Progress...it bewildered me..

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Komichido

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So as I have posted previously I have had my Cordoba for 5 months. The first month I just marveled at its beauty..held it lovingly..smelled it...etc...
The last three months I got serious. Sometimes I play like a champ! A beginner champ anyway..but some days I sound like a broken tire...what gives?
Is my ear off some days? Is it just part of the process? Looking for words of wisdom..lol...
 
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With practice, muscle memory becomes key. Three months is nothing in terms of the number of hours needed to master anything, instruments included. Just keep having fun, keep pushing yourself, and your playing will become more consistent over time and things that were harder will become easier.
 
Choirguy said:
With practice, muscle memory becomes key. Three months is nothing in terms of the number of hours needed to master anything, instruments included. Just keep having fun, keep pushing yourself, and your playing will become more consistent over time and things that were harder will become easier.
Click to expand...

I 2nd that! When I play like a bag of doo doo, I go back to the basics, like I am starting over again. I just do scales and noodle, and don't worry about perfecting my skill, until my confidence is back.
 
Just keep plugging away. Play songs you love, that suit your voice and not too far beyond your current skill level and keep enjoying your play. I recall that in the first year of playing, I sometimes thought "gee, that sounds pretty good". Other days I would think " am I kidding myself? I might just stink a little". Now, even 5+yrs in, I still think this sometimes...just not as often. I certainly have improved, even if i am still mostly rubbish. For me, it's really about entertaining myself, and I do.
 
Playing a musical instrument is not easy. It takes so many individuals talents and tasks to come together simultaneously. The biggest thing is the fine motor skills needed and how being off just a little causes a huge impact.

I heard an elite athlete talk about how our body changes for one day to the next. As an example he asked have you ever sat down in your car and then had to adjust the mirror. Yesterday they were fine for you, today your muscle tension is different and your posture is effected.

Learning is not linear either. We seem to make great progress, then plateau, then maybe slide back, then stand still, then leap forward. I am usually taken by suprised when all of a sudden I play a piece effortlessly, after months of trudging along.
 
Learning is beating the plateaus.
 
I play the Uke fairly good but one problem i face is holding the Uke, it does not at all feel comfortable holding the ukulele while standing. I always need to sit down during my recordings :( Do i need to get a belt? And I don't know how i'll get my hands on one, we hardly get good ukulele here :(
 
I feel you.
I had this beautiful song singing all the time and i had even worked on a version of a finger style. Now i completely forgot my own arrangement, The biggest draw back for me is that i learned to play, not to read or write music. :(
 
I think everyone has days where they sit down to play and it sounds like a bag of cats. On those days, I just put the uke down and walk away for a while. If you push too hard on those days you may just be practicing bad habits. Just my 2-cents.
 
Choirguy said:
With practice, muscle memory becomes key. Three months is nothing in terms of the number of hours needed to master anything, instruments included. Just keep having fun, keep pushing yourself, and your playing will become more consistent over time and things that were harder will become easier.
Click to expand...

I was in a slump for a long while, though on a different instrument, and felt like I was going nowhere. I even got a little down. My loving wife nagged me a few times that I wasn't playin' enough (sounded like my mother in the old days), so I thought about it and a week ago I began playing every day for at least an hour. And I'm simply amazed at my spurt ahead after just one week of serious practice!

I've always thought that we should practice more instead of the other uke stuff that we do, but it's boring and time consuming and blah blah blah . . . Reminds me of the good (?) ol' days of yore. Gee, Mom, I already been playin', and I'm tired, and my lips hurt, and . . .

So, to use one of my favorite phrases "Just Do It", :eek:ld:
 
peaceplayer said:
I play the Uke fairly good but one problem i face is holding the Uke, it does not at all feel comfortable holding the ukulele while standing. I always need to sit down during my recordings :( Do i need to get a belt? And I don't know how i'll get my hands on one, we hardly get good ukulele here :(
Click to expand...
If you can't buy a strap where you live, you could always try improvising something. Like this super simple one, for example: https://youtu.be/aSQ3CJvHhXg
 
I use parachord on some of my ukes and even on my mini-banjo. It's also usefull when you are waiting for something better to use.

REI has some colorful, good lookin' paracord for pretty cheap. :eek:ld:
 
Two pieces of advice from me to go on top of the already good advice you've gotten in this thread:

1. Practice twice daily, time permitting, and for shorter time periods. This will ease the burden of frustration that longer practice sessions might induce and breaking up your practice routine will help you focus on one or two things specifically during each practice session. Set aside an allotment of time at the same times every day.

2. Don't expect perfection on the material you are currently studying. In other words, move along to another series of studies or different music each week and put your focus on the new material. You may not have mastered the techniques or song from the prior week but you will still have plenty of time to work on those in your regular practice schedule.
 
JohnM2001 said:
It''s like golf, sometimes you hit it great, get inspired, and can't wait to play again. Other times, not so much. But, continued practice raises your baseline, and you keep reaching for better playing.
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Boy, not for me. I finally realized that golf was making me a grouch and a drunk and that there was no use in reaching anymore. A little later, I took up target archery again and had a great time wid it.

I've quit other failures that were ruining my free time too. I think there's a time to face facts and get on wid it! :eek:ld:
 
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Down Up Dick said:
Reminds me of the good (?) ol' days of yore. Gee, Mom, I already been playin', and I'm tired, and my lips hurt, and . . .
Click to expand...

I too suck when I play ukulele!

On a serious note, for me, the problem with practicing has always been finding materials that work for me. I'll pick a book and get bored of the exercises that are either too hard or too easy, then I get another book or video, with the same result. If it's a course, most of the songs don't interest me and I lose interest, even though I believe a structured approach should work best (but doesn't seem to). Scales and such feel like tedium. (I sound like a millennial!)

I conversed with DaddyStovepipe a while back, and he recommended to just learn songs that resonate with me and practice those, even if they seem hard at first. He said he never did exercises or scales, only songs. I think I might try this.
 
Mivo, I think one has to have a plan and stick to it and push him/herself. It doesn't matter whether one is bored or discouraged or whatever. When I taught myself to play the flute, I played the C scale from my trumpet book over and over until I could play it by ear. Then I went on to the F scale and did the same. After I learned the keys I wanted in the first octave, I went on to the next octave. I didn't bother playing tunes for a long time. I did about the same thing learning bass clef for my tuba. Once one learns to read the notes, reading music is easy-peasy.

When I began the ukulele, I only wanted to sing with it, but I kept slipping into playing melodies. So I learned scales and began finger picking mostly by by ear.

All my learning has been pretty routine--and boring. My only trouble is remembering stuff and chords are a pain too. On my banjos and my new mandolin, I'm having a lotta memory problems. I play stuff over and over, and then, I sorta have it. Ahhh, well . . . It's comin' along.

I guess learning to do new stuff takes some effort and determination. Kids get bored and frustrated easily. . . ahhh, well. :eek:ld:
 
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