Beginners amount of progress

Muugi

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 17, 2008
Messages
52
Reaction score
1
Location
Canby, Oregon
Well, finally time for that first post. I have been lurking for a few weeks now. I do have a question but if you will indulge me a brief "how I got here" story I would be appreciative.

Me and Hawai'i
So like others I was born in Hawai'i. I lived on Oahu for all of .... 9 months. I was born at Tripler army/airforce hospital (air force brat). I had not been back to Hawai'i for 32 years. About a month ago my wife's grandmother decided to treat a whole bunch of us to a trip to Hawai'i. So there I was spending a couple days on Waikiki and a whole week on Kaua'i. It was fantastic. Anyway I digress (typical for me).

So while running around we stopped by for lunch and across the street was a music store. I could not resist and went in and purchased a simple Concert Kala.

Music History
Impulsively I purchased an acoustic guitar after college. After a few months I traded that in for an electric and took some "laid back" lessons at some guys house. I had a hard time keeping my interest or desire. I eventually sold the fender and went instrument-less for a while.

Question
I really have a desire to play music. I get frustrated when I don't make the progress that I think I could or should. My root question is how much progress should I expect. It is really early in my playing this time but I want to find a way to keep up with it and constantly find new things to practice.

I found that I picked up the ukulele quite quickly. My old memories from the guitar came back. The chord shapes are a lot simpler. I find the strumming easier as well. I am trying to just spend some time each day playign something fun that I am at least close to correct on. Then I try to just practice chord changing with either strumming or finger picking.

I have thought about searcing around for some lessons. What has helped a lot is UkuleleUnderground. The Forum, lessons and minutes are quite helpful in both technical knowledge and keeping my desire in playing.

I think I will pick up a music theory book. I found that those Uke minutes about chord construction and scales and chord families help me understand why all these notes are played together.

Well it was not a very concise question but....

Hello I'm Muugi
I am glad I found this website....
(I need to save up for another ukulele)
 
It's hard to say what your level of progression should be. Everyone is different. I believe we all have that ideal instrument out there just waiting for us to find it. For some it will be the uke, and they'll progress more quickly than others. That's not to say that those are the only people who should play a uke. If it's fun, then you should play, and not worry about the Jakes, James, and Aldrines of the world.

I'm more suited to vocal stuff and then wind instruments. I find that with less practice than I give the uke, I'll progress at a faster rate. I started with clarinet and went on from there. When I tried guitar, it kicked my butt in a way that I wasn't accustomed to.

I have much better luck with the uke, but it's not the instrument I'm most suited to if I'm honest. However, it is the one I love the most. I dearly love playing uke. Ok, so I'm only a virtuoso-so, but that's ok, I love playing it. And that's really what music is all about.

Uke is one of those fine parlor instruments that were designed to be easy to play, but tough to play well. There will always be that next level that you aspire to and that's part of the fun. Happy strumming, and if you have UAS, you've come to the right set of enablers. :rock:
 
Be patient! And practice. I've been playing since early Feb. of this year. I too wondered about my progress until last night. I decided to organize my uke music -- thanks for the notebook idea GX9901 -- and realized that a lot of the stuff I was playing in Feb and March was now "too easy". Will I become a Jake, Aldrine or James? No, but how long have they been playing? Jake's been playing for what, 27 years? Maybe when I'm 78 I'll be good too.
I'm sorta anxious to learn some theory and see where that takes me.
Practicing is the fastest hour of the day.

Ya know -- there is a ton of music out there for ukuleles. Every once in a while you should maybe print out some new stuff that's challenging. You 'll be amazed at your progress. It happens when you aren't paying attention.

Don't be too hard on yourself and have fun! (I'm telling myself that too)
 
it's been over a month now? time for another uke. UAS:D:rolleyes:
 
Top Bottom