Music & Dance

Rich Balano

Drawing from a variety of artists in pop and folk music, learn Italian in a fun way through its music and melody. We will listen to songs, watch and listen to videos, read lyrics, work on translations together, with explanations of pronunciation, grammar, and meaning, while repeating or, for the confident extroverts, singing phrases from the songs. We'll also try to apply words and phrases to common travel situations building a vocabulary that might inspire a future trip to Italy. Some prior Italian instruction is helpful, but not required for a motivated learner who has an Italian/English dictionary or access to a smart phone using Word Reference or Google Translate.  Rich first learned Italian in Kittery Adult Ed. and continues using Italian books, movies, music, and travel across Italy.

6 Thursday Sessions

Oct. 13 - Nov. 10, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Course Fee: $50

Music of the Christmas season is well loved and great fun to play on the ukulele!  Are you ready to Rock Around the Christmas Tree, Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly, and have a Holly Jolly Christmas? Then this program is for you. You’ll begin by reviewing strumming and chording basics then quickly move on to easy-to-play carols and tunes. To get the most out of this program, you should know how to comfortably play the ukulele using common chords and strumming patterns.  

2 Tuesday sessions

December 6 & 13, 6-7:30pm

Course Fee: $39

It's never too late to learn to play a musical instrument -- and besides, it's good for you! And what fun it is to pick up a ukulele and knock out a tune for your grandchildren, or better yet, play along with them. Or how about the thrill of playing for friends and with others? Here's where that journey begins! Join us for our easy paced, no pressure, fun filled ukulele class! Our seasoned and popular ukulele instructor, Duncan Perry, himself a senior, loves sharing his knowledge of the mighty ukulele and will start you out slowly. He will teach you a handful of chords and some basic strumming patterns and you will leave the class knowing how to playsongs you grew up with! No experience playing an instrument is necessary and you don’t have to know how to read music. But you do have to promise to practice regularly! With 10 chords, a pocket full of strums and a big smile, you'll be a hit! Of course, you'll need a playable ukulele (we are happy to provide information on where to buy one if you don't have one available). So grab a uke, sign up, tune up, show up and bloom on Zoom! (We can help you get acclimated to that too, but you will need a computer or tablet capable of using Zoom).       

Do you love folk and country music? Then you need to learn a thing or two about how to play it! Discover Folk and Country strumming techniques, up-picking, a style used by Pete Seeger and other folk greats, as well as the popular down-picking style, known variously as clawhammer or frailing. You don't need a banjo ukulele to learn these styles (but it's fun to have one). What you do need is a playable ukulele tuned to GCEA, an iPad or computer capable of using Zoom, basic knowledge of how to play the ukulele including the ability to make smooth and seamless transitions between, at least, the C, F, Am, and G7 chords.