Oct 14, 2022
Sandy Laird, the instructor of the free ukulele class offered every Wednesday in October from 4-5 p.m. at the Parkersburg/Wood County Public Library for second through sixth graders, hands a student some simple sheet music of a song that the students learned in class, during Wednesday’s class. (Photo by Maria Rutherford)
PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg-Wood County Library is holding a free ukulele beginners class through the month of October at its Emerson Avenue location.
The class is for children in second through sixth grades and is being held from 4-5 p.m. each Wednesday of October. It is being taught by former Emerson Elementary music teacher Sandy Laird and one of the librarians, Edain Campbell, who has been a pianist for many years, but can play various other instruments as well.
Laird, who hasn’t been playing ukulele for very long, started teaching the class this year.
“I have only been playing the ukulele for a little over two years, but I taught music for many years at Emerson Elementary, and figured that this would be a good opportunity to teach beginners the basic concepts of the ukulele, as well as help them to learn simple chords and strumming patterns, so that the individuals can put those two elements together and easily be able to play some simple songs,” she said.
Campbell commented on her experience with the various instruments she has learned throughout her lifetime, “I started playing the violin at age 4, but was really invested as a pianist, since a young age, and just enjoy playing music.”
The ladies have instructed the class of 15 grade school children how to play the basic chords of C, C7, and F so far since the class began on Oct. 5. They also taught the students how to incorporate those chords into a down strum pattern. This made learning songs such as “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Apples and Bananas” fairly simple to learn, as the kids listened and did as they were shown.
Other instruments were brought into the classroom, such as egg shakers, glockenspiels, drums, and scratchers, as the children learned some fun rhythms, which they were later able to apply in the two songs that were taught during Wednesday’s lesson.
The maximum number of students for each class is 15, which as of now the class is full, and there is a waitlist for any other individuals wanting to participate.
“There was a great deal of interest, for not only the younger crowd, but the older crowd would like to learn how to play the ukulele too, so the library has also been trying to incorporate a beginner adult course as well,” said Laird. “To my surprise, the classes fill up rather quickly, so the ukulele seems like it has become one of the most popular instruments to learn, especially in this area.”
The ukulele was first developed in the country of Portugal, even though it has become a very popular instrument many associate with the Hawaiian Islands. For those wanting to learn more about the free classes, offered through the Wood County Public Library, visit the library’s Facebook page for more information.
Maria Rutherford can be reached via [email protected].
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