Progress...it bewildered me..

I played guitar for almost 50 years and was reasonably good at it, then I started playing uke 4 years ago. One of the first songs I wanted to learn was Iz's version of "Over theRainbow" but when I tried to play along, I could not get his strum pattern. I tried for days, then just decided to put it aside and just continue to play along with the uke group I meet with two days a week. About 4-5 moths later I tried to play "Rainbow" again, and what-do-you-know, I got it. Just needed some time to warm up to the uke.

All my life I've given up things I shouldn't have. What keeps me going with the uke is indeed playing a song I like, however simple or chord bashing it is, but then replacing chords with alternatives up the neck, altering the rhythm and some words. And then, what I hope to do next is turn it into a chord melody so I can pick put the bass or melody. Least thats what i'm hoping, and maybe ill keep going for a second year! Mostly due to Matt Steadman

Learning to play any instrument takes time & a lot of practice. I am only now, in retirement, making progress.
This is because I am not in a hurry any more, it's not even the fact that I could devote more time to it, because I don't.

It has taken me 15 months with my ukes to get to a point where I am satisfied, I'm not good, but I am now passable.
That, to me, is a great achievement.

So, now I have gone back to my harmonicas, that I gave up on before picking up the uke, & I'm making progress with them as well now.

I think acceptance probably helps with improvement. When I try too hard, I usually just hit a wall. If instead I just make peace with where I am right now, learning comes more easily. Likely true for other areas of life, too.

I think that a lot of people set their sights too high to begin with and then set themselves up for failure right out of the box. A good friend of mine went through it this summer and I watched it unfold. She became interested in ukuleles because I was playing it. So she found a video of Iz playing Over the Rainbow. She bought a ukulele and found the music for the song on the internet, and set off to play it just like Iz. But after a week, she made no progress. She asked me for help, and I directed her to Uncle Robs Ukulele Bootcamp. But that isn't what she wanted to do, she wanted to play Over the Rainbow like Iz. So the last time I talked to her about it she said that she hadn't played her ukulele since back in August. I'm betting that she's done with the ukulele.

Rllink said:

I think that a lot of people set their sights too high to begin with and then set themselves up for failure right out of the box. A good friend of mine went through it this summer and I watched it unfold. She became interested in ukuleles because I was playing it. So she found a video of Iz playing Over the Rainbow. She bought a ukulele and found the music for the song on the internet, and set off to play it just like Iz. But after a week, she made no progress. She asked me for help, and I directed her to Uncle Robs Ukulele Bootcamp. But that isn't what she wanted to do, she wanted to play Over the Rainbow like Iz. So the last time I talked to her about it she said that she hadn't played her ukulele since back in August. I'm betting that she's done with the ukulele.

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Ha! I did that when I first started learning to play the trumpet. The first song I bought was Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust". It was up in the second octave, and there was no way I was gonna play it. I kept it, and others that I bought at the local drug store, for years.

But we never get over it, I guess. I still buy music that I can't play . . . Ha! . . . YET! ld:

jnorris235 said:

All my life I've given up things I shouldn't have. What keeps me going with the uke is indeed playing a song I like, however simple or chord bashing it is, but then replacing chords with alternatives up the neck, altering the rhythm and some words. And then, what I hope to do next is turn it into a chord melody so I can pick put the bass or melody. Least thats what i'm hoping, and maybe ill keep going for a second year! Mostly due to Matt Steadman

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I think that is an excellent way to improve. I do this often - learn a very basic no-frills version of a song ("chord bashing") then slowly start to introduce more complex elements. I'll add in a picked intro or outro, play around with bits of technique - dynamics, legato, muting etc. I find this much more enjoyable than just plodding through drills.

Mivo said:

I think acceptance probably helps with improvement. When I try too hard, I usually just hit a wall. If instead I just make peace with where I am right now, learning comes more easily. Likely true for other areas of life, too.

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Rllink said:

I think that a lot of people set their sights too high to begin with and then set themselves up for failure right out of the box.

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I think it can be tricky to set yourself a good pace for learning. Aim too high and things can quickly get frustrating. One of the best ways to stay motivated imho is to see yourself steadily improving and, for that to happen, you need to be setting yourself realistic goals. Another issue with this is that some learning resources, such as method books, aren't always successful in providing a smooth learning curve (again imho). I have Ukulele Aerobics (bari edition) and I feel that things start to get pretty tough after just the first few weeks - I'm really struggling to keep up. I feel as though the difficulty suddenly spikes and I'm left floundering, way out of my depth.

Well, JB, that's what some of us tried to tell people about Ukulele Aerobics. It not only gets wicked difficult very quickly, but, IMHO, it teaches stuff that the "regular" ukist will never use.

Mine's in the "Wasted Money Pile" with a few others. Maybe, when I become a Uke virtuoso, I'll look it over again. ld:

Down Up Dick said:

Well, JB, that's what some of us tried to tell people about Ukulele Aerobics. It not only gets wicked difficult very quickly, but, IMHO, it teaches stuff that the "regular" ukist will ever use.

Mine's in the "Wasted Money Pile" with a few others. Maybe, when I become a Uke virtuoso, I'll look it over again. ld:

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Well DUD, I think that the book certainly has some issues in terms of pacing. I haven't completely abandoned it though as I do feel that there is some useful stuff in there. I don't believe that it is for 'all levels' (as advertised) though and personally I consider it may be best suited to the advanced player (more advanced than me for sure ).

jollyboy said:

Well DUD, I think that the book certainly has some issues in terms of pacing. I haven't completely abandoned it though as I do feel that there is some useful stuff in there. I don't believe that it is for 'all levels' (as advertised) though and personally I consider it may be best suited to the advanced player (more advanced than me for sure ).

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Yeah, JB, I thought that too. I even marked some pages that I might find useful--but didn't. Finally, I gave up.

I think that if one is gonna work that hard he/she oughta take private lessons. ld: