How Do You Practice?

J_Tay81

J_Tay81

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
228
Reaction score
0
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
When I 'practice', I guess I just play around with a few songs I have memorized, trying to hit the chord changes quicker and more cleanly. I don't know any scales or anything. I know squat about music theory.

When I play the uke, I just play. But I feel like I should be attacking it in a different way, to learn more about it and how to play music (fingerpicking, scales, etc.).

So how do you guys and gals practice on your uke? What would be a good 'training regimen' for me?
 
It depends. If I'm in a theory mood and want to improve my understanding of the uke (having come from guitar) I use a book, like the Mel Bay series. If i just want to practice, I have a goal of a new song a week, so I work the chords, learn the chart and rotate my instruments through playing it. Then I may tweak the chord positions, and finally I work on strum pattern.
 
When my brain is tired I practice strums, when I want to be quiet I practice forming chord shapes, when my hands hurt I study theory, when I have a little time off work and my brain cells are working and my hands feel ok I try putting it all together. I made a vow to practice a song by playing through it at least a few times at least every other day.

However life seems to get in the way a lot. I was supposed to rest and mess with ukes all weekend, instead I resurrected my husband's laptop from the practically dead, since we can't afford a shop working on it. After three evenings last week I said enough and reformatted the drive and reinstalled everything and put in all the backups and migrated all the email and browser prefs and bookmarks. I've probably missed something but it's basically all back. Most of the 200GB or so of files anyway.

The pc's running smooth and fast and playing uke music on the latest version of iTunes at this very moment. So we are going to get the real ones out and play with them.

But my boss gave me hours of work to do yesterday, so I think I will just have to plead family emergency.
 
Last edited:
I've been taking some beginning and adv. beginning uke classes at DaSilva's so I try to practice the songs from class at least every other day (preferably every day). I'm also teaching myself to play bass on my Kala UBass so for that I've been using a method book (Hal Leonard 1/2/3 by Ed Friedland).

If I need something new I try to play songs from one of my books that has a CD since it's both easier and more challenging to play along with the CD. Easier because I can hear what it sounds like and more challenging because it's usually faster than I play alone and keeps going when I make a mistake, forcing me to catch up rather than stopping at every error. Much more effective in the long run. I like Fretboard Roadmaps, Learn Fingerstyle, Hawaiian Style Ukulele 1, John King Solos and Duets, and Jim Beloff's Blues Ukulele.

I do try to study music theory but that ends up being only about once every 2-3 weeks. I have Edly's Music Theory for Practical People and Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robert van Renesse.
 
It all depends where you want to go with your uke, or any skill for that matter.

Right now the uke is limited to learning songs for church worship, so right now I'm practicing nothing more than a new strum pattern, or a new chord every once in a while.

But with the electric bass I've been learning theory and sight-reading in the bass clef.
 
It depends on what mood I'm in. Most days I play a few songs I either know or am working on, and practice different strums and finger-picking. Some days (like this morning) I get out the Fretboard Roadmaps book and work on moveable chord shapes, scales and things like that.
 
I play on and off with a couple of uke groups, and I also take private lessons, so for me, practicing means working on these songs I'm doing with each of those. Additionally I always try to have something of my own to work on. And I do play scales, although probably not nearly enough, and I also work on barre chords up and down the neck, trying to see where the trouble spots are for me.
 
janeray1940 said:
I play on and off with a couple of uke groups, and I also take private lessons, so for me, practicing means working on these songs I'm doing with each of those. Additionally I always try to have something of my own to work on. And I do play scales, although probably not nearly enough, and I also work on barre chords up and down the neck, trying to see where the trouble spots are for me.
Click to expand...

Aloha JaneRay,
Depends on the mood and how I'm feeling(pain)...or my creativity level on the days....or what I was previously motivated by watching or reading...I hope it helps...MM Stan
 
I always find these threads interesting. Thanks for posting. Everything small step I take while learning the uke takes a great deal of time and energy. For example - simple chord changes that someone else might be able to make in a short period of time takes me many, many repetitions to get smoothly and cleanly. I do not really practice songs - I practice elements of a song (chords changes, strumming patterns, or simple fingerstyle patterns). I also try to study and learn some theory. There are certain things I would like to practice or achieve but I must develop the foundation before I can practice those other elements.
 
I like to play with other folks when I practice. It keeps you from getting sloppy and it also makes you learn how to recover from mistakes. When you play alone the tendency is to stop and start over when you make a mistake. When I play solo, I like to play out in public, in a park or on in front of a store, same story there.
 
I have the least scientific approach I know. I warm up by playing the most difficult pieces I know, then I run through a new piece, and then I try to run through every song I know until I run out of time - usually an hour. next day, I'll start the same way, and pick up where I left off on the songs. Completely a** backwards, but I enjoy it.
 
When I 'practice', I guess I just play around with a few songs I have memorized, trying to hit the chord changes quicker and more cleanly. I don't know any scales or anything. I know squat about music theory.
Click to expand...
I have a few memorized, most are in a binder.
I zero in on chord changes that give trouble and go over and over them...there are so many:(
DAP
 
If I'm practicing just to be technically better, I almost always try to focus on right-hand technique. Fan strum is a long-time nemesis. I try to add new things to my bag of tricks, rather than having to rely on what I know I can do already.

If I'm just playing to play, the Ernest Ka'ai pieces from the John King Solos and Duets are my favourite. If my kids are awake, I usually sing to my daughter, who is more tolerant of my singing than my son. She likes Iz's Somewhere Over the Rainbow best.
 
These days my "practice" is mostly just playing. I no longer try to develop additional chops as I'll never use flashy technique in the music I make. Instead I try to get better and more relaxed at what I do use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Price Drop Custom Kepasa solid mahogany soprano travel/practice uke with K&K pickup
Replies
7
Views
394
JDP
JDP
J
Nova U Mini modification - Silent Practice Uke
2
Replies
25
Views
729
rrieth
R
Joe Strummer
Practice - perfection vs progress
2
Replies
24
Views
783
70sSanO
70sSanO
UkeOkay
Too Busy To Practice
Replies
8
Views
251
UkeOkay
UkeOkay
Jerryc41
Practice or Play?
2 3
Replies
41
Views
1K
Voran
Voran
Top Bottom