Don’t Stop Me Now! Level 2 Ukulele Lessons - Central London

Don’t Stop Me Now! Level 2 Ukulele Lessons

Tuesday Nights 7-9pm

10 week course

Tuesday Nights  16 Jan - 19 Mar 2024

Location: The Castle, 44 Commercial Rd, Aldgate, London E1 1LN (upstairs)

Suitable for: Adults Only 18+

Get inspired. Meet new people. Step up to the Next Level in just 10 weeks.

Just Can't Get Enough? Our 'Don't Stop Me Now' Ukulele Course will take you beyond beginner ukulele to the Next Level. Meet new people, make new friendships and continue your musical journey.

With 15 - 20 places in each class, they are a perfect size for everyone to get to know each other and enjoy playing together as a group. There are two experienced School of Uke tutors per class who will put you through your paces, while making sure everyone is comfortable and having a great time. 

Using a wide range of musical genres, we look further into chord and melody playing, and playing arrangements together in a band like setup. By the end of the course you’ll have the opportunity to show off your new playing skills to family and friends at our very own ‘Grand Finale’ ukulele show at a London music venue.

Our Venues

All our venues are hand-picked for their special qualities, and just 5-10mins walk to central London TFL Stations. We work with a number of partner venues in London Central and City Central, including Soho, Covent Garden, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, Tower Bridge, Aldgate, Bethnal Green and Bermondsey.

During the Summer months, weather permitting, we host our evenings at outdoor venues to make the most of the sunshine and summer nights.

Next Level Ukulele

Perhaps you've picked up a couple of chords already and fancy diving right in? If you've already started playing the ukulele, or have completed one of our 'Absolute Beginners' or '5 Week Challenge' ukulele courses, our Next Level Ukulele Lessons are for you. With a strong focus on playing within a group, we aim to get you playing like a pro! 

Through a selection of popular songs curated and arranged by School of Uke we look further into chord and melody playing, and playing arrangements together in a band like setup. 

Rock, Pop, R&B, and Disco Classics at Your Fingertips

All techniques will be taught by looking at popular lesser-known rock, pop, folk and blues tunes. Think ABBA, The Smiths, Blondie, The Cure, Bowie, 60s Classics from The Shirelles to the Shangr-Las, French Pop and Bluegrass! Song requests are encouraged and will be explored whenever possible.

Confident Playing Technique

The course places a strong emphasis on developing a confident playing technique. As well developing your technical ability, with a focus on timing, texture, rhythm and song, we aim to build your musical awareness as part of a group ensemble. We take into consideration the specific aspirations and needs of everyone in the group, and encourage singing and individual style.

In our Next Level classes we aim to expand on the basics and get you playing more confidently. We’ll take you beyond the simple stuff and start introducing techniques you never thought possible. With a hands-on practical approach we’ll look at new chords, chord construction, new scales, playing in new keys and performance tips and tricks.

Group Ensemble & Performance Technique

• Play one or two part arrangements with Ukulele
• Learn about developing arrangement and performance in songs with multiple parts
• Emphasis on musical awareness, group timing, texture, rhythm and song
• Develop playing technique and encourage individual style within a group
• Introduction to playing effectively and confidently in a live gigging environment

Strumming and Picking

• Strong focus on strumming techniques and syncopation, the place of emphasis and accent.
• Explore use of barre chords to achieve dampening effects useful for achieving a more percussive and syncopated sound.
• Introduction to box rolls, forward and backward.

Melody and Theory

• Develop awareness of the fretboard up to the 12th fret
• Introduction to scales including Minor and Major Pentatonic
• Playing both melody and harmony to a song over the chord structure

Chords and Chord Theory

• Focus on I/IV/V progression through 12 Bar Blues and cross-fertilization with other genres
• Establish relational patterns between barre chords outside the key of C
• Expanding chord repertoire and using extended chords
• Explore ways to decorate simple chord progressions using inversions
• Introduction to the circle of 5ths
• Introduction to understanding of chord construction in relative Major and Minor keys

Performance Technique

• Our Don’t Stop Me Now! course culminates in a “Grand Finale” show where you’ll have the opportunity to show off your new playing skills to family and friends at a London music venue.

An Awesome Experience

Overall it's about a group of like-minded people discovering music and having a great time together. Here's what some of our students had to say...

"Great teaching and so much fun! Everyone should learn to play an instrument!" - Edina

"Amazing fun, brilliant teaching, awesome people!" - Avital

"I couldn't play anything when I first started, now I'm playing Slash solos!" - Cat