BYU-Idaho Radio · BYU-I Teacher Sells Ukulele Hymn Books
A BYU-Idaho instructor has a love for music, and he’s decided to help others trying to pick up an interesting instrument.
Danny Heslop started working at Chesbro Music while going to school. He taught guitar. While working there, he kept receiving an interesting question.
“They kept asking me, ‘Hey, do you teach ukulele?’ And I kept saying, ‘No, no I don’t.’ But I kept getting that question, so I thought it wouldn’t be too bad to try it,” Heslop said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
After learning the ropes, Heslop really got into it. As he started teaching the ukulele, he continued to get requests for songs his students wanted to play. Soon, he learned how to create compositions for these songs, and that sparked an idea.
Since then, Heslop has written several different books, each involving ukulele compositions and lessons. He said it’s been a fun experience.
“For me it’s a really big joy,” he said. “When playing music, you’re not only enjoying it yourself, but you’re also sharing that talent and hopefully they’re enjoying it as well.”
“Ukulele Hymns” is off to a quick start. Heslop sold more than 30,000 books over the course of last year, and he still wants to work toward making more resources for those wanting to learn.
The thing that got him started was creating compositions for the primary songs used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Heslop said it was just on his mind when he started learning.
“I was actually a primary chorister in my ward at that time, so those songs were just on my mind. I also had students at the time that wanted to learn those primary songs, so that’s why I started with that,” he said.
Heslop wants to let others know that you shouldn’t give up on what you enjoy doing.
“Don’t give up on your dreams and continue to learn. A lot of people stop learning the skill they’re doing, and I think they should continually pursue their dream,” Heslop said.
You can check out Heslop’s website ukulelehymns.com.