years on, these are still going strong in the basement of the Royal George Pub in Goslet Yard, off Charing Cross Road in London. She set up a website, learntouke.co.uk, and started giving lessons six-week courses for groups of up to 10 adults, charging 90 per person, or private lessons at 30 an hour. She also provides "inset" sessions for primary school teachers, showing them how to play and providing ideas, songs and lesson plans involving the ukulele to teach whole classes. And after acquiring a City & Guilds in "Preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector" and a continuing professional development qualification in Key Stage 2 music, she teaches classes of up to 30 children at a time herself. "I'm not a classically trained musician," she says. "But I've had so much fun with (the ukulele) and I try to pass that on." Bow thinks the ukulele is ideal for children because, unlike the recorder, they can sing at the same time as playing. This helps to develop coordination and group participation, and, most importantly, they enjoy it. The inset and school sessions pay better than the private lessons, but it's obvious that Bow is not going to become a millionaire any time soon. So her latest plan to develop her teaching repertoire is to offer more lucrative corporate work "team building power hours," as experienced by the Comic Relief team. How do her lessons work as a team builder? "You have to listen to each other and work together to make music. As the ukulele is much easier than many instruments to play, it means you can make music in an hour," she says. The pupils are encouraged to sing too. "Don't worry, I can't sing either," she says. "The whole effect will leave the staff smiling, laughing and singing or at the very least humming." The ukulele is a great leveller; I'd love to see George Osborne and his team at the Treasury giving it some welly to Teenage Kicks. The Comic Relief team seems a bit shy about the singing part; ironic, when you consider the things they make people do to raise money. After massacring "A Message To You, Rudy" in a highly enjoyable way, we move on to "The Bucket" by Kings of Leon. Once we've got the chords, Bow joins in on her electric uke to pick out the tune. I don't think Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill will be inviting us to share the stage anytime soon, but who cares: "I'll be the one to show you the way " Curriculum Vitae Pay: Not a huge amount. "I dipped into my savings quite a lot to start with, but because I was starting a new career I was happy to do that. I seem to be making enough now so I can pay my rent and live, but I don't go out a lot." This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 Hours: Like most people running their own business, Bow does long days, working for 15 hours from 8am to 10pm three days a week. On the other two days she gives private lessons, which are more sporadic. Work/life balance: She often works in the evenings, but the lessons take place in pubs and "my job is my social life as well." Best thing: "Everything! I love playing gigs to get audience response, but the teaching is very fulfilling. It's the best job I've ever had." Worst thing: Sore fingers and getting cramp. "I've got callouses on the ends of all my fingers on my left hand." Overtime Bow's favourite song is "Friday I'm in Love" by the Cure, because she has a huge crush on Robert Smith "You can put that in because I'd like him to know that." She is learning to swim better with the aim of swimming to this year's Bestival on the Isle of Wight to raise money for St Catherine's, a charity working with children and young people with communication impairments. Bow has set up a 14-strong uke band called KaraUke, comprising members of all ages, races and genders: "The thing that unites us is ukulele playing." This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Quiz 1 Choose the paragraph in the section "Curriculum Vitae" that BEST reflects the central idea that ukelele teachers have a rewarding career? 2 Which option provides an accurate and objective summary of the article? Ukelele teachers have the best job in the world. They get to teach a fun and easy instrument, and people enjoy the classes. The ukelele is an instrument much like a small guitar, but with just four strings. People love to play the ukelele, and the class is very fun. The ukelele is a small instrument that can be easily learned by kids and adults alike. Ukelele teachers like Lorraine Bow generally find their work fun and rewarding. Lorraine Bow teaches ukelele lessons to people in London. It is important for her to continue playing the instrument since it helps her with her muscle condition. 3 The author develops the main idea of the article in each of the following ways, EXCEPT: by providing scientific evidence that ukeleles improve health by detailing key facts about ukelele teachers by describing what the classes are like by interviewing students in the ukelele class 4 Which of the following statements BEST represents Lorraine Bow's approach toward teaching the ukelele? She teaches students to play their favorite song on their own before teaching them how to play. She jumps right in, teaching her students basic finger positions and chords to begin with. She lets students teach themselves while she stands to the side, only helping if needed. She starts slowly and makes students learn the history of ukeleles. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5