What got you to the next level?

Hi all,
I doubt very much if this is just a me thing so need to ask you this.
What did you do to push to get to the next level in your playing?

This is hard to put into words but basically I am at a stage where I try to learn something new and a bit more challenging, I get frustrated then go back to playing things I know I can play. I know this sounds silly, but I did not know a single chord or strum pattern about 10 months ago yet I learnt those to get where I am now. So why have I hit a point that I find I'm stuck in a safe place that just draws me back instead of pushing on?

I have joined UU+ and I'm working through the UUU classes and they are very helpfull but I guess I'm looking for that Eureka moment.

If this situation rings a bell in your playing can you tell me what got you through it and onto that next level in your playing please.

Sorry if I have not explained it well, I just hope for those of you who have been in this situation understand where I'm at.

Thanks for reading,
ETF

Yup. It happens.

Just do the hard stuff. Try to make it fun (it should be fun to be playing music). Use whatever you are working on in a song as soon as you can. That way it will be enjoyable to practice whatever the thing is.

You donʻt need to practice what you know to get to the next level, you need to practice what you donʻt.

I don't think there's a problem with going back to what you already know. I reckon honing the skills you already have can actually help you to learn new skills. If you practice and practice the same songs over and over with absolute attention to detail to chord changes, fingering, strumming volume, etc, so that you can play them as beautifully as you possibly could, it can actually make it easier when you start a new song.

Maybe it's just a confidence thing, but years ago, I would learn a song quickly and play it non-stop for a week and then move on. I don't think you learn all the lessons that each song has to teach you if you move on too quickly. When you master a song completely, you have learnt all it can teach you. Then, you are ready for another. I'm not saying you can't learn more than one song or technique at a time, just learn them completely before you try the next level.

Just a thought.

I hit that stage from time to time. I will try to learn a hard song, give up, and go back to the others I already know. However, there are some pretty hard songs that I absolutely love, so I will scope out YouTube for some videos of people playing the song that inspires me to learn it, and every time I feel like I want to give up, I just watch that video again. I've learned a few songs that way. Might help?

Dan

Yeah it happens to me. I wimp out and go back to easier stuff. But I've kind of ditched that and willed myself to do harder stuff. You just need to have that mentality that says "I'm GOING to learn this song" because it's not about you not being able to do it but how hard you want to work to learn it. I think that makes sense lol

I will let you know when I get there.

Playing with other players may help you get to the next level, provided that they are better than you. It happened to me in that way, and I've seen happen to friends and many students too.

I may get flogged for saying this, but a big change came for me when I was banned from using TAB by my teacher and focused on learning the notes on the fretboard. Focusing on the notes has let me learn a lot more of the theory, especially with building chords and figuring out songs on my own. And, of course, having a teacher to point me in the right direction has been a huge part of that, too.

may I ask, are you talking about strumming new and more difficult chord forms... or picking out more difficult riffs and melody lines?

As a strummer/singer I do experience the need to learn an unfamiliar and initially uncomfortable-to-form chord from time to time. As mentioned above, if the chord is essential for the song, I work at it until it becomes 'natural', that is more and more familiar for me to form on the fly (in time with the tempo of the song)

I have learned to pick some songs (in the distant past) and I think I remember just working at it until 'it' began to feel more and more 'natural'/familiar. However, not being primarily an instrumentalist, I defer to those in the UU Ohana who are of the instrumental vs vocal persuasion.

PS (not to the original poster in particular) when I read threads like this one, one of the first questions that comes to mind is, as queried above, 'Are we talking strumming or picking?' It seems to me that the advice given may not be the same in each instance. May I request that future requests for assistance specify 'strumming' or 'picking' assistance?

keep uke'in' (strumming or picking) ,

For me, it was learning from others, either from taking lessons or playing with others and swapping tricks, techniques, etc. I had taken myself as far as I could go and "self-taught" was becoming "self-staying-in-my-comfort-zone". There are still those times I need to just close the door and work something out, but the wisdom of others has taken me to new places.

Tony Mizen's books. Highly recommended.

The main thing I've learned is to play with people as much as you can (especially those who are better than you skill level wise) and keep it fun. I find playing and working on specific songs is more helpful than doing specific drills, scales, etc. Try to incorporate those things into songs you are working on. Watch YouTube videos for songs you want to try, look up the chords and go at it. You can't get around practice, but playing with people makes practice not so tedious.

Three things have helped me:

• Playing with other people. It wasn't until I took my ukulele out and strummed along with friends playing other instruments that I started to "get it". Generally, I don't think it matters if one plays with friends or if one finds a good instructor. Music is communication---it's difficult to communicate by oneself.
• May Singhi Breen's New Ukulele Method. This book taught me more in a couple months than I'd learned on my own in five years. I doubt this particular book would help everyone, but I like to think there is a great method out there for each person. Learning to read and understand standard notation does open up a vast array of musical resources beyond tab.
• The Seasons of the Ukulele weekly contests. Each week's contest provides inspiration to learn something new. The Seasonistas (the contest participants) are the most supportive, friendly group of with which one could ever share music. Come on over, share a song with us!

I've found myself on a "skill plateau" more than once. It can be frustrating. Finding something to challenge yourself is important. It's equally important to play music for fun. As long as you're doing both, you'll be improving. Remember that the rate of improvement may not be easy to perceive sometimes, and enjoy the ride.

Playing scales and learning the fretboard have been huge as far as training my ear and giving me the ability to pick out tunes and improvise melodies.

I completely agree with Ralf on the value of weekly seasons contests. The weekly theme is a great way to help a pick a new song to work on, and try to learn it well enough to get a good take within a week. And it's also fun to see what other players come up with, and I think it works for a wide range of skill level.

Thank you all for your replies. I will take onboard all that has been said. I know it has to be practice, practice and more practice. Just nice to get ideas from people who have been there. I find it hard to play with others due to getting out and about through disability. I am working on my wife to take me and stay while I join in with others at the Swansea Ukulele Club. That way I kill two birds with one stone, I get to play ukulele with others and my wife can't say I never take her out lol, even though I guess she is really taking me out.
One thing I can say for sure is that however difficult I find new things on times I'm still having fun. I just like to push myself. I love learning new songs and there are thousands that tend to use the same basic chords. It's just I like to try and learn new and challenging sets of chords to broaden my playing. Some times I get frustrated as the changes come thick and fast and there are new chords. But as I keep telling myself a few months ago all chords were a challenge if they needed more than two fingers to form. Onwards and upwards however long it takes. At 54 mind it's more muscle memory than brain memory lol.
In reply to Uncle Rod, I am trying to learn both strumming and picking but I would say I tend to lean more towards the strumming and singing along. I have a voice that tends to be better where no one else hears but for my enjoyment it's fine. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the great help I had from your Boot Camp.
As suggested I do follow the seasons videos and enjoy watching you all play. One day I will buck up the courage to work out how to use my iPad to upload a song, guess the first one is the hardest.
So, thank you all once again for your replies on this I can assure you it does help.

ETF

I'm old....he he and disabled... getting worse as my health and condition deteriorates....geez practice, patience and perserverence it used to be...

Buy a new uke and practice!!

What got me to the next level was realizing that I could work up chord melody arrangements of classic jazz tunes one note at a time. Start with the melody on some fairly simple tunes...single string...really simple. Try to do this with the melody being the highest notes you're playing...first or second string at first. Add one harmony note to that. Then add a 3rd. Then a 4th if appropriate. Use these chords where needed and tie them together with single note playing. Now you've got the basis of chord melody playing. Don't be afraid of notes up the neck. Don't worry about what the chords are called in the beginning...but then learn them by what function each note has. Get away from "strum-diddle-diddle". Don't be afraid to be frustrated. Learn to transpose. Play with others and learn to play what they are not playing. Learn all the basic chord inversions in three or even four positions on the uke neck. Practice changing chords where every finger moves to a different fret or string. Learn the utility of diminished chords.

I'll be teaching a lot of this with Sarah Maisel at the Asilomar Uke Retreat in April...

Personal live lessons remotely via skype from Matt Dahlberg. http://www.mattukulele.com/