Ukuleles give school bands a chance to make ‘safe’ music

THE harmonious interplay between the woodwind and brass sections of a school orchestra has long brought delight to the ears of proud parents.

But junior ensembles will soon strike a different note, as they adapt to new Covid-19 rules by integrating a greater variety of string instruments into music sessions because they are deemed more hygienic.

Schools should consider the “additional risk of infection” potentially posed by wind and brass instruments when played, Department for Education guidance suggests. So, in order to resume in-person “music-making” in line with the rules, some directors have resorted to buying ukuleles.

Consisting of four strings with a small, guitar-like body, it is considered safer than more commonly used orchestral devices such as trumpets and flutes. “I have already started tuning the 37 ukuleles I ordered, now that we can’t have any wind instruments in school ensembles,” Dr Joanna Allsop, director of music at Cargilfield School, in Edinburgh, told The Sunday Telegraph.

“They are something we can play and can be cleaned when used in ensembles across the different years. I think the children who haven’t played it before will be excited. They have missed out on group playing for the whole of the last term.”

Dr Allsop conducts a full orchestra, composed of 35 students, and a separate 24 member junior string ensemble and wind band, at Scotland’s oldest preparatory school, founded in 1873.

Positioning pupils “back-to-back”, avoiding the sharing of instruments and limiting group sizes to 15 or under are among the safety suggestions included in the DfE guidelines for the full reopening of schools.

The department will publish further safety advice about school music provision, including orchestras, “shortly”, a source said.