Uke, Skoot 'n Boogie at Land O’Lakes
& Sharbot Lake Public School
By Chava Field-Green
Canadian ukulele
virtuoso James Hill perform at Sharbot
Lake Public School.
On Monday May 4, Canadian ukulele
virtuoso James Hill performed at both Land O ’Lakes and Sharbot
Lake Public Schools.
The shows were partially sponsored by
Blue Skies in the Community, and in introducing the shows Linda Rush
and Marily Seitz reminded students of the Blue Skies Arts Day Camp
which runs for a week in July.
James started out by pronouncing the
word ukulele correctly (ookoo leilei), and then played “Uke Talk”
a tune written by Hill’s former teacher Chalmers Doane. He started
off slowly but asked the students if they wanted to hear it faster,
which received an enthusiastic “YES”. James went on to play a
wide variety of music, from Latin, to classical, to opera, to folk,
in order to show what a versatile instrument the ukulele is. He also
described the elements of music as he broke down melodies, harmonies
and rhythm components of the songs.
Highlights of the show included sing
along versions of “Old MacDonald had a Farm” with a hilarious
school-wide impression of a munching giraffe. During a rendition of
“The Flight of the Bumblebee”, James threw in a little bit of
AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, to the delight of the young audience.
Another popular piece was an improvisation using chopsticks to create
the ukulele sounds.
The crowd ate up the performance, and a
steady stream of students came up to let James know how much they
enjoyed the show.
“I think you’re better than Taylor
Swift”, one student proclaimed excitedly, to which James replied
that at least she was prettier than he. “You were awesome”
another student said, “I really liked the drum sounds”.
The concert certainly brought interest
in ukulele music into the school and also provided a great example of
what James is trying to accomplish with a program called “Ukulele
in the classroom”. The program was developed by James and former
director of musical education, Chalmers Doane. The two have created a
package for teachers to teach Ukulele in the classroom and improve
musical literacy across Canada. For more information on the program
visit http://www.ukuleleintheclassroom.com/
For more information on James Hill, his
music and his CDs visit ukulelejames.ca
