“This is boring.” “My fingers hurt.” You often hear students new to the ukulele relay their frustrations about learning the instrument. Getting away from direct instruction and using easy Orff ideas for your ukulele curriculum is a great way to re-engage your students when they hit a plateau in their ukulele learning journey.
Or, add an Orff approach all along to prevent burnout in the first place.
Let’s add movement and speech to our curriculum along with play, imitation, improvisation, and experimentation.
The Playlist
Rotation Stations
Having activity rotation stations provides variety to your lesson and offers a break from the strain on young ukulele players’ hands and fingers.
Stations could include
- barred instruments
- non-pitched percussion
- ukulele
- movement/dance
Let’s look at how we might set this up for a one-chord song.
Circle ‘Round the Zero
Many pentatonic songs allow beginners to play one chord on the ukulele and simple ostinati on barred instruments. Circle ‘Round the Zero is a great example.
The Ukulele
Circle ‘Round the Zero would be a C chord or C6 chord on the ukulele. Let students explore strumming patterns or pluck the C string on the beat as a simple bass line.
Barred Instruments
A simple C bordun (C & G) can be added on barred instruments. Create a simple ostinati to go along with your arrangement for a second barred instrument experience. Or let students improvise in C pentatonic for a B section.
Un-Pitched Percussion
Add a triangle on all of the rests in the song or a drumbeat that complements the song’s rhythm.
Movement & Games
This song has a well-known movement that goes with it but kids could also make up their own game.
2 and 3-Chord Songs
Pentatonic songs can be found (or transposed depending on the voice range) for all common beginning ukulele chords: C, F, G, Dm, Am, etc.
You can then look for songs with 2 and 3 chords and keep the same strategy for rotations and stations that allow for creating, exploring, improvising, and playing.
BONUS Easy Orff Ideas for Your Music Curriculum
There are SO many pop songs that use 2 or 3 chords that could easily become part of this strategy. Take some from the Ukulele Getting Started page and think about the rotations-ukulele, barred instruments, unpitched percussion, and movement/dance/game.
Using this strategy, I’ve put together a 4-song pack on TPT!
Ukulele Orff 4-Song Pack
This 4-song pack will give you no/low prep lessons for beginning, middle, and more advanced players.
Each song resource is a treasure trove of learning opportunities. Students not only get access to the ukulele chords and strumming options but also benefit from Orff arrangements accompanied by step-by-step teaching guides.
The inclusion of movement and/or game elements further enhances their engagement and learning.
In both PowerPoint™️ and Google Slide™️ formats.
The songs are NOT in separate presentations but included all in one for ease of use.
The Songs
- Circle Round the Zero (C chord)
- All ‘Round the Brickyard (F chord)
- Hush Little Baby (F, C7)
- De Colores (C, F, and G or G7)
Each Song Resource Includes
- a video of the arrangement
- an Orff arrangement (with step-by-step teaching guides)
- a movement and/or game
- ukulele chords and strumming options
- a rotation visual for ensemble stations/centers
Video Preview on YouTube ⬇️
FAQs
Q: Are the songs included in separate presentations?
A: No, for your convenience, all four songs are integrated into one presentation, eliminating the need for constant switching between files.
Q: What proficiency levels does this pack cater to?
A: The Ukulele Orff 4-Song Pack is designed for all skill levels—beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. The lessons are structured to accommodate the diverse needs of your students.
Q: What if I don’t have the necessary instruments?
A: If you don’t have a class set of ukuleles this system will work perfectly because you only need enough for a rotation station. If you are missing barred instruments, you can substitute Boomwhackers or leave them out all together. You have the ukuleles to keep the accompaniment going.
Q: How do you handle classroom management?
A: Teach everything to everyone first and THEN break into rotation stations. Then you will just coach a bit before having everyone “perform” the song.
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