Teach me the soft touch

pootsie

pootsie

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Dear UUers:

A few months into my uke journey I see that I really can take it easy on fretting my strings.

I usually press harder than I need to, especially when I'm working on a chord I find more difficult or tricky. I know that I don't need to press that hard, but often I find I do anyway.

It seems I really need to focus my attention to get the right amount of pressure, but my attention is a fraglie and flighty thing, like a butterfly of late summer seeking its mate and a place for its young amidst the passing flowers as the days grow long and have you ever noticed how they just never stay in one place long and by the way the evenings of late summer are also a great time to take pictures because when the sun goes down .... well, you see what my attention span is like.

I'm wondering if (aside from practice practice practice) you have any suggestions on exercises or techniques to develop the softer touch.

What worked for you?
 
Hey Pootsie,

I sometimes use too much pressure as well. I don't think that there's much for it except to be as mindful as you can and practice, practice, practice using a light touch.


I do wonder about lowering the action on your uke (if it's a bit on the high side) or maybe switching to lower tension strings where you'll need less pressure to fret properly...
Maybe you could fool around with how you form your chord shapes until you find a new variant that works and uses less pressure, then drill that new shape until you can't help but use it (I guess that falls under the practice, practice, practice advice).


I haven't really paid much attention to this myself, but I have little doubt that the extra pressure I might sometimes use has contributed to my occasional tendonitis.
 
JamieFromOntario said:
I haven't really paid much attention to this myself, but I have little doubt that the extra pressure I might sometimes use has contributed to my occasional tendonitis.
Click to expand...

Did I mention I spend most of my work day at a computer keyboard? That can't help! I often get that tight, sore feeling in the wrist:eek:
 
I also would suggest checking the action and trying different strings

Single malt scotch also helps
 
A reggae strum with any barre chord will help you develop that soft touch. I used to make my students do it for at least 10 minutes straight.

Play each chord as a barre chord, two measures each, playing only on the upbeat and chunking on 1 and 3. Think of the mute as your "at-rest" position. Squeeze each chord on the 2 and 4 like a pulse. Cycle through the I, V, vi, IV progression switching keys after each IV chord:

C G Am F
D A Bm G
E B C#m A
F C Dm Bb
G D Em C
A E F#m D
Bb F Gm Eb
B F# G#m E
 
I appreciate the guidance but I guess I was not being clear. I think the action on my uke is A-OK.

I'm not saying that I need to press too hard, I'm saying that my tendancy is to press harder than I need to.

It does not take a lot of effort to get my strings to the frets on either of my ukes. But I just end up squeezing really hard anyway.

So what I'm saying is, do you have advice to help me not overshoot on the amount of pressure needed. Get me to relax when there is no scotch around.
 
Thanks, Seeso! (i missed your input on my simulpost)

Um, what is "I, V, vi, IV?"
 
I tend to do this when learning newchords and when my hand hurts, I press harder. It seems to get better the more I practice.
 
pootsie said:
Thanks, Seeso! (i missed your input on my simulpost)

Um, what is "I, V, vi, IV?"
Click to expand...


I, V, vi, IV refer to chords. Using roman numerals to denote chords is a traditional music theory approach (rather than in Jazz where it isn't as prevalent).

The roman numeral refers to the note in the scale on which a triad is built.

So in C major, a I chord is a triad built on C - CEG.

A V chord is a triad built on the fifth note of the scale, G - GBD


All of the examples that Seeso gave describe the I, V, vi, IV pattern in a variety of keys (you can tell which key is being referred to from the first chord of each group).

It is also worth noting that the the vi chord is written in lower case. The case of the numerals denotes whether the chord is major (like the I, IV, V chords) or minor (like the iv chord).
 
If you're wondering how to barre some of those chords, here's some help:

C: 5433
G: 4232
Am: 5453
F: 5553

D: 7655
A: 6454
B#m: 4222
G: 4232

E: 4442
B: 4322
C#m: 6444
A: 6454

F: 5553
C: 5433
Dm: 7555
Bb: 3211

G: 4232
D: 7655
Em: 4432
C: 5433

A: 6454
E: 4442
F#m: 6654
D: 7655

Bb: 3211
F: 5553
Gm: 3231
Eb: 3331

B: 4322
F#: 3121
G#m: 4342
E: 4442
 
You explained that much better than I could have! Thanks! :shaka:

JamieFromOntario said:
I, V, vi, IV refer to chords. Using roman numerals to denote chords is a traditional music theory approach (rather than in Jazz where it isn't as prevalent).

The roman numeral refers to the note in the scale on which a triad is built.

So in C major, a I chord is a triad built on C - CEG.

A V chord is a triad built on the fifth note of the scale, G - GBD


All of the examples that Seeso gave describe the I, V, vi, IV pattern in a variety of keys (you can tell which key is being referred to from the first chord of each group).

It is also worth noting that the the vi chord is written in lower case. The case of the numerals denotes whether the chord is major (like the I, IV, V chords) or minor (like the iv chord).
Click to expand...
 
Maybe practice making the chords without pressing down at all. Just touch the strings enough to mute them, then press down a teensy bit, then a teensy bit more, until you're pressing down just hard enough for all the notes to sound cleanly, then don't press any harder. Rinse and repeat as needed. :)
 
Oh, no, music theory!
my-brain-hurts.jpg


Thank you all for the help.

Tonite I will work on "Uncle Seeso's Ukulele Relaxation-spa-camp" ;)

a-chunk-a-strum-a-chunk-a-strum .....
 
One nice way to develop a light touch is to play very quietly. The next few times you play, start off by playing as softly as you can for five or ten minutes. Might help.
 
One thing you will find is that the more you play, the stronger your hand will become. Ironically, the stronger your hand, the lighter a touch you can achieve. Your hand is basically clumsy at first. It can do off and on. Off is 0. On is, say, 7. But you can't much access the points in between. So, you have off and arg.

As you gain strength, you will also develop different techniques. Seeso's idea of reggae barre chords is genius. Never thought of that. What he's getting you to do is unconsciously add some points of articulation. By gaining strength, your scale will shift to 0-10. By practicing different techniques, you'll be able to actually press however hard you like: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. (In practice, a ukulele takes very little pressure to play - save the 10 for when you want to impress people with your can crushing ability)

Overflexing is a sign of strain. Strain causes loss of strength. You compensate for that by pushing harder. That's usually why beginners push too hard. (Why Jamie pushes too hard, I have no idea :) )

If you drive a manual transmission, you might think of it like this. When you first start, you push the clutch to the floor, then stall the car on the way up. Your foot is used to big movements. After a while, you learn to move your foot fractions of an inch.

Your ukulele is like a clutch. Or a dial with very few numbers on it.

Not sure which analogy is worse................................................................... ;)
 
Pootsie is a drummer, he's beyond help.
 
seeso said:
If you're wondering how to barre some of those chords, here's some help:

C: 5433
G: 4232
Am: 5453
F: 5553

D: 7655
A: 6454
B#m: 4222
G: 4232

E: 4442
B: 4322
C#m: 6444
A: 6454

F: 5553
C: 5433
Dm: 7555
Bb: 3211

G: 4232
D: 7655
Em: 4432
C: 5433

A: 6454
E: 4442
F#m: 6654
D: 7655

Bb: 3211
F: 5553
Gm: 3231
Eb: 3331

B: 4322
F#: 3121
G#m: 4342
E: 4442
Click to expand...
Genius!
Mahalo Seeso, now I am prepared for every Jawaiian jam I enounter!
 
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