TUITION
FREE virtual or face to face consultation for ukulele players in the Salisbury area and beyond.
Welcome
Welcome to Ukulele Vagabond’s tutorial page. Please use this page to explore the different areas of study that we can offer in our 1-1 online ukulele tuition and coaching course.
Costs and Pricing
The Standard Services will be as follows:
Adult Lessons (In my Salisbury Home/Online)
£35 for one lesson 55 minutes in length OR £120 for 4 lessons (£30 per lesson for bulk orders.)
Child Lessons (At the Parent Or Caregiver’s house)
£17.50 for one 30 Minute Lesson
The Premium Services will be as follows:
£40 for one lesson 55 minutes in length OR £210 for 6 lessons (£35 per lesson for bulk orders.)
An invoice will be sent to you with the payment details on it after the type of lessons have been agreed.
Place your orders using the form below or email: [email protected]
- A 55 minute online lesson with an experienced and professional teacher and coach.
- The last five minutes of the lesson will include a video recorded sum up of the lesson which will then be sent to the pupil as a personalized practice reference video until the next lesson.
- Access to a library of complimentary videos exclusively for pupils in the "pupil zone tab." Please note access to the "pupil zone" for 1-1 pupils is contingent on the client purchasing at lease one lesson a month.
- A basic grounding in music theory tailored to the needs of the client but dependent on the clients course of study.
Book Your Free 30 Minute Consultation
Book your free session
Use the form provided to book your free consultation. We just need a few details to arrange a session.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about my services or would like to drop me a message you can also email me at [email protected] Free consultations can be booked at a time convenient to you.
So you want to brush up on your ukulele skills or learn from scratch? Click the video above OR keep reading for information on how we can help you with our 1-1 tuition programme for beginner ukulele players using a three-step programme for self improvement. ukulele Skills or learn from scratch? Click the video above OR keep reading for information on how we can help you with our 1-1 tuition programme for beginner ukulele players using a three step programme for self improvement.
Step One: Brushing up existing skills or learning from scratch
The first stage will be looking at what you can already do and making sure that it is optimised for quality and precision, as well engaging in supportive discussions and coaching to deal with confidence issues that people may have around playing music privately and publicly. If you have no skills on the ukulele yet then that is fine; we will start from the beginning and teach you how to tune up, learn the basic chords and start strumming.
If you already have some basic skills on the ukulele, then we will work together to optimise your pre-existing playing for quality and precision. Throughout this section we will discuss and agree the kind of direction you wish to take your playing in depending on your musical interests.
Step Two: Developing a more personalized tuition plan
The second stage will involve establishing what your interests are and how to achieve your future goals and aspirations with the instrument. This can involve discussing your interests with regard to musical genres or styles as well as discussing what you want to do with your ukulele.
For example, are you interested in playing in a band? Are you interested in performing solo? Do you just want to learn some things to play when you get back from work and want to unwind? Together, we will establish drills, and practice regimes to get you there in the quickest possible time and to the highest level.
Step Three: Realizing the dream
Please bear in mind it doesn’t all finish here, scroll down to see further avenues of learning such as songwriting and advanced styles or pay more for premium services like learning music production and performing live. However, this section involves realisation of the goal that you set at the beginning.
This will depend largely on what your aim was; for example, if you want to play at a family gathering, it will involve exposure to performing in front of people at a pace you can manage. If you wanted to learn some basic skills on ukulele it will involve, for example, finishing learning those scales and adding fancy bits so you can solo to your favourite musician or playing bar chords to make sounds at different tonalities. If you wanted to learn covers, this stage will mean making sure those covers are completed so you can seamlessly play them.
So you already have some skills on the Ukulele and would like to learn some more advanced skills? Click the video above OR continue reading to find out about how we can help you with our 1-1 programme for more advanced players.
Step one: Tightening up existing skills
Individuals who already have a basic level of proficiency on ukulele will begin by having a few assessment sessions to work on things like dynamic ranges (if needed) and to discuss and establish a direction in which their playing will take. Dynamic ranges means learning to vary one’s playing to play loudly and softly when required and developing a good mastery of the instrument. We will then engage in discussions around the kind of direction tutees want to go in, as this will ascertain the direction of the next stage.
Step two: Developing advanced skills on ukulele
At this stage we will establish what styles of playing and skills the tutees are interested in pursuing and develop drills and practice regimes to get them there. This can include Latin styles, percussive styles, bar chords, alternative strumming patterns and muting techniques, as well as learning to sing and play, or scales to work on soloing. Tutees will have access to teaching in any or all of the techniques outlined above and many more, and will have the freedom to determine the direction their lessons go in based on their interests.
Step three: Obtaining a new skill set on the ukulele
This stage will include the completion of a new skill set on the ukulele and the finalizing of new techniques. The tutees will be able to proficiently apply the new techniques that they have learnt to either songs or covers.
Do you struggle to make that leap to song writing? Perhaps you are beginner, intermediate or advanced ukulele player who feels stuck and uncertain about making that leap towards more creative playing? Well in this course of study we will be focusing on the three steps below to help ignite a passion for song writing.
Step one: An education in lyric writing
Learn simple, leading up to complex rhythming structures. All tutees will get given a crash course in how to write lyrics and integrate lyrics into a wider rhythming structure. Pupils will also get assistance and coaching in the art of theme building and development in song writing.
Step two: Structuring a song
During this stage we will look at different genres of music and the different structures they use. We will also seek to identify how and when to use those structures in songwriting and learn to develop a mastery of their use. This will include covering the intro, the verse, the bridge, the chorus, breaks for solos and how to play the ukulele as either a solo instrument or a part of a wider arrangement with other instruments.
Step three: Completing a song and developing the songwriting process
By this stage you should have a good mastery of the component parts so we will work on future goals and aspirations with songwriting. This could be collaborating with a band, writing albums or learning music production from home.
If you have always dreamt of getting up on stage and performing but have never quite had the knowledge or confidence to approach performance then this course of study will be perfect for you. Using a technique of gradual exposure to performance and careful cultivation of stage presence we will work through the confidence issues that arise around performing at a pace that you can manage.
Step one: Working on your pre-existing skills.
To start with we will establish where you are as a Ukulele player and start to expand your skills so you will have more to skills to use in the song writing process. If you are a beginner on the uke we will get you learning a handful of styles that are consistent with your musical preferences.
We can also offer some basic assistance with singing and point you towards some resources that will help you develop your skills in this area but we do not offer specialist singing assistance so I encourage people to seek that out themselves and practice singing along side ukulele learning.
If you can already play a few tunes and just want to make that leap to songwriting then this section will not take that long and will involve sharpening up your pre-existing skills and introducing a repetouir of new chords and styles consistent with your musical tastes.
Step two: Establishing the structure of songs.
Once we have established some basic skills we will begin to establish chord patterns that fit with the structure of the type of music you like. Traditional chord structures include an intro, a verse, a bridge, a chorus and space for solos or breakdowns, however other genres of music surfice with just a hook as a chorus. Depending on your musical interests we will develop a song structure together and start to build a melody.
Step three: Building and completing a song.
The final section of this tuition programme will include the completing of a song. By this stage you should have a clear idea in your head about the structure of the song and have a bit of a melody established. Finally, we will start to develop lyrics and a singing style consistent with your musical interests. This will include one to one tuition on how different rhyming patterns are popular with different genres of music and how to develop a theme for a song and stick to it.
Music Production
So you want to produce your own cover or original music? Perhaps you have written a song on the ukulele that you want to experiment with? This service offers you the possibility of realizing that dream with a collaborative production experience with the Ukulele Vagabond which will see you produce your own song by the end, and potentially develop your own skills of musical composition and technical expertise.
Step one: Establishing the foundations
The first stage will involve establishing what it is you want to produce, tightening up your playing and deciding a style before practising with a metronome different styles at different tonalities, and parts that you can use to layer the song you are producing. It will also involve making decisions about who is going to be doing the singing, adding the bass, etc. The Ukulele Vagabond will put these parts in for anyone who doesn’t have the contacts or confidence on other musical instruments.
Step two: Doing the recording
This part will require the purchase OR rental of an audio interface for your computer and some form of microphone to record the instruments and vocals. Tutees will be advised on this. Tutees will be coached through building the song in the style they like and will record their parts through a free piece of music software called Audacity to keep the costs of production down while they decide if they want to invest in better equipment.
Step three: Completion of a song
At this stage prospective producers will have a choice between asking the Ukulele Vagabond to complete the song himself (mix and master) OR to do that themselves in order to develop their own skills. Either way a further course in being able to do everything with more advanced software will be available if tutees want to take it further after a song has been completed.
Video Editing
So perhaps you want to shoot your own music video or start your own video blog about your experiences as a ukulele player but don’t know where to start? This course will provide you with a crash course in how to edit in Premier Pro and therefore start shooting and editing your videos.
Step one: Establishing why you want to video edit and selecting the correct equipment for the job
Do you want to shoot a vlog? Shoot a music video? What is your budget? Can you rent equipment or borrow it? To start with we will be discussing the kind of equipment that we are going to need to become a video editor and select the right equipment.
Step two: Shooting some footage
A brief discussion about how best to prepare and shoot footage while out and about. This will involve some coaching about how to develop and maintain your composure while developing your performance skills as a person who is going to be on video. It will also involve practical advice about what to do on shoot.
Step three: Editing the footage
Finally, we will work on editing the final footage. We will use Premier Pro for this service, which is available on subscription for a good rate, and we will work out ways to make your footage look good including titles and moving words/logos if required. Eventually, we will finish up your video and you will have gained the skills to do some basic video editing yourself.
Subscription services
Subscribers will have access to regularly updated video content that will provide assistance videos for those looking for complementary resources for their ukulele learning. There will also be exclusive music and entertainment videos for those interested in learning more about the ukulele for just £4 a month.
