Ukulele Lessons in Colorado

How ukulele learning works in Colorado

The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) runs school music festivals, including Solo & Ensemble, while the Colorado State Music Teachers Association (CSMTA) offers Rising Stars and Achievement Day for private-study students. That distinction matters: a ukulele player’s clearest statewide student route is through CSMTA, rather than a band all-state audition.

Auditions and events in Colorado

How does an ukulele player reach Colorado's top student honors?

For a Colorado ukulele student seeking a formal statewide honor, the clearest route is the Rising Stars Festival. Students ages 6–19 who are not collegiate performers enter through a teacher who may or may not belong to the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, then take part in age-grouped festival categories. The festival includes competitive and non-competitive options, so students can choose a performance experience without making competition the only goal. Registration usually opens in January, and the festival is held in April; the next event is scheduled for April 10, 2027, in Denver. The Colorado High School Activities Association Solo & Ensemble Festival offers a school-based performance opportunity, but ukulele is not part of the All-State Band instrument route.

What do auditions ask you to prepare?

Colorado’s student performance opportunities ask for different kinds of preparation. For CHSAA Solo & Ensemble, instrumentalists do not have to memorize, but they must bring an original score with numbered measures; an accompanist can perform with a soloist, and festival managers plan eight minutes for a performance. CSMTA Achievement Day asks students to perform two pieces and complete at least two additional options, such as scales, chords, or sight-reading. For a festival piece, weekly lessons over three to six months give you or your child time to learn the music, make chord changes cleanly, and perform with confidence.

What else is there to enter?

Beyond Rising Stars, the Colorado State Music Teachers Association’s Achievement Day gives students a noncompetitive performance and skills check through local associations during the year. It suits a ukulele student who wants to share prepared music and demonstrate progress without a contest ranking. CHSAA Solo & Ensemble is another school-based option for instrumentalists, with a solo entry fee of $10; its score and performance requirements are distinct from the CSMTA festival experience.

Homeschool and private school students

Homeschool students can take part in Colorado’s music opportunities, but All-State eligibility has a school-ensemble condition. Colorado middle- and high-school students must enroll in and actively participate in a curricular high-school ensemble; a private or extracurricular youth group does not meet that requirement. In the Pikes Peak area, Pikes Peak Home School Music offers band, orchestra, jazz band, choir, and other programs for homeschooled students ages 8 through high school, though those ensembles do not create a ukulele-specific All-State route.

Starting at any age

Starting a child on ukulele

Ukulele is a practical first instrument for a child who can hold it comfortably and press the strings, and its small size makes it easier to manage than many instruments. Private lessons let your child learn chord changes, steady strumming, and simple melodies at an individual pace, then apply those skills when playing with other musicians. Colorado offers student performance opportunities through organizations such as the Colorado State Music Teachers Association, so early lessons can build confidence for sharing music even when school ensembles use other instruments.

A teen in Colorado

For a Colorado teen, the main ukulele-specific student opportunity is the Colorado State Music Teachers Association’s Rising Stars Festival, which groups non-collegiate students by age. School All-State Band is not a ukulele route because the instrument is not on its current instrument list. Weekly lessons fit around school commitments by focusing on a festival piece or a personal playing goal, so a teen can prepare steadily without treating ukulele as a school-band requirement.

Starting or coming back as an adult

It is not too late to begin ukulele as an adult in Colorado, and playing with others can be part of the goal from the start. The Denver Uke Community in Denver welcomes players at any skill level to share songs, and the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Orchestra in Lakewood invites players into multipart arrangements. A teacher meets you at your current level, whether you are learning your first chords or returning after a break, and helps you build toward the kind of group playing you want.

Finding the right teacher

What should a good ukulele teacher do?

A strong ukulele teacher helps you or your child build clear chord changes, a relaxed strumming hand, and musical listening, then shapes lessons around the student’s age, goals, and confidence. Colorado’s CSMTA student events reward steady preparation, while an informal group goal calls for flexible songs and ensemble skills, so fit matters as much as formal training. Lesson With You teachers each hold at least a bachelor’s degree in guitar. You can choose a teacher yourself or ask us to recommend one, then switch teachers at no cost if another teaching style suits you better.

How do live online ukulele lessons work?

A live Zoom ukulele lesson lets your teacher hear your rhythm and chord transitions in real time and see your fretting hand, so you can adjust finger placement together. Set the camera to show both hands, keep the instrument tuned, and have a stand or stable surface for music; the teacher can also listen as you sing or play along. From Denver or Greenwood Village, you get the same choice of teacher and the same weekly one-on-one lesson, without a commute or a limit to whoever is closest. A regular online time is easier to keep through Colorado’s busy school and activity weeks.

What $35 a week gets you at Lesson With You

A teacher with a degree in guitarEvery Lesson With You ukulele teacher holds at least a bachelor's degree in guitar.

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Ukulele in Colorado

Where to hear ukulele

Live music access in Colorado includes student offers, family admission, and free community performances, though the opportunities are local rather than part of one common program. In Pueblo, the Pueblo Municipal Band offers a free holiday concert on December 20, 2026. It gives you or your child a chance to hear live music in a community setting, even when ukulele is not the featured instrument.

Where to play with others

CSU Spur Music Lab in Denver offers a free monthly gathering where all ages and skill levels can play ukulele or other instruments together. For a student who wants a low-pressure first experience, playing familiar songs alongside others is a practical step toward listening, keeping time, and following a shared arrangement.

Ukulele around Colorado, area by area

Denver area

In Denver, students and educators with valid ID can buy $10–$15 tickets to select Colorado Symphony concerts at Boettcher Concert Hall. Levitt Pavilion Denver also presents 50 free, all-ages concerts and community events each summer at Ruby Hill Park. These performances give a ukulele student two different listening experiences, from symphonic programming to open-air concerts, without either being a ukulele-specific event.

Colorado Springs area

Colorado Springs offers a family-friendly way to hear the Colorado Springs Philharmonic: selected 2026–27 concerts are free for ages 7–17 when an adult buys a full-price ticket, with up to two children per adult ticket. Old Colorado City’s Tuesday summer concerts in Bancroft Park are free from 6–8 p.m. June through October. Both settings give young players a chance to hear live music together with family.

Fort Collins area

In Fort Collins, the Symphony’s Signature Concerts offer $10 tickets for students and children, making a formal orchestral performance accessible to a young listener. Loveland Orchestra has a 2026–2027 student season ticket for $55 that includes one student ticket to each of six regular concerts. These are listening opportunities rather than ukulele groups, but they help a developing player hear ensemble balance and phrasing.

Boulder area

Boulder offers free public listening through CU Boulder College of Music student degree recitals and free weekly Faculty Tuesdays performances in the Warner Imig Music Building. The broader College of Music calendar includes orchestra, jazz, world music, student recitals, and ensembles through the year. That variety gives a ukulele player examples of different musical roles, even when the performance is not built around ukulele.

Grand Junction area

In Grand Junction, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra concerts have $5 student tickets, while Love Recital Hall concerts are free for students. These choices let a student hear orchestral music and other performances in the Grand Junction area, giving a ukulele player chances to listen for ensemble balance and phrasing.

Montrose area

Montrose listeners can attend Valley Symphony Association concerts with $5 single-concert student tickets. From June through September, the Montrose Summer Music Series brings free concerts to the Montrose Amphitheater. For a ukulele student, the mix offers a way to hear live music in a concert setting and in a summer community series without requiring a formal music background.

Steamboat Springs area

Steamboat Springs has two free summer listening options with different musical ranges. Steamboat Free Summer Concerts at Howelsen Hill are all-ages performances spanning pop, reggae, bluegrass, blues, and funk. Strings Music Festival also offers free weekly summer concerts at Yampa River Botanic Park. Hearing several styles can help a ukulele player connect familiar strumming patterns with different ensemble sounds.

A little ukulele history in Colorado

Colorado has an active ukulele community as well as makers who build for local conditions. Fairplay’s Resonance Guitars makes ukuleles designed for Colorado’s dry climate, and Gary Müller handcrafts ukuleles in Hermosa. In Denver, Marnie Ward arranges music for the Rocky Mountain Ukulele Orchestra, a group of more than 70 players known for multipart arrangements across genres. That scale shows a student that ukulele can grow beyond strumming songs alone: careful listening and part-playing can lead to a substantial ensemble sound.