What have you gained since joining this forum?

This is a great place to be in.
No one cares about your age, your colour, your background, your skill level or if you are male or female . No one judges you. If you have a question, everyone jump in to help.
The most wonderful group ever ! We encourage each other to buy buy buy buy..... LOL
 
Friends.

from all over the world.

. . . and I'm still putting faces/voices to the avatars with every event I attend.

(and enough UU gear to clothe a small nation)
 
Something to do at work when I'm so bored I could cry.
A healthy respect for luthiers, great players, beginners brave enough to post videos.
And I wouldn't have known Sukie when I saw her at TBUG last year if not for UU.
And a personal invite to tour Hawaii from the great mmStan....
I've learned so much about ukulele that it is spilling outta my brains.....
And a lot of support from a bunch of really cool peeps!
 
gyosh said:
Friends.

from all over the world.

. . . and I'm still putting faces/voices to the avatars with every event I attend.

(and enough UU gear to clothe a small nation)
Click to expand...

I'm reading this in your voice, Jerry.
 
Weight. Lots of weight. Oh, and infamy.

On the plus side: good advice, good friends, good ukes. What more could a man wish for.
 
to me, UU Forums feel like the real spirit of the internet. The whole bringing people together from all walks of like/ all ages/ all backgrounds etc. with a common love of a little fun instrument. I love it for its stress-reducing-ness. I also like that the forum isn't too fancy/ too flashy/ it feels old-school internet to me, which I love. It's not a bunch of ads and videos and misc garbage like my facebook feed is!
Thanks to everyone here!
 
Besides many of the previous comments by others....

1. One corner of my den buried under several additional gig bags and cases.
2. Now on a first-name basis with the UPS driver and the postal clerk.
3. A bagfull of nylon strings of various gauges, lengths and colors.
4. A peculiar look from my guitar-playing granddaughter every time she comes over (she only lives five miles away) and sees another new addition to the stable.
5. Knowledge about another facet of music....and there is no such thing as too much knowledge.
6. A corner of the garage now being used to keep a couple extra instrument boxes and packing material, all at the ready for the next outgoing shipment.
7. ....and last, finding out there are indeed several folk out there just as nutty as I am regarding the stringed instrument culture.

And on a serious note. There are many of us who remember the "Pre-Internet" days when long-distance special-interest-group communication was limited to snail-mail, telephone calls and amateur rado. Having this ability to instantly communicate globally on a group basis is a marvel that the latest generation now takes for granted. Here's hoping this wondrous capability is never chained to the point that our "freedom to congregate" as such disappears.
 
Great thread.

I have gained a sense of community, one person helping another. This happens endlessly here. Gained a vast knowledge about ukuleles, wood types, tone and playability. I had a Gretsch laminate tenor when I joined here, I have "gained" 8 other ukes.

The most important thing gained are friendships. Some in person that I play with and some over the web whom I hope to meet one day.
 
DownUpDave said:
Great thread.

I have gained a sense of community, one person helping another. This happens endlessly here. Gained a vast knowledge about ukuleles, wood types, tone and playability. I had a Gretsch laminate tenor when I joined here, I have "gained" 8 other ukes.

The most important thing gained are friendships. Some in person that I play with and some over the web whom I hope to meet one day.
Click to expand...

For sure Dave!
Great friendship, great advice....so .when are you going to change my strings? Lol
 
I did not own a single ukulele when I joined, had never even played a ukulele, and had even less knowledge about ukes in general. All I knew was that I wanted to try playing lute music on uke. For me, UU has been a deep and comprehensive immersion in all-things-uke. It has been -- in the short time since I have been a member -- simply invaluable.

I first received one member's friendly tip about how to figure out what size would best match my physical and musical preferences; then various UU posts led me to reams of wonderful classical tabs; next I added some fingerpicking technique videos / books discovered through UU; it was on UU that I also studied up on string choices; later I got to meet Craig and Cindy Turner, who had already gifted me with an email suggestion about where to search for my first uke (which turned out to be a re-entrant Ko'olau tenor); and, finally, the person from whom I received the Ko'olau recently linked me up with a low G tenor made by Chuck Moore.

Where or how else could all that ever have happened in the space of less than five months without UU?!? Although I participate in other music-related forums (guitar, violin, viola da gamba), there is nothing like UU. Not even close. May it continue for many many years.
 
I almost forgot, another friend! I wouldn't have known Freeda when I saw her at TBUG, if it weren't for UU....Freeda, you are a hoot!
 
Lots of ukulele related figurines. One is shown in this thread: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...st-get-along-My-Uke-figurine-collection/page2

I have added quite a few including this girl and boy just purchased online.

lava-uke-boi.jpg lava-hula-girl.jpg

Of course they will go live at my shop with the others. I like having a bunch of things to keep peoples minds occupied and moving, many shops will just have a bunch of signs for the same reason.
 
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Something else I've gained in the last couple weeks since I joined UU: A widened view. I used to walk into music shops only to try out a few guitars -- haven't bought a new one (except a couple cheap electrics off eBay) in maybe 20 years -- and I pretty much ignored everything else. Now I know my future store incursions will have me look closely and palpate at all the little instruments too and maybe induce my wife to say, "Oh, you have GOT to get THAT one!" Maybe an 8-string 'uke or a mandola, eh? And very likely a charango.

I've gained an appreciation of my laziness. I can no longer abide with plinking and planking the same stuff I've been playing for 50 years. I'll take online lessons. I'll PRACTICE and not just noodle. This I swear and affirm! I also realize that my reach exceeds my grasp -- meaning, plans I had for converting instruments are unworkable. Plans don't survive contact with reality, right? No, I can't turn the old mandolin into an 8-string mandolele; the neck is too narrow for the necessary chording. Maybe restringing my extra soprano 'uke in mando fifths will be fruitful. Nice thing about experimenting with tunings on a soprano: few strings to mess with. :)
 
Fun thread.

For me, the Seasons of the Ukulele has been the best part of UU. Weekly Seasons challenges have taught me more about about music in the last three years than I had learned on my own in the previous ten years. Three musical gains from the Seasons for me: broader musical awareness, deeper understanding of music theory, better ability to figure out my own uke arrangements, understanding how to transpose songs effectively, etc.

But my best gain from the Seasons and UU has been the community. It's a continuing pleasure to meet and get to know people that share the love of music and ukes both on- and off-line.
 
Since joining UU I have learnt that:

1. The people on UU are amazingly helpful and generous with their knowledge. I have made a few new friends as well.

2. There are some very talented players/singers on this site. Personal favorites (in no particular order) are Eugene Ukulele (Jon); Pabrizzer; Librainian; The Cloverdale Kid; Joo; Petey (Peter Forest); wee_Ginga_Yin; Lelouden

3. Learning the ukulele is very much a journey.

4. There are many different types of woods used in manufacturing ukuleles. I used to think it was only spruce and mahogany.

5. Sadly, I have noticed that a lot of musical people seem to suffer from depression. Is it a higher percentage than for the general population I wonder?
 
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Fred Ukestone said:
5. Sadly, I have noticed that a lot of musical people seem to suffer from depression. Is it a higher percentage than for the general population I wonder?
Click to expand...

Yes, this is sad. I suffered from depression many years ago. It can be quite common in the community of creative individuals. We try very hard to express ourselves in a beautiful way, for ourselves, and others to enjoy.
When things don't go our way, and we seem to have little or no control over the outcomes, it causes stress, and we deal with that stress with feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, or depression.
or....we learn to deal with stress by ignoring or letting go of what isn't under our control, and we settle into our creativity, and express ourselves through our art, which in our case, is making music with the ukulele....and it becomes a lovely journey!
If I had to do it over again, I'd have taken up playing ukulele many years sooner, and could have dealt with the depression quicker, and more effectively...
 
I joined after doing a google search for a Dayton ukulele meet up. I found a newly formed ukulele group and I joined UU to message the leader for more information.
I read threads about other meet ups and found out about TBUG 2012 and decided I wanted to do that too. I stuck around to chat with people who were going to TBUG and met them there.
UU has lead me to many great friends and events. The friendships gained have been life changing. Good people here.
 
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