Ukulele Goals

Tigeralum2001

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With the year past its 1/2 way point, what do you have left to accomplish this year? I'm not talking about "playing like Jake" or some unattainable goal, but something realistic for you to achieve.

For me it is memorizing more songs. I've been taking fingerstyle lessons for a little over a year and my teacher uses sheet music to teach us. What this has led to is me not memorizing songs... Sometimes I pick up a uke and think "where is my music?" I would like to recall more songs so I can play more songs without sheet music.
 
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I saw a Victoria Vox interview and she said she learned 52 songs in a year. When I started painting I was challenged to paint 100 pics in 90 days and learned a lot. I thought that VV's idea was an interesting goal and might just try it for hte rest of the year........or maybe not.
 
Memorize more songs. Be able to sing while doing more complex strum patterns. Recently, I noticed I could play a song and sing it well, but when I did a better strum pattern it was tough to sing at the same time. I need more practice. I think my #1 goal is to constantly try to increase my practice time.
 
I plan to make (at least) one video every week for the Seasons of the Ukulele for the remainder of the year (and for however many more Seasons of the Ukulele there are beyond this year).

Not quite as challenging as Victoria Vox's challenge---if I'm not mistaken, she learned a song by heart every week; I'm free to use lead sheets, sheet music, notes, etc.---but still satisfying to make some music to share with friends every week.
 
This is a great motivation thread! I've no problem memorising the chords (actually my fingers do that instinctively)--it's the lyrics I keep forgetting. I shall start slow by memorising 1 song every month. I'll make a list now!
 
Soloing.

I know my scales and chords, and I know my fretboard, but I'm still painfully slow at feeling a solo out. Not a huge deal when I play by myself, but I'm a bumbling, stumbling fool in a jam.

One of my students commented that I solo much like they write essays. It was not meant as a compliment!
 
Memorize more songs. Be able to sing while doing more complex strum patterns. Recently, I noticed I could play a song and sing it well, but when I did a better strum pattern it was tough to sing at the same time. I need more practice. I think my #1 goal is to constantly try to increase my practice time.
Oh man, you nailed it for me!
1: Increase practice time
2: Memorize more songs
3: Improve right-hand technique alongside singing

Hopefully they will all flow into one another in that order. :)
 
Try to learn more finger picking songs rather than strumming. Ken has some good ones on his site. Try playing along with my daughter who plays guitar. That's hit or miss but fun either way. Look into making some recording to help keep track of my progress. But in general just making a daily habit of spending a little time improving.
 
I feel like my goal list is never ending. :)
My biggest goal right now is to improve a few songs from when I first started playing ukulele, while continuing to learn new songs.
 
I'm at 3 months of ukin' now and every now and then I feel like I'd like a professional to guide me. But there's also a bit of arrogance that comes with this kind of unfamiliar territory for me; with no prior experience with music at any level, I just want to learn the ukulele as an auto-didact (with help from YouTube and books of course :p ). So yeah, I guess one goal is to just master the little "weapon o' peace" without "formal"/paid tutelage, which I'm sure many here have achieved.

Even though, the OP has said that "play like Jake" is not a real goal (and I do somewhat agree with that statement), I'm trying to learn to play "while... weeps" and it is not easy, but after spending a solid 2 weeks with it, and probably getting close to pretty good at just the first minute and a half, I'm glad I'm trying this piece. It is teaching me so much about technique and the importance of practicing.

And another goal's discipline with Uncle Rod's Bootcamp. I really WANT to dedicate sometime every day to it but just don't have the same drive as wanting to learn a song. I feel silly writing this because I see how weak a goal it is but somehow, just so hard to execute!
 
A different sort of goal is to get to Hawaii and play ukulele all day on several tropical beaches, go to a proper ukulele shop, and just enjoy the atmosphere of the place where the atmosphere started.

You bet, Bill1! I'm starting to plan out the rest of my life; I need to get a job in academia/engineering that gets me to hawaii and keeps me there for a good few years.
 
I think for me there are two things.
1 Learn a song fully before going on to the next. I tend to play a song (not that well) then when I get to a point I struggle with I go onto the next song. I need to learn a song well and get it so well drilled I don't forget it soon as I start with my next song.
2 This is a big hurdle for me as a relative newbie to ukulele. I would like to be confident enough to join in with the Season videos. So far only play for my wife lol.

ETF :cool:
 
Have fun
Make some more arrangements of songs (it's fun and helps understanding musical theory and memorizing chords)
Have fun
Improve my strumming technique and learn more patterns
Have fun
Improve my chunkstrums
Have fun
Bring back my collection to just one soprano (ok, maybe I'll buy a bari again)
Have fun
Avoid frustration
Have fun
 
From an extreme beginner's perspective:
1. Switch chords effectively without looking
2. Improve strumming (i am god awful at strumming)
3. Play You've Got a Friend in Me from memory
4. Maybe incorporate singing (this would require me to impriove singing a lot)
5. Practice more!
6. Play at a bonfire
 
1. Perform 2 Bach duets with my son in church.
2. Finish learning the baritone part for "Christ lag in Todesbanden" from Rob MacKillop's Bach book and ready the piece for performance.
3. Identify and learn one more Bach piece.
4. Learn the Beach Boys "God Only Knows".
 
Create and play at least one original piece. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing covers over and over and getting all the practice you can take (thats all ive one for the last 10 months) but there is something so much more satisfying about singing your own written word. Also I need to upgrade! This old tenor Makala is just not cuttin it anymore! :D
 
1. Learn all chords
2. Learn the fretboard properly
3. Although I'm a classical musician, I need to work on reading music on Uke
4. Learn Classical and Fingerstyle songs
5. Do Uncle Rod's EVERY DAY.
6. HAVE FUN!

PS: Play like Jake. Sorry, couldn't resist. Don't think the Universe has that much time left.........
 
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