Any of you "un-musical" types take up the uke and learned it well?

Forgive me for the whining. I'll just say that right off the top here, so if you want to skip this and move on to another thread, understood. (I hate whining too.) (And this is a bit long. Sorry.)

My main question: Will it ever "click" for me?

I am pretty much completely utterly totally un-musical. I can sing adequately (I've soloed in church without embarrassment) but I can't read music. I'm good at singing along, mostly. I've NEVER been able to learn to play an instrument. I've made small attempts at different instruments through the years, but frustration and impatience have led me to give it up.

Now I'm trying the ukulele. I admit I haven't worked at it consistently, sometimes going weeks without picking it up. I've had little bursts where I will practice every day or so for a couple weeks and then nothing for 10 days. Right now, I'm trying to practice every day for at least a month. So far, I've done 8 out of 10 days. But here's the thing:

I'm still not "getting" it. I still struggle to form a G-chord, for goodness sake! I have to look at the little pictures with the dots to remember what the D7 is. And I pretty much have to stop in the middle of whatever song I'm playing whenever a B flat shows up (and it shows up a lot). I keep waiting for the muscle memory thing to kick in, but right now I feel like a 7th grader who's had a growth spurt and has lost all coordination. I'm now trying to learn how to do some finger-picking (or whatever it's called) and that's been like dripping-water torture in its slowness. Trying to figure out how to read tablature? I might as well be trying to learn Klingon.

So, are there any other totally un-musical types out there who have actually become adept at playing? I'm tired of getting advice from people who played guitar for 15 years before they took up the uke, because, no, it doesn't come naturally to me like it does for you. I've tried different uke sizes and videos and books and, blah, blah, blah. (And while I'm liking the feel of my new Fluke, I'm still not able to form chords any faster.)

Maybe I'm too ADD. Maybe I'm too old (a couple years shy of a half-century).

Maybe I'm just un-musical and it will NEVER work. That's where I'm at today--after playing through my stack of Christmas songs and a couple sheets of Uncle Rod's camp and STILL not seeing any progress.

I know--just keep practicing. But I need to see SOME kind of improvement soon. Otherwise, I've got several good ukes that will be going up for sale.

OK. Whining rant over. (Though the frustration remains.)

I hear you. I'm not the most musical person myself, and still struggling with a lot of things after two and a half years.

It sounds like you might be expecting too much of yourself, and maybe also not staying focused on a few things.

Instead of trying to get through a couple of sheets of Uncle Rod's, just pick ONE and do the first couple of lines. Instead of having a stack of Christmas songs, pick one or two that use the same chords as the Uncle Rod's sheet you chose, and work on those.

And I do hate to say it, but you really need to get in at least a little bit each day. Say in the morning before you go to work, or while you're waiting for your dinner to come out of the oven, just strum through those chords a few times, and you WILL eventually remember them.

Then you can go on to some other chords, or add a little fingerpicking to the chords you've got down, and then you'll see some progress.

Keep at it! You can do it!

Try tuning to gceg and just playing bar chords.
Open for the one chord, 5th fret for the four chord, and 7th for the five chord.
Use simple strumming. For 4/4 time: Thumb the fouth string for one, strum for two, thumb the fourth for three, strum for four. Thumb, strum, thumb, strum.
For 3/4: thumb, strum,strum.

Rarely a day goes by that I don't at least pick up a uke and play a while. Practice sessions are a minimum of half an hour but may go two hours if I'm trying to crack something.
I'm older, a few weeks off 71, but feel I should be doing better than I am, and yeah, Bb doesn't much appeal to me as yet.

Occasionally I have to remind myself why I'm doing this, it isn't about attempting to become the next Jake or Iz. Some decades ago when the WW2 generation were retiring we would go to the farewell fuction and some too few months later someone would come into the office and inform us, "Old Ernie died." The retirees had more or less just gone home and sat down - and they retired younger then. Thinking back on this I decided I needed an exercise programme and something to keep the brain ticking over. That latter requirement is what lead to the ukulele. Well, three ukulele actually; UAS strikes again.

Sometimes I get frustrated by lack of progress in some respect but I do have my little wins. The main things are identifying my weaknesses so as to work on them, and to remember eaxactly why I'm doing this.

Right .....


First off . Nothing comes easy with music........BUT that does not mean to say you have to have it difficult and soul destroying to improve......

If you are having difficulty remembering the chord shapes thats okay ...either go "Old tech Lo fi" and get a rubber stamp manufacturer to make you a
blank chord grid and get an ink pad ...on your sheets of music where you cannot remember the chords stamp a blank and pen in the chord shape....instant memory jog ..plus you will start to remember the chords more as you write them out more...

Don't set your sights too high ....if it is currently beyond you and defeating you leave it alone and play something else that is fun and that you enjoy...


Don't aim for speed ...aim for smooth .......I see people at the uke group that I am in watch my chord changes and strums and then they try to do it and wipeout ......

I'm not bragging it actually makes me feel "guilty" and I feel like apologising because I have more experience than them...thats all it is....time served ...experience and taking your time ....slow it down and do not force it....

Record some of your better songs and then listen back to them ...be critical ....and then do the same song again couple of months down the road ....ah ...then you should start to feel and hear the improvement .........and don't forget ...you have already improved ....some while ago....you did not even KNOW what a G chord and a D7 chord were ...let alone have a tad of trouble forming them .....Bb ...it's a bit of a stinker ....BUT when you have learant it you have a fistful of chords from Bb right up to as far up the neck as you go with that shape ...it is a moveable chord !! Bb B C Db D E b E F F# G Ab A.....and then obviously you are at an octave higher...

Age ..well that is always going to be a leveller...just do not try to soar with the angels...some of us turkeys play nice music too...

Three "awesome" replies while I'm trying to not write a book. heh ADHD away!

Preacher wrote:

Maybe I'm too ADD. Maybe I'm too old (a couple years shy of a half-century).

Click to expand...

... kids these days, no stamina ... I was at least 10 years older than that when I taught myself to read music so's I could play the penny whistle. Then came recorder, flute, clarinet ....

OK, so's I'd strummed a guitar for a good few years before that, so picking up a ukulele a couple of years ago wasn't such a big step, but reading music for it was something new ... then I taught myself mandolin last winter ... I'm 65 in a fortnight or so !!

My point is, if you really want to do it, physical limitations non-withstanding, there's no real reason why it shouldn't happen, but you do need faith that practice will produce the goods, (as if I need to tell you, with a handle like that), then practice ... lots ... regularly ... and when it feels like nothing is happening, practice anyway. Maybe not always the same thing. Have a choice of simple two or three-chord tunes and work at them 'till they're second nature. Stick with chord-shapes you can manage easily, if you struggle with B-flat, choose tunes in a different key.

Remember, it's called playing the ukulele for a reason ... it's not supposed to be hard work

Preacher said:

I'm still not "getting" it. I still struggle to form a G-chord, for goodness sake! I have to look at the little pictures with the dots to remember what the D7 is. And I pretty much have to stop in the middle of whatever song I'm playing whenever a B flat shows up (and it shows up a lot). I keep waiting for the muscle memory thing to kick in, but right now I feel like a 7th grader who's had a growth spurt and has lost all coordination. I'm now trying to learn how to do some finger-picking (or whatever it's called) and that's been like dripping-water torture in its slowness. Trying to figure out how to read tablature? I might as well be trying to learn Klingon.

Click to expand...

I have always wanted to get one of these little gizmos.
http://www.ukechordchanger.com/store/p1/Ukulele_Chord_Changer_and_Songbook_set.html

I have no idea if they work. but it makes the chords for you.

I am completely un musical, but my issues are not finding the chords. I have seen one tip that seems to help that is to make the chord, and take your hand away and give yourself a count of 8 to put your hand back in position. Then try again with the count of 7 and make the shape again. Then 6 etc...

If you are playing Bb in your songs the songs you are playing might not be beginner songs, most beginner songs consist mostly of C, G, F and a few others maybe Am or A7, E7 etc... If you are trying to play songs from Doctor Uke you might want to try some simpler arrangements.

Hope this helps.

Preacher said:

I've made small attempts at different instruments through the years, but frustration and impatience have led me to give it up.

Click to expand...

Think of Abraham. Think of Joseph.

Preacher said:

I'm I still struggle to form a G-chord, for goodness sake! I have to look at the little pictures with the dots to remember what the D7 is.

Click to expand...

Try 0202 - it's called the Hawaiian G. Try 2020 - it's called the Hawaiian D7

Preacher said:

I'm now trying to learn how to do some finger-picking

Click to expand...

Try finger-picking down the road.

Preacher said:

after playing through my stack of Christmas songs

Click to expand...

Choose one song and play it.

To summarize, someone who just gets something may never understand the struggle other have doing the same thing. The mantra of practice and you can be as good as _______ isn't always true and quite discouraging in its own when you hit the feeling no progress wall. And believe me we all hit this wall, any artist does. Along with the ADD or ADHD comes a level of perfectionism that is almost unobtainable, I'm learning how to loosen this perfection level with music as I have had to with my art. Perhaps you are much the same?

I don't yet sing and play, might never get it. This in itself is bringing the ukulele up front as the voice instead of being an accompanying instrument and as such any technique or lack of is more pronounced. I fell in love with the song please don't talk about me when I'm gone in a snippet from the old WB frog cartoon. Its a sheet one song for us bootcampers. I strum it a little, my strumming technique is very minimal as Ive focused on other things this last year or so on and off. I finger pick it I just noodle with it so much its my pick up the ukulele and play away song. I'm working on making it mine! I dont play stacks of songs and honestly I need to get back to the bootcamp sheets for the tricky chords.

Pick a song and make it yours, if you don't sing and play realize the focus is magnified on your playing, have fun. The problem is buying ukuleles is as much fun as playing them. Others have said if we didn't spend time looking at new ukes, talking about ukes reading the forum we might all be top notch musicians. Its all brain food.

305 words not counting this, better and more to the point.

EDIT: Ahhh so much for that lol. I forgot to say while I noodled with shapes on a guitar and bass before, the ukulele was the first instrument where I can finally make chord shapes and changes without looking at my hands. I got it (a little at least) I hope you do hit this point because it is something for us men of doubt.

So, I was not completely un-musical when I started uke a year ago - I had played woodwind instruments and a bit of percussion and so forth in my youth, so I knew a bit of theory, notes and chords and sheet music and such.

But I had never played a stringed instrument before - except for a very brief failed attempt at guitar some years back - and I did find I took to uke like a fish to water. The issues you're having (forming and changing chords and so forth) I dealt with briefly, like we all do at the start, but I got over them relatively quickly.

One thing in retrospect that I think helped me a lot is that I have a great instrument that's easy to play and fits me well. I took time to make sure I have straps on it that hold it exactly where I want it so my hands and arms are 100% free to just play. A lot of folks discount straps, but I think a well-configured strap makes a world of difference. I made a video of my solution, and there's a whole thread I started last year that has just today been revived.

The other thing that I think has made the biggest difference is attitude and approach. In a nutshell, I do everything possible to make sure I keep the focus on fun ... and let the skills take care of themselves. And that has worked terrifically well for me.

Here's a lot more I had to say on that in another post a while back. Hopefully it's useful to you.

Pick songs you love, find charts for them with easy arrangements and simple chords, and play those for a while till you feel motivated to try something more challenging, or some other song strikes you that you just can't wait to play. Don't make yourself learn anything in particular. Add more chords and skills when you're ready, and not one moment sooner. Let the fun drive.

And come over to the Seasons of the Ukulele, and make a video with us. Make one every week. Nothing helped me faster than that. I know you're gonna tell me you're not ready for that ... because that's what everyone says. You are. There's no place to get to to be ready except exactly where you are.

AND ... not one single person I know of who's gotten over that (false!) inner message enough to try it, has ever had anything but a wonderful experience doing it, and glowing things to say afterward.

Playing out with other people (local uke groups, mixed instrument jams, playing a song you learned for an encouraging friend) as often as possible is another huge thing that's grown me fast.

Remember to have fun ... that's the most important thing by far. Let everything else go, keep the focus on fun, play lots, and you'll get better and better. At exactly the rate that you do.

Inksplosive AL said:

Three "awesome" replies while I'm trying to not write a book. heh ADHD away!

Click to expand...

I counted 4 replies ...so er....either one is NOT awesome......He can only do the counting thing up to three.......or he has someone on ignore ......


Now then Watson....which one is it?...Watson ....Watson ....??

Why are you cowering behind the settee ??? :nana:

Your post pretty much says it. You are not "getting" it because you are not doing the work. It took me months of playing every day, some days for hours, to get proficient at changing chords on the guitar. This skill transferred directly to the uke, but when I first learned it on guitar it took a long time and lots of work. Not 8 days out of 10. Not spurts. 90 days out of 90 days, at least an hour a day. I was 14 when I learned so learning was easier and I had the time.

Sarah Maisel started practicing 3 hours a day when she first learned the uke. She has a musical background and lots of talent, but it's the work that made her an outstanding uke player.

katysax said:

Your post pretty much says it. You are not "getting" it because you are not doing the work. It took me months of playing every day, some days for hours, to get proficient at changing chords on the guitar. This skill transferred directly to the uke, but when I first learned it on guitar it took a long time and lots of work. Not 8 days out of 10. Not spurts. 90 days out of 90 days, at least an hour a day. I was 14 when I learned so learning was easier and I had the time.

Sarah Maisel started practicing 3 hours a day when she first learned the uke. She has a musical background and lots of talent, but it's the work that made her an outstanding uke player.

Click to expand...

Gosh....don't sugar coat it then ....

Sarah whom ?...

I think that the Preacher probably knows the gist but was looking for a bit of support rather than a kick in the nuts....but whatever ....

I have had no musical experience to speak of as an adult except for a failed attempt at learning guitar that lasted over a year. After a year of playing the uke pretty much daily, I can say I feel competent at jams to sight read the songsheets. I would consider myself a competent player, but far from a musician as my understanding of theory could be relearned in a week if I really cared to(that includes reading standard notation.)

But that doesn't matter anyways. what matters is if you are having fun doing it. Frustration happens with learning anything new and not specific to music, so don't let that get you down. Learn only what you can digest a little each day. Learn only songs you like to play that have only a couple things to learn in it. If you have questions ask. If you get stuck take a break or move on to easier material.

katysax said:

Your post pretty much says it. You are not "getting" it because you are not doing the work. It took me months of playing every day, some days for hours, to get proficient at changing chords on the guitar. This skill transferred directly to the uke, but when I first learned it on guitar it took a long time and lots of work. Not 8 days out of 10. Not spurts. 90 days out of 90 days, at least an hour a day. I was 14 when I learned so learning was easier and I had the time.

Sarah Maisel started practicing 3 hours a day when she first learned the uke. She has a musical background and lots of talent, but it's the work that made her an outstanding uke player.

Click to expand...

For the most part, I pretty much agree with you.

I think a lot of people who consider themselves "un-musical" take up uke because they think it'll be easy to play. Sure, it's easier than some other instruments, and it's not that hard to learn three chords (like C, G and F) and be able to crank out a tune. And a lot of people are happy to play at that level because it's fun and that's all they care about. Props to 'em. No one says you have to go any further to enjoy playing uke.

But if you want to be really good or "musical" you have to go beyond that, and that takes work.

I happen to have a pretty solid background in classical guitar. Like you, I found those guitar skills (that I had already worked so hard to acquire) translated well to uke. Some people look at me a little funny when I tell them my favorite music to play on uke is classical. Then when I play for them, they're genuinely surprised that a uke can be played that way.

pritch said:

Rarely a day goes by that I don't at least pick up a uke and play a while. Practice sessions are a minimum of half an hour but may go two hours if I'm trying to crack something.
I'm older, a few weeks off 71, but feel I should be doing better than I am, and yeah, Bb doesn't much appeal to me as yet.

Occasionally I have to remind myself why I'm doing this, it isn't about attempting to become the next Jake or Iz. Some decades ago when the WW2 generation were retiring we would go to the farewell fuction and some too few months later someone would come into the office and inform us, "Old Ernie died." The retirees had more or less just gone home and sat down - and they retired younger then. Thinking back on this I decided I needed an exercise programme and something to keep the brain ticking over. That latter requirement is what lead to the ukulele. Well, three ukulele actually; UAS strikes again.

Sometimes I get frustrated by lack of progress in some respect but I do have my little wins. The main things are identifying my weaknesses so as to work on them, and to remember eaxactly why I'm doing this.

Click to expand...

Hi! First let me say that I'm a lot older than you are, and I've played a lotta different instruments since I was in the fourth grade. However, all of my instruments have mostly been wind instruments, though I did well with the side drum. The piano keyboard whipped me. I was too uncoordinated for it. I'm pretty knowledgeable in theory and history too. But I'm gettin' kicked by the ukulele!

I've been playing for about two and a half years now, and I'm nowhere near where I think I should be. Learning stuff at our age is difficult to say the least. I have concentration problems, memory problems, coordination problems, flexibility problems and on and on. We have to just keep whacking away at it. After some of my sessions I realize that I have actually learned what I was practicing, and it's a very good feeling. Every once in a while I pick up a Uke and play a song and actually remember all the words. That makes it all worth it.

We got nowhere to go but up! ld:

CeeJay said:

I counted 4 replies ...so er....either one is NOT awesome......He can only do the counting thing up to three.......or he has someone on ignore ......


Now then Watson....which one is it?...Watson ....Watson ....??

Why are you cowering behind the settee ??? :nana:

Click to expand...

I can count damn it! All the way to potato even! One, two, three, four, five, potato! What you got? I don't ignore anyone its an ignorant thing to do. Ive said for years now even the village idiot has a lesson if you are smart enough to listen for it.

I'm also one to use archaic language at times, settee? lol

ohmless said:

Learn only songs you like to play...

Click to expand...

This is a good point.

In classical guitar, there is a technique known as tremolo. A lot of players seem to think it is some kind of holy grail that proves you are a true player. Frankly, I hate the sound of tremolo on guitar and I refuse to play it or devote one iota of time to it just because others think it's something you must learn.

So do what appeals to you on your uke and that will make it more enjoyable for you.

Inksplosive AL said:

I can count damn it! All the way to potato even! One, two, three, four, five, potato! What you got? I don't ignore anyone its an ignorant thing to do. Ive said for years now even the village idiot has a lesson if you are smart enough to listen for it.

I'm also one to use archaic language at times, settee? lol

Click to expand...

Settee ? Archaic ? Why ...it's British !!......oh, yes ....right fair point.....Pass the tea pot would you there 's a good chap....


As for the counting thing well here you go ...this is how Trolls count :..One ....er Two...Free..... Many .....Lots.....MuchMoreThanLots...

(attrib: T Pratchett):nana::shaka::music:



PS It would be fair to say that when I left home my village also lost a perfectly good idiot.