‘Whenever you bring a ukulele out, everybody smiles.’ Teacher guides players in JoCo

If strumming a ukulele can give you thoughts of warmer climes like Hawaii, a recent series of classes at Shawnee Town made the winter weather a little toastier for its participants.

David Firman, a longtime member of the Kansas City Ukesters, taught the weekly adult ukulele class in February and is teaching it again in March. It’s so popular that all the slots have been full for weeks. However, there are still places in his kids’ ukulele workshops March 25.

It’s not the first time he’s taught the ukulele locally, but recently, he’s been teaching one-time workshops rather than classes that meet up several times. Despite its popularity, Firman kept the class size small — just 15 people — to make sure he could spend enough time with each person.

All levels of ukulele experience are welcome in Firman’s class. Some people come to improve upon skills they already have, while others just acquired the instrument and haven’t played it before at all.

Firman said he likes to teach songs that people are already familiar with, so they don’t have to learn both the tune and the instrument at the same time. Melodies from one of his recent classes included “You Are My Sunshine,” “Stand By Me” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love.”

“As we move along, each song becomes progressively harder, and we can even get into different strummings. There’s so many different ways you can strum a ukulele,” Firman said.

Firman himself is a lifelong bass player but got into ukuleles in the 1990s. He thinks the bass helped him learn ukulele. The hardest part for people to pick up, he said, is how to make chords.

“Whether you’re doing it on a ukulele or guitar, it’s unusual for your fingers to go into those shapes. That’s where the real practice comes. That’s where you want to get muscle memory,” Firman said.

Some people try ukuleles thinking they’ll be easier to play than a guitar, and that’s not necessarily true.

“One of the things that surprises people the most is how hard it is,” Firman said.

“There’s a learning curve. It’s not like a playing a bassoon or a harp. It’s a ukulele, but there are still physical things you have to learn when you learn to play ukulele.”

But just because it can be a challenge doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable.

“I want them to have a good time. Ukulele is such a fun instrument. Whenever you bring a ukulele out, everybody smiles. You have a lot of leeway when you play ukulele,” Firman said.

People came to the class for all sorts of reasons.

“I have a granddaughter, and I want to be that grandma,” said Angi Verstraete of Lenexa. “I love it. We’re having a lot of fun.”

That’s a common reason people are inspired to learn to play.

“A lot of people are taking ukulele because they want to play with or for somebody,” Firman said.

Heather Huettner of Overland Park recently received a bunch of ukuleles as a gift from her brother, who lives in Hawaii, and decided to let that guide her to the class.

“I have a New Year’s goal to do two creative classes this year out of my comfort zone. It’s just good to stretch your mind and learn something new and different,” Huettner said.

Whatever the reason they came, Firman hopes participants leave with a new skill.

“One thing I try to instill in students is making them successful, making them feel like they’ve learned something, making them feel like they can take this little instrument and go home and play something, as simple as it might be,” Firman said.

To purchase tickets (or check for availability) for the March 25 kids’ ukulele workshops, click on the event name on Shawnee Town’s online calendar at shawneetown.org.