Beginner 101 question: I am having a few problems that I think might be related to how I'm holding the uke (sitting position). It feels like I'm fighting to support the neck and work my fingers at the same time.
I've read to use your strumming arm to hold the uke against your body and that's what I think I'm trying to do. But that doesn't seem to keep the neck in place while I'm playing. Usually I find my strumming/plucking location has slipped down to where I am over the sound hole. And I find tension/stiffness in my fretting hand as I try to use that to keep the neck from dropping while moving my fingers to the correct fret. I am placing my fretting hand so that the thumb is behind he neck, pretty much pushing against the center of the neck with the tip of the thumb.
I don't seem to have a problem playing cords. Sometimes a little bit when moving from chord to chord though. Once I'm solidly on the chord, the uke feels supported OK. However, when playing scales I'm having issues of the neck not feling supported, and I find myself using the non-thumb fingers of my plucking hand to support the uke body while the adjacent thumb does the plucking. Other times I seem to be trying - and failing - to use my fretting hand to both support the neck and fret the notes.
Am I doing something basically wrong in the hold, or do I just need to practice more until the awkwardness goes away? I got to the point where I was feeling pretty good playing chords, then when I started in on scales the difficult-to-support-the-neck problem came back.
Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions!
I've read to use your strumming arm to hold the uke against your body and that's what I think I'm trying to do. But that doesn't seem to keep the neck in place while I'm playing. Usually I find my strumming/plucking location has slipped down to where I am over the sound hole. And I find tension/stiffness in my fretting hand as I try to use that to keep the neck from dropping while moving my fingers to the correct fret. I am placing my fretting hand so that the thumb is behind he neck, pretty much pushing against the center of the neck with the tip of the thumb.
I don't seem to have a problem playing cords. Sometimes a little bit when moving from chord to chord though. Once I'm solidly on the chord, the uke feels supported OK. However, when playing scales I'm having issues of the neck not feling supported, and I find myself using the non-thumb fingers of my plucking hand to support the uke body while the adjacent thumb does the plucking. Other times I seem to be trying - and failing - to use my fretting hand to both support the neck and fret the notes.
Am I doing something basically wrong in the hold, or do I just need to practice more until the awkwardness goes away? I got to the point where I was feeling pretty good playing chords, then when I started in on scales the difficult-to-support-the-neck problem came back.
Thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions!