For those who feel stuck

Vladim

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All we remember the enthusiasm that we felt for the first time having taken the ukulele. All was new and the thought 'I play music' shrilled our whole being. Progress was really fast those days. Every day we learned something new. But gradually things were slowing down. Sometimes we even thought there's no way we could master this instrument. As if a high and inpenetrable wall rised before us. In those moments we were even pondering on giving up playing. Sounds familiar?
Let me quote a little passage from Uncle Rod' Self-Eximination Tool. I'm sure it'll cheer you up:

'Remember the FIRST 'rule' of playing the ukulele - "It must be fun!" or something like that.
If you are having difficulty, don't be too hard on yourself. Please be assured that eventually you'll experience that 'Ah-Ha' moment when it all comes together. and that momentis right around the corner, esp if you're practicing regulary if not daily.
Think about this, if we had handed you a uke a few months ago - What would you have done with it? But NOW, hey, you can actually PLAY it. That's real progress!'
 
I'm feeling that now. Everytime I practice to me I sound horrible. My family says I'm getting better. But, I feed them .. they have to lie to protect themselves :)

I've convinced myself that I'm not tuning my ukulele right. I'm doing something wrong. Even though I'm using a tuner, and it's says I have CGEA tuned properly. To me it's wrong, to everyone else it is apparently OK. (maybe I'm tone deaf??)

So, to re-assure myself I've asked a friend to listen to my ukulele for me. If Manitoba Hal tells me my uke is tuned right ... then I'll have to believe. And I'll have to train my ears to hear better.

I guess it's my low self-esteeem coming out.
 
I'm feeling that now. Everytime I practice to me I sound horrible. My family says I'm getting better. But, I feed them .. they have to lie to protect themselves :)

I've convinced myself that I'm not tuning my ukulele right. I'm doing something wrong. Even though I'm using a tuner, and it's says I have CGEA tuned properly. To me it's wrong, to everyone else it is apparently OK. (maybe I'm tone deaf??)

So, to re-assure myself I've asked a friend to listen to my ukulele for me. If Manitoba Hal tells me my uke is tuned right ... then I'll have to believe. And I'll have to train my ears to hear better.

I guess it's my low self-esteeem coming out.

GCEA, right? Because that would be a quick fix, if you just have the strings tuned in the wrong order.

When I get bored I try something new - a chord, a strum pattern, maybe some fingerpicking. Eventually I will run out of new stuff, and then God only knows what I'll do!
 
Right ... I typed it wrong. And ... tuned it wrong last time I played. DUH Maybe I am too stupid to play the uke?
 
Hello Dorothy,
You wrote.....
""So, to re-assure myself I've asked a friend to listen to my ukulele for me. If Manitoba Hal tells me my uke is tuned right ... then I'll have to believe. And I'll have to train my ears to hear better. ""
Wow you have a nice talented friend in Manitoba Hal. i took in one of his seminars and listened and watched and learned a lot. Just keep on keeping on. Slow and steady will win the day.
Regards
1931jim
 
I totally agree that it must be fun. Sometimes I beat myself up that I've not progressed as much as I'd like, but then I remind myself that I'm having fun playing, so who cares how intricate or skilled I am as a player. Just have fun!
 
He's part of the reason I have an ukulele. I could listen to him play for hours. We're not close friends - we don't hang out together or anything like that .. maybe "acquaitances" is more like it?

So, uke is now re-tuned ... and to me it still sounds odd. At least I'm having fun making noise :)
 
He's part of the reason I have an ukulele. I could listen to him play for hours. We're not close friends - we don't hang out together or anything like that .. maybe "acquaitances" is more like it?

So, uke is now re-tuned ... and to me it still sounds odd. At least I'm having fun making noise :)

saw him play in the ukulele festival of GB on saturday night, very talented musician, actually met and spoke to him in the afternoon and he was a really great down to earth guy, he played on my uke for a bit, WOW!! wish i could make it sound like that, keep practicing Dorothy, little steps take you great distances
 
If anyone is feeling sort of 'left behind', esp when you read about others' progress or
new uke acquisition... remember what Red Green says, "We're all in this together."

Ohana means nothing if not 'together'. If you play the uke, and if you're on UU, you're
part of the UkuleleUnderground Ohana/Family... regardless if you don't even have a uke
or if you've been playing for decades, whether you only play (in the closet) for yourself,
or if you're out there busking or performing for the masses, whether you've been at it
for months or years and still feel you haven't been making the progress you think you
should be making... it's all good, real good.

You BELONG to us and with us, just like we belong to you and with you.

I wish we could ALL somehow get together to meet and greet each other, to flash mob
ukulele-style, jam, kanikapila, just have a great time. Hey, if you weren't one of us,
there wouldn't be as many of us as there are! Whatever you do...

keep uke'in' :)
 
Stuck

I'm stuck in the UU+ week 3 lesson. Having the hardest time with "Sunday Morning". But not because the lesson wasn't good, but because I'm too uncoordinated. I must have a problem, 'cause I can't even count in an even pace (I have been using a visual metronome to help me, because even the sounds of a regular metronome confuses me). My pointing finger gets caught in the strings, causing unintentional plucking more often than I'd like. Dm sounds very abnormal to me, doesn't seem to match the G and C that comes after that. Tuner says they are all correct. (Dm sounds sad and dull to me, G and C sound happy - if that makes sense). I called a ukulele tutor (the only one in town), the guy hasn't returned my call. Sooo... Yeah... Relying on the interwebs to help me!! How do I get unstuck?! Should I move on, or keep practicing until the light bulb comes on, and then go to the next lesson? And... where did the exclusive UU+ forum go?
 
I'm stuck in the UU+ week 3 lesson. Having the hardest time with "Sunday Morning". But not because the lesson wasn't good, but because I'm too uncoordinated. I must have a problem, 'cause I can't even count in an even pace (I have been using a visual metronome to help me, because even the sounds of a regular metronome confuses me). My pointing finger gets caught in the strings, causing unintentional plucking more often than I'd like. Dm sounds very abnormal to me, doesn't seem to match the G and C that comes after that. Tuner says they are all correct. (Dm sounds sad and dull to me, G and C sound happy - if that makes sense). I called a ukulele tutor (the only one in town), the guy hasn't returned my call. Sooo... Yeah... Relying on the interwebs to help me!! How do I get unstuck?! Should I move on, or keep practicing until the light bulb comes on, and then go to the next lesson? And... where did the exclusive UU+ forum go?

Hi reefbug. I'm pretty new myself and haven't taken the UU+ classes but I can tell you that the coordination improves with time and practice. Don't give up!!!! Also, the G and C happy chords are major chords. It's kind of a characteristic of major chords that they sound "happy". The D minor chord is the opposite. Minor chords are supposed to sound "sad". Hope I helped you somewhat.
 
Dm sounds very abnormal to me, doesn't seem to match the G and C that comes after that. Tuner says they are all correct. (Dm sounds sad and dull to me, G and C sound happy - if that makes sense).

That's it exactly right! The "m" in Dm stands for "minor" and the minor chords are often said to sound sad. So if your Dm sounds sad, then you know you're doing it right. So, I'd say you should just keep on keepin' on.
 
Sounds pretty normal to me. Just don't rush it and get all discouraged. S L O W down until you can play it perfectly and let your muscle memory catch up with your mind. You'll get it.
 
Thank you

Also, the G and C happy chords are major chords. It's kind of a characteristic of major chords that they sound "happy". The D minor chord is the opposite. Minor chords are supposed to sound "sad". Hope I helped you somewhat.

That's it exactly right! The "m" in Dm stands for "minor" and the minor chords are often said to sound sad. So if your Dm sounds sad, then you know you're doing it right. So, I'd say you should just keep on keepin' on.

The Dm just seemed so out of place between the other two "happier" sounding notes, I was wondering if I was doing it wrong. The hardest part about teach-yourself-from-the-Internet is not knowing whether something is the way it is supposed to be, so this helps me tremendously, thank you both!
 
Please be assured that eventually you'll experience that 'Ah-Ha' moment when it all comes together. and that momentis right around the corner, esp if you're practicing regulary if not daily.
The wisdom of Uncle Rod! I had an A-Ha moment a few weeks ago. It was when I realized how flexible my hand and wrist needed to be to get past simple strums. All of the sudden it felt like that first time on a bike - wwwwwwwwow - I can do it! I have not had enough time for practice over the last week, but walked through some of Aaron's videos last night to give me some new things to think about.

Challenges build foundations! My A-Ha's don't come every day, but I am still having fun!
 
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