USC student uses grant to spread the sweet sound of ukulele

Every other Tuesday, about 10 people crowd into the guitar-lined side room of Sim’s Music store in Irmo to coax bright sounds out of ukuleles.

Most of the group is over 60 and learning to play the small string instrument for the first time. They arrive with binders full of sheet music and hand-drawn chord progressions, like any eager band student would.

Related: 15 awesome ukulele covers

Rather than sitting around playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” – that ubiquitous ukulele cover by Hawaiian Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – they launch into Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” which sounds nimble and dainty with 10 ukuleles.

Then they try Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1.

Some of the players struggle with the complicated Baroque music, but even out of sync, the sound is simple and sweet.

The Cola Ukulele Band is led by Timothy Hall, a graduate student at the University of South Carolina Music School. Last year, Hall won the College Music Society’s Yamaha Artist In-Residence Fellowship, which awarded him $2,000 to pursue musical outreach programs in the community.

Hall created the ukulele band and teaches the rehearsals for free. The group is open to everyone.

“Ukulele is not intimidating. It’s thought of as a fun and easy instrument to play,” he said. “And it’s inexpensive.”

On a recent Tuesday, Hall’s group was preparing for an upcoming concert. The ukuleles will back USC School of Music students and local jazz musicians in a performance on Thursday, May 19, which will include classical as well as contemporary tunes. Aside from playing at hospitals and senior living centers, it will be the Cola Ukulele Band’s first big show.

Player Bob Taylor said he was looking forward to it with “some trepidation,” but was excited to play with more advanced musicians.

“And if you get lost, you can just do this,” added Robin Evans, placing her hand across the strings on the neck of her ukulele – a practice called muting that dampens the sound produced while still appearing to be played.

Evans had been wanting to learn ukulele for some time, and heard about Hall’s group lessons from a friend, she said.

“It’s just fun.”

That’s what the Cola Ukulele Band is all about, Hall said. “The important thing is that we have fun.”

And how can you not have fun playing (or listening) to ukulele?

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM with the headline "USC student uses grant to spread the sweet sound of ukulele."