It's Hard To Be Scary (When You Play The Ukulele)

Perfect for that late fall spooky celebration, "It's Hard To Be Scary (When You Play The Ukulele)" combines singing, ukulele playing, and a bit of comedy. There is even an opportunity for a music theory lesson on the difference between a major and a minor key. By the way, it never mentions Halloween, so it can be used in a variety of situations.

The song begins in a minor mode as the choir sings and laments about how hard it is to sound scary while playing a ukulele. At bar 21, we go from C-minor to C-major and the ukulele players start strumming. It's a very happy, upbeat (and non-scary) sound, of course. Note that there is a rhythmic pattern written out for your players, but if they'd like to be more creative, they can strum freely to the beat of the song. On the full performance and accompaniment tracks, we have a ukulele playing freely as a guide. There are only three chords used – C, F, and G.

While the ukulele players strum along, have two of your more outgoing students come forward to perform the skit. One should be playing his/her ukulele (or pretending to play, if that's easier) while speaking the lines. The other person totally does not get that the ukulele player is trying to be scary. Make sure your two actors use microphones, if possible, and speak slowly and clearly. When the song repeats, the singing and acting should be even more disparate and over-the-top. Listen to the full performance track for an excellent example.

If you'd like to keep this simpler, you can skip the little skit and just have your performers happily strumming along during the major key section with big smiles on their faces. You could even have one person firmly state, "This doesn't sound scary at all!"