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Hi and welcome to the Auckland beginner ukulele and singing SEASONED BEGINNER lessons!

There are various levels of classes offered. This Sunday 3pm class is for Seasoned Beginners. By this I mean those with a bit of experience with the ukulele but not yet intermediate level. If you already know a few chord shapes and can play the Island/Calypso strum and a small set of songs, this class is for you. We will start where you're at and build on that! Expanding your collection of chords and strums, building an understanding of how music works, becoming comfortable strumming and fingerpicking various genres of songs and singing along as you play, in the safety of a friendly group setting.

📍 Location & Access Classes

As many of you know, we’ve recently had to say goodbye to our wonderful venue at the Nix, as my 6-year artist residency with the Ockham Collective has come to an end. The good news however is that we now have a new venue very close by. On November 8th 2026, we will be inaugurating a brand new Auckland music venue! The classes will be taking place at 38 Monmouth Street, a new music venue called "The Woodshed". This is a lovely spacious and luminous professional music venue with great acoustics that I will be renting on the days I teach classes. There is a free parking lot available right next door that you can access from Nixon Street (a few doors down from our old venue, The Nix) - the individual spaces are marked 38 Monmouth Street and you can park in any of those for free if attending one of my classes (which usually take place on Sundays, occasionally Saturdays) then walk through the gate and enter to the right. I will post some photos of the venue and parking lot for easier access. Please note there is (unfortunately) a flight of stairs to access the venue and the elevator I'd been promised has turned out to be too expensive to build. Sorry about that... I will look into having one or two accessible (no stairs) weeknight classes in Mt Eden Village once I get these classes up and running again.

💰 Booking & Pricing

  • $25 per class (cash on the day or bank transfer)
  • Please also bring/include an extra $5 to help cover the room rental

Account details:
ANZ Freedom Account
Name: Sonia Wilson
Number: 01-0205-0083380-00

Bulk options:

  • $120 for 5 sessions (+ extra weekly $5 for room rental)
  • $230 for 10 sessions (+ extra weekly $5 for room rental)

(Sessions don’t need to be consecutive—just keep track of your attendance please 🙏)

📌 Booking is required – Max 20 people per class (first come, first served).

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• What we'll do

We'll be learning to tune the ukulele with a clip-on tuner, exploring basic music theory (no rocket science, just enough to get you started), learning chords, strumming patterns and songs. When time allows, we may venture into the realm of playful group improvisations! :)

One of the challenges of playing uke and singing is the art of putting those together, so we'll spend time getting to know the phrasing of songs and developing your ability to synchronize singing & playing so you can build up skills and the confidence to perform in front of an audience someday, if you wish to do so (not obligatory). As I am experienced in choir singing, we will also look at some harmony singing on a few songs.

• What to bring

A ukulele! Many of my students find it helpful to have a strap on their ukulele. I also recommend a clip-on ukulele tuner (the simpler, the better - more fancy buttons can lead to more confusion).

If buying a new ukulele, I would advise a Makala or Kohala as the cheapest to consider. Anything cheaper and it's buyer beware - they can be difficult to tune and don't produce such a nice sound. Kala is good but a little more expensive. As regards size, I'd recommend a concert or tenor size to produce a good sound. Try the instrument before buying, if possible: try Lewis Eady, Rockshop, Music Planet, KBB Music, Music Works or Bungalow Bills. Most shops have a range of instruments and can advise you based on your budget and future plans.

Click on the following articles for suggestions for buying a ukulele if you do not have one:

Note about left-handed ukulele: my suggestion would be to buy a normal (right-handed) ukulele. This just means your fretting hand (the left hand) will be more agile than the average right-handed player (whose fretting hand would be their weaker one, the left). I think the ukulele is a wonderful instrument for helping us all to develop ambidexterity.

Learning to tune your uke will be a key skill to learn. I'm happy to answer questions on that at the start of the lesson. A well-tuned ukulele will make you want to play more frequently.

Also, it will be much easier to play the notes / chord shapes on uke if the nails on your left hand are not too long.

• My invitation...
Please don't shy away from this learning experience by fear of not being good enough. This is specifically a beginner's class and everyone is musical in my opinion. It's just a matter of exposure, experience and practice. I intend for these group lessons to be educational in a fun and relaxed kind of way. My intention is to create a "safe zone" for musical play and learning in good company.

⚠️ Please note, class times may occasionally vary due to performance commitments, so please sign up via Meetup and check in weekly to stay updated. There is also a WhatsApp group you can opt into for updates if you wish to.

Thanks so much for being part of this community—hope to see you on Sunday!

xoxo Sonia

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Events in AUCKLAND, NZ

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