Probably. I am not in the slightest interested in going towards a guitar. For me the uke is a perfect fit, it's small and portable and fun to play. The concert size feels great to play. I tried the guitar some 15years ago, and quit very fast. Not my thing.
UAS: Is there a cure?
- Thread starter Larry U
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cpmusic
Well-known member
I think there is a point of saturation and sobering up, but you're not in the K brands and custom stage of your UAS yet, so, no, you'll keep doing this for a while yet.
This is exactly what I was thinking. I actually ran out of GAS -- I even sold a nice guitar without replacing it -- but that was after about 30 years of doing that deal. Either that, or GAS morphed into UAS. I suspect the latter is the case.
I still have and play my remaining guitars (a very small collection) but the ukulele has most of my attention these days.
janeray1940
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That makes two of us. I have one, a small vintage parlor guitar, and it comes down off the wall hanger maybe once every three years. I'm not one to buy into the "playing ukulele is easy!" propaganda but I do know full well that to play the kind of pieces (classical, fingerstyle) I do on uke, on guitar, would be a heck of a lot harder. Knowing me, I'd quit really fast.
Rllink
Well-known member
Sometimes I read posts and think that people are trying to make their ukuleles more like little four string guitars. I see some guitar envy out there.
Nope. 3. I have absolutely no interest in guitars.
wickedwahine11
Well-known member
Teek
Well-known member
Re: the nice short scale guitar, think of it as a long scale baritone with two extra bass strings to add in a nice alternating bass line whenever you want, and also when you can only find guitar tabs for something you want to play, well, no problem.. they even have flourocarbon strings available now, I like the Oasis GPX with carbon trebles set.
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Croaky Keith
Well-known member
No guitar for me! :deadhorse:
Tried that in my younger days, sore fingers was all I got out of trying to play one............. & there are too many strings!
(After all, I've only got 4 fingers on each hand! )
Ukes are great for just sitting down & relaxing (?!) with, (depending on how your practicing is going ).
Tried that in my younger days, sore fingers was all I got out of trying to play one............. & there are too many strings!
(After all, I've only got 4 fingers on each hand!
)Ukes are great for just sitting down & relaxing (?!) with, (depending on how your practicing is going
).
Nickie
Well-known member
No guitar envy here. I toted two of Tammy's guitars to her car yesterday, and my arms are longer now.
They're pretty, make nice music, but I wouldn't have one. No Thanks.
They're pretty, make nice music, but I wouldn't have one. No Thanks.
Fleacia
Well-known member
LOL I had one of those, and one uke. Now I have 2 ukes and one guitar in playing condition, and some other instruments in, uh, purgatory? They're working on the next round of music-making.
No cure. But it evolves.
Debussychopin
Well-known member
There really is a cure. It is difficult at first, but just grab one of your ukes and just start practicing hard. Don't look at ukes for a week keep all websites under lock and key so to speak. Once you start making headway in practice and gain some skill , you'll find that more interesting and focus-worthy than material goods.
Or get into something else like hats.
Dam
Or get into something else like hats.
Dam
dinghy
Well-known member
Help Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Help Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
just started learning on a Fluke ive owned for about 5 years
a week ago bought a Oscar OU2P
please don't tell my wife
just ordered a Mele Koa pineapple for too too much money
i can hardly play twinkle twinkle little star
no more dam it
need to save money to replace my 26 year old 240 Volvo
dit dit
mac
Help Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
just started learning on a Fluke ive owned for about 5 years
a week ago bought a Oscar OU2P
please don't tell my wife
just ordered a Mele Koa pineapple for too too much money
i can hardly play twinkle twinkle little star
no more dam it
need to save money to replace my 26 year old 240 Volvo
dit dit
mac
I just read over my responses in this thread from 14 months ago, and I still fundamentally have the same views.
I think this is really good advice. Most of my uke purchases were directly or indirectly influenced by this forum here, YouTube videos, or by window shopping. Many were also related to frustration or dissatisfaction with my lack of progress, suspecting the instrument or the size of being at fault rather than a wrong approach to learning or, more likely, my impatience and expectations.
What I also realized is that I have not often given a new instrument enough time before looking for something else. At least not focused attention as opposed to bouncing around between different instruments. It's still my belief that I'd be a better player if I had had only one uke and one book at the beginning and then stuck with it, but maybe that is a flawed view because I might have quit for all I know. But yes, I suspect we have too much choice, too much information, and too many opportunities for instant gratification, which makes this a "first world problem".
When I got my most recent uke, I decided to try something new: play it exclusively for a month to get to know it. Really practice with it, develop a feel for it, and learn how it ticks. By removing the bouncing around, resisting the temptation to fall back on something different (or familiar), and not confusing myself with too many different impressions from different instruments to a point where I don't know what I like anymore, I hope to not only improve more smoothly, but also form an informed opinion of what works for me, and why.
I'll see where that leads me. If I do this for each of my ukes, I'll be too busy playing what I have to buy anything new.
I think this is really good advice. Most of my uke purchases were directly or indirectly influenced by this forum here, YouTube videos, or by window shopping. Many were also related to frustration or dissatisfaction with my lack of progress, suspecting the instrument or the size of being at fault rather than a wrong approach to learning or, more likely, my impatience and expectations.
What I also realized is that I have not often given a new instrument enough time before looking for something else. At least not focused attention as opposed to bouncing around between different instruments. It's still my belief that I'd be a better player if I had had only one uke and one book at the beginning and then stuck with it, but maybe that is a flawed view because I might have quit for all I know. But yes, I suspect we have too much choice, too much information, and too many opportunities for instant gratification, which makes this a "first world problem".
When I got my most recent uke, I decided to try something new: play it exclusively for a month to get to know it. Really practice with it, develop a feel for it, and learn how it ticks. By removing the bouncing around, resisting the temptation to fall back on something different (or familiar), and not confusing myself with too many different impressions from different instruments to a point where I don't know what I like anymore, I hope to not only improve more smoothly, but also form an informed opinion of what works for me, and why.
I'll see where that leads me. If I do this for each of my ukes, I'll be too busy playing what I have to buy anything new.
Tootler
Well-known member
There's no complete cure. The most you can hope for is to be in remission for a long time but beware; UAS can flare up again at any time. ld: :biglaugh:
ld: :biglaugh:
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
I went down that rabbit hole - for most of my first year - I think I know what I was looking for now, & so my UAS has subsided considerably, or it may have ended.
Whichever it is, I am now using the ones that I think I was looking for, more than the others which I still have.
Whichever it is, I am now using the ones that I think I was looking for, more than the others which I still have.
bborzell
Well-known member
It's really pretty simple. Hunger and/or homelessness should do it. If you are not willing to starve or risk dying from exposure to the elements, then you do not have UAS; only a wimpy wannabe version of it.
Rllink
Well-known member
You point the finger at three things, lack of progress, impatience, and expectations. What do you want to do? I do not seem to be afflicted by UAS. I have more than one ukulele, but in the three years that I have been playing it I have bought two, so comparatively that is not very many. I have a pretty nice ukulele that everyone seems to like, and I like it. But my goal was to accompany myself and others while we sang songs because I thought that would be fun. A pretty simple goal, I think. So I can play most any song that I want to and I am quite satisfied and perhaps that has something to do with it. And I continue to grow, but more as a result of playing a lot and picking up knowledge and skills along the way, not so much because I am working at that specifically. So I seldom get frustrated with it. But I know lots of people who seem to be frustrated with playing their ukuleles, or guitars, or harps. I have a friend who took up the ukulele because she thought that what I was doing looked fun, and she has been in a state of frustration ever since. But I think that she lost sight of where she wanted to go early on. I also think that you have hit on something. I wonder if people do project their frustration on their ukuleles and buy them for that reason.I just read over my responses in this thread from 14 months ago, and I still fundamentally have the same views.
I think this is really good advice. Most of my uke purchases were directly or indirectly influenced by this forum here, YouTube videos, or by window shopping. Many were also related to frustration or dissatisfaction with my lack of progress, suspecting the instrument or the size of being at fault rather than a wrong approach to learning or, more likely, my impatience and expectations.
What I also realized is that I have not often given a new instrument enough time before looking for something else. At least not focused attention as opposed to bouncing around between different instruments. It's still my belief that I'd be a better player if I had had only one uke and one book at the beginning and then stuck with it, but maybe that is a flawed view because I might have quit for all I know. But yes, I suspect we have too much choice, too much information, and too many opportunities for instant gratification, which makes this a "first world problem".
)
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I feel your pain - our 23-year-old 240 died last year. We concluded it was irreplaceable, so no longer have a car. You can buy an awful lot of ukes for the annual cost of keeping a car on the road.
I'm with you. There is a case to be made for 2 instruments (low g, high g) of the size that fits you, and possibly a baritone if you want that tuning. Otherwise, LEARN TO PLAY the damn thing.
"The size that fits you" is the tricky part. Most of my ukulele purchases were related to the quest of finding the size that fits me. It's more than a physical fitting too (I can play any size comfortably), but also the sound you want and the music you play. The latter is a preference that is subject to change. I do agree that learning to play with what you have is a good approach, but finding what really fits you may require quite a few tries, for some of us. As you become a better player, you may also value things that may not have mattered initially (radiused fretboard for some, nut width, neck profile, cutaway, soundport, type of wood, etc.).
