New member first post.

Uke Andy

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Location
Brookfield, IL
Aloha Everyone,
This is my first post on UU just wanted to introduce myself. I am going to be 50 in April and the ukulele is the first musical instrument that I have tried to play. I have been enjoying the forum so far, been going through the beginner section. I find some very interesting and helpful information here.
I decided to play the ukulele because my wife and I have a love for Hawaii and its culture. I have only been playing since 3/8/2014 and have been taking lessons at our local music store here in town. I decided on the Oscar Schmidt OU5. I have not had any problems with it (besides me playing it). It is an awesome instrument and a blast to play.
My lessons are once a week and my practice is about 45 minutes to an hour on week days and on Saturday and Sunday from 1-2 hours each day. My problem beside the normal chord change speed is strumming. I just don’t seem to have a rhythm on consistent strum patterns. Now just a 4 beat down strum is no problem, the 4 beat down & up strum is no problem but if I try the DDUUDU or something like this I get lost in my count or can’t strum and change chords at the same time. Will this come in time? My instructor says I am doing well and because I practice a lot I’m ahead of schedule. He doesn’t seem too worried about the strumming for right now.
Songs I’d like to learn are mostly Hawaiian; I’m a big Jimmy Buffett fan and a John Prine fan so any of those songs would be great. Anybody play John Prine on the ukulele? I would also like to learn Surf by the Ka’au Crater Boys. I know this is overdone in Hawaii but here in the suburbs of cold windy Chicago I think it would play very nicely.

Ok that’s my intro. Mahalo!
 
Hi Andy - hola from sunny (and already warm) Arizona! Welcome to the forums. Sounds like you're doing a very good job practicing and you'll get better over time. Just have fun and enjoy it!
Also you may want to check out Uncle Rod's Boot Camp
http://ukulelebootcamp.weebly.com/
 
Greetings and welcome. I have one of those gorgeous OU5's. Sound on mine improved greatly with addition of Aquila strings. Someone on UU once said the most important trait needed to play the ukulele well is "patience." Practice and it will come.
 
Welcome to UU, Andy. One of our moderators, Seeso, is a native of Chicago, and might be able to point you in the direction of a few uke group meets. Once you feel you're ready, that is.
 
It'll come. The multitasking seems hard at first but once you get that DDUUDU strum down, you'll be doing it without even thinking about it. Then once you get that without thinking about it, you'll be able to change chords without paying much mind to it and it'll all just flowwwww. :cool:
 
Welcome, this forum in my opinion has the most Uke info and it's all in one spot!! I've only been playing about 8 months so I probably shouldn't give advice but what really helped me with rhythm was a rhythm ring, which my grand kids used in pre K. I used it on my strum hand when practicing and some times I still pull it out if I'm trying a new or more complicated strum than my go to strums! Good luck and stick with it, video tape yourself now and then again in a month, you will surprise yourself with your progress!!
 
Welcome, Andy! Search Facebook for "Chicago Ukulele Cabaret," "Chug Ukulele Group," "Harrison Street Ukulele Players," and "Ukulele Suburbia" for some meetup groups around the area.
 
Aloha Andy, welcome to UU. Glad you joined us. Prine and Buffett sound great on the uke. A lot of the songs are just C, F, G, C.

In case you haven't found it, chordie.com is a great site
http://www.chordie.com/song.php/songartist/Jimmy+Buffett/index.html
http://www.chordie.com/song.php/songartist/John+Prine/index.html
In most cases you can change the chord diagrams to the uke under the "Tuning" pull done and transcribe it to the key of C for ease of playing (lots of songs are in the dreaded key of E for them thar guitar players)

Buffett also has a uke songbook out there as well

Enjoy and keep us posted
 
added a word

Hey thanks vanflynn, I didn't know of the site chordie.com, I'll get some Prine stuff off of them. My local music store had the Jimmy Buffett ukulele song book so I bought it. I know I could have gotten most of the material off the internet but I like to help small local busnesses out when I can.

I must say I am getting better at chord changes and strumming. Not there yet, but I'm strumming a pattern and changing chords longer then when I started. My instructor is very please with my progress so far. I have increased my practice to about 2 hours a day on weekdays and a bunch more on weekends. I have been watching the UU lesson videos and they are awesome. When I get a little better I may try Wagon Wheel. The video did a great job breaking it down so I may give it a shot later on.

It's getting to be one month since I stared, no songs down yet but I am happy with what I'm doing so far. And I'm having a blast at playing the ukulele and reading all the posts on UU. Living Aloha! :music:
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom