Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. You can listen to this conversation by clicking the LISTEN button above.
Rick Brewer: You may have missed "World Play, Your Ukulele Day" in February. But it's never too late to learn how to strum.
That's according to one man on a mission to teach the people of northern Michigan how to play the uke.
WCMU's Tina Sawyer recently got a chance to talk to instructor Ben Hassenger from the group known as Music is the Foundation.
He started the conversation by explaining how community music enriches lives.
Ben Hassenger: I like to say the ukulele is the most “folk” of folk instruments because it brings folks together and it really gives you a sense of Ohana, which is the Hawaiian word for family. When COVID hit, of course we couldn't all get together. So, everybody found ways to keep that community. We had my group of seniors who are certainly far from digital natives, buying nice microphones and webcams and learning how to use Zoom, and now we're able to get back together again, and it makes that community even more special.
Tina Sawyer: And right now, would you say that togetherness is probably something the world really needs right now?
BH: Well. I mean, we're in a world, right, where there's, you know, we have our beliefs and it may not agree with somebody else, but when we get together in the ukulele group, we put that aside and we're there for the music and we're there for the community. You know, we can go back to all the other stuff when we get done playing the ukulele.
TS: Yeah. Well, and the younger generation seems to be really into it right now, at least for the past 15 years. They've really picked it up again.
BH: And then also getting together with friends, it really makes a difference in your mental well-being.
TS: In fact, many medical journals are pointing to music therapy and the ukulele specifically to scientifically be shown to have mental and physical health benefits, and its happy sound may contribute to feelings of joy, but the other benefits also include those personal developments. But to spread this message of healing and joy... Ben can't do it alone.
BH: One of the things we're trying to focus on now is spreading that outreach, which of course means I can't do it all myself, but I'm getting a group of other instructors and enthusiasts to help spread that Aloha spirit.
(singing) “On the island. We do it island style. From the mountain to the ocean, from the windward to the Leeward side....”
TS: So what's next for you, Ben? Will you do this forever?
BH: Well, yeah, I think so. When all this started, I said “Well, you know, I'm probably never really gonna retire”, so maybe I'll invent a job that I would like to do if I was retired, so that's when I anointed myself the “Ukulele Ambassador of Michigan," which, as I tell everybody, is a self-appointed title, but someone did buy me a sash, so I feel very official. You know, I'm not saying it's just all fun and games. I mean it's work putting all these events together and everything and trying to keep everything straight, but man, I don't know of any other kind of work I would enjoy more than this. (Ukulele music strums out)
Music Is the Foundation is a non-profit group that supports music programs in Michigan classrooms and communities. They are based in Lansing but travel all around the state teaching ukulele.
To get involved in a ukulele community or just learn how to form your own group, click HERE for more information.
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