`Ukulele Story
I don’t know if it’s still the case, but back in the days it was a rule in Hawai’i that all fourth grade children enrolled in public school would learn to play the `Ukulele. In theory, it was a good idea. The `ukulele is a big part of the history and culture of Hawai’i, and it remains a key element in the local music of today.
I can’t speak for all the classes, but in my fourth grade class, we didn’t focus much attention on the relevance of the history and culture of the `ukulele. Instead, we were to learn three songs by a specific time so that we could perform those songs in front of an audience of our parents.
I learned the first two songs, but I was having difficulty in learning the third, which was the theme song to Hawai’i Five-0. I know it’s a lame excuse, but I couldn’t get my little fingers to move that fast.
On the day before we were to give our performance, the teacher announced that everyone should come up to her desk (one at a time) and show her that we’ve got all the three songs down. Those who didn’t, would not be allowed to participate in the performance.
Needless to say, I didn’t rush up to the teacher’s desk. Instead, I took this last opportunity to try to force myself to learn the song. If I didn’t learn it now, I would have to admit my failure to the teacher and to the entire class. I sat at my desk and practiced throughout the entire class period, all the while my panic grew and grew.
The teacher announced that the class was just about over, and asked if everyone had come up to her desk and played the three songs. I sat quiet, hoping that she wouldn’t look at me and realize that I had not played. No one said anything, so we all put our things away and were reminded to bring our `ukulele to class the next day.
There we were, the entire class standing up on stage in the school cafeteria facing our parents and other guests. With `ukuleles in hand, we played the first two songs magnificently. Then came the Hawai’i Five-0 theme song. I played the first few chords that I had learned, and then for the remainder of the song, I pretended to strum along and did my best to fake it. I considered it a small miracle that I wasn’t found out. If there’s a moral to the story, I suppose it’s that sometimes you just gotta fake it.