Intermediate Ukulele - Rockschool Grade 3 Curriculum Part 1

Intermediate Ukulele - Rockschool Grade 3 Curriculum Part 1 - Semi-Private Class (Ages 8 - 12)

Experience Necessary

Recommended for students who have been playing for 3 or more years and have the chords C, G, Am, F, Dm, G7, C7, D and Em memorized, have a beginner knowledge of barre chords and have a solid understanding of basic rhythm and strumming.

Classes begin with warmups and exercises which encourage the development of excellent technique. Warmups include finger isolation exercises to develop strength in the left-hand and strumming exercises to develop right-hand technique.

Classes continue with technical exercises from the Rockschool Grade 3 Ukulele textbook:

Technical Exercises 
* Group A - Scales
* Group B - Arpeggios
* Group C - Chord Voicings

Unseen Tests 
* Sight Reading
* Improvisation & Interpretation
* Ear Tests (Test 1: Melodic Recall, Test 2: Rhythmic Recall)
* General Musicianship Questions

After warmups and technical exercises we work on the songs from the Grade 3 textbook.

* Ed Sheeran - Perfect
* Bob Marley - Jamming

Students are required to buy the Rockschool Grade 3 textbook for this class.  You can buy a digital or hard copy here:
https://www.rslawards.com/products/ukulele-grade-3/

Weekly Breakdown

Lesson 1 and 2
Welcome, Rules, Introductions
Warmup - left hand warmup - The Pinky Shredder
Strumming warmup - 16th note strumming
Barre Chord - shapes and exercises
Technical - Learn D Major scale

SONG 1  - Jammin’
Discuss reading the tab and music from the textbook.
Listen to the audio example of the song while following the music
Learn the barre chord shapes
Learn the 2 and 4 strum with muting
Practice bars 9 - 17 and 51 - 59 of the song

Lesson 3 and 4
Warmup - left hand warmup - The Pinky Shredder
Strumming warmup - 16th note strumming
Barre Chord - shapes and exercises
Technical - Learn D Major arpeggio

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Learn the rhythms and strumming for bars 1 - 9
Review the Chorus

Lesson 5 and 6
Warmup - Moveable Major Scale  (D, Eb, and E Major)
Barre Chord - shapes and exercises
Technical - Diminished Triads-  D diminished - root position and first inversion

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Review the chorus and bars 1 - 9
Learn the verse - bars 17 - 24

SONG 2 - Perfect
Listen to the audio example while following the music
Learn the fingerpicking for the intro - bars 1 - 4

Lesson 7 and 8
Warmup - Moveable Major Scale  (D, Eb, and E Major)
Strumming warmup - Learn strumming exercise in B minor
Technical - Review all technical learned so far
Learn D natural minor scale

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Review the chorus, intro and verse
If ready, learn the Middle 8 - Bars 25 - 32

SONG 2 - Perfect
Listen to the audio example while following the music
Review the fingerpicking intro
Learn the verse melody (single note plucking) bars 5 - 12

Lesson 9 and 10
Warmup - Moveable Major Scale  (D, Eb, and E Major)
Strumming warmup - strumming exercise in B minor
Technical - Review D natural minor scale
Learn D minor arpeggio

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Discuss ad-lib section of the song and how to approach it - Bars 35 - 42
Review all sections of the song
Discuss playing along with the backing track

SONG 2 - Perfect
If time permits, review intro and verse

Lesson 11 and 12
Warmup - Moveable Major Scale  (D, Eb, and E Major)
Strumming warmup - strumming exercise in B minor
Technical - 
Learn D diminished arpeggio

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Isolate hard parts of the song and discuss how to practice them
Attempt to play the whole song - begin trying to play along with the backing track

SONG 2 - Perfect
Learn the bridge - Bars 13 - 20
If time permits - review intro and verse

Lesson 13 and 14
Warmup - Moveable Major Scale  (D, Eb, and E Major)
Strumming warmup - strumming exercise in B minor
Technical - 
Learn D major pentatonic scale

SONG 1 - Jammin’
Isolate hard parts of the song and discuss how to practice them
Work with the metronome and backing track

SONG 2 - Perfect
Learn the strumming for the Chorus - bars 21 - 30
Review all parts and begin working with the metronome and backing track

Lesson 15 and 16
Review of all material learned so far
Optional: Student performances during lesson 16