The Rise of the Ukulele

Just spelling ukulele correctly will probably get me near the top of google you know :)

One of the members of the rather excellent book group I attend has the grand title of peripatetic music teacher. I had to admit I knew what peripatetic meant, being an all round sort of know it all (I’m like a straight 10% as knowledgeable version of Stephen Fry dontcha know). For those of you who weren’t the school nerd and didn’t swallow a dictionary when you were growing up, it means “walking or travelling about” according to dictionary.com. Mind you, they failed to spell travelling with two l’s, so what do they know?

When I found out there was a music teacher about, I immediately had flashbacks to my youth: a bucket of dettol, communal recorders and the endless squeaking thereof. I love music dearly but have absolutely no appittude for it whatsoever. I can’t even clap in time with a simple beat and even M’laddo can do that. So obviously we got talking about the changes in school music since I was a nipper all those many years ago.

The biggest change in primary school music appears to be the rise and rise of the ukulele- they’re cheap, small enough for little hands, and even gradually beginning to encroach into popular music (Noah and the Whale’s big hit In 5 Years Time is the first one that springs to mind). This is just so much better than squeaking 3 Blind Mice on a dettol flavoured recorder I can begin to tell you!

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