any one fee like youre stuck?

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J-dawg5

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hey UUers i feel i have been at the same level for quite some time. id say im an intermediate-advance player, i feel i have been at levle for quite some time! its kinda discouraging. all i want is to become an EXPERT ukulele player. but i feel im stuck where im at now. has this happened to any of you? howd did you get over this rut?:(
 
Hey J-dawg!

This happened to me not so long ago. What I did was research some music theory on how to write songs, and then I tinkered around a bit and wrote a few. (Just instrumentals) Then I started looking for new songs to play. Expanding your' repetoir is very important. It helps keep you playing sounding fresh and new. Then practice over techniques you may have already learned and learn some new ones. This took about a year or so. Just keep working at it!

-Coleton
 
ive writtin some instumentals, but i want to make them more complex. i guess ive progressed so much in such a little amount a time, i want to keep progessing at that pace. i guess i got to be pacient and just learning. thanks for the advice though coleton!!!
 
HI j-Dawg..
I have been playing uk for about 2 yrs now, maybe a bit longer. I can say I have felt stuck many times and recently for about 6 or more months... I have been focusing on learnig theory and understanding of why chords are formed the way they are and learning the fretboard.
I have also been pushing myself wtih more complex fingerpicking too.. There isn't a uke teacher close by so I started taking theory lessons with my boys guitar teacher. He has been able to help me a lot in that respect.
UU plus is good too.. they have some more advanced lessons...
My biggest issue is I want to play like people that have played music for many many years...I am behind in the learning curve.. Keep going and push yourself to move forward.. It will pass!
Good luck!
 
My advice; (and remember, advice is the absolute worst vice out there) is to try to do something you normally never do with an ukulele. Like, if you're a primary finger picker-type, then try some advanced strumming tunes or vice versa...I find that when I really have to press myself to learn something new I always feel like I've leveled up. The downside is the frustration but the pay off is huge. Just my dos centavos....
 
J-dawg5 said:
ive writtin some instumentals, but i want to make them more complex. i guess ive progressed so much in such a little amount a time, i want to keep progessing at that pace. i guess i got to be pacient and just learning. thanks for the advice though coleton!!!
Click to expand...

My own experience is that you usually judge your own skill level based on what you've worked on, and what you're good at, where for most of us, there are things we don't do much, and for which we would be judged to be beginners. Tackle those things. Try to be more rounded in your playing. That will improve your skill more dramatically than you might think.
 
Try to play some songs by Jake Shimabukuro with the youtube tutorials. It's easy to pratice. I feel better playing some Jake songs on my tenor.
Just my two cents...
 
All i want is to be good , but i want to be goood now!!!!!!!!!!! i guess its all in the patients!
 
I have found that some people just don't have the talent to be a good ukulele player. I am one of those people. But, I enjoy playing around with it immensely. That is the key. Like what you're doing. The rest will come in time.
 
I'm on one of those plateaus now and it has happened before, you've already had lots of good advice so I'm posting mainly to let you know that this is a common phenomenon and that you're not alone. onwards and upwards, g2
 
I started playing ukulele one and a half year ago. After the half of this time I felt like getting stuck, too. For some time I kinda thought "the uke is not enough" :rolleyes:

My solution: I bought a harp ukulele. :cool: By getting used to this adorable instrument, I constantly improve my fingerpicking skills and it really feels great! ;)
 
Only whenever I pick up one of my ukes! But I agree with what's been said, try something different from what you usually play.
 
yep i have been playing a year and 3/4 no musical background or knowledge, i would say im a high level beginner or extremely low level intermediate, im also plateauing badly, even considering putting down the uke for good but thats just a dark dark thought lol but have considered it, i need to learn patience as well :)
 
I'm limited by my own inability to deal with reading tabs. The Lil'Rev uke method book seems to teach using notation, I just haven't been able to find it at my usual uke shops.
 
I'm surprised I forgot to mention this and no one else has. The most effective way to get better is get out and play with other people. You will get better much faster and by leaps and bounds if you play with other people - you'll learn from them, you'll see what you can do, you'll be forced to amp up your game.
 
Yep. All the damn time...
 
katysax said:
I'm surprised I forgot to mention this and no one else has. The most effective way to get better is get out and play with other people. You will get better much faster and by leaps and bounds if you play with other people - you'll learn from them, you'll see what you can do, you'll be forced to amp up your game.
Click to expand...

This is true. I don't know why that's never hit me until you mentioned it and looking back, you're right! When I was in Hawaii this past summer, every free moment, my nephew and I would sort of jam a bit (he's way better than me now!) but it got us learning more songs, finger picking and working out issues together. Now I'm back and my learning curve just went out the door. I've tried some more finger picking on my own but lots of frustrations to a point that I've only played my uke about 1-2x a week briefly in the last 2.5mts. I think I'm at rock bottom so I can only go up now me thinks. :p
 
Plainsong said:
I'm limited by my own inability to deal with reading tabs. The Lil'Rev uke method book seems to teach using notation, I just haven't been able to find it at my usual uke shops.
Click to expand...

I am using the lil rev books and going through it a second time this time i am covering up the tabs and learning to read the music and learning the scales and where the notes are on the fret board, plus how to build a chord not just looking up on a chart...it is opening up a new world. I see a breakthrough coming sometime...
 
I always feel stuck. Somehow, though, I used to be stuck at a much lower level. Hmm.... How'd that happen?
 
fitncrafty said:
I am using the lil rev books and going through it a second time this time i am covering up the tabs and learning to read the music and learning the scales and where the notes are on the fret board, plus how to build a chord not just looking up on a chart...it is opening up a new world. I see a breakthrough coming sometime...
Click to expand...

Yeah, for me it's a frustration as to speed. I trust my sight-reading, so I'm used to just picking up a piece and playing the sucker. But on uke, that goes painfully slowly. Like too slow to be fun. The only two other instruments I have on me that I can read music are clarinet and keyboard, which I'm miles better on clarinet (assuming one melody line and no chords, with chords, better to play an instrument for that obviously). I broke it out the other day out of frustration when I was learning a song, just to be able to play the thing (which then makes the song way too easy and no challenge at all). But I don't WANT to play clarinet, I want to play uke!

And if I was gonna play clarinet, I'd prefer alto or bass anyway, which is never going to happen, those suckers are expensive... or maybe flugelhorn, which the neighbors would enjoy, but so many ukes can be had for that price! Who else thinks of currency in terms of number of ukes?
 
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