I had a gathering of uke playing friends at my house yesterday for a casual "kitchen jam". One of our gang brought along a friend we had not met before. She had be playing for two years and takes group lessons but has not made a lot of progress, not for two years of dedicated effort. She struggled with supporting the uke and forming chords, especially something like EM or Bb. Her instructor is dogmatic about always have your thumb in the middle of the back of the neck. The friend that brought her had been telling her we all play with straps and how much it helps, her strings were also two years old.
As is customary we all bring multiple ukes and it becomes a bit of a demo day. This person got to try ukes with straps, ukes in low G, different sizes, wood combos etc. Her eyes were really opened. I installed strap buttons on her uke, restrung her tenor with low G Oasis string and handed it to her. She was not only delighted but transformed, couldn't believe how good her uke sounded and how easy it was to play. She said she could now play a Bb no problem. We all explained that different instructors will push different beliefs or techniques and we have seen good players with there thumb sticking straight up above the fretboard, in the middle of the neck, slightly wrapped at the top etc. etc. The big thing for her was the strap, she was no longer struggling to support the uke. We got into jamming a bunch of song and she had a ball.
New people need to realize there is a lot of experimenting for yourself before you find out what works for you. Or the fast short cut is to ask a bunch of peoples advice from their experience............like right here. We are your new friends so ask away.
As is customary we all bring multiple ukes and it becomes a bit of a demo day. This person got to try ukes with straps, ukes in low G, different sizes, wood combos etc. Her eyes were really opened. I installed strap buttons on her uke, restrung her tenor with low G Oasis string and handed it to her. She was not only delighted but transformed, couldn't believe how good her uke sounded and how easy it was to play. She said she could now play a Bb no problem. We all explained that different instructors will push different beliefs or techniques and we have seen good players with there thumb sticking straight up above the fretboard, in the middle of the neck, slightly wrapped at the top etc. etc. The big thing for her was the strap, she was no longer struggling to support the uke. We got into jamming a bunch of song and she had a ball.
New people need to realize there is a lot of experimenting for yourself before you find out what works for you. Or the fast short cut is to ask a bunch of peoples advice from their experience............like right here. We are your new friends so ask away.