Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 19: Ukulele - Kailimai's Hene

by Henry Kailimai

Performer: Ukepedia

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Recite the composer and composition names.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the instrument category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson introduces the ukulele, a stringed instrument. Ukuleles, or ukes for short, typically have a wooden body, a long neck, and four strings that musicians strum or pluck with their fingers. Ukuleles are smaller than guitars and have a higher pitched sound. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Kailimai's Hene,' by Henry Kailimai, features the music of a ukulele. The painting included in the lesson, 'Kolomona: Hawaiian Troubadour,' by Hubert Vos, shows a man playing a ukulele.

Vocabulary

Ukulele: A stringed musical instrument with a fretted fingerboard, typically incurved sides, and six or twelve strings, played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a plectrum.
Fret: Each of a sequence of bars or ridges on the fingerboard of some stringed musical instruments (such as the guitar), used for fixing the positions of the fingers to produce the desired notes.
Fret Marker: Symbols on guitars or other stringed instruments that mark where to press fingers to play particular notes or chords.
Note: A single tone of definite pitch made by a musical instrument or the human voice.
Chord: A group of typically three or more notes sounded together, as a basis of harmony.

Category

Music lessons over the next two years group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

String instruments produce sound through the vibration of strings. Strings may be plucked or strummed with fingers, hit with hammers, or rubbed with a bow.

See a picture of strings below. Note that some strings are thicker and some are thinner.

The sound produced by a string depends in part on its thickness, its length, its tightness, and its material.

Instruments have multiple strings of varying thickness. Musicians playing instruments turn pegs to tighten or loosen the strings and change their sounds. Musicians also press their fingers against the strings to control the length of strings that vibrate and produce sound. Strings are made from materials such as nylon or steel.

String instruments include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, ukuleles, sitars, mandolins, banjos, and depending on who you ask, pianos.

Study the images of strings.

1. Viola Strings

2. Cello Strings

3. Guitar Strings

Enrichment

Activity 1: Study the Parts of a Ukulele

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the ukulele. Note the addition of three new parts, nuts, frets, and fret markers. Guitars also have frets. Some guitars also have fret markers.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Kolomona: Hawaiian Troubadour,' by Hubert Vos, and find the following:

• Musician
• Hat
• Handkerchief
• Strumming Hand
• Hand Shortening and Lengthening the Strings
• Ukulele
• Ukulele Tuning Pegs
• Ukulele Neck
• Ukulele Body
• Ukulele Strings
• Ukulele Saddle

Review

Question 1

What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which string instrument does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the ukulele.

2 / 5

Question 3

How many strings do ukuleles typically have?

3 / 5

Answer 3

Ukuleles typically have four strings.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the ukulele?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the ukulele include the tuning pegs, neck, body, strings, sound hole, fret, and fret markers.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians make sounds with a ukulele?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which string instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the ukulele.
3. How many strings do ukuleles typically have? Ukuleles typically have four strings.
4. What are the major parts of the ukulele? Major parts of the ukulele include the tuning pegs, neck, body, strings, sound hole, fret, and fret markers.
5. How do musicians make sounds with a ukulele? Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

References

'String instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Ukulele.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.