Month: September 2022

Welcome back!

This week I have started learning chords and strum patterns on the ukulele. They are harder than they look! I’m going to have to continue working on them throughout the next week, as well as work on my timing. Watch the Powtoon below to see and hear everything that I learned about chords and strum patterns this week!

Powtoon Review:

Powtoon is an online video-making website. Personally, I find this website to be a mix between iMovie and PowerPoint. I have used both of these applications, so it did not take my long to navigate through and understand the website. I found it to be very user friendly though, and it has a website tour, so I think that it would be easy enough for anyone to use.

When making an account, Powtoon asks for a purpose for using the website, so it can personalize the experience. I put that I was using the websitefor education as a student, and my homepage displayed student, teacher, and administrative templates.

For projects, a pre-made template or a personal PowerPoint slides can be used. A blank template can also be used for a completely fresh start! I opted for a blank template for my Powtoon project. If a blank template is chosen, one of three modes are available. These modes are capture, horizontal, or square. For the purpose of my video, I chose the horizontal mode. There are also different looks available for Powtoons. I chose the whiteboard look.

Powtoon can be used for free with lots of options for quality videos. Personally, I would not recommend paying for Powtoon Pro, Pro+ or Agency unless needed for a business or advertisement purposes. These options are quite expensive, and the website is good without paying for extras. The only drawback I found with the free version is that videos are limited to three minutes.

Powtoon videos can have music (there are various free music options to choose from), transitions, voiceovers, characters, text, props, shapes, images, videos, and other special effects! I tried to incorporate as many of these aspects as possible.

Powtoon can be used for group projects, too! All one needs to do is add any partners’ email addresses after hitting the invite button. I like this feature, so everyone can add to the project from their own devices.

In terms of the SAMR model, Powtoon is somewhere in between Augmentation and Modification. It has “functional improvements” to PowerPoint. The video can be played in an easier way. One does not need to search through all of the tabs at the top of the PowerPoint application to adjust timing and transitions. On Powtoon, the timing and video options are all right under the slides, and one just moves items along the timeline in the order they would like. Further, Powtoon mixes PowerPoint and iMovie together for a “task redesign.” The website used a very similar layout as iMovie with the ability to make informational slides like PowerPoint! In my own classroom, I would use Powtoon for projects that I would have originally used PowerPoint to add some variety.

See you next week!

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my second learning project post!

This week I focused on tuning my ukulele and learning how to hold the ukulele, as well as learning about the strings, frets, and plucking. To begin, I downloaded Ukulele by Yousician on my iPhone from the app store. Most of the features on this app require a subscription, but I have just been utilizing the free tools and beginner videos that are available.

Proper way to hold a ukulele. Photo by Emma Robertson.

First, I watched a video on holding and tuning a ukulele, so I could learn the proper way to hold a ukulele before beginning to play. You need to sit up straight, and you need to rest the bottom of the ukulele on your right thigh. It should not feel like it will slide off your leg. Then, you anchor your right hand where the neck meets the body of the ukulele. Lastly, you put your hand under the neck at the top of the ukulele for support. Next, I tuned my ukulele. Ukulele by Yousician has a tuning feature, so you can play each string, and it will tell you if you need to tune up or down until it sounds right. In order to tune up, you must turn the knob away from you. In order to tune down, you must turn the knob towards you.

Diagram of tuning pegs, strings, and frets. Photo by Emma Robertson.

Now that I was holding my tuned ukulele correctly, I could begin exploring the different strings, plucking, and frets. Ukuleles have four strings: string one, string two, string three, and string four. When correctly holding the ukulele, string one will be on the bottom and string four will be on the top. With this information, I could begin learning about plucking and frets. Plucking is playing one string at a time with your thumb. Frets are on the neck of the ukulele. To play frets, you need to press your finger down with good pressure, and the placement of your finger must be just above the metal. Then, you pluck the string to create the sound. The top fret is fret one, then fret two, and so on. I practiced using different fingers on different frets this week. For instance, it is easier to play fret one with your index finger and fret two with your middle finger.

Here is an audio recording of me practicing plucking and playing different frets!

That’s it for this week! I’m having lots of fun with the ukulele, and my next step is learning about chords and a few simple songs with these chords.

Welcome to my Learning Project Blog!

For my learning project, I am going to learn how to play the ukulele. I have always thought that the instrument has a nice sound, and I have had an interest in learning how to play the ukulele for around four and a half years now. This interest began after taking a guitar class for a semester in grade ten, but I have not pursued this interest until now. It worked out quite nicely that there were a few extra ukuleles at the elementary school in my hometown, and I was allowed to take one for the semester!

Picture by Emma Robertson

As of right now, I have no experience with ukuleles. As mentioned before, I have minimal guitar experience from high school. Also, I took piano in elementary school. Due to these experiences, I am able to read basic sheet music. As I progress in my ukulele skills, I believe that my sight reading skills will improve, too. In order to learn how to play the ukulele, I am planning to rely primarily on YouTube videos, music apps, and online articles. An example of a music app that I can use is Yousician. As of right now, I will record my progress using videos and audio recordings of myself playing, as well as written updates.

My first steps to learn how to play are learning how to tune and hold the ukulele. Then, I will learn the chords, and I will practice transitioning my fingers quickly between chords. Next, I would like to learn melodies, and afterwards, I would like to learn chord melodies. Learning these will help me learn to play songs. My ultimate goal is to be able to play a popular song on the ukulele at the end of the semester, or possibly a more complicated Christmas song since the end of classes is near the holiday season!