Forget the ambience of Hawaiian shirts and the yearning for 1920s pop culture.
It turns out the nostalgic plinky-plank tones of the diminutive ukulele have a role to play in restoring and strengthening our neural pathways – the ways in which information travels through the nerve cells of the brain.
That’s the word from White Rock artist/blogger/journal creator extraordinaire Violette Clark, latest champion of the no-longer-humble, four-stringed instrument.
The ukulele has, of course, gained new currency in recent decades due to the work of educators like Peter Luongo of the Langley Ukulele Ensemble and virtuosi performers like James Hill and Ralph Shaw.
It’s also become cool thanks to the kind of perverse alternate pop impulses that inspire movements like Steampunk.
But it’s not just trendiness that has seized Clark. In recent lessons from Tapestry Music’s Shawn Julie (longtime exponent of not only the ukulele, but also guitar, banjo, steel guitar and bass), Clark is beginning to discover a whole new side to her creativity – a musicality that inspires and reinforces her always fanciful and colourful work in other media.
Demonstrating some of her newfound chording prowess on a blue-finish model under the supervision of Julie, Clark described what made her pick up the instrument in spite of being discouraged by music lessons when she was a child.
As a member of the baby-boom generation, she said, she has been increasingly concerned about combating memory loss and strengthening focus by keeping the brain active.
Taking up a musical instrument was recommended.
But which one?
Enter the ukulele, which became the pop instrument of the 1920s – and continues to be a great introduction to musical principles in school programs – by virtue of its relative simplicity.
On its fretboard, the essentials of melody and harmony are literally at one’s fingertips without much physical stress or strain; and while facility can be improved almost endlessly, a sense of accomplishment is easily attained.
“I was really afraid I’d never do anything like this,” Clark said.
“I’ve never taken anything up like this – but, I thought, it’s got four strings. I can handle that.”
Finding a sympathetic teacher like Julie (he was recommended to her by guitar teacher James Devon) was a plus, she said.
“He dispelled my fears and he spoke my language,” she said. “I was talking to him to him about neural pathways and he totally got it.”
“There are a lot of baby boomers coming for lessons on the guitar and ukulele now,” Julie said.
“They realize it will stop them aging and keep them growing.”
And Julie, who moved to White Rock two years ago after a 27-year teaching career at Humber College in his native Ontario, said he’s learned that, in music, training the mind is just as important as training the fingers.
In his own experience playing everything from old country to rockabilly, blues, jazz and swing (Les Paul and Django Reinhardt are among his heroes), Julie has discovered the importance of such techniques as visualization in improving performance.
“They did a study with three groups that practised every day – two that did just the practice and one that did the practice and spent the same time visualizing as well,” he said.
“The third group was better by five per cent. The mind doesn’t know the difference between visualizing it and actually doing it. By visualizing, you’re compounding the practise twofold.”
He’s also a strong believer in such other principles – inspired by late guitarist Howard Roberts’ accelerated learning theories – as getting students to learn usable skills almost immediately and building on a framework of success rather than intimidation.
“My job is to get people playing as quickly as possible,” he said. “If you can come away from a lesson knowing how to do something – just one thing – it’s much better than nothing.”
In a little over a month, Clark had mastered a group of chords and was able to play simple pieces like Jingle Bells, she said.
For her, it’s been a significant accomplishment.
“My problem has always been following through and completing things,” she said.
“I can start a new thing, but if I can’t be great right away, I quit. One of my downfalls is that I’m not good at building foundations. Now I find I’m getting a bit more courage in other areas of my life.”
She’s also excited by the possibility of making some YouTube videos with Julie to demonstrate ukulele chords and help others like herself connect with music.
But, as in any other skill, practise is the secret to getting really good, Julie said.
That’s why students like Clark, who come to music from other backgrounds, shouldn’t beat themselves up because they don’t perfect the skills instantly, he added.
“He said, ‘how long did it take you to draw?,’” Clark said. “I said it took a lot of practice. He said it’s the same with music.”
“You have to learn the foundation, just as you do in (visual) art,” Julie said.
“Learn the rules, and then break them.”
In addition to Julie at Tapestry Music (604-538-0906), ukulele is also taught in the Surrey area by Gary Cyr (604-594-1485), who is currently running a series of group lessons in Delta.
For more information about ukulele playing special events and activities in the Lower Mainland, visit the Vancouver Ukulele Circle website at www.vcn.bc.ca/vanukes