The ukulele is called the People’s Instrument because almost anybody can learn to do something with the right hand, something with the left and make music. The uke is accessible, accepting and it has a big margin for error because the sound decays quickly. Even people who have never played an instrument before or ditched Music Appreciation 101 class in school can get a taste of what it feels like to make music by learning to play the ukulele.
I offer lessons for both beginners and intermediate players. We can start from the very beginning—how to hold your uke, tune it, move your right hand up and down and place the fingers of your left hand just so and make a beautiful sound.
Later you will learn about the movement of chords, how to create grooves (rock, shuffle, Latin, waltz) with your strum patterns and how to maintain the beat, the pulse of a song. The ukulele is a very percussive instrument and calls on us to be drummers too.
If you are a more experienced, intermediate player, we can amp up your songs with new chords, rhythmic embellishments and other fancy stuff like taking a solo or improvising in order to create a personalized arrangement just for you. Being a singer I know how important it is to get the song in the right vocal key FIRST then find the closest ukulele-friendly key to sync the arrangement before building an introduction, ending and adding sparkles.
But some people don’t like to sing and prefer to play instrumental ukulele. I’m all there too because solo uke can be gorgeous. In my own work I have written several ukulele instrumentals and also create solos for the songs I sing. My piano chops come in handy because I am always thinking about the chord and this is how I approach learning the fundamentals of chord melody. We start with simple melodies using the chord structure as the foundation for creating melody and harmony at the same time. What’s next? Making up your own licks and fills! It’s SO fun!
I also encourage my students to play by ear and “feel” chord changes, practice finger exercises to improve their technique, practice the “C” scale and maybe, just maybe, learn to read an octave of music because THAT can open up a whole new world to you.
I use the Zoom and FaceTime online platforms for my classes.
Email me and let’s make a date! Then click the ‘Buy Now’ PayPal button below and pay prior to your lesson. Thanks much!
1 hour lesson $50.00
You can also send a payment using zelle or venmo.
Your online banking app may already have a zelle pay option.
If not, you can get started on the zelle website.
My zelle contact information is info@calirose.com
My venmo link is: www.venmo.com/Cali-Rose-Culver-City