My Dorky Excitement... Uke progress and a ?

You all will probably think I am a huge dork for sharing this... but hey who all to understand this newbs excitement than you all!!

I sat down with my uke to play tonight and started playing Kids In America by kim Wilde (dating myself here, yes I knew the song before it was on rock band) I WASNT singing so I didn't torture my family and I hear my husband and son (he was in the other room) start singing along! They recognized my song!! PROGRESS! real progress!!

Amazing what one can do in 3 months! Not to mention all you great peeps out there that have been amazing supportive!! You know who you are.. THANKS a million!!
My husband also told me he was happy I was working so hard and not giving up!

Hey I am having a hell of a time with E chord.. any suggestions? Please help!!

If you made it this far.. you are my hero...

PS My hubby is in the other room starting the design on my custom painted uke! Can't wait!! wohoo..

Hey Carrie

that's awesome mate...I loved that song too...guess we're all ageing gracefully together!!!

you can sometimes use E7 in place of the E major but it doesn't always work...I'd say keep on practicing..it will happen for you...the other bonus with getting the E shape down is that being able to barre chords will open up so many other chords for you to play.

If you're struggling with the standard 4442 shape you could try playing 4447 instead which is a little more forgiving on the finger muscles and sounds a little sweeter too: just barre the 4th fret with your index finger and use your pinky on the "A" string, 7th fret...happy strumming mate...your fingers will get stronger in time and the persistence will be well worth it

One other thing you can do...bit of a cheat...is to get yourself a little capo and transpose the chords in the song. For eample if the song is in key of E and uses, say, a "B" and an "A" chord as well, you can place the capo on the 2nd fret and play the song in "D": so you're playing D / A / G instead of E / B / A.... "D" instead of "E", an "A" instead of the "B" and a "G" instead of "A"...

or put capo on 4th fret and then you would be playing a "C" instead of the "E", a "G" instead of the "B" and an "F" instead of the "A"....whew...hope that's not too confusing!!!

And I agree with you, this site is so awesome isn't it...so many friendly, wise and sharing people around...makes for much less bumps along the road.

take care mate and thanks for sharing the passion and excitement with all of us...it's infectious!!! eugene

Aloha FitnCrafty,
Congrats on huge step of advancement and progress, believe me I remember that moment too....when someone actually noticed the song I was playing too without my horrible singing...
Isn't a big feel of accomplishment and acceptance from family members listening. How Cool Girl, Way To Gooooo....As for the E chord, it takes a long time and patience, you can try the
second position barre the fourth fret and your pinky on the 7th fret A string....4447...As for your hubbby painting your uke...a good one would be a picture of your Avatar....I think it's cool!!
Have fun and Enjoy!!! "Keep Strumming them strings" MM Stan..

Thanks You two for the encouragement and the great ideas on working on that blasted E chord... I will keep practicing it and also try the other versions and see what they sound like. The song is sounded better, working on my strumming.. theres some places where I have to figure out what to do with what I call 'dead space' (made it up) basically it's the same chord for a long time...
I will let you both know how it goes... off to get the kids up for school...

Congrats on the progress! And it's NOT dorky at all! As you know, I'm a newbie too. So, yes, I have those moments, as well. Just the other day, my roomie tells me that I am sounding a lot better! I gave him a hug for that. lol I'm having problems with the Em chord so I feel your pain. Just keep practicing and keep up the good work!

Be proud of yourself, congratulations on your sing-along. As for the "E" chord. I have decided it is time to struggle through learning one of the harder chords. I think you need to find the easiest of several ways to form the 4442 and make it happen. I can almost hold my strumming rhythm while changing to and from it...almost. We'll get it
DAP

No way that makes you a huge dork....I think most of us get the same kind of thrill when people appreciate our uke playing and even sing along! I know I feel great when people start singing along when I play! Thanks for sharing your story, lifts all our spirits!

I learned the E chord by doing the following, every day, for a month or so:

Play chords as follows
A E B E C E D E F E G E F E D E C E Bb E A E
A7 E B7 E C7 E D7 E E7 E F7 E G7 E F7 E E7 E....
Am E Bm E Cm E Dm E Em E Fm E Gm E Fm E .....

This is boring as all get out but it worked for me. I had also played uke for almost 3 years before I started.