A critique by the neighbors

Chap

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Soo, I live in an apartment building, and met one of my neighbors for the first time yesterday. I said that I hoped my practicing didn't bother her, and told her it was a uke, not a mandolin (that was her guess).

She said, no, it didn't bother her, but she wished I would play some songs instead of just scales.

I nodded, and said I was just learning, and I'd do what I could.



The sad part....I wasn't playing scales, I *was* playing songs. I think this is just because I'm doing basic strumming rather than fingerpicking, but from now on, I'm going to practice on the Eleuke, with the headphones on. :p
 
hahah.. Thats funny story tho. Her called your songs scales for some reason reminded me of when I asked a woman at work years ago when her baby was due only to find out she wasn't pregnant. Yeah, there was that AWKWARD silence just before we parted ways.. lol..
 
hahah.. Thats funny story tho. Her called your songs scales for some reason reminded me of when I asked a woman at work years ago when her baby was due only to find out she wasn't pregnant. Yeah, there was that AWKWARD silence just before we parted ways.. lol..

Wow! That is really funny:) I would be so embarrassed.....:eek:
 
Aloha Chap,
Don't feel offended. Maybe the walls muffle the sounds or he/she may be hard of hearing. How about inviting he/she over for coffee and play the uke to see their reaction? The uke has been an icebreaker for me and I'm not that good, but I love it. Anyway, just a thought.............BO...........
 
A little story.
I was playing at an event in the street, so I decided to put 20 minutes of playing in and play everything twice and move around a little. Any way I'm playing my heart out and a little voice said, 'I can play the ukulele'. There stood a little elderly man right in front of me. I finished my piece and offered him my ukulele thinking I'd get a rest at least.
He played beautifully for about 3 minutes.
In truth he played better than me and the handed me back my ukulele.
THEY WILL NEVER FIND HIS BODY. (how will they know which skip to look in!)
What did I learn?
1 Never offer your ukulele to any one else.
2 Ignore the crowd.
3 He only played his best.
I checked out what he played and it was good and did have some quick scale work in there, but his best only lasted 3 minutes.
 
Chap, you should be glad she does not mind you playing an instrument. Neighbors like that are few and far between. I agree with 808boy. You probably are really rocking out, but she is not able to hear through the walls.
 
Soo, I live in an apartment building, and met one of my neighbors for the first time yesterday. I said that I hoped my practicing didn't bother her, and told her it was a uke, not a mandolin (that was her guess).

She said, no, it didn't bother her, but she wished I would play some songs instead of just scales.

I nodded, and said I was just learning, and I'd do what I could.



The sad part....I wasn't playing scales, I *was* playing songs. I think this is just because I'm doing basic strumming rather than fingerpicking, but from now on, I'm going to practice on the Eleuke, with the headphones on. :p

Well if she can't tell the difference between a mandolin and uke, you shouldn't worry about if she can tell the difference between a song and some scales, Brah lol. Play your heart out, and just take it as motivation. Don't mute yourself though. :)
 
I guess there are some people that come into our lives just to keep us humble. Don't get discouraged, I asked my wife to listen to me play Mr sandman last night. She listened and told me it's best not to play it for anyone else for a while! Ha!
 
from now on, I'm going to practice on the Eleuke, with the headphones on. :p
Oh no, no, no my friend. The issue is she can't hear you WELL enough. practice on the Eleuke yes, headphones NO.
Crank it up. She'll dig it when she really hears it;)
DAP
 
I know the issue well, I try to play daylight hours and not to overstep my boundries with the uke...Maybe she was being nice..
Living in apartments, there alot of compromises...especially the thin wall ones.. I try to be respectfull of others..believe me they hear..
that's why I bought a captain's backpacker for nights...with a pick-up...in apartments you just don't have one neighbor...but it's
a good idea to invite them over to smooth them over...he he Good Luck!!! Happy Strummings....MM stan..
 
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WELL how old is she. are you married? Maybe if you crank up the "noise" she might get interested in a uke, and who knows where it could go from there!!! I say no headphones, crank it up until you have some serious complaint. Lozark
 
Heheheh...she's quite a bit older than me. The complex is mostly retirees, and I'm not there yet. :p

I'll still play, because of course, my ukes would get sad otherwise, but I'll switch to the Eleuke after 9pm now. I wasn't aware she could hear me at all before, because I never hear my neighbors.
 
A little story.
I was playing at an event in the street, so I decided to put 20 minutes of playing in and play everything twice and move around a little. Any way I'm playing my heart out and a little voice said, 'I can play the ukulele'. There stood a little elderly man right in front of me. I finished my piece and offered him my ukulele thinking I'd get a rest at least.
He played beautifully for about 3 minutes.
In truth he played better than me and the handed me back my ukulele.
THEY WILL NEVER FIND HIS BODY. (how will they know which skip to look in!)
What did I learn?
1 Never offer your ukulele to any one else.
2 Ignore the crowd.
3 He only played his best.
I checked out what he played and it was good and did have some quick scale work in there, but his best only lasted 3 minutes.

I've heard that you really only need 5 songs when busking because by the time you're done it's a different crowd and you can do them again.
 
hahah.. Thats funny story tho. Her called your songs scales for some reason reminded me of when I asked a woman at work years ago when her baby was due only to find out she wasn't pregnant. Yeah, there was that AWKWARD silence just before we parted ways.. lol..

Been there, once...it's a lesson you don't forget.

Also had a case that was a little easier to recover from. Many years ago I was stationed overseas and I had a part-time job repairing the slot machines in the clubs on base. There was this one wife who was a regular at the junior enlisted club slot room. She was about five feet - tall and wide. The week of Halloween I happen to be repairing a machine next to the one she is playing. Several people in the club were wearing costumes, and she was wearing an orange one piece jumpsuit and a green hat. I looked at her and said, "clever costume."

She looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "what costume?"

I almost choked on my toes but I managed to point to someone beyond her that was wearing a costume and say something like, "that one..."

John
 
Heheheh...she's quite a bit older than me. The complex is mostly retirees, and I'm not there yet. :p

I'll still play, because of course, my ukes would get sad otherwise, but I'll switch to the Eleuke after 9pm now. I wasn't aware she could hear me at all before, because I never hear my neighbors.

Yeah, you probably can't hear them over the uke!
 
Been there, once...it's a lesson you don't forget.

Also had a case that was a little easier to recover from. Many years ago I was stationed overseas and I had a part-time job repairing the slot machines in the clubs on base. There was this one wife who was a regular at the junior enlisted club slot room. She was about five feet - tall and wide. The week of Halloween I happen to be repairing a machine next to the one she is playing. Several people in the club were wearing costumes, and she was wearing an orange one piece jumpsuit and a green hat. I looked at her and said, "clever costume."

She looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, "what costume?"

I almost choked on my toes but I managed to point to someone beyond her that was wearing a costume and say something like, "that one..."

John

Ouch! Nice save, though.
 
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