The "Bujang Lapok" Ukulele class

This was the class which came dancing in merrily and singing the theme song from the old malay

movie "Bujang Lapok". I had written about my impression of them in my previous post...a few days ago.

Midway through their 2nd ukulele session, their Principal Mrs Yip, dropped in to have a look at the kids. She had read my blog posting about their antics at the 1st session and was quite tickled by it!
It was my suggestion that she be with them for some snapshots, for who can tell....somewhere down the future path of these kids, some of them may really turn out to be good actors or actresses...much like the ones in the old movie! The original Bujang Lapok movie was so popular back in those days that a further 2 more were made...making a total of 3. And who knows,...some of these kids may, with their ukuleles and talent, make version 4 of the movie a reality one day.

Teaching Ukulele....an Outdoor session !

Yesterday, the last class scheduled

for their first-ever ukulele lesson had literally no room to go to. All available rooms were occupied by the various CCA groups preparing for their dance routines and practices. Problem? Not really the way I saw it. We spotted the empty performing kiosk in the Eco-garden, got the class down with the ukes as well and the session began. Only thing was I could not use the diagrams put up on the white board in the usual music room. In the teaching situation, this happens from time to time...being "usurped" from your regular comfort zone. Instead of grouching about it my advice to anyone in similar circumstances is to quickly look for an alternative place. Any place for that matter...so long as the class gets settled down for the lesson planned for them.

So here we were in the open outdoors still enjoying the magical sounds of the ukulele.

This class is Primary 5.1 . The lady in the photo is Ms Mabel Chew, a retired teacher now with the school. She met me the day before and said she has a ukulele at home but could not play it.

I invited her to join us whenever she's free. Her ukulele brand name is the"Lark", a baritone uke with 19 frets. If I'm not mistaken, the larks were made in China.

I am looking forward to Mabel and other teachers who are keen to pick up some ukulele playing..to hopefully form a Ukulele group one day!

Teaching Ukulele...a Joy and a Challenge!

In May this year, GSPS a top primary school in Singapore, approached me to embark on teaching the ukulele to their kids. They had wanted to do something different for their post-exam enrichment Programme...something that is new, something creative, something that can truly add on to the learning journey of their pupils. To widen the scope and experience of their pupils...teaching them to play a musical instrument like the ukulele would be an attractive challenge. So, that decision was made and unk Dicko accepted that Challenge with no apprehension at all.

The success of that musical adventure in May led to even greater success when some of the kids performed at their school's 88th Anniversary Dinner celebrations in August. The VIP Guest -of- Honour was visibly touched and impressed.

Part 2 of the musical adventure for GSPS kids started 2 days ago...as these photos show. On Tuesday, I conducted 3 separate classes for the Pri 5 kids each lasting an hour. This class of kids were the last lot for the day.

Before Richard, who is an adjunct staff assisting me with the physical arrangements and getting the kids down to the music room etc..left to get them, he forewarned me. This next lot of kids have a reputation of being naughty and can present a host of disiplinary problems. My actual reply to him was this," Is that so? Wonderful! I can't wait to meet all of them. Don't worry Richard..let them all in." He left to fetch the class down. Meanwhile, I was sitting on the piano bench gently strumming some tunes on my uke....when the door opened and in rushed a dozen or so girls. I said nothing and continued playing the uke...humming some familiar kiddies tunes from playschools. The girls were intrigued and came closer.I motioned for them to sit down. Soon, they were softly singing the songs I was playing....Wheels on the bus, London Bridge, Old MacDonald... Then I stopped and spoke to them. " Where are the boys?" " With the Mr Richard, sir". " Why?" " Maybe kena punished, sir". " You mean the boys are very NAUGHTY ?" " Yes sir, all very,very naughty!" Me," And you girls are not naughty?"

They just SMILED and GRINNED at me! Haha. Kids are kids, that's why I love teaching them very much indeed!

I asked if they like what they just heard. All nodded their heads enthusiastically. Any request I asked them. Yes, and I played, they sang. Then...the door opened again. The boys came dancing in, a very active and noisy lot. Some were singing a Malay song as they came nearer to me. I know that song. I was pleasantly surprised they knew it too. It was so long ago, half a century old....from a movie. Instead of chiding them for their boisterious behaviour...guess what did I do? I told them that I played 2 song requests for the girls. I will give them the same." What's your 1st request?" ..I asked them. " Sir...you know Bujang Lapok?"they chorused. Me," You must be joking. That is a vey old Malay movie! Name me one actor in that movie"..I challenged them. Answer by them...P Ramlee! Absolutely correct. Name me another, I asked. Aziz Sattar!..one boy answered. Ok...one final test still. Name me the funny guy. Instant answer...S Shamsudin! I was flabbergasted. They had all the answers. So, I said," you sing and I play for you." They sang," Pok,pok, pok...bujang lapok," and I came on," ada machis tak dah rokok". Now

they were shocked that I too know this song.

By the time of their 2nd request, this class had demonstrated to me and Richard ( who couldn't believe it was happening)...the importance of engaging the students positively and intelligently. They will respond.

Not a single one misbehaved. And they were superb learners. Not a single harsh word from me at all through out the lesson. By the end of the session, they were actually playing and strumming the ukulele to the correct beat, holding the right chord and singing well too...the songs

they already knew. The lesson and school ended at 1 pm but many did not rush off. They wanted to learn more! Naturally, I was very pleased. We continued for 20 more minutes.

Teaching Ukulele to kids

Sometime in May this year, GSPS Vp got in touch with me wondering if I could teach the Ukulele to her school pupils as part of their post-exam enrichment programme.

She was very pleased and most delighted when I said," No problem". The kids from Primary 4 and 5 mostly were under my tutelage for about 3 or 4 sessions in that short span of 3 weeks. There were more than 10 different classes with class size averaging about 40 pupils.

We met in the comfort of the air-conditioned Music room which came with a host of percussion instruments...bongo drums, maraccas, castinets, tinker bells etc.

The sessions were full of fun.

None of the kids I've asked even knew what a ukulele is let alone play on one. And here they were all strumming away on the "chicken" chords I taught them.

But first thing first...they were boisterious, active and playful as most kids given half a chance should be.

How did I control and manage them without having to resort to harshness nor threats nor punishments?

Well after 4 decades of teaching kids from the Primary to Junior College level...that should be the 1st thing that any decent hopeful teacher should master.

It is no big secret really. Observe them as a class and use simple strategies to engage them which may vary a little from class to class.

If there should be a few playful characters in the midst ...bring them closer to you rather than send them out or away or standing in a corner.

By the way, in all my years of teaching, I had never subscribed to the nonsense as such. Readers of this blog will get to learn of my approach to classroom disipline in and outside the classroom which never fails....when I go into my extensive experience in teaching later on.

Using the OHP, I had diagrams of a typical ukulele on the screen with the 4 main strings named G C E A shown.

Playing each string I said, " this is G and this is C and so on".

To help the kids memorise and remember better the 4 named strings I used mnemonics....telling them GCEA means "Girls Can Eat Alot !"

This drew much laughter from the boys. Then a clever girl raised her hand up to speak and said," No,no...Guys Can Eat Alot !!"

There was a roar of support from the girls now and groans from the little guys!

That was the kind of atmosphere and classroom ambience that carried me through these sweet, musical sessions. The Vp and other key staff dropped in, perhaps worried that this old man could be swamped by all the GSPS kids. Haha. Some of them enjoyed the sessions so much they stayed and joined in!
Ps: By the end of the 1st session they could play and sing 2 songs as I had promised them.