Portable pocket fret trainer? o.O

[Gengarx]

Hey all!!

So I will start off by saying I was unsure if I should ask this here or on the General Uke forum, but being a beginner and new to the forum I decided this would be safest lol!

So I was searching the vast wounder of the internet and stumbled upon this cool little practice gadget for guitars!

Link to cool Gadget

Seeing this I think it seems like a wonderful way to get some practice in, specially since I would be able to practice with it while I was at work. I work at a call center during the week so I could practice with this in between calls without disturbing my other coworkers.

So I geuss my questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone seen anything like this but for the Ukulele? (I tried looking but didn't see any. However Im not sure what the technical name for this even is lol!)
2. Do you think this is (or would be if there is a Uke version) a useful practice tool or do you think you miss out because there is nothing to strum?
3. Do you guy's know of any other little practice gadgets out there (i.e finger strengtheners) that you personally suggest or have heard of that may make practicing on the go or in areas that playing loud music may not be allowed?

 

[UkeStuff]

I looked at these three years ago when I was teaching some middle school guitar. The idea is good, but in practice, you don't get any audible feedback, reviews said the fret edges were "cut your finger sharp," and you're looking at $30+ per unit.

Since you can buy a cheap ukulele (even a bad one) for $30 to practice with, I don't think it is worth it--and you can find a crummy First Act plastic ukulele that won't project very much if you are looking for limited sound and reverberation.

For a guitar, for nearly silent learning, I would recommend a JamStik. For ukulele there are Risa sticks (and others like it). While neither of these is a $30 fake instrument (10 times that), both serve other purposes than just being a practice tool. The JamStik is a MIDI controller, and the Risa is a true electric ukulele.

 

[Gengarx]

I looked at these three years ago when I was teaching some middle school guitar. The idea is good, but in practice, you don't get any audible feedback, reviews said the fret edges were "cut your finger sharp," and you're looking at $30+ per unit.

Since you can buy a cheap ukulele (even a bad one) for $30 to practice with, I don't think it is worth it--and you can find a crummy First Act plastic ukulele that won't project very much if you are looking for limited sound and reverberation.

For a guitar, for nearly silent learning, I would recommend a JamStik. For ukulele there are Risa sticks (and others like it). While neither of these is a $30 fake instrument (10 times that), both serve other purposes than just being a practice tool. The JamStik is a MIDI controller, and the Risa is a true electric ukulele.

I knew this wasn't a good option to completely replace a Uke for practice, but I figured it would help with memorizing chords to songs and such. But honestly after what your saying it really seems like a better option would almost just be using my uke and not strumming it and just practicing on the frets lol! I have all this down time at work when we aren't busy and it drives me mad! I figure why not try and use it for something good right? lol

 

[zztush]

You can control your sound as low as you want with your uku. And we need to control it when playing. My teacher says that he can control his sound in 20 steps. The most difficult one was chunk for me. But now I can chunk quietly. If you can not control your strumming sound, you can still practice melody in very quiet.

 

[Booli]

In addition to all the info that Choirguy provided, these Pocket Trainer things really provide no way to tune the strings. Yes you can 'tension' them, but forget about tuning it to any meaningful pitch reference.

Pitch feedback is essential to practice for me, so one of the RISA solid stick ukes, which is a well-made actual tunable and playable instrument would be a far better choice, as has been said by others, but you are going to have to submit a pound of flesh to the tune of at least $300 USD to get one of the RISA instruments.

If they had a JAMSTIX in a uke version, I would likely have bought one from their first launch, but even so, the JAMSTIX is a lot of cash for such a small and limited item, MIDI yes, but if I am going to use MIDI, I want at least 18 frets, and not have to stop and push the 'octave up' or 'octave down' button while playing...but I guess my own use-case is atypical for one of these devices in that I would want to use the MIDI function to recognize the notes I am playing and use the correct software to transcribe my original compositions to standard notation and TAB for me.

 

[kypfer]

Not being able to hold the thing like a proper instrument means that your fingers will often be at a different angle and/or your grip will be different.

This becomes less than useless when you finally pick up a "real" instrument and find that all your practice doesn't work!

Stick to practicing with a "proper" instrument ... wrap a piece of rag around the strings near the bridge to keep it quiet if you wish.

Good luck

 

[Croaky Keith]

I think that would be like learning the fretboard on a piece of paper - better to just buy, or make, a fretboard & attach it to a lump of wood same length as your uke, at least you would have the feel of a neck to practice with, & all the fret spacings would be right. Go one better & add tuners & strings to get a quiet uke.

 

[Booli]

Not being able to hold the thing like a proper instrument means that your fingers will often be at a different angle and/or your grip will be different.

This becomes less than useless when you finally pick up a "real" instrument and find that all your practice doesn't work!

Stick to practicing with a "proper" instrument ... wrap a piece of rag around the strings near the bridge to keep it quiet if you wish.

Good luck

I think that would be like learning the fretboard on a piece of paper - better to just buy, or make, a fretboard & attach it to a lump of wood same length as your uke, at least you would have the feel of a neck to practice with, & all the fret spacings would be right. Go one better & add tuners & strings to get a quiet uke.

and to add to the above, on Musician's Friend, right now you can get about a dozen different CONCERT SCALE ukes from Luna or Kohala for like $45 + free shipping and have the benefit of a fully playable, yet lower-end real instrument.

see: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ukul...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

but keep in mind that likely ALL of these instruments are going to need SOME setup to correct playability and intonation issues, but if all you want is to practice your fretting hand, then likely these issues will not matter much.

 

[JackLuis]

I was going to suggest a Caramel Sopranino, but they are out of the cheap really ones ($25-30) now. They have the CP-200 solid top acacia for $40 but they are very playable and are pretty quiet. I have a Zebrawood one and it is a hoot to play and is a fine instrument. Cut a strip of sponge and slide it under the strings at the bridge and it would be almost silent.

 

[actadh]

This is how I use my $39 Zither Heaven uke when in my office - practicing chords and fingerstyle patterns.

 

[Rllink]

I think that I would be embarrassed to be seen trying to play that thing.

 

[Gengarx]

Thank you so much guy's! So honestly what I have picked up from this is that this thing is junk xD

 

[blodzoom]

I bought this for quiet practicing while watching tv. I love it. Bonus: I also run it through my tablet so I can distort and output to my stereo (extra cost in chords and such) and pretend I'm a rock star until my wife tells me that I'm making too much noise.

https://www.amazon.com/Stagg-EUK-L-...789707&sr=1-1&keywords=stagg+electric+ukulele