How does the Strum Squad Parent & Child ukulele program work? What can I expect?

The Strum Squad Parent & Child ukulele program is a once per week, 6 week beginner group ukulele program designed to have parents/guardians bonding with their kid(s) over music in a fun, community-focused environment. We're here to laugh, have fun, and learn a popular and social musical instrument together as a community.

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Instead of learning bland nursery rhymes and intense music theory, our approach is to get everyone strumming to recognizable age-appropriate pop songs from day 1 and playing ukulele games together every 10 minutes or so is how we keep the kids energized to learn. These are songs that both you and your kid(s) will enjoy. As a matter of fact, our students leave their first lesson knowing how to strum along to an Aretha Franklin song. In the following weeks, we'll learn the chords and techniques required to strum along to songs from Justin Timberlake, Imagine Dragons, OneRepublic, and more! This keeps them motivated to learn because they're playing familiar songs (heard on the radio or in movies) that they actually enjoy! 

This is a group lesson program with anywhere between 10 - 30 participants - this group will be your family's STRUM SQUAD for the 6 week program (and perhaps even beyond that!). We bring in an assistant instructor to help out with groups over ~18 students to ensure everyone gets individual, 1-1 attention to as needed during each lesson while the lead instructor can keep the lesson moving. This way, no one gets left behind! 

Unlike private lessons, having a small group learning together as a community allows us to unlock fun ukulele "party games" that keep the kids engaged and motivated to learn. You can expect to play anywhere between 2 - 4 different ukulele games each week that all incorporate what we've learned on the ukulele. This is how we "trick" our kids into doing the hard work of practicing their ukuleles without even realizing it - because it just feels like play to them. Think ukulele chord relay races, Simon Says (calling out different chords to switch between), and Freeze Dance (except we're strumming, not dancing!).

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And don't worry - these games are as much for the adults' amusement as they are for the kids'! 

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We send out a lesson recap email to all families each week to guide your 5 minutes of daily practice as a family with links to our very own practice videos and strum-alongs, covering everything we learn together in video-recap format. Think of this as an interactive play-along song book that the kids love!​​

What happens if we miss a lesson?

If you and your family can't make one of the lessons, we have a dedicated practice videos page on our site that covers everything we learn in the program as well as strum-along videos to all the songs we learn (Justin Timberlake, Imagine Dragons, Queen, OneRepublic and more!) so families are able to catch up quickly if they ever miss a lesson from time to time.

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After each lesson, all participants will receive a lesson recap email with a detailed outline of what we covered in class and a link to the appropriate practice videos to strum along to when practicing.

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We also have 15 minutes before each lesson time (we have the room for an hour and the lesson is 45 minutes) where families can come early to get their ukes tuned up and get a quick 1-1 lesson from me if they missed the previous week or just need a refresher. No one gets left behind! 

Do we need a musical background/understanding of music to join?

We are an absolute beginner music program - this means no experience required and if you've never played a musical instrument before, you'll be in good company with the others who are learning alongside you!

We provide the ukes and everything you'll need to learn how to play. 

What age group is this program for?

While our program is designed for anyone aged 4+, most of our students are between the ages of 6 - 12 years old. Our program is designed to be fun and accessible for a wide age range (including adults!). 

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Learning the ukulele does require some fine motor skills that are typically developed around age 4, but this can vary from child to child  - however we always provide alternatives for the younger students when learning each song (such as staying on a simple chord, playing the drums, singing along, etc) to ensure everyone is having fun and able to jam along as a band! 

I would like to register my child for this program but I can't attend. Can I send them alone or with their aunt/uncle/grandparent etc.?

While it is mandatory for each child under the age of 18 to be accompanied by an adult for our program, we love to see kids learning with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, or guardian! If you can't attend our lessons but have a close friend or relative willing to accompany your kid(s) instead, this works for us! Please leave a note in your registration form to let us know the relationship between adult & child (aunt, grandparent, friend, etc.) and please provide their phone & email in the notes section. 

We can't make this session but would like to attend a session in the future when we're available. Can you notify us when Strum Squad returns to our town?

Yes! Please join our Upcoming Programs Waitlist to be notified of upcoming programs near you. See you next time!