For students who want to add a little joy and fun to their schedule, the Ukulele Club is a great place to to learn a new hobby. The club meets on Tuesdays at lunch and teaches players from all skill levels – beginners to advanced – how to play new songs and hymns. 

Freshman Chara Jacobs has been playing for four years, but is still gaining new lessons and experiences in her time at Ukulele Club. 

“I’ve learned that bonding while playing with other people, teaches me how to stay in tune with them, and it’s more fun playing with a group rather than by yourself,” Jacobs said. ”You can learn a lot of musical theory from it and use it as a building block for more advanced instruments.”

The club is run by band director Lindsey Clarno. Clarno has been instructing the club for two years now after learning how to play on Zoom during the pandemic. Zoom allowed her and her daughter to worship together and play like their own small ensemble. 

The ukulele is a fun instrument to learn and can teach you a lot about music. It’s a good start into the music world and a quick skill students can easily pick up.

Clarno likes to start with more basic tunes like folk songs, that only take a couple of chords. Once the players improve, they add in songs like “Jesus Loves Me’” and “Amazing Grace.” 

“I love teaching the hymns because bringing them onto the ukulele takes it out of the piano and organ theme that has been done for so many years in the church,” Clarno said. “It brings it into light, and makes it upbeat and worshipful.” 

As the group continues to meet, Clarno has more she wants to accomplish with this year’s club. 

“My goal is that we will all be able to worship together and learn new songs each week,” Clarno said. “The more we practice the more improvement will be shown.”

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