Hey Ocarina!
Let me introduce you to Ocarina!
Who is Zellerwear?
Zellerwear is a family-owned and operated small business based in Oregon since 2005 and founded by Lavonna Zeller-Williams Bratschi, a full-time elementary general music educator in the Portland Public Schools.
At Zellerwear, you will find music education materials for today's music educator. Zellerwear is the maker of Zwubber Bands - rainbow elastic stretch bands; Uke Strapz – straps designed to fit around the body and head of a ukulele with no need for strap buttons; and, currently changing the face of introductory music education, affordable 6-hole and 12-hole Ocarinas! If you haven’t already, you should Join The Ocarina Revolution! Email us at harmony@zellerwear.com for school pricing for ocarina packages or for additional information.
We also have 2 volumes of Whokulele? YOUkulele! Ukulele Made Easy Book I and Book II, ukulele instruction designed specifically for teachers, co-authored by Lavonna's sister and elementary music educator, Aletha McKennon. Section I has original songs to teach chord changes and melody and each song has instrument arrangements for Orff ensembles and a sampling of Orff instruments. Section II has easy recognizable folk songs with arrangements for Orff instruments. Section III has more folk songs with different key options to teach specific chord changes.
How We Got Here
The brainchild of Lavonna Zeller-Williams Bratschi, Zellerwear morphed from a fleece fundraising business when Lavonna was a single mom and her children were small to products for music educators when Lavonna became a full-time elementary general music educator. In 2011, Lavonna began presenting seminars across the nation sharing her creative teaching style with other music educators. Incorporating drama and movement into the music classroom. She then expanded to ukulele curriculum, stretch bands and ukulele straps. Zwubber Bands and Uke Strapz arecustom designed by Lavonna specifically for the music educator to use in within their classrooms.
As a result of having to teach completely online for the 2020/2021 school year and seeing students discouraged and no longer motivated to learn, Lavonna began searching for something to inspire her students to regain their passion for music learning. That is when she found a small novelty ocarina within her home teaching studio. Playing this small 4 hole instrument sparked a brilliant idea; instead of recorders, why not put ocarinas into the student's hands! After thorough research, Lavonna found there was NO ocarina curriculum available in the United States to teach at the elementary music level. To fix that, Lavonna made her own ocarina curriculum - the Z Ocarina 6 Hole and Z Ocarina 12 Hole Instruction Books! The ocarina was then tested by a sampling of students before being debuted at the January, 2022 Oregon Music Educators Association Music Conference.
Lavonna still works with students every day so this means that all our products are tried and true. They have been through thorough testing by kids ages 5-12 and are guaranteed kid approved. As musical educators’ needs change, Lavonna is always on the lookout for new ideas to add to the Zellerwear catalog.
We also have 2 volumes of Whokulele? YOUkulele! Ukulele Made Easy Book I and Book II, ukulele instruction designed specifically for teachers!
Section I has original songs to teach chord changes and melody and each song has instrument arrangements for orff ensembles and a sampling of orff instruments. Section II has easily recognizable folk songs with arrangements for orff instruments. Section III has more folk songs with different key options to teach specific chord changes.
