Learn to Play Ukulele!

“The ukulele is a musical instrument that’s sociable, accessible and lots of fun – and the same could be said for Ben Hassenger, who’s taught many a satisfied uke student in his classes and workshops here at Elderly Instruments. People always have fun in Ben’s classes, and his propensity for turning ordinary people into ukulele enthusiasts is a public service of no small magnitude.”
Chris Rietz (Workshop Coordinator, Elderly Instruments)

“Ben Hassenger has the ability to teach music and particularly the ukulele in a fun, thoughtful, and thorough way.  His students learn quickly and his classrooms are always filled with smiling faces and positive energy.” “Ben is most definitely the minister-of-morale at the (Ashokan Ukulele) festival. His upbeat personality and positive attitude add so much to the weekend and make everyone feel at home and welcome.”
Gerald Ross (Director, Ashokan Uke Fest)

“It is an absolute pleasure to collaborate with Ben Hassenger! He is an incredibly passionate, well organized, and extremely generous teacher when working with adult students. His approach to designing programs comes with a great deal of thought and his delivery of content is clear. His positive approach and enthusiasm for the ukulele is contagious and many of our adult students at Interlochen rave about their learning experiences with Ben.”
Leslie Donaldson (Director of Engagement, Interlochen Center for the Arts)

“The leader, Ben Hassenger, is a skilled teacher whose influence makes this full day event successful.” 
“I really enjoyed Ben’s class, as a beginner I was able to keep up with his instruction and had fun.”
Interlochen Uketoberfest students

Click here for more testimonials.

Have you always wanted to learn to play a stringed instrument, but were frustrated? The ukulele is a great instrument to start with for kids and adults; it’s affordable, easy-to-learn, transportable, and fun to play with others. My method uses familiar songs to teach chords and strum patterns, you can find me teaching at various places throughout the year including:

Interlochen Center for the Arts
I occasionally teach group lessons here along with hosting the Uketoberfest retreat in early October. Click on the link above for a current schedule.

East Lansing Prime Time Senior Center
I teach beginning and intermediate classes here three or four times per year. Click on the link above for a current schedule.

Do you run a ukulele festival? I’ve taught beginning to intermediate classes at events across the U.S. and Canada such as the Ashokan Uke Festival (Catskills, NY), London Ontario Ukulele Days (London, Ontario), Royal City Uke Fest (Guelph, Ontario), Mighty Uke Day (Lansing, MI), Midwest Uke & Harmonica Camp (Olivet, MI), Uketoberfest (Interlochen Center for the Arts, MI), Dock Street Uke Camp (Shelburne, Nova Scotia), and many others on a variety of topics. Here are descriptions of some of the most popular:

NEW! Uke Group 101 Congrats, you have some ukulele friends that want to get together and start a community uke group. But there’s more to it than you may think! Ben Hassenger, Michigan’s Ukulele Ambassador and co-founder of the popular Lansing Area Ukulele Group, will share his experience on running a successful uke group; including member recruitment, choosing songs and posting them online, starting and leading songs, and other topics. A great class for those starting a new group or trying to revitalize an existing one.

Uke the Beatles Beatles songs sound great on the ukulele and we’ll play an array of Fab Four tunes from simple to sophisticated, using an assortment of strums and chords. (Confident Beginner)

Intros, Endings, and Everything In Between
Ben shares his nifty tips for getting your song off to a good start, working on fills and transitions in the body of the song, and wrapping things up with the proper ending. Learn to arrange the song to make it your own with accents and dynamics and you’ll have your audience swaying their cell phones to and fro and throwing money at your feet! (Confident Beginner)

Become One With the Strum Learning to play a variety of strums makes your playing more interesting to you and your audience. We’ll explore folk, calypso, rock, polka, ska, and reggae strums along with the incredibly versatile “Benstrum” using some of your favorite songs. (Confident Beginner)

EZ Tab
Do you have a good handle on strumming, but would like to learn to play the melodies of songs on your ukulele? Ben will teach you how to read tablature, a way to read music for the ukulele without having to understand actual music notation. You’ll be playing everything from “You Are My Sunshine” to “Ode to Joy” by the end of class. (Confident Beginner)

Too High? Too Low? Transpose!
Have you ever had a song you’d really like to play on your ukulele that was either too high or too low for you to sing along to? Learn the easy way to transpose, or change the key of a song, to make it easier to sing and/or play. Ben Hassenger has proven techniques that take the mystery out of this sometimes confusing topic. We’ll take some popular songs and play them in a variety of keys, as well as explore using a capo to change keys while using chord shapes you’re familiar with. (Confident Beginner to Intermediate.)

Strike a Chord Take your playing to another level by learning to play chords in various ways including moveable/barre chords, power chords, and “James Hill” chords. Great for players who want to differentiate their sound when playing with others. (Confident Beginner to Intermediate)

Play (Almost) Every Song in the World What do songs like “Last Kiss”, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, “With or Without You”, and “Say Something” have in common? They all use the same four chords. Learn to play every song ever written (well, most of them, anyway) with these “Fantastic Four” chords and find out how to switch keys easily by using the Nashville Numbering System. (Confident Beginner)

Stop, Look, and Listen: Playing Well with Others This class focuses on playing together as a group, whether it’s a small combo or a large strumming ensemble, using various strums, chords, and single-note parts that will compliment what others in the group are playing. We’ll take a well-known song and put it together as an ‘ukulele ensemble piece with separate parts for players of various levels. (Beginning to Intermediate)

I also love to lead group strums! (Here I am with Lanialoha Lee at the Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing.) And, I can teach group lessons in your home by appointment. Email me for details.

Here’s an intersting article on how learning to play the ukulele helps develop children’s social skills and the complete study.