Hi all,
Just picked up the ukulele earlier this spring. I played it briefly as a kid, and gave it up after becoming obsessed with basketball.
A month later, I got to meet Andrew Kitakis and Corey Fujimoto, as well as Joel from the setup team at Hawaii Music Supply/The Ukulele Site. I'm sure you know this already, but they are a stellar group of people. They're very customer-focused, to the point that Corey dissuaded me from buying too many accessories. I come from a sales background, so it was a little disarming to hear him say that.
I also took some lessons at Roy Sakuma's studio. When I met Roy, I thought, "He looks kinda familiar..."
When I was younger, I played basketball 6 hours daily at my local rec center. On Sundays, older rec members would play basketball in the mornings. They were in the 40-50 year old range, and they had me play cos they "need someone to run up and down the court...you young, so can, yeah?"
As it turns out, Roy was one of those guys playing every Sunday. And man, did he have a great shot! Both at the midrange, and at the 3.
Anyway, the instructors there teach with the assumption that you as a student can learn quickly. Not in a pushy way, but in a confident, matter-of-fact way. They don't make excuses for you, and don't allow you to make excuses for yourself. One can't help but rise to their expectations.
I use a Gretsch 9121 cutaway tenor a.c.e., and plan to get a clara and a farallon, since durability and maintaining them seems easier. Mayyybe a custom solid wood uke, when my skill level is high enough to warrant it. Hopefully by then, I won't be afraid of babying something that fancy.
By the way, does anyone else have the following problem? I'm terrible at strumming chords and get distracted when strumming along with my local uke group. I enjoy fingerpicking much more, and absolutely love John King's campanella sound. Even my teacher said I'm kinda backwards, since most people learn chords & strumming first.
The ukulele players that inspire me most at the moment are:
I'm not really a 'rippah', so while I enjoy Jake and Taimane style runs, it doesn't suit my temperament. There were a number of posts that spoke well of Kimo Hussey's style, which allows for longer intonation. I'd love to learn from him as well as some of the others listed above.
Right now, I'm into blues, campanella, and bluegrass music.
I look forward to learning more from everyone here.
If you have any questions...don't be shy!
Just picked up the ukulele earlier this spring. I played it briefly as a kid, and gave it up after becoming obsessed with basketball.
A month later, I got to meet Andrew Kitakis and Corey Fujimoto, as well as Joel from the setup team at Hawaii Music Supply/The Ukulele Site. I'm sure you know this already, but they are a stellar group of people. They're very customer-focused, to the point that Corey dissuaded me from buying too many accessories. I come from a sales background, so it was a little disarming to hear him say that.
I also took some lessons at Roy Sakuma's studio. When I met Roy, I thought, "He looks kinda familiar..."
When I was younger, I played basketball 6 hours daily at my local rec center. On Sundays, older rec members would play basketball in the mornings. They were in the 40-50 year old range, and they had me play cos they "need someone to run up and down the court...you young, so can, yeah?"
As it turns out, Roy was one of those guys playing every Sunday. And man, did he have a great shot! Both at the midrange, and at the 3.
Anyway, the instructors there teach with the assumption that you as a student can learn quickly. Not in a pushy way, but in a confident, matter-of-fact way. They don't make excuses for you, and don't allow you to make excuses for yourself. One can't help but rise to their expectations.
I use a Gretsch 9121 cutaway tenor a.c.e., and plan to get a clara and a farallon, since durability and maintaining them seems easier. Mayyybe a custom solid wood uke, when my skill level is high enough to warrant it. Hopefully by then, I won't be afraid of babying something that fancy.
By the way, does anyone else have the following problem? I'm terrible at strumming chords and get distracted when strumming along with my local uke group. I enjoy fingerpicking much more, and absolutely love John King's campanella sound. Even my teacher said I'm kinda backwards, since most people learn chords & strumming first.
The ukulele players that inspire me most at the moment are:
- Tobias Elof
- Willie K
- Karlie Goya
- Corey Fujimoto
- Kris Fuchigami
I'm not really a 'rippah', so while I enjoy Jake and Taimane style runs, it doesn't suit my temperament. There were a number of posts that spoke well of Kimo Hussey's style, which allows for longer intonation. I'd love to learn from him as well as some of the others listed above.
Right now, I'm into blues, campanella, and bluegrass music.
I look forward to learning more from everyone here.
If you have any questions...don't be shy!
