Feedback needed please!

HydePryde

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Hey y'all! :) Well, I'm on week 2 of uke playing, and I need some more feedback. It's slow going, and I'm having a bit of a hard time with the D7, since it's a barre chord. Any feedback helps!
Thanks!
 
besides the obvious problem of you playing it with the wrong hand :rolleyes:try rolling the "bar" finger up a bit , it helped mine
 
HydePryde,

You're doing great for only two weeks of playing!

It might help to practice just the D7 chord, separately from the boot camp exercises. Start by laying your 1st finger across all four strings at the second fret, and then strumming until all four strings are ringing clearly. Then add your 2nd finger on the first string third fret, just in front of your 1st finger bar, and there's your D7 chord.

Once you're making the D7, try slowly switching back & forth between a D7 and a C chord. When that feels comfortable, try changing from D7 to G7 to C. That's a classic II-V-I turnaround in the key of C.

You'll have it no time, and can then handle the D7 chord in boot camp.

Hope this helps! :)
 
Hi,
I noticed that you said your D7 sounds twangy and that you thought you might not have been pressing down hard enough. I think the opposite is more likely true. It seems a bit counter intuitive but less is more when it comes to pressure and barre chords. You need just enough to get a clean sound (ie no buzzing) and no more. Gripping and pressing down really hard destroys tone and of course can be quite painful. For a beginner learning to relax your hand is difficult but important to focus on. As far as learning new chords and transitions goes it can be useful to leave your strumming hand out all together. Practice laying down the chord then lifting your fingers without strumming then try the same thing with transitions. You are doing great for two weeks!
 
I can't see where you have your thumb when playing D7 - try and have it in the center not to the sides...
 
Well done! You're doing great for 2 weeks in. And you're doing the right thing by starting with Uncle Rod's boot camp.
Not sure if this will help you or not on the D7, but I do that chord with my middle finger across the strings and ring finger on the A string. I tilt my fingers in toward me a little bit because it gives more power/pressure. I probably have much bigger hands than you though so this may or may not work in your case.
Keep doing that boot camp and those chords will be under your fingers very soon.
 
Well done! You're doing great for 2 weeks in. And you're doing the right thing by starting with Uncle Rod's boot camp.
Not sure if this will help you or not on the D7, but I do that chord with my middle finger across the strings and ring finger on the A string. I tilt my fingers in toward me a little bit because it gives more power/pressure. I probably have much bigger hands than you though so this may or may not work in your case.

Great idea, I've been making the D7 chord with my index and middle fingers, and had not thought of using my middle and ring fingers instead.

Practiced playing D7 both ways this week, and using the middle and ring fingers makes for smoother transitions to/from the C chord and G7 chord, because I can just slide my ring finger back and forth between the second and third frets on the first string.

But, changing from a D7 to a G Major chord is smoother using my index and middle fingers, because I can leave the middle finger on the first string and slide it back and forth on the second and third frets.

Guess I'll practice making the D7 chord until it feels natural to do it both ways. Then I can use whichever way works better for any particular song.

Thanks for the tip, Bob B.

BTW, your avatar cracks me up! :biglaugh:
 
Barre chords can take some time to work up to. You can built up some strength in your fretting hand by using one of those stress ball type things.

Also, if your uke hasn't been set up well, barres at the first fret can be really hard.

But I think you're doing great so far. :)
 
You're doing great! Don't apologize for playing slowly; that's what you're supposed to do. It's much better to go slowly enough to learn nice, smooth chord changes than to rush through and stop every time you have to change chords. Some day perhaps I will accomplish this. ;)

Uncle Rod is the cat's! I also recommend a video by Ukulele Mike on YouTube which features barre chord exercises (don't have the link handy but if you do a search for Ukulele Mike Barre Chord Exercises you will find it easily). I did this daily (well, nearly, because sometimes my fingers refused to cooperate) and it helped. One of his suggestions is to practice barre chords for just a few minutes at a time but to do it every day, because you are not only learning the chords but you need to build up the strength in your fingers. This takes TIME! It took me over a month, and I have strong fingers. But my fingers were not used to moving in that particular way, so they had to build up strength.

By the way, "strength" does not mean "press down harder." As a couple people have mentioned, sometimes LESS pressure is more effective. My background is violin, which of course has no frets, so I had to learn that when I press down on a string it is the fret that is creating the note, not my finger... or something like that. Anyway, it's really a matter of "just right." I tried two things that helped me. One, I actually used two fingers to barre the second fret; I pressed my middle finger over the index finger. I no longer need to do that, but I still do it occasionally for various reasons. The other thing is (and I still do this from time to time, just to check up on myself) I play each string individually so I can make sure they are all ringing. Sometimes it can sound "almost right" when played as a chord. This makes it easier to hear exactly if the pressure is correct on all four strings.

Be very gently with yourself! Two weeks isn't very long. You are obviously progressing very well.

Have fun!
Lily
 
Hello HydePryde,

Here are a few general comments, then one specific thing I see in the video.
(Apologies if I am repeating something you know already.)

Don't be afraid to experiment with how you fret a chord, as long a the right notes are played you can use your left big toe and the tip of your nose.

If a chord sounds wrong, pluck each string individually while holding the chord.

Youtube exists. There is almost certainly someone out there with your same combination of hand and ukulele size and shape.

Here's Aldrine on barre chords:
http://ukuleleunderground.com/lessons/how-to-hold-barre-chords/

Here's a very informative video on the ergonomics of playing an ukulele:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM_3Sb-xfXk

When I hold barre chords I find my finger squashes out more in the the middle so I have to back off from the fret.

Finally, in your video, your barring finger looks like it's at an angle and hitting the G string a little over the fret.

PS
Keep up the good work, enjoy the journey, and (believe it or not) you'll savor the spice of those diminished chords someday.
 
Aloha, Hyde -

First of all, like others have said, no need to apologize or feel any sort of bad about playing slow. It's the only way to begin. Everyone who begins from scratch sucks, and has to accept it - only then can improvement happen. Besides, for two weeks, you are kicking some serious booty.

Also, as other said, barre chords take a bit of time and patience. You need to not only have proper placement, but (for me anyway), the barre finger can't lay flat - it has to be at almost a 45 degree angle. That not only helps the other fingers find the right place, but also helps minimize the chance of accidentally falling over the fret, muting the strings. Also, you do need to develop a bit of strength in the hand & fingers to clamp down evenly and hard enough to fret all the strings.

That said, I hardly ever use the standard D7 because I find the "Hawaiian" D7 usually sounds more bettah. You make that by playing 0202, using the index and middle fingers to fret the G and E strings.

Just keep at it and measure your improvement in increments. Soon the barre will be easier, and the transition in and out of them will also become nice and smooth. It takes time, but when playing the uke the journey is often at least as fun as the destination!
 
That said, I hardly ever use the standard D7 because I find the "Hawaiian" D7 usually sounds more bettah. You make that by playing 0202, using the index and middle fingers to fret the G and E strings.

So, I believe the correct notation would be 2020....
 
That said, I hardly ever use the standard D7 because I find the "Hawaiian" D7 usually sounds more bettah. You make that by playing 0202, using the index and middle fingers to fret the G and E strings.

!
:agree:

your doing great and well done keep going you are doing a grand job
 
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