How can I master the ukulele? how?

Tiguh

Tiguh

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How can I master the ukulele? i'm kinda beginner but I can play the uke. I can play ukulele tabs easily like canon in c, super mario. but how can I master it just like Kalei Gamiao and Jake shimaburo? I want to play blues also. I want to play and express my feelings through my uke like improvising. I'm tired of tabs.

What are the steps to master?

Thanks in advance!!! :cool:
 
Last edited:
Tiguh said:
How can I master the ukulele? i'm kinda beginner but I can play the uke. I can play ukulele tabs easily like canon in c, super mario. but how can I master it just like Kalei Gamiao and Jake shimaburo? I want to play blues also. I want to play and express my feelings through my uke like improvising. I'm tired of tabs.

What are the steps to master?

Thanks in advance!!! :cool:
Click to expand...

1) Find someone to teach advanced techniques.

2) Practice practice practice!
 
consitter said:
1) Find someone to teach advanced techniques.

2) Practice practice practice!
Click to expand...

I will but I don't have any friends who play the uke, there are no ukulele schools nearby.

Im like a loner who learn uke off youtube. And i'm kinda sad im in a sad town where no one plays the uke except me. :(

I practice everyday, btw im playing the uke for a 1 and half year now. Im a guitar player for 3 years but i cant see any progress so I tried ukulele.
 
I have the same problem with lack of people that teach ukulele. Lots of guitar teachers though. Some have improvised to teach uke. I tried one, but he was just WAY over my head. There are no uke players in my town either. I just try to learn strum patterns, and learn off youtube like you.

I have no thoughts of being able to play like Jake though. I am shooting for knowing how to transpose chords in my head, and knowing how to use movable chord shapes. I would eventually like to take a root chord and know how to make it into a 7th, a minor etc etc, in my head.

One thing at a time.
 
Tiguh said:
How can I master the ukulele? i'm kinda beginner but I can play the uke. I can play ukulele tabs easily like canon in c, super mario. but how can I master it just like Kalei Gamiao and Jake shimaburo? I want to play blues also. I want to play and express my feelings through my uke like improvising. I'm tired of tabs.

What are the steps to master?

Thanks in advance!!! :cool:
Click to expand...

Mastering anything involves getting good guidance and dedicated practice. If you genuinely want to master your instrument you'll want to understand the structure of music (music theory), they physical layout of your fretboard, and develop the manual dexterity to hone your technique. You'll also want to develop your ear. Some people have a natural affinity for this, while others need to work hard. Anybody who puts their mind to it can develop a degree of technical proficiency, but true mastery is a long journey.

I strongly recommend you find a teacher you can work with in real time. If there is nobody locally, you may be able to find someone to work with over Skype. The fact that you studied guitar for 3 years and did not feel you were making progress suggests to me that you need a coach, someone who can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and give you good guidance. Some players are just naturals and learn on their own, but believe me, they are few and far between.
 
PRACTICE,PATIENCE,PERSISTENCE...
Slow down enjoy the journey and you will reach your goal.
 
As far as finding a teacher, it might help if you told as in which zoo you are located.
 
Consider taking other music classes such as theory, ear training, etc. Most community colleges (at least where I live) have music departments with non-instrument-specific classes like this. Or consider taking piano and applying that knowledge to your fretboard.

Mastering the instrument - which, for the record, I am nowhere close to being able to say I've done, but I'll get there if I live long enough - involves a lot more musical knowledge than just reading a tab or following along with someone's video. You need to understand scales, chord progressions, etc - understand them, rather than just play them. Some people are lucky enough to have an instinctive understanding of this (those who can play by ear naturally), others need to be trained.
 
Get off the sheet music. Start learning scales. Read Jerry Moore's chord solo book.
 
I am in the exact same situation as you - and have actually created a thread just like you :)

You need to learn a lot of music theory! And (for me at least) it's not very exciting really. But just knowing the pay-off in the next couple of years is what motivates me!
One of the advices I got (can't remember who, sorry) was to just stop using tabs - as of right now! Begin to focus your practice on scales, chords families etc.. Tabs will at this point get you nowhere.

I live in Denmark, so no one plays the uke and no one teaches it, so what I am doing is I've subscribed to UU+ and watching the videos that have been submitted there by the wonderful folks behind this website. There's a ton of videos to learn from and the Music Theory class should get you started on what you need to know.
It is pre-recorded, so there's no guarantee that it is the right level of educational material for you as well as asking questions isn't possible - but it is a lot cheaper then having an actual teacher and it sure is better then having nothing :)

It works for me at least. Good luck! It's a long journey that probably will never end. There's always more to learn, but one step at a time and sooner or later you'll realize that you've walked a thousand miles :)
 
Same problem here!!!

UU+ is great, classes 101, 102, 103 and music theory...

I've also tried to organize my practice sessions... A bit of warm up, playing the songs I know, playing a new song incorporating new chords and technics (like rolls, picking or other technics I want to focus on), then a bit of music theory (learning the notes on the fretboard by learning scales, inversions, chord progressions whatever...) and change every week.
Little goals for a bigger knowledge at the end...

Though don't forget, a player like Jake Shimabukuro didn't master the ukulele in a couple of years... His mother started to teach him when he was 4, he took lessons for 7 years with Tami Akiyami at Roy Sakuma Ukulele Studios and practiced every day, sometimes for hours!!!!

So don't be too hard on yourself or impatient... Take your time to learn, the journey is fun (and that what playing an instrument has to feel like)...
 
The best advice I can give you is to learn some basic music theory. I would start by learning the Circle of 5ths. Then after memorizing the circle of 5ths you will know how to form your major and minor scales. You will also be set up to learn how to make chords.
 
To "MASTER" anything requires a special blend of PASSION, TALENT, PERSISTANCE, and PRACTICE. Even the Masters continue to learn and refine their craft, improve their work, to continue evolving. In that regard, they are also lifelong students. Good luck.
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
To "MASTER" anything requires a special blend of PASSION, TALENT, PERSISTANCE, and PRACTICE. Even the Masters continue to learn and refine their craft, improve their work, to continue evolving. In that regard, they are also lifelong students. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Phil put it perfectly.

If some evidence can be believed, it takes at least 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert at any given skill. That doesn't mean that you can't be good long before that (it's gradual), but the expert level takes time, dedication and daily practice (not in bursts, but steady).

The "deliberate" in "deliberate practice" is important: you always have to do something that is just outside your comfort zone instead of only doing the "same old" that you are already good at (you may have seen those chess club players who play for 40 years and never really improve much: that's because they stay inside their comfort zone), but also without tackling challenges that are yet too difficult.

This is really where a teacher or mentor comes in handy, but that comes at a cost. If you do it yourself, you might want to plan out a lesson plan for yourself (based on specific aspects of "ukulele mastery" that you want to learn, such as specific techniques).

At the end of the day, it's hard work.
 
As it has been said already: get rid of tabs, start learning real music (theory and notation)

Al Wood's (the guy behind http://ukulelehunt.com) e-Books might be interesting as well to get a first grip on chord progressions and some more stuff...
 
I agree much with the Practice Outside of Your Comfort Zone advice.

Some anecdotes: I used to play hockey, and as a defenseman, I needed to learn how to push off separately and fast and hard on each foot taking off skating backwards. Usually a person has a favorite foot for this, so when it came time to learn the OTHER foot, I had to steel myself a bit and simply expect to fall a lot until I got this under my belt. And I knew I had to focus on this skill.

It came, but I fell! :)

My son's learning piano. He's 10 and he likes to play the parts of a song that he can sail along on. . . but of course, when a person just does what he already knows, he's not going to be learning much that's new!

So I ask him to point out the measures that are the tough ones.
 
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