By Michael Stein
The Arnold Shultz Foundation grant, “Finger Grass from the Serengeti Meets Kentucky” brings bluegrass music to African communities in Uganda. I’ve been teaching band to play a number of tunes via Zoom. They played a concert/jam session for the United States Embassy in Kampala, and they led a workshop/performance for Music Department students at Makarere University, one of the most important universities in East Africa.
Their skills continue to grow; and their enjoyment, and sense of fulfilment, and pride is evident. They love to play bluegrass, and they want to learn more and more.
After receiving the grant and two Deering Goodtime banjos from the IBMA Foundation, I continued my work with bluegrass players in Uganda. I purchased a violin for Aaron Mateka, who I chose to be the leader of the group. I had a friend in Kampala who purchased the violin and to whom I gave a small fee for time and transport. I gave Aaron lessons on Zoom—he already played the African violin (Endingidi), a one stringed instrument played with a bow. First Aaron learned to hold the western style fiddle and bow and then to play scales. He quickly learned “Old Joe Clark,” “Red Wing,” “Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” “Over the Waterfall,” and “Rocky Road Blues.”
Aaron recruited another violinist named Whitney, to whom I taught harmonies on the fiddle. He also recruited Moses, who until he received the banjo from me on my trip to Uganda, tuned his guitar to banjo tuning and learned the chords with me online. Joshua, the guitar player, first learned to strum and then how to play lead. We changed bass players at one point, and presently, we have Akim, a fantastic bassist who has learned to play the basic patterns and runs leading into the chords.
Finally there is Zacharia. I bought a mandolin and brought it to him when I came to Uganda in August. The astounding thing is that all of these musicians never played this style of music in their lives. Moses, the banjo player, never held a banjo in his hands until August 2025, nor did he have any idea what fingerpicks were! Zacharia had never seen a mandolin. He picked it up last August, and now he plays fiddle tunes with confidence.
Akim and Joshua had only played Afro beat songs up until this point. I traveled to Uganda for one week last August, which was absolutely necessary. Learning online can never replace being in person when it comes to playing instruments. I also wanted to deliver the banjo, which would have cost just as much as me flying there.
Aaron picked me up at Entebbe Airport—a driver I had met before. We went directly to the hotel, where I took 24 hours to recover from my 26-hour flight. The next evening the group came to the hotel, where I distributed to them things that they needed to do the work: the Deering banjo, some good violin bows, capos and picks for the guitar, a banjo capo, tuners for everyone, the mandolin, a fifth string tuner for the banjo, rosin, and good will from the IBMA Foundation! I rented a meeting at the hotel so we could rehearse the next day. The session was great! I explained to everyone the purpose and the goals of the Arnold Shultz Foundation. I had prepared Aaron with some materials ahead of time, and he was able to address the group.
I first asked why everyone had taken upon themselves to play this music. The overwhelming response was to expand their horizons, to increase their skills, and also because they were just curious. Those were wonderful answers because that was the point of all of this grant—to create interest and learn skills. After that I had everyone tune their instruments with the tuning machines and spoke of the importance of being in tune so that relating and blending with each other would work.
I spoke about the origins of bluegrass music and the history of the banjo. I also explained that the music is rooted in dancing, and that the rhythms were in step with the steps that were done on the floor. Then Bill Monroe, influenced by black guitarist Arnold Shultz, took the music a step further and brought in improvisation and a pure style of singing. I mentioned the purpose of each instrument: that the mandolin is the snare, the bass is the solid element of rhythm, and the guitar was also part of the rhythm section—but also a lead instrument. The fiddle is the melodic instrument but is also responsible for the rhythm, and the banjo drives us all with forward and backward rolls. It is all about listening—lowering your volume when someone else is playing lead, playing the rhythm, and blending with others.
We practiced five days and some evenings. I provided food for the group and transportation funds. We were able to rehearse after the first day at an ex-pat’s home in Kampala who is a mandolinist. He also helped with guiding the students. On Saturday we did a concert/jam session in Kampala. In attendance were members of the US Embassy and other dignitaries from the area. The concert was a total success, and some expats from the US and England came to play, as well.
After I returned home to California, we continued with Zoom lessons, and I stayed in touch with the Dean of Music at Makerere University where many of my players go to school. He is very excited about the program and asked if they could do a workshop for the other students. I prepared them with talking points and musical selections, and they were fantastic! The Dean of Music is interested in forming a bluegrass ensemble at Makerere University, which is incredibly exciting.
Our repertoire now includes: “Old Joe Clark” in the key of A, “Red Wing” in G, “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” in A, “Over the Waterfall in D, “Home Sweet Home” in C, and the “Rocky Road Blues” in G. I consciously taught them songs in different keys so that they can get used to those chords and fingering formations. I asked the group to give themselves a name. “Equatorial Bluegrass Band of Uganda” was their choice, which can be shortened to “Equator Grass.” What is unique about their situation is that they live very close to the equator, so they wanted something uniquely reflective of their lives. I think that we should re-name the grant next year to the Equatorial Bluegrass Band. (they love to call the band “EBB,” which is the acronym for the Entebbe Airport!
RETURN to the February 2026 issue of The Cornerstone.
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