Flight Offers Live Ukulele Lessons on Make Music Day

This year’s Make Music Day was unique, unlike any other in its 38-year history with the outdoor, mass gathering celebrations impacted by COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Despite the need to shift away from in-person events, Make Music Day organizers and participants were able to persevere and produce a successful online and socially-distanced event safe for all music makers.

One highly anticipated program for this year’s Make Music Day was the “25x12: Live Online Lessons,” where hundreds of teachers gathered online to present 12 hours of free music lessons on a range of 25 instruments. With a range of courses suiting beginners to the more experienced musician, 25x12 provided a wonderful and safe opportunity to explore new facets of making music.

NAMM Member Flight and their team of artists partnered with the Make Music Alliance to participate in 25x12 and offered up engaging ukulele content for those hoping to master the instrument. Flight’s Juliana Kaltakhchan said, “Flight decided to get involved because we thought it would be a great opportunity to promote the ukulele as an instrument, as well as involve all our artists, like Elise Ecklund and Matt Taylor, from all over the world.” Taylor, also known as U Can Uke on YouTube, did just that saying, “I not only wanted to teach people how to play the ukulele for Make Music Day but also to offer people a positive experience and personal connection with another person during the difficult times brought on by COVID-19.”

Taylor utilized his experience with Make Music Day to enhance an already strong social media presence. “Being highly engaged and connected with your audience is crucial,” says Taylor. “Displaying talent has the power to impress others, but if you want to impact people and keep them loyal, you have to show them you care about them. This means responding to messages and comments and showing your appreciation for their support.” Taylor believes anyone can learn to play the ukulele. “Many beginners get discouraged and stop playing altogether because they are stuck with a cheap uke that goes out of tune easily or has high tension strings that are hard to press. Find a uke that is easy to play and sounds amazing. This way, you become inspired to explore all the possibilities of the instrument. There are so many quality ukes out there that are suitable for beginners and won’t break the bank, like Flight’s travel ukuleles.”

The Slovenian based Flight and its global community, appropriately known as “flighters,” were a perfect match for Make Music Day. “Our online community is always ready to support our events, both offline and online. Having already conducted some events in Europe to great success before Make Music Day, we knew we could easily participate. We were excited to have Make Music Day be our first US-based event,” says Kaltakhchan.

Kaltakhchan recommends participation in Make Music Day, stating, “Not only is it a great way to spread the joys of making music across the world, but the PR opportunity for your brand can’t be beat. Promotion is key. Even if some of your audience can’t attend, they see that the brand and endorsers are busy and that there is always something new, which generates excitement.”

For more information about Make Music Day visit www.makemusicday.org and to check out Flight and their lineup of ukuleles, visit www.flightmusic.com.

Editor’s Note: Matt Taylor’s YouTube Channel, “U Can Uke,” can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJw6mvMFO5YaK-rMcQRQ0Ew and includes tutorials and play-along videos published weekly. Taylor also encourages people to follow him on Instagram @u_can_uke for unique content and to check out www.patreon.com/ucanuke for exclusive live-streams, chord charts, and private lessons.