How long did you play before you were "good"

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FairyGodmartyr

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Ok, I know that "good" is totally subjective. I got my first uke in July and started lessons around Thanksgiving. I'm about to finish my second Hal Leonard methods book. I'm not to the point where I would post myself on YouTube, but I've felt pretty good about my progress so far.

Then, my new music books came yesterday. I got Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robert van Renesse, The Classical Ukulele by John King, and Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Nelson. Holy moly, I feel like a beginner again! I guess it is because I could easily sight read through my other books (the fingerpicking was mostly one note at a time). These are going to take so much more concentration and work. Which is good.

I'm curious, though...how long had you been playing the uke before you felt like you were "good"? And did you play another fretted instrument first? I'm starting from ground zero on fretted instruments (although I've played other instruments in the past).
 
I started in 6th grade and played a lot by myself until I could duplicate the Rock-N-Roll songs I learned from the radio.

Being a young'un, I didn't have many opportunities to play for others until a few years later for Youth Group at Church.

By then, I was 'comfortable' playing the uke. Whether that means I was 'good' or not... it's for others to say. Since there were no other players, they got what they 'paid' for :)

Most us us who have been playing for a while simply got more and more comfortable with the instrument and have begun to make our peace with our own level of skill. Since we may feel and behave 'confidently' it may appear that we are 'good' [got you fooled, haven't we?].

Anyway, this is from a Strummer/Singer not a Finger-picker :)

keep uke'in',
 
Started from zero about 12 months ago and am still very much a beginner. Seems that the more I learn the less I find I actually know. Each question answered opens another set of questions. It's all good though - a fun journey.

I played pipe and tabor, side drum and bodhran before taking up the ukulele.
 
“Relying on God [and playing the ukulele?] has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” - CS Lewis
 
How long?

FairyGodmartyr said:
Ok, I know that "good" is totally subjective. I got my first uke in July and started lessons around Thanksgiving. I'm about to finish my second Hal Leonard methods book. I'm not to the point where I would post myself on YouTube, but I've felt pretty good about my progress so far.

Then, my new music books came yesterday. I got Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robert van Renesse, The Classical Ukulele by John King, and Learn to Play Fingerstyle Solos for Ukulele by Mark Nelson. Holy moly, I feel like a beginner again! I guess it is because I could easily sight read through my other books (the fingerpicking was mostly one note at a time). These are going to take so much more concentration and work. Which is good.

I'm curious, though...how long had you been playing the uke before you felt like you were "good"? And did you play another fretted instrument first? I'm starting from ground zero on fretted instruments (although I've played other instruments in the past).
Click to expand...

I'll let you know.
 
Every time I think I'm getting "good", something happens to let me know that I suck again.
 
When you can make sounds that you recognize as musical, you're good. It's all about enjoying the process. What's good to one person may not be to someone else. The question I ask myself is: if I was on an island by myself and no one else would ever hear me, would I still play music?

Duk
 
You will always be more critical of yourself than anyone else. My wife thinks I play great. I think I'm mediocre at best.
 
Great question and I Love all the answers. I had the same question in my mind. I started playing on Christmas with no prior musical instrument knoweledge. I am not shooting for finger picking at this time but I will consider myself "good" when I have memorized two or three recognizable songs and can play them at tempo, and follow other songs on paper at tempo. I am getting there. I can follow most strumming songs on paper and know a lot of chords, I just have to train my strumming hand to make the right strums and I think I will reach my own definition of "good". Then I will think about starting to learn finger picking.;)
 
Good question.

I know that playing the ukulele, or any instrument for that matter should be more about the journey and not about the destination (my favorite way to travel BTW), but I think it's human nature to want to compare yourself to others or at least to some sort of standard. I picked up the ukulele early last month with zero fretted instrument background (played the drums in grade and high school). I'm trying to learn a chord a week and some easy finger picking also, and trying to learn and momorize easy Christmas carols and nursery rhymes. I'll sit on the couch in the evening with my wife and strum/ fingerpick my uke while she watches TV, and last night I got through Silent Night at a good tempo with only very minor mis-steps. She smiled at me and said, "you're the only guy I know that plays Christmas music in February!" The fact that she actually recognized the tune made me smile for the rest of the night!

I think though, that I'll never be as 'good" as I want to be.
 
If by good you mean familiar with all the notes on the instrument, confident about improvising, assured knowledge of all common chords and their combinations, happy to strum along at an Irish session in 9/8 time, or else finger pick like James Taylor... Well... 42 years and counting ;)
 
the frustrating part is that it does not necessarily happen gradually overtime- sometimes things just open up overnight and it all falls into place, both from the perspective of coordination of your hands/fingers as well as from the musical knowledge/understanding.
 
About 2 years now and I consider myself "ok"... still striving for "good." But I'm having fun!
 
It took 8 or 10 months of playing before I felt comfortable with my strumming skills, but I feel like I haven't progressed much since.

I'm sort of shameless so I do enjoy playing open mics and with groups. I am a competent enough singer and player to show off a few tunes that folks recognize as music. I guess I am considered one of the "better players" at my local uke club but it's all relative when most are beginners.

The next big step for me is to learn the notes on the fretboard and start fingerpicking so I can freestyle solos and such.

Overall, I've always focused on just taking the next step I want to take (learn a particular song or something) and I'm far less about accomplishing tasks in books or mastering musical theory. I do this for my own personal enjoyment and pleasure, so where ever I'm at in my learning curve, I'm happy to be at that spot.
 
I am loving all of your answers so far. And I love the perspective. Learning the ukulele has been so different than my experiences with piano/trumpet/voice throughout my life. With those, I learned very little theory and focused just on notes. Learning ukulele, for me, has had a lot more to do with theory and how the notes interact with one another. Learning the fretboard has been easy for me since I have a lot of experience with notes, but I would be lost in a jam session where I would need to know what chords are in which keys. I am loving the experience, though. I find it amusing that an instrument that so much of the world sees as somewhat of a joke is stretching me so much more musically than all of my "serious" instruments have in the past.
 
I'll let you know when (and if) I ever get there...
 
Dave-O, if you haven't already, please click on my Ukulele Boot Camp link in my signature.

I hope you'll find it interesting and helpful :)

keep uke'in',
 
coolkayaker1 said:
Every time I think I'm getting "good", something happens to let me know that I suck again.
Click to expand...

My feeling (for myself) exactly. I've been playing the uke for roughly 6 years or so, and played other instrument before that, and every time I think I'm getting good, I watch a You Tube video to see how someone else plays a song, and I learn how much I really do suck :)



Dan
 
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