Ukulele players at Placer have joined together to form Placer’s first, unofficial Ukulele Club, a club to accommodate all skill levels of ukulele players.
Camile Binkley and Emily Diede, both juniors this year, are the catalysts of ukulele playing at Placer High School. Both have been bringing their ukuleles to school and banding with other musicians every Wednesday for Ukulele day.
The unofficial club’s origins can be traced back to Placer graduate Connor Siejoto advising Diede and Binkley to start a club at Placer when he heard them playing at the art hall. Inspired, the two began to collaborate with other musicians for their weekly Ukulele day.
Diede, an avid ukulele player, is a musician talented in also piano, violin, and guitar. Binkley is a rookie musician, but is busy honing her skills on the ukulele and learning to play guitar as well.
When asked who inspired her to play ukulele, Diede answered, “A little four year old on Youtube who plays ukulele like a boss, and Amanda Palmer.”
The introduction of the Ukulele at Placer has had a warm welcome, considering more and more people are buying such a unique instrument: Google results for “guitar teacher” total 316,000, whereas Google results for “ukulele teacher” totaled 1,480.
Before deciding that an official Ukulele Club at Placer might be too much work (having to elect a Treasurer, compliances with the school, and district policies, etc.), Diede had asked Placer’s newest art teacher, Kaija Perkins-Uno, if she would like to be the Ukulele Club’s administrator.
“I approached Emily and Camile after hearing some sweet music coming from the hall,” said Perkins-Uno.
Placer’s Ukulele club remains an unofficial, rogue club, open to all ukulele players, from experts to beginners. Instruction comes from the more experienced ukulele players, and skill comes from many attended Ukulele Days, where members join to practice new material, songs written by peers, sing, or enjoy a picnic lunch.
Membership to the Ukulele Club is also unofficial; ownership of a ukulele is unnecessary, but helpful. The cost of a new ukulele ranges from around $75-$200, the $200 variant obviously being of better quality. Still, these prices are considerably less than that of a new guitar. Ukulele has many advantages over a guitar, for instance. A guitar club would require members lug around a bulkier, more costly instrument and 6 strings may be harder than 4 to master.
Unlike Placer’s more prominent clubs, such as Environment Club, Key Club, Spanish Club, etc., Ukulele Club does not recruit members formally or put announcements in the bulliten advertising its meetings. The Ukulele Club is as independent as it is unique, and it offers any and all comers a warm envirnment in which to learn and appreciate the marvel that is a ukulele.