Have you accomplished any of your uke goals?

Hey guys, just thought this would be an interesting topic. When I first started playing the ukulele, I watched a video of Jake S. playing his song "Third Stream", and I thought to myself that there's no way in heck I'd ever learn it. Well I'm attempting to learn the song right now, and if I do manage to get it down it would be like accomplishing my biggest uke goal. So, what have you guys done on the uke that you never thought possible?

I started playing the ukulele because it was unknown in my area and i wanted to show what it could do. Nowadays, there have been a lot of people trying to start up the ukulele after my performances.

Yep -- have got one Roy Smeck waltz down, and the next is well on its way.

I had one goal when I started playing: having fun. Yes, I accomplished my goal. The rest is just a bonus.

Built a uke I'm proud of, so yep

Nice. That is definitely a key, if you cant have fun with it... then is it really for you? I know when I was first learning it was a bit of a drag at times because it was the same thing over and over again, sit with a chord sheet basic strum playing the chords one after another until they became solid. Now I find myself trying to get fancier. The main project I am looking at doing now is a project for the late Lopaka Akui Young who passed away a few short days ago. He was one of the first people to truly touch the uke part of my soul and it is a shame to see him go.'

Absolutely.

When I picked up a uke of my own, my goals were simple:

1. Enjoy myself
2. Become comfortable enough to strum basic songs without error
3. Discover whether this was something I wanted to continue and grow with.

Every one of these is an emphatic yes. The very first time I held an 'ukulele and strummed it I thought it was great. When I picked it up again (after a 7 year hiatus) I remembered that feeling and it has only increased. At first, I was barely capable of holding the damn thing, much less making any tolerable sounds. I was convinced I had no musical talent, but after a couple of weeks I was actually strumming chords that <gasp> sounded like chords! By the end of the second month, I was blasting out basic three-chord songs and was delighted.

And the best part is the more I improved and the more I played, the more I wanted to play and the more I wanted to learn. Now, songs I thought were completely out of my reach because of some tricky chord switches and fretboard dexterity (like "Build Me Up, Buttercup") are falling into place with minimal agony, and I've started to work on things like fingerpicking and some rapid fretting.

But the very best part is that it keeps getting more and more enjoyable every day.

As one of our leaders once prematurely ejaculated: "Mission Accomplished!"

Well... I learnt to play so I guess that's quite an achievement for me!

I took Bill1's advice to fight UAS (http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...atch-to-reduce-cravings/page2&highlight=patch) by focusing on learning several songs really well. I have a very hard time memorizing songs (I forget both words and lyrics), though I can get through many of them by only glancing at a tab sheet. My goal is to have a batch of songs I can play at will, like on the back deck or in a uke shop.

I chose 20 songs I really like to play and keep their tab sheets together. In a strum session, I play each one a couple times, then go on and play whatever.
When I started, I knew by memory only Lili Marlene. Now I've added Tennessee Waltz, Glory of Love, When Irish Eyes are Smiling, and Till There was You...and I'm on the cusp of having by memory Don't Fence Me In, When I'm 64, Sentimental Journey, Red Red Robin, and When You're Smiling. Having the goal is helping my facility in playing (which is still advanced intermediate beginner). Coming up, Blue Skies...


(Oh, does it cure UAS? It's too soon to tell.)

ItsAMeCasey said:

So, what have you guys done on the uke that you never thought possible?

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Sticking with it. Actually committing to it. And becoming noticeably better at it. These are generally not things that I have the patience to do

I can play. And I own a K brand ukulele. Check those off the list.

ukuhippo said:

I had one goal when I started playing: having fun. Yes, I accomplished my goal. The rest is just a bonus.

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When I started playing Uke, I was depressed because I couldn't play guitar anymore because of the severe pain, and that meant I couldn't make music anymore.

The first day I picked up the uke, I had no pain while playing. or the second day. or the third... Or the 393rd...

So my goal was to make music again - and I can.

No more depression either - so yeah, I'd say that I've exceeded my goals.

My goals now are to a) make a decent video, and b) to play more often with others.


I'll let y'all know how that works out.

2011 Uke goals...

1) Get a uke from Hawaii for the mantle - DONE
Bonus - decided playing the uke is more fun than watching it gather dust on the mantle

2) Learn to play Bruddah IZ's version of "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" - DONE

Mission accomplished.

I suppose I have a lot of goals, and most of them are ahead of me. I suppose I've focused a lot more on my right-hand technique than I ever did with guitar. Being a left-handed person who plays right-handed, that has given me quite a feeling of accomplishment.

Currently working on Craig Chee's advanced golpe, which has my right-hand in a serious state of confusion.

Oh, and I've hit the one year mark. That was a goal as well. Next goal is 5.

I actually set myself goals on my blog most weeks (haven't for a while because of being busy with uni and the holidays) and 90& of the time, I manage all if not most of them. My biggest goal was to have fun and make music and I've achieved that and continue to do so every time I pick up one of my Ukes!

I guess a "I know I'm good" goal would be to be able to play along with one of Aldrine's instructional videos and keep up with him, I haven't managed that yet, but that'll be a goal for the New Year.

Overall, I've done what I set out to do, learn, have fun, make music and enjoy myself whilst doing so!

Back in the '80s, my impossible dream was to someday play Genesis' song "Blood on the Rooftops". Today it's part of my repertoire and I've played it live a few times. Five years ago, I never would have thought I could play and sing at the same time as well as I can now.

More recently, a few months back I went to a ukulele group meeting where one of the songs on that night's schedule was A-ha "Take On Me". I wondered if it would be remotely possible to play that lead line the synthesizer plays. I was there about five minutes early and after looking over the chords, I spent those minutes trying to figure out that line. And it turned out to be a lot simpler to play than I expected. In years past, I would have assumed it would be impossible and not tried. Now I don't assume anything's impossible to play until I prove it empirically.