fretie
Well-known member
I have such a bad case of uke love that I am now completely neglecting my bamboo flute. I have been taking flute lessons for the past three years and, though I started to learn the flute with high hopes of mastering the basics so I could play the classic pieces at a engaging level, I am now sorely tempted to abandon my flute playing completely to pursue my ukulele love.
Let me explain a little further; you see the Japanese bamboo flute is a hard instrument to learn. And to our western ears, the traditional bamboo flute music can sound somewhat out of pitch and, at times, even discordant. The notes are tough to produce let alone get into the correct pitch. The music often moves from low soft tones to high pitched shrill notes with little warning. The flute is a beast to learn to play, takes enormous effort and discipline on my part to practice and gives musical returns very slowly and somewhat painfully.
I took up the uke as a bit of a lark because I had friends who were into it already. Within weeks I was loving how melodic and gentle the ukulele sound was and soon I found myself lost in hours of play. It took no effort or willpower to pick up the uke and practice. It was such a joy to play.
Now all I want to do is play my uke. For a while the uke was my 'reward' for practicing my flute. And now, well.....now, I have stopped playing my flute totally. I just can no longer force myself to spend the grueling hours to create very crude renditions of the traditional pieces when I could be playing joyful, interesting and delightful music on the ukulele.
Honestly, I've gone so far as to cancel my flute lessons....at least temporarily. But I didn't have the heart to tell my flute teacher that I had a new love.....I'll have to break it to him sometime soon....honesty is always best....eh?
I do feel a little sad when I see the flute sitting alone, neglected. And I wonder about those hours of practice, the years I invested in lessons. Had I found the uke first I would likely have never even started with the flute.
Confession over. It has been said. Feeling slightly better having shared this with you...I say, for those that found uke before all other instruements, lucky you!
Let me explain a little further; you see the Japanese bamboo flute is a hard instrument to learn. And to our western ears, the traditional bamboo flute music can sound somewhat out of pitch and, at times, even discordant. The notes are tough to produce let alone get into the correct pitch. The music often moves from low soft tones to high pitched shrill notes with little warning. The flute is a beast to learn to play, takes enormous effort and discipline on my part to practice and gives musical returns very slowly and somewhat painfully.
I took up the uke as a bit of a lark because I had friends who were into it already. Within weeks I was loving how melodic and gentle the ukulele sound was and soon I found myself lost in hours of play. It took no effort or willpower to pick up the uke and practice. It was such a joy to play.
Now all I want to do is play my uke. For a while the uke was my 'reward' for practicing my flute. And now, well.....now, I have stopped playing my flute totally. I just can no longer force myself to spend the grueling hours to create very crude renditions of the traditional pieces when I could be playing joyful, interesting and delightful music on the ukulele.
Honestly, I've gone so far as to cancel my flute lessons....at least temporarily. But I didn't have the heart to tell my flute teacher that I had a new love.....I'll have to break it to him sometime soon....honesty is always best....eh?
I do feel a little sad when I see the flute sitting alone, neglected. And I wonder about those hours of practice, the years I invested in lessons. Had I found the uke first I would likely have never even started with the flute.
Confession over. It has been said. Feeling slightly better having shared this with you...I say, for those that found uke before all other instruements, lucky you!
