Jack Johnson's Better Together (Newbie Attempt)

I've just started on the ukulele myself. It looks like we might have gotten the same model!

I loved the percussive effect you achieved with your muting. It really gave the song some punch and flair.

One thing I noticed was that the strings on your uke had a tendency to bend underneath your chord fingerings, making some of the chords go out of tune. It's a problem that I'm having myself, especially when I downtune my instrument. Do you think we should start a thread in the beginner's section to address this issue of accidental bending?

In any case, speaking as a fellow beginner, I thought your cover was quite impressive considering that you've only had the instrument a week. That makes me want to work hard myself!

Ragtime Life said:

One thing I noticed was that the strings on your uke had a tendency to bend underneath your chord fingerings, making some of the chords go out of tune. It's a problem that I'm having myself, especially when I downtune my instrument. Do you think we should start a thread in the beginner's section to address this issue of accidental bending?

Click to expand...

Hey Ragtime Life!
Yea, I noticed that bending as a problem when I watched my own recording of it. My first reaction to that was "Wow, do I really bend the strings that much?" I tried searching the forum for it, but I couldn't find an answer, so one of us should probably start a thread about it.

The percussive effect from my muting actually came by accident, but I ended up choosing to keep it because I heard a little of it in the song itself and it helped me keep track of how far into the song I was. Ended up working out well in the end.

The technique seems to be really good, especially with only a week under your belt. I do, however, believe that the uke is severely out of tune. It doesn't look like anything to do with you bending strings. It even appears that the strings are really slack and loose on there. Do you have a tuner?

I actually don't have a legitimate tuner. I use one online here http://www.seventhstring.com/tuner/tuner.html
Someone else pointed out that it might be an octave lower, but I can't seem to get it one octave higher at least according to that online tuner. For example, my G is currently tuned to G3 (which I found out might be wrong) but it can't get any higher than E4.

EDIT: Nevermind...it was just a whole lot more twisting than I thought, but now it just sounds way too high o.o...

zh3nghaoxiang said:

I actually don't have a legitimate tuner. I use one online here http://www.seventhstring.com/tuner/tuner.html
Someone else pointed out that it might be an octave lower, but I can't seem to get it one octave higher at least according to that online tuner. For example, my G is currently tuned to G3 (which I found out might be wrong) but it can't get any higher than E4.

EDIT: Nevermind...it was just a whole lot more twisting than I thought.

Click to expand...

You need to buy a tuner.

a) Great job learning that in one week! I'm sure you must have put a lot of effort into learning what chords to play (and how to play them!), so congratulations on taking the first step. Hopefully there will be more coming!

b) I'll just repeat that your uke is definitely out of tune, and you should either get a tuner or use a piano to tune it. I would recommend the tuner over the piano since you can keep it on and you'll always be able to check if the note you're playing is out of tune (this doesn't work as well with chords - ex. if you play a C chord, the tuner may think you're playing the note C, but it will think it's a little sharp or flat). Using a piano is fine, as long as you have the musical knowledge to distinguish between a sharp and flat note when compared to the in-tune piano, and judging by your other youtube videos, I'm assuming that you do.

c) One little thing to work on - when you're forming chords, you may not be pressing down on the strings such that they produce a note when you strum (ie. instead of a buzz). You may not actually be doing this, since I couldn't really tell with the tuning issue going on. I'm only bringing it up because I heard a bit of a buzz, and I noticed that your left hand fingers are pressing the strings at an angle rather than almost straight down, perpendicular to the fretboard. However, if I'm mistaken, I apologize.

d) If you're feeling a little adventurous ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYso6rHSf1M

I should probably buy a tuner since a lot of people are bringing that up. I actually do not have a piano anymore to use. I have been borrowing pianos from family friends my entire life. Since I am still a college student and cannot afford a costlier piano, I opted to spend some time with the cheaper and still fun option of ukulele first.

EDIT: I opted to use an app from the App Store to tune it to the higher octave. Is it supposed to feel like it's high tension? It feels that way right now.

Sweet

Nice job. Good progress after such a short time.

A+ for effort... you do need a Snark.. in tune, it would inspire you to progress even more!

well done for a week, i would definetly get a tuner and do it again it will transform your playing to another level, try an online tuner, its sounds an octave out

Brilliant for a week. Well done you. Now all you need is a tuner. Then head to the seasons section on the forum and get joining in.