Why I started to teaching TAB
- Reluctant singers decided to help them play the melody on the instrument
- Can be a great pick your own journey unit
- Students that continue on learning ukulele or go on to guitar are going to need this vital skill
Where do you start?
- Intro lesson
- Trickiest part of tab is that we read it like the ukulele is facing the other way
- The top line is the bottom string
- This takes time to wrap your brain around
- Play which string
- Color Code strings and TAB lines
- Just start by pointing to a line of the TAB notation and students must play or point to a picture of the ukulele strings.
- This helped a few light bulbs go off, but still not everyone
Which Songs?
- Hot Cross Buns
- 1 string song
- A String
- Which fingers
- Ideally students would play each fret with corresponding finger
- I found that this is quite overwhelming to the student
- Instead I encourage them to use their 1st and 2nd finger
- Some students are shifters and just use 1 finger
- I let it happen… its a lot and I would argue they are being able to shift around the instrument is a skill
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- 2 strings
- This is where students have the most frustration
- They know the tune though so it helps them figure out where they are going wrong
- I let the students help another and have individual practice time
- One on One help and walking a student step by step through it really helps those light bulb moments
- Twinkle Twinkle and Old MacDonald
- 3 to 4 strings
- Students really take off at this point
- This is where differentiation comes into play
- I have many more songs and as students are ready they can get the next song
Pop Songs
As I mentioned those are great songs to start with! Now is the time for differentiation. Some students will be ready to move on quicker than others. Having a wide variety of songs for students interest and motivation can help keep students engaged. Here is a free starter pack with 4 pop tabs you can download below.
Meaningful Ending to the Unit
- Students could prepare a song of their choice to play for the class alone or in small groups
- Play for teacher or Buddy Class
This is SO helpful! I’m unable to download the freebie. It keeps saying, “error.” Could you maybe put it in your freebies tab and I can make a copy?
Hi Nadia, So sorry about that! I just fixed the link. Just fill out your info in the form again and then you will be re-directed to the pdf. Just click download in the top right corner to save a copy to your computer. Thanks!