It's Plunka, Plunka, Plunka Darn It!

Down Up Dick

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When I first started the Ukulele I meant to use it as an accompaniment instrument for my singing or harp playing. So I struggled hard to learn and remember all my chords (except minor seventh chords), and, every time I wandered into fingerpicking, I immediately stopped with a grimace and a shake of the head. No, I said emphatically, I don't wanna do that! I just want to chord and sing.

Then I bought a baritone, and, since I have trouble fretting some of the chords, I relented a little and used it for just a little finger picking. Also, to maybe learn a little bit about the guitar. So, just one little slip.

Well, heck, then I began my battle with clawhammer and the darned tabs. I got so into it that I didn't realize that much of clawhammer is picking tunes! Hey, I don't need another melody instrument! I just wanna accompany my singing!

Well, now I'm picking out tunes, mostly by ear, a lot. I guess you just can't teach an old dog new tricks. I guess I'm just a melody man at heart. I had the same problem trying to learn blues harp a long time ago. I would always slip into melody. And, I played first chair with all my instruments except Trombone (second in a dance band).

Has anyone else had a major change in his/her musical plan? I notice a lot of Ukers fingerpick. Is that what you started out to do? Has Arthritis or something changed your style of playing? When I have trouble doing something, I wonder what others are doing. :eek:ld:
 
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Has anyone else had a major change in his/her musical plan? I notice a lot of Ukers fingerpick. Is that what you started out to do? Has Arthritis or something changed your style of playing? When I have trouble doing something, I wonder what others are doing.

I used to pick/strum chords and sing, even gigged for a season or two back in the day, but recent health issues, nothing serious, but inconvenient nonetheless, have meant I can no longer pitch my voice accurately (I was probably never perfect, but now it's BAD), so I've taken up melody, at least in part ... and it's difficult to play chords on woodwind ;) ... my other diversion. Arthritis (or something similar, maybe just wear and tear) does mean I can't repeat the same action indefinitely, so taking a break on the whistle/flute/recorder/clarinet gives my fingers something different to complain about ;)
 
Interesting question. While I can pick up strumming more easily, I prefer the sound of finger style, at least in part because I don't sing. It's often hard to tell what a strummed song is unless you're playing the melody or singing. So I have delved into finger style probably earlier than I should have, but it's not like I have any deadline to learn by. I've got one song -- "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" -- that I really focused on for a long time and can strum and play the melody halfway decently versus my own expectations, so that's been fun. Then I jumped into a finger style arrangement of "I'll See You in My Dreams". It will probably take me 6 months to learn to play it. I should probably attack something easier so that I realize progress more quickly, but that's never been my style.
 
Good story! And, it sounds sort of familiar. I "learned" Ukulele all on my own. And, as a consequence, I didn't really learn Ukulele at all. Rather, I learned to play a Ukulele in a funny kind of way that suited me. I used a very fat, smooth plastic flat pick that produced a dark ringing tone. My basic desire was to pick the melody line and fill in with arpeggiated chords. I played mostly older tunes, and a whole lot of Stephen Foster's music. I've always love music from that era. There was no strumming involved at all. No chunking or muted strings. Two of my favorite tunes were Foster's "Summer Longings," and "The Voice of Bygone Days." That will give you an idea of what I was playing. Now, everything is SO different! Now I'm furiously whacking away with my strumming, trying desperately to match Aldrine's rendition of "Me and Julio." :D

Edit: Oh, I forgot to mention, except for softly hummed or spoken words, there was no singing involved. My playing was strictly instrumental. Now, I am singing with gusto, and all the critters are fleeing!
 
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As if uke wasn't already hard enough for me, I bought some steel string guitars. That was my major change in musical plan! Now I am banging away on those so that when I come back to the uke I have some real callouses going and the frets now feel cramped even on my bari. Dang the more I get used to the different guitars the smaller my tenor ukes feel, and the sopranos feel ridiculously small.

Yes on picking, I love picking!

@ Bill1, I understood what you wrote and it was perfectly clear but it made my brain hurt. I wish I had that much theory.
 
I sought out the ukulele for the crisp bright sound of a reentrant tuned chord-strumming instrument. I specifically wanted to do LESS on the uke than I was doing on guitar. I didn't intend to import my guitar playing to the duke; I wanted it to be a new instrument for me. I even avoided Low G tuning when I got my tenor, thinking it'd get me noodling around as if I was holding a guitar. Then I was attracted to Glen Rose's Jazzy Uke material, which I love, and it was clear that the jazz chord voicings and progressions would sound better with Low G. So I put Low G on my tenor. Then I saw that many of Ukulele Mike's instrumental and chord melody arrangements also sound better with Low G. Ok, I'll admit that jazz rhythm strumming, instrumentals, and chord melody were NOT the reason I got into uke, they are enjoyable music to play on the bike, and I'm still not noodling.
 
Bill1, for some reason I'm just not gettin' you, and I don't do anything fast. Look up slow in the dictionary and you'll see my picture.

And why fiddle music? I don't think a great many Ukers can read any music. Most of them seem to rely on tabs.

Learning to play a tune with music or by ear is no biggy for me, but, in my first comment, I explained that I just wanted to play accompaniment for my singing. However, I keep sliding into finger picking. My plan keeps changing, and I can't seem to stop it. That's what this thread is all about. :eek:ld:
 
I guess just picking up a Uke was a major change in my musical plan after decades of playing guitar. But I am a singer, so I have always played largely rhythm with a little bit of picking here and there. One of the things about the uke that is so appealing to me, is the way you can strum it to almost sound like the melody. When you play songs with really distinctive strumming patterns like Sweet Home Alabama, Knocking on Heavens Door, Bad Moon Rising, Bye Bye Love, Walking on Sunshine, to name a few, people can easily pick the song you're playing. The other thing I really enjoyed doing was giving up using a plectrum, because it makes such a difference to what you can put into your strumming.
 
Oh well, maybe someone else has found some use for my ideas today.
There is nothing wrong with never learning to read music or to understand some of the technical concepts. After reading the DUD posts over the past weeks I think you would benefit a lot from finding a like minded group who just want to sing along while they play. Many of them just wont have the time to devote to learning music theory or technical stuff and they never need to. That is where I have the most fun with my ukulele. Singing with a group roughly in tune and socialising a bit between tunes. The group I go to includes some good musicians who like to let their hair down with some ukulele fun, so you never know how good or bad the others really are, you just have a good time. Theory and stuff is just for when you have no-one else to play along with. Maybe this answers the question in the OP.

I think Bill1 has an excellent idea here. If you truly want to just strum and play join a uke jam/group/meet up. That is all they do and it's a lot of fun, I attend three different ones on a regular basis. Just as Bill1 mentioned ours also has a number of very talented musician that are there to just have some fun along side us " Plunka, Plunka, Plunka" players.
 
Bill1 and Bro, I understand what you guys are sayin', and I agree with you. Playing along with others was sorta my plan, though I'm pretty much a loner. I have some fun playing and singing by myself, but, before ya know it, there I am finger pickin' some tune running through my head. I could just as easily be playing tunes on my other (wind) instruments. Well, I guess with the baritone Uke and my clawhammer endeavors, I'm a fingerpicker too. Now if I could just get comfortable with those darn tabs. :eek:ld:
 
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