What do books mean by Method?

I've been looking at a bunch of vintage ukulele books' covers on historical ukulele websites. I've noticed that some are teaching specific songs but many use the term "Method". Such as the "Peterson Method", "Modern Method", "Progressive Method", "Peter Pan Method", and on and on.

I know about fingerpicking and strumming. Is it likely that all these different methods are all that different? Was it more of a marketing gimmick?

Thanks for any explanations,

Lincoln

A method book teaches music basics and technique, and while it usually includes some songs for practice, it is not a songbook.

RichM said:

A method book teaches music basics and technique, and while it usually includes some songs for practice, it is not a songbook.

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So are there that many different techniques to playing the ukulele to warrant so many books each proclaiming their own method?

UkuLincoln said:

So are there that many different techniques to playing the ukulele to warrant so many books each proclaiming their own method?

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I've seen a lot of those old "method" books and if I'm remembering correctly, they didn't differ all that much - so the short answer might be "no." But then, as now, marketing is what makes the world go round - nothing's changed. Seems just about every music publisher has a ukulele how-to method these days - but it's not because there are so many techniques to learn as it is there is money to be made from book sales.

janeray1940 said:

I've seen a lot of those old "method" books and if I'm remembering correctly, they didn't differ all that much - so the short answer might be "no." But then, as now, marketing is what makes the world go round - nothing's changed. Seems just about every music publisher has a ukulele how-to method these days - but it's not because there are so many techniques to learn as it is there is money to be made from book sales.

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I had a feeling that was likely the case.

Is it likely that all these different methods are all that different?

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Not necessarily all that different, but, in their day, the authors may have had an amount of kudos, possibly being recognised as performers in their own right, and as such buyers could be attracted to one method rather than another simply because they recognised the name on the cover and enjoyed that person's playing.

I must admit to not having paid a lot of attention to ukulele methods, having sufficient experience with other fretted instruments to enable me to "jump right in", grab some tabs and play

However, I do have a collection of both recorder and whistle methods/tutors and there are sufficient differences in a lot of those, especially the older ones, to make them all worth while, in their own right.

I suspect the same would be true of the older ukulele methods. There will be a lot of common ground, inevitably, but probably sufficient individuality to make them all worthy at least a cursory inspection, there's likely something to be learnt from all of them

Some of the names you mentioned sound fun. I wonder what those methods might be like. What might the Peter Pan Method be? I wonder when the Modern Method was popular, and how it differed from the previously popular method.

I was given an old Ukulele book called a chart system rather than a method. It was published in the USA in 1964 and includes a lot of common chord sequences but no actual songs. It also has all of the chords for a Ukulele tuned A D F# B with no mention of any other tuning.

KaraUkey said:

I was given an old Ukulele book called a chart system rather than a method. It was published in the USA in 1964 and includes a lot of common chord sequences but no actual songs. It also has all of the chords for a Ukulele tuned A D F# B with no mention of any other tuning.

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I get the impression, in days gone past, a lot more people had at least a grounding in music, so there was more of an emphasis on playing music, in general, using whatever instrument was available, rather than playing a specific instrument as an end in it's own right.

With this in mind, having learnt the basics on whatever, all one might feel the need for is a "system" to apply one's pre-learnt knowledge to a different instrument.

Although I've not studied them in depth, I have seen methods/tutors/systems for the ukulele dating back over very many years and there seems to be little pattern to define as to why "C" tuning was chosen over "D" tuning, or vice versa. It may simply have been to suit the pitch of the voice of whosoever was writing the publication!

I have a couple of clarinet and flute "tutors/methods" which don't actually include any recognisable complete tunes, rather using extracts or phrases, often subtly modified, as the basis for exercises. I suspect that this was done to totally prevent any risk of copyright infringement and it's potential for litigation and/or remuneration.

Generally, a 'method' is how to play an instrument, not necessarily what to play (although its emphasis may be in a certain genre), and the method's name merely reflects who wrote or published it, and their target audience. I know I have some "modern method" books on harmonica from the 1920s, and a couple of 'uke method books from that era also. I think the era may be a factor; 'method' in the title seems less popular for non-orchestral instruments in the last few decades. The very use of 'method' in those 1920's titles reflected publishers' attempt to legitimize 'folk' instruments for a status-conscious public. 'Method' says, "Hey, I'm a serious course of study for a serious instrument, not just some how-to for clods making simple sounds on cheap crud." So yes, it's all about marketing.

k0k0peli said:

The very use of 'method' in those 1920's titles reflected publishers' attempt to legitimize 'folk' instruments for a status-conscious public. 'Method' says, "Hey, I'm a serious course of study for a serious instrument, not just some how-to for clods making simple sounds on cheap crud." So yes, it's all about marketing.

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I'm not sure I'd have had the confidence to be quite so emphatic, but now it's been said, I'd agree wholeheartedly :cheers:

In general a Method is a comprehensive guidebook for learning an instrument. From my experience with other instruments some method books are amazingly good and some are merely mediocre. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about ukulele method books. However, I've seen a lot of different people's opinions about how to play a ukulele but nobody seems to be going into the detailed body mechanics of playing a ukulele that I've seen in great method books.

Many music instrument teachers, instructors who sell books use "method" as if it sets them apart.

I've never used any method books for ukulele...but I did for piano (for many years). Now my daughter is taking piano lessons and her teacher has chosen a different method. It's quite different from when I was a child, and I find myself biting my lip quite a bit (if you know what I mean). Another parent asked me what "Method" meant. I told her that it's basically a series of lesson books that build upon skills as the player progresses. The pesentation that the author chooses is their method. One method may focus more on one particular aspect...while another method may put more emphasis somewhere else. -At least that's how I have experienced it.