Retired Palmerston North teacher Beverley Procter offers free ukulele lessons

Beverley Procter with her new banjo ukulele. It's a similar size to a ukulele and is played the same way, but it has the sound and volume of a banjo. Photo / Judith Lacy

Give Beverley Procter five minutes and she will have you strumming a two-chord song on a ukulele.

The retired Palmerston North teacher has restarted a beginners’ class as part of Ukes on the Terrace, an all-ages ukulele teaching group.

The group went into recess during the pandemic and restarted last year with one overall group.

Procter has restarted the beginners’ group, which is followed by a non-beginners’ group. There is room for more strummers and children are welcome.

There are ukuleles for people to try before they buy their own.

Procter says the ukulele is the easiest instrument in the world to learn.

She also leads The Strumpettes Ukulele Band, which consists of a singer, a mandolin player and nine ukulele players. The other eight came up through Ukes on the Terrace and most had never played an instrument before.

She didn’t intend for everyone to become a performer but there is space in The Strumpettes if more people are that way inclined.

Dressed in steampunk garb, they perform mainly play 1950s and 1960s songs to rest homes, Probus, and friendship groups.

Procter played a little bit of ukulele with her father when she was a child and when the ukulele became trendy picked the “happy little instrument” up again.

The beginners’ group meets 3pm to 3.30pm on Mondays during term time and non-beginners 3.30pm to 4.45pm. The venue is St Peter’s Anglican Church Hall in Ruahine St.

There is a koha to cover the cost of refreshments. Procter says it is nice to have time for people to talk to each other.

For more information email ericbevp@inspire.net.nz or find Ukes on the Terrace on Facebook.

Judith Lacy has been the editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001 and this is her second role editing a community paper.