Fractured my shoulder, what do I do now?

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DebRocks

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So, last night I ran into my house at full tilt, because I forgot something and was already running late... Tripped over a cat and went flying. Next thing I know, I'm laying on the floor with a broken bone.

Why am I posting this sorta sad/sorta funny story here? Because I don't know how to keep up on my uke practice for the next six weeks, while my left arm is in a sling? Anyone have any ideas?
 
That sucks! Sorry to hear. A few ideas to consider:

-- Study music theory
-- Work on right hand technique
-- Watch tutorials, such as UU+, The Ukulele Way, etc.
-- Enjoy a bit of a break (doh! no pun intended) from the ukulele

Wishing you a full and speedy recovery!
 
As Eddie said, work on strumming and fingerpicking .........ie: right hand technique.
Best for a quick and 100% recovery
 
Hey DebRocks,

Bummer. Sorry to hear.

In addition to what people have said, I have found it helpful to use a metronome and just count beats/tap them with my feet. For me personally, I can have a habit of strumming off beat if the rhythm is too fast. This would be one other thing you could do while you recover!
 
Sorry this happened to you and sorry that I dont have any ideas right now, but if this happened to me, I'd being going thru the 'Five Stages of Grief' and likely get in a rut on the 'anger' stage, mainly angry that I could not play...

Hopefully the 6 weeks will pass fast enough for you...wishing you a happy recovery...:)
 
UGH! So sorry! This might be a good time to research a new ukulele - you know - as a reward for enduring the 6 weeks without playing . . .
 
Booli said:
if this happened to me, I'd being going thru the 'Five Stages of Grief' and likely get in a rut on the 'anger' stagle, mainly angry that I could not play...
Click to expand...


I was definitely in denial last night. I spent the night with the mantra "it's not broken, it's not broken, it's not broken..." This morning I knew I had to go to the doctor.

Right now I'm definitely mad I can't play. Not sure when/if I'll get to acceptance. :p
 
DebRocks said:
I was definitely in denial last night. I spent the night with the mantra "it's not broken, it's not broken, it's not broken..." This morning I knew I had to go to the doctor.

Right now I'm definitely mad I can't play. Not sure when/if I'll get to acceptance. :p
Click to expand...

If you can drive the car, with your injury, I'm not sure how far you are from Bonanza Ukes, but IIRC they are in MN, and like Chopped Liver said above (to reward yourself), maybe you can visit them and commission a special uke for you to celebrate your recovery, prices are pretty good and from other reviews here, it's likely you will get a nice sounding and playing uke for it...

see the current discussion over in this thread: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?123527-Boomerang-Ukes!
 
Recently a friend asked me to guess what the leading cause of accidental death in the home is. I've had cats all of my life, and as a joke I said "Tripping over your cat?" and the thing is - turns out it's true! Well, not cats specifically, but falling. So, if there's a bright side - um, it could be MUCH worse?? :)

Here's to a speedy recovery!
 
So sorry to hear you got hurt. I wish you a speedy recovery. I've had bouts of tendonitis in my right forearm/elbow where I haven't been able to play for a month or two (and I usually play several hours a day, every day). I use this time to clean up my uke library on my iPad. Reviewing, editing, and adding to my library helps to pass the time while healing. It's a bit of a slow go though, as I have to use my left hand only to type.
 
KamakOzzie said:
I'm surprised that no one has asked, how's the cat?

Bill
Click to expand...

Ha! that was my first thought. If it was my cat the term would probably be "disturbed" ... as in disturbed from her sleep ;)

I'll second a couple of other suggestions ... practising right-hand technique, for instance. If you tune the ukulele "open", (drop the treble string a whole tone from A to G) you'll at least have a C chord to pick at ... clawhammer, bluegrass, just simple arpeggios, they all might come in useful, if you don't use them already.

Alternatively time spent learning to read music probably wouldn't be wasted. I learnt to read for the penny whistle initially, I found the skill transferred to other instruments (ukulele, banjo, mandolin etc.) with far less effort than I expected :) hoosierhiver's suggestion of a harmonica may be worth considering, in this context :)

Get well soon ... and don't blame the cat ;)
 
First of all, wishing you a speedy recovery. You may find that after a while once the bone has started knitting you have some limited ability to play the uke so you are not completely out of practice once you are fully recovered and the splint comes off.

I broke my right wrist in my teens and at the point when it was getting close to the time for the plaster to come off (yes it was plaster of paris in those days and it stuck to the hairs on your arm and hurt to come off) someone wanted a game of table tennis and I found with some adaptation I was able to play table tennis with my wrist in plaster.

hoosierhiver said:
harmonica?
Click to expand...

That was partly why I took up - or went back to harmonica. I'd had some trouble with rsi and thought the day may come when my fingers are not so good. Harmonica has now become one of my main instruments.
 
KamakOzzie said:
I'm surprised that no one has asked, how's the cat?

Bill
Click to expand...

The cat's doing better than me. And, he might just be trying to be helpful by dive bombing my left shoulder from the top of the dresser, but I think it's more likely part two of his sinister master plan.

Thanks for the good suggestions and also for the humor. It helps.:D
 
Sorry about your shoulder! I would catch up on my reading, or movies, or television shows. Sounds like you don't need to be doing any playing for several weeks.
 
That's terrible. I'm sorry to hear that :(
I'm not good at it, but I would recommend finger rolls with the right hand. Work on right-hand picking. Maybe tune it open G (drop the A to G) and finger pick it.
 
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