Where do you practice your ukulele?

I guess my roomies don't like it when I'm practicing my ukulele. I'm a beginner, so I guess it could be kind of annoying listening to the same thing over and over again. I had one of them pounding on the wall this morning telling me to stop. It really upset me. So now I have to find a new spot to practice. Any suggestions? Where do you practice?

I am really sorry to hear that. Maybe you could talk with your roommates about when would be a good time and not a good time. They could turn on music or use an MP3 player. If you can't practice in the privacy of your own room... Talk to them and come up with a compromise.

Good luck.

Get them to play ukulele as well. Simple solution!

That said, I usually practice when no one is home. My wife, daughter, and I have an agreement; I won't play loudly, and they won't complain.

I understand all to well....my wife and kids hate when I practice...so i have to wait when they are gone to practice.....it sucks but i get my practice time in

I pratice in the living room, which sometimes annoys the girlfriend but luckily I work shifts so I get a couple of days off in the week so I can play as much as I want then. We have a spare room/studio but it's still under construction as its just full of boxes and things we haven't unpacked yet. So when thats ready I can play in there whenever I want while she watches her soaps!

It's a bit out of order though that your room mates won't let you practice. I don't see a problem if its during a reasonable time of the day? You're best having a word, explaining how much you wanna practice and see what you can work out? Also, atleast the uke is small enough that you can take it somewhere else to practice. I don't know what the weather is like where you are but you could always take it to the park? I'm guessing you're in college maybe? If thats the case maybe you could see if there are any spare/empty class rooms you can practice in at any times? You could maybe start or join a uke club?

All that being said, if you're really into the uke and it's something you're gonna stick at then maybe you could invest in something like an Eleuke or a Stagg electric or Risa Stick that would allow you to effectively play silently, with only you hearing it through a set of headphones. I don't know if thats an affordable option for you straight away but it's something to think about? Let us know what happens and keep practicing... It won't be long before your uke spreads it's happy Aloha feeling to all those around you! They are powerless to the mighty uke!

I practice/play in my living room. My wife does not mind me strumming away as we hang out and watch TV. She does not mind hearing the same stuff over and over - it would probably drive me nuts if I was not the one playing.

Mandarb said:

I practice/play in my living room. My wife does not mind me strumming away as we hang out and watch TV. She does not mind hearing the same stuff over and over - it would probably drive me nuts if I was not the one playing.

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That surely is a rare thing, you have a very understanding wife! I know what you mean though, it'd drive me nuts too! My girlfriend is always singing, and don't get me wrong she's a great singer, but sometimes she just sings the same couple of lines from a song... I have to grit my teeth and politely ask her to sing something else...

"Hey sweetheart, why don't you sing such a song... you sing that so well..."

Although she tends to just be quiet when she realises I'm listening to her...

Miss Michele said:

I guess my roomies don't like it when I'm practicing my ukulele. I'm a beginner, so I guess it could be kind of annoying listening to the same thing over and over again. I had one of them pounding on the wall this morning telling me to stop. It really upset me. So now I have to find a new spot to practice. Any suggestions? Where do you practice?

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I haven't ran into this problem much since there's enough room in my house to play without bothering my wife and kids (although my kids complain when I play near them while they are watching pre-school TV), but I think you can do one of two things: 1. Practice when your roomates are gone. 2. Buy a Risa uke solid or Bugsgear silent uke. A silent uke should be quiet enough not to bother your roomates.

rock_and_roll_camera said:

That surely is a rare thing, you have a very understanding wife! I know what you mean though, it'd drive me nuts too! My girlfriend is always singing, and don't get me wrong she's a great singer, but sometimes she just sings the same couple of lines from a song... I have to grit my teeth and politely ask her to sing something else...

"Hey sweetheart, why don't you sing such a song... you sing that so well..."

Although she tends to just be quiet when she realises I'm listening to her...

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It is mutual - I am very understanding of her hobbies.

this probably doesn't help but..

..I have an electric solid-body 'uke for this. Use earbuds, and you are virtually silent.

jeff

Mandarb said:

It is mutual - I am very understanding of her hobbies.

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She doesn't play trombone does she?

I prefer to practice when no one else is around. I practice in the living room and have set up an area just for my ukulele stuff. All I have to do is sit down and play. But we are now empty-nesters so we don't have the room mate problem. GX9901 has good suggestions. If practical, a silent uke would be nice for you.

I play outside alot, of course that only works half the year.

My problem is not having time at home to practice; getting home from work at 6:30PM, making/eating/cleaning up after dinner, doing one or two tasks around the house, a little TV time, and before I know it, it is 10PM and time for bed. So I haul my uke and some lesson stuff in my bag to and from work and practice during my lunch hour. Fortunately, I am in an office (actually a library) by myself so I don't annoy/drive crazy my co-workers with my chord progression exercises and song attempts. It has actually been an ice-breaker while waiting for the train; people want to know "what's in the little black bag?" Not good enough to practice ON the train yet...maybe someday. ;->

I used to take mine with me when flying, and I could practice in the plane while waiting for my passengers or in the hotel. But the plane I'm flying now doesn't have a place I concider safe enough to keep it in flight. My wife also gets annoyed when I play while watching tv (or pretty much any other time!!). So my practice time has been severly limited lately.

Do you have a park nearby that you can play at? I could understand their frustration if they were studying for a test and trying to concentrate. I play whenever I like with no problem but to be considerate of others late at night I play my Eleuke pineapple with earphones to keep the sound to a minimum. Favorite places to play are on my hammock in my lanai, on the dock in my backyard stream, at the beach, floating down the stream in my canoe, and while waiting for the fish to bite wherever I might have a line in the water.
I keep a 'ukulele in my truck for impromptu sessions.

I have always practiced in my bedroom... door closed. One thing that works well for me when others are home is to stuff a dry washcloth in the soundhole... deadens the sound enough to get rid of the "A" string" zing! My wife says it REALLY helps. AND.. I just purchased an Eleuke... and being able to play into the headphones is fantastic. I can sit in any room in the house at any time and it doesn't bother anyone! Play on!

Take up the drums or accordian for a week or two. They will beg you to go back to playing uke.

I practice in the living room, in my recliner, in front of the TV. It would be real macho to say that I'll practice whereever and whenever I want to, but reality requires a certain amount of respect for others.

My wife doesn't complain when she's in the room, but I try not to play then. I wait until she's outside, or upstairs or not at home.

I guess I'd have a hard time with it if she were to want to play uke while I was trying to watch TV (although she doesn't play), so I won't do that to her.

Try the wash cloth in the sound hole. It's a pretty effective mute for the uke....

My siblings are all music-lovers, so we jam once in a while. And nobody minds unless they're studying or on the phone.

Mostly I practice in the garage.