I'm not getting any better!

Manda

Manda

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I've been playing for about a month and a half now. I'm still completely in love with my uke, Sweetie. I'm deep in Sweetie's charms. The only problem is that I don't feel like I'm getting any better. I play every day and I know quite a few chords but I can still only strum down. I love playing but I would love to meet up at one of the Chicago jam sessions but I'm embarrassed at how bad I am. What do I do?


P.S. I've already picked out my next uke. I'm going for a moonlight flea. :)
 
Manda said:
I've been playing for about a month and a half now. I'm still completely in love with my uke, Sweetie. I'm deep in Sweetie's charms. The only problem is that I don't feel like I'm getting any better. I play every day and I know quite a few chords but I can still only strum down. I love playing but I would love to meet up at one of the Chicago jam sessions but I'm embarrassed at how bad I am. What do I do?


P.S. I've already picked out my next uke. I'm going for a moonlight flea. :)
Click to expand...
DO NOT be hesitant to hook-up with fellow uke players due to your lack of experience. We have all been there at one time. Playing with a group is an excellent way to improve your playing. I had the honor of meeting many people from CHUG last week and consider them new life-long friends. They are the best and will welcome you with open arms. Seriously, the best peeps ever.
 
You will get better month by month. I've been playing for almost 4 years and I just got the E chord to work withing the past few months.

A breakthrough for me was at about 4 months, I got good enough to play songs and actually enjoy them,, versus just enjoying learning to play.
 
I remember the month and a half rut, then the 3 month rut, then the 4 month... you get it, right? Lol, thy key is to just keep practicing. Challenge yourself and do be afraid to try something new. :)
 
Just keep at it and have fun. The Ukulele people I have met are pretty relaxed and patient, so don't worry about going to a group. Sometimes it's those group experiences that trigger a breakthrough. It usually helps to concentrate on just one thing at a time. Now that you can change chords, mute all the strings with your left hand (see Aldriene's videos), and just concentrate on the strumming hand until it gets to be automatic. It won't sound like much, but it will allow you to practice the new skill without getting too embarrassed around family or neighbors.
–Lori
 
Thanks everyone. I'm not giving up. Just have to get over this strumming thing. Maybe I'm watching too many YouTube videos of people who actually know what they're doing. :)
 
I got two DVDs by Ralph Shaw when I had been playing steadily for about a month, and they helped me a LOT with strums.
 
Keep having fun...BUT...always know what you don't know and practice, in a focused way, what's difficult for you, one difficult part at a time.

Not going to patronize you when you say "embarrassed" but Lori's right and even one patient person can help activate that right hand finger wrist...whatever. In the meatime start movin' your foot!

1st assignment: start practicing down/up...no chords, strings muted...with a song in your mind or sung out loud!!! Feel free to really mess up!!! Overcome that fear of "up!"

The fact that you can already objectify what you need to acquire or improve should make you feel very hopeful. BTW, not a fan of the slacker approach where you just keep playin'...

The RIGHT kind of practice makes better....along with playing a lot...having fun.
 
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I agree with what luvdatuke and others have said. As fun as the uke can be, it takes focus and discipline to learn to play any musical instrument well.

Aldrine's "Uke Minutes" are a great starting point for easy to digest mini-lessons. There's a lot of really good instructional material out there. :)
 
I'd recommend recording yourself once a week and keeping files so that you can look back on how you're doing. It's often hard to tell if you're getting better when you can't track it. Record something that you're working on now, say "Song for Sweetie," and put the date next to it: "Song for Sweetie 6/13/10." Work on the song for the next week and then record it again. Repeat each week.

If you don't notice any change, then you may need to hire an instructor.

The idea that you're not good enough to attend local jams isn't good enough. Go out and play. Don't limit yourself to uke groups: try out some guitar groups, for they tend to have beginners and it'll get you used to playing with other species. :)
 
Dum Chin-ga will get you by most songs. EG:- Dum (Down stroke) Chin (Down) Ga (Up). Count 1,2 and (the "and" being like a quick half beat)
 
You are getting better, but you don't know it yet. As with anything you learn, new connections need to be made in your nervous system. This can take a while and varies from person to person. One day, "Click" and suddenly you can do that thing you've been trying to do and then, like me, you'll be impatient to make the next thing work:)
 
Im new to a uke group here in Melb, and if you can strum in time with others, they wont even notice your "down stroke only" technique, it took me two weeks to relise that a song the group was playing was in ONLY down stroke (mmmm thats why mine was ounding "odd", lol) if the group is playing something and that "whoa! way too difficuly chord" arrives, i just drop out till i can join back in, in a group it aint so noticeable.....So go, enjoy, dont stress out and you'll go home with something to work on or some inspiration, AND a bounce in your step.

Cheers, Tony
 
Aloha Manda,
Patience and perserverence is the key Manda. First learn your chords, a few at a time. then practice your stum with them, do it over
many times until you think it sounds good. After you reach that step, practice Chord progressions or vamps..Key C it will be D7, G7, C
IN the Key of F It will be G7, C7, F.....In the key of G it will be A7, D7, G....If that too hard start with one finger chords like C, AM,A7,C7
two finger chords like F,A,D7(2020). Good Luck Manda, and let us know it turns out!!!!"Keep on Vibrating them strings" Uke ON!!! MM Stan
 
Some interesting takes here on "getting better." BTW, not someone who demands virtousity from myself or others. But when an OP states they themselves WANT to acquire a specific skill, why advocate in not so subtle ways "Hey no need to really change." Or, "It's just gonna happen."

If someone said they basically wanted to upgrade their ukulele, weren't completely satisfied, would folks say, "Hey you gotta great uke there already?" No. People would be chiming in with a lot of buying tips...

I love the title of this thread. It's refreshing.
 
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salukulady said:
DO NOT be hesitant to hook-up with fellow uke players due to your lack of experience. We have all been there at one time. Playing with a group is an excellent way to improve your playing. I had the honor of meeting many people from CHUG last week and consider them new life-long friends. They are the best and will welcome you with open arms. Seriously, the best peeps ever.
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth. Find yourself some other ukulele players nearby. They can inspire and guide you, and you can return the favour in some way, maybe by helping out a newcomer several months later. I'm fortunate to have recently taken up a new job where my employer has a ukulele group, and a few of us have started meeting up at a local bar's function room once a week to practice. Having been self taught, I really had no idea just how much fun it could be to play with others (especially at the bar after a couple of drinks ;) ), really, I laugh every time I play with those guys. And when you enjoy something, you'll find that you get better at it :)

You'll find that all/most ukulele players are extremely approachable, friendly and willing to help - and what have you got to lose? Some stranger's opinion of you? That's not much to lose if you ask me :D

As Melissa pointed out, you're going to plateau now and then, and the best thing you can do is stick at it. Ukulele Mike advocates daily practice, I'd expand on that and say that it doesn't even matter (i.e. muscle memory) if you're playing songs or not. Just have a uke nearby, pick it up and strum some chords for a while - I can play with C, G, Am and F for hours... maybe with the occassional G7, Dm etc

p.s. I think the best strum to default to is down, down, up, up, down. Practice that strum and your ukulele world will open right up. Good luck.
 
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I can't tell you how much I appreciate the replies. I'm definitely learning patience. This is my first instrument and I'm going to take all of your suggestions. And I think I'm going to take the plunge and meet up at the next CHUG jam. Thanks again so much. :)
 
Manda said:
I can't tell you how much I appreciate the replies. I'm definitely learning patience. This is my first instrument and I'm going to take all of your suggestions. And I think I'm going to take the plunge and meet up at the next CHUG jam. Thanks again so much. :)
Click to expand...
That is awesome! The Chicago uke players are an awesome group and will welcome you with open arms. :)
 
As so many before me have said, keep having fun, practice and don't put pressure on your self.
Learning is more circular then linear, that is you make progress, level off and even back up a bit before reaching the next level.

Get out and play with others it is the best way to improve. Sit across from the best player so you can see their hands.
Observe what they do, learn one thing to take home and practice, before you know it a newbie will be sitting across from you to learn.

Work on you timing and rhythm, chords will come with practice. I like to have beginners mute the strings with their chording hand (zen chord) and strum with the song.
Eventually your strumming become automatic and you can work on chord progressions.

One really cool thing about ukulele is it seems as though even the advanced players help beginners, so don't be shy get out and play.
 
Those periods where you feel like you aren't getting better are not plateaus or periods of stagnation. They are, in fact, times of solidifying and mastering what you already know - you are getting to know what you know more deeply.

So just keep playing and practicing. When the time is right a new skill will begin to emerge.
 
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