Ukuleles unleashed: Grade 6 students join Juno nominee for session

What do you get when you bring together 30 young ukulele players and a Juno nominee who also happens to play the ukulele?

It was musical magic at Stratford Elementary as students from Stratford and Tignish joined together for a musical workshop.

The 1 1/2 hour session was led by James Hill, from nearby Brookfield Nova Scotia, who is on the Island as part of the Festival of Small Halls.

"Most kids actually love it," observed Stratford Elementary music teacher Ellen Davis. "It's small, it fits their hands well, it's not an expensive instrument to play and it sounds really nice. So there's that success, almost immediate, when they first pick up the instrument."

'Four strings and a few bucks'

That's music to the ears of Hill, who writes books on how to teach the ukulele.

"It allows the students to play chords and melodies, it allows them to play as an ensemble and sound great and maybe, most importantly, it allows them to sing and play at the same time," explained Hill.

"With four strings and a few bucks, you have really what is the cornerstone of a full music literacy program."
As part of the workshop, Hill taught the young ukulele players some new techniques, and they even wrote a song together.

'I love it'

Music teacher Robin Robyn VerHoeven just started teaching the ukulele to his students in Grades 4 through 6 at Tignish Elementary in March.

"It's super cool," he said, about watching his students playing along with James Hill. "These kids who have worked so hardin only a matter of months, they're able to hold their own in this little clinic, so I'm pretty stoked to see that."