The Logical Next Step

Twibbly

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2016
Messages
3,030
Reaction score
1
Location
The Dry Part, TX
I have a musical background in practically everything but strings (piano, oboe, bass drum, mallets, Xaphoon, etc.), so I can read music, count rhythms, etc.

I'm working through Ukulele for the Complete Ignoramus on my Kindle, but feel that it may not keep me interested for too much longer. I have Uncle Rod's Bootcamp downloaded, printed, and am playing with the first page of it. I have The Daily Ukulele and can find plenty of music to play.

Other than practice, practice, practice, and quit looking too far ahead, what would be the logical next step to improve skill-wise once I've gone through Ukulele for the Complete Ignoramus and Uncle Rod's Bootcamp?

Also, can you play guitar tabs on a ukulele just fine? Because if so, I think I may have enough Disney music to last a lifetime. My oboe teacher in high school had me play Scales and Arpeggios from Aristocats to get me to practice my scales and arpeggios, if that tells you anything. ;)
 
A chord is a chord, be it played on a guitar or on a uke, the difference is in the fingering, so yes, you have music you can play on it.

If, as I suspect, you want to sing along, you will find an enormous amount of songs (chords & lyrics) on the internet, but there is a dearth of proper tab for us finger pickers.
(I am having to create tab from notation most of the time.)

Of course once you feel you need another challenge, check out the Seasons thread. :)
 
A chord is a chord, be it played on a guitar or on a uke, the difference is in the fingering, so yes, you have music you can play on it.

If, as I suspect, you want to sing along, you will find an enormous amount of songs (chords & lyrics) on the internet, but there is a dearth of proper tab for us finger pickers.
(I am having to create tab from notation most of the time.)

Of course once you feel you need another challenge, check out the Seasons thread. :)

I'm hoping that I can get to the point where if I want to finger pick, I can just sight read for the most part, but yes, most of what I will be doing will probably be sing-along for now. :) I'll hunt down the Seasons thread at some point.
 
Additional information...

My first musical instrument was the piano. I played by reading sheet music. I went on to playing guitar. After a few years I went back to playing piano, but this time I took my guitar chord structure and applied to to the piano and moved away from sheet music, per se, for the left hand.

I never played instrumentals on the guitar, but that is what I primarily play on the ukulele. And it really is no more than integrating a melody around chord structures and with your musical background, you should be able to understand what notes work with what chords.

If you want to play Disney, work out the melody on the uke and integrate chords and see if that works for you. And of course there are tabs for the ukulele and don't dismiss youtube for giving you a good visual of how it is done.

Have fun.

John
 
I'm playing, playing, playing scales and arpeggios up and down with one of my stringed instruments. I plan on using it for fingerpicking from my huge collection of music. In order to do that I'll have to know where the notes are on the instrument. I'm also training myself to play some other stringed instruments by ear.

I'm an old fogey, and I too play lots of different instruments. I don't care for tabs very much, and, though I can read them, I'm just not comfortable with them. I just don't see the point of them either.

Since you're just learning and can read music, why don't you give scales a try? You can work them out by ear or use some of your old music books.

If I wasn't so aged, I'd like to learn to play the oboe. I have lots of different flutes, and I play them all the time. :eek:ld:
 
I'm also training myself to play some other stringed instruments by ear.

I'm an old fogey, and I too play lots of different instruments. I don't care for tabs very much, and, though I can read them, I'm just not comfortable with them. I just don't see the point of them either.

It is so nice to know that someone else has trouble with tabs. In all my years of playing guitar and ukulele, I just never could use them. They are great for giving a starting point and a little insight, but I do better working things out myself. When I write down what I am doing with a song, I'll do it in sections showing the basic notes (shape) on a fretboard and add notes (comments) of how to play the melody. Once I learn a song and get that structure down, it doesn't take much to refresh my memory down the road if I have forgotten something.

John
 
I'm playing, playing, playing scales and arpeggios up and down with one of my stringed instruments. I plan on using it for fingerpicking from my huge collection of music. In order to do that I'll have to know where the notes are on the instrument. I'm also training myself to play some other stringed instruments by ear.

I'm an old fogey, and I too play lots of different instruments. I don't care for tabs very much, and, though I can read them, I'm just not comfortable with them. I just don't see the point of them either.

Since you're just learning and can read music, why don't you give scales a try? You can work them out by ear or use some of your old music books.

If I wasn't so aged, I'd like to learn to play the oboe. I have lots of different flutes, and I play them all the time. :eek:ld:

I could play Scales and Arpeggios on the ukulele! ;)

Oboe is a blast, I just can't afford one. I have a Pocket Xaphoon, but I just don't feel the urge to play with it often enough even though it is pretty awesome. (http://www.xaphoon.com/)
 
My current project is to get all the chord changes for Margaritaville down. D and D7 are killing me.
 
Chord changes are merely getting used to moving back and forth between the shapes. That really is just practice, practice, practice.

For D to D7 and back I find, at least for me, a semi-barre approach of playing D is worse than using individual finger digits. It is valuable to be able to use "classic" shapes and not resort to taking an easy way out. Not to say I don't ever do that, but for any given piece I'll find that how I play a shape makes a better transition.

John

Edit added: I've been playing baritone more lately and that D shape I was thinking about is the guitar D. The same may how true (or even the reverse) for a ukulele D of 2-2-2-0 to 2-0-2-0 or 2-2-2-3 depending on which D7 shape you transition to.
 
Last edited:
A little more on ukulele D...

I try to play a D chord by using 3 digits (fingers) and not one finger across 3 strings. If I need to add the 7th on the A string, I just use my pinky.
If want to play an open C (3rd string) I just lift my middle finger off the C string.

Your mileage may vary.

John
 
Also...

In some ways it is no different than the proper technique to play piano. There are specific cross-over techniques playing scales on a piano. You need to look at the ukulele the same way in that there are better fingering techniques for different transitions between chords or even notes.

John
 
A little more on ukulele D...

I try to play a D chord by using 3 digits (fingers) and not one finger across 3 strings. If I need to add the 7th on the A string, I just use my pinky.
If want to play an open C (3rd string) I just lift my middle finger off the C string.

Your mileage may vary.

John

D.jpg

It does work better than doing the barre for D7. My problem with D is stacking my fingers together that tightly!
 
Last edited:
I'm using the book "Ukulele Aerobics", and its great. Its based on exercises to improve the technique, with strum patterns, fingerstyle patterns, scales and licks, legato...
 
I'm using the book "Ukulele Aerobics", and its great. Its based on exercises to improve the technique, with strum patterns, fingerstyle patterns, scales and licks, legato...

I've seen lots of reviews on it. I'm kind of pondering whether I'll get that one or Ukulele Exercises for Dummies at some point (although knowing me, I'll end up with both).
 
View attachment 88889

It does work better than doing the barre for D7. My problem with D is stacking my fingers together that tightly!

I think most people adapt to the lack of room on the fretboard. Some people find that they need to adapt the size of their ukulele (scale) and get a concert or tenor. You need to work through the chords with a soprano and have some proficiency so if you try a larger size ukulele you will know if it will help or not.

If you have a chance to see youtubes of John King (RIP), it is pretty amazing what can be done on a soprano. It is beyond what most ukulele players can do on any scale.

John
 
If possible for you, next logical step for me was to join a local uke club. Otherwise, lost of video tutorials/lessons online incuding those here on UU. I generally don't recommend how to books until you know exactly what you want to learn, which book you need, why you need it, and some understanding of how it will fulfill that need.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 88889

It does work better than doing the barre for D7. My problem with D is stacking my fingers together that tightly!
It will come.
It's nice to be able to finger chords in different ways. What fingering I use depends on what comes next. I have found if I finger D with 3 fingers instead of one I will get a better tone. My fun goal is to learn the goofy E chord, not the easy ones.
 
Top Bottom