Abstract: "Gymnastic for the body, and music for the mind." -Plato (Greek Philosopher) Over the last 25 years, many researches and studies have been done to find out how music influences our brain and how we can use music to help our pupils learn faster and more effectively. Our brain is most open and receptive to incoming information when it is in a special state of relaxation. Music is all around us and we agree totally that it plays an integral part in our pupils' overall development. The Singapore government recognizes the importance of music and our school acknowledges each child's musical experiences as a fundamental aspect of his education journey. However, it is disappointing to find, in the course of our research, that little studies have been done to measure the relationship between motivation and participation in a school's music programme. Does participation in music education really bring about a high level of motivation, self-discipline and self-esteem? If mere participation in the prescribed school's music programme brings about all the above mentioned positive influences, why then are we not seeing it in our pupils? Is there a need to enhance our music curriculum by introducing something unique that would cater to their needs and interest and in the process, brings about a high level of motivation, self-discipline and self-esteem? We chanced upon the Ukulele, a fourstringed instrument, which resembles the Banjo, when it was shown to us by one of our aesthetic CCA instructors. Could the uniqueness of the Ukulele be the key to achieving the desired outcomes mentioned earlier? This paper aims to find out if learning to play a special musical instrument will accentuate the level of motivation, self-discipline and self-esteem. 80 pupils went through a 16-hour My Musical Journey with the Ukulele programme in 2005 and another 16-hour of the same programme at the advanced level in year 2006. Statistical data confirmed our hypothesis and showed that there is a positive relationship between the effect of the Ukulele programme and the level of motivation. These pupils appeared more confident and a subsequent qualitative analysis substantiated our findings
