There was a couple of nice threads last year about what uke goals people had set for themselves for the coming year. I'm curious to hear what goals people have this year and what their ultimate goals are. Here are some of mine in no particular order. Some of them I'm almost there, some of them still a long way to go:
2012:
- Not buy another uke
- Know how to play completely by ear
- Play more complex stuff
- Improvise based on what notes I want to play rather than wherever my fingers happen to land, and add nice little variations to songs
- Do the clawhammer properly and play old-time american folk songs well
- Learn more Jazz chords and finally manage to play that finger-twisting E-chord in time
- Sing and play at the same time
- Vary my default strumming patterns a bit more
- Play with other people with similar music taste on a regular basis (maybe even have BBQ jam sessions in my backyard in the summer?)
- Get a small amp for my Peanut
- Be fluent in fingerpicking, in particular African two-finger picking (bass line with thumb, melody with left-hand hammer-ons and index finger picking)
- Build a little programmable one-armed drumming robot to have some rhythm playing in the background when I play the uke by myself
- Randomly start playing a ragtime tune on the street and have people pop up out of nowhere to dance Lindy Hop and Charleston to it
Longer term goals, but starting now:
- Learn how to play various musical styles on the uke (in particular Hawaiian Slack Key, Flamenco, Brazilian styles, West African ones and Jazz), some of them based how people already play them on the banjo, cavaqinho, guitar, ngoni, etc
- Develop my own personal playing style
- Record some of my own songs instead of forgetting them the next day. Then post them on Youtube. Play them live in front of other people.
- Go to Hawaii some day and buy a koa uke from MGM
- Jam with West African folk musicians
Other musical goals:
- Get a vintage Korg Electribe, be better at drumming and add live drums to my DJ sets
- Learn buck-dancing and dance more flamenco and lindy hop
- Get more samba bateria gigs + add a brazilian cavaquinho
- Have my step-dad teach me how to play the ngoni a little bit
- Buy a vintage tenor guitar from Jake Wildwood some day
What about you guys?
2012:
- Not buy another uke
- Know how to play completely by ear
- Play more complex stuff
- Improvise based on what notes I want to play rather than wherever my fingers happen to land, and add nice little variations to songs
- Do the clawhammer properly and play old-time american folk songs well
- Learn more Jazz chords and finally manage to play that finger-twisting E-chord in time
- Sing and play at the same time
- Vary my default strumming patterns a bit more
- Play with other people with similar music taste on a regular basis (maybe even have BBQ jam sessions in my backyard in the summer?)
- Get a small amp for my Peanut
- Be fluent in fingerpicking, in particular African two-finger picking (bass line with thumb, melody with left-hand hammer-ons and index finger picking)
- Build a little programmable one-armed drumming robot to have some rhythm playing in the background when I play the uke by myself
- Randomly start playing a ragtime tune on the street and have people pop up out of nowhere to dance Lindy Hop and Charleston to it
Longer term goals, but starting now:
- Learn how to play various musical styles on the uke (in particular Hawaiian Slack Key, Flamenco, Brazilian styles, West African ones and Jazz), some of them based how people already play them on the banjo, cavaqinho, guitar, ngoni, etc
- Develop my own personal playing style
- Record some of my own songs instead of forgetting them the next day. Then post them on Youtube. Play them live in front of other people.
- Go to Hawaii some day and buy a koa uke from MGM
- Jam with West African folk musicians
Other musical goals:
- Get a vintage Korg Electribe, be better at drumming and add live drums to my DJ sets
- Learn buck-dancing and dance more flamenco and lindy hop
- Get more samba bateria gigs + add a brazilian cavaquinho
- Have my step-dad teach me how to play the ngoni a little bit
- Buy a vintage tenor guitar from Jake Wildwood some day
What about you guys?