This is something that has been on my mind alot lately. I played trombone for 3 or 4 years in my youth. I read music at the time and it is a skill I have yet to relearn. I also learned harmonica in my younger days. Teacher taught on trombone, self taught on harmonica. I would also from time to time try and take up guitar but for whatever reason I never connected to that instrument.
I'm firmly entrenched in middle age at this point. Why I picked up uke is irelevent to this discussion. For the first time in a long time I find myself passionate about learning a new skill. I LOVE my uke. I work on playing it almost every day. The days I don't are usualy because some work overtime cost me a nights sleep. I pull it out saying to myself "time to put in my 30 minutes practice" and end up putting it away 60 to 90 minutes later. I've been doing this about 7 months now and at this point I see my self doing this for years. Nothing I read on this or any other forum is going to change that.
Here's the thing.
I read posts on here all the time from people who seem to pick up a uke and 3days later can play 10 songs. At this point in time I would not say that I have mastered 1 song. I should say here that I am really hard on myself about what sounds good. Now don't get me wrong, I can close my eyes and strum lots of the main chords at will. Put a piece of music in front of me that has the chords I have mastered at the right spots and I will not embarass myself. The thing is, I have only recently gotten to this place in my uke playing. I'm getting better every day and looking forward to how I will play in a few years but those threads about picking up uke skills almost immediately still bug me a bit
So here is the point of this long winded thread...and it is largely aimed at those who took up this instrument after the age of twenty....well fifteen at least. Ehh scrub that, lets hear from everyone.
How hard was it for you to pick this instrument up and when did you start saying to yourself *I'm starting to get good at this".
I'm firmly entrenched in middle age at this point. Why I picked up uke is irelevent to this discussion. For the first time in a long time I find myself passionate about learning a new skill. I LOVE my uke. I work on playing it almost every day. The days I don't are usualy because some work overtime cost me a nights sleep. I pull it out saying to myself "time to put in my 30 minutes practice" and end up putting it away 60 to 90 minutes later. I've been doing this about 7 months now and at this point I see my self doing this for years. Nothing I read on this or any other forum is going to change that.
Here's the thing.
I read posts on here all the time from people who seem to pick up a uke and 3days later can play 10 songs. At this point in time I would not say that I have mastered 1 song. I should say here that I am really hard on myself about what sounds good. Now don't get me wrong, I can close my eyes and strum lots of the main chords at will. Put a piece of music in front of me that has the chords I have mastered at the right spots and I will not embarass myself. The thing is, I have only recently gotten to this place in my uke playing. I'm getting better every day and looking forward to how I will play in a few years but those threads about picking up uke skills almost immediately still bug me a bit
So here is the point of this long winded thread...and it is largely aimed at those who took up this instrument after the age of twenty....well fifteen at least. Ehh scrub that, lets hear from everyone.
How hard was it for you to pick this instrument up and when did you start saying to yourself *I'm starting to get good at this".