Had this Uku for two days.. All I know is it was sunny and bright today when I started playing it and now it is getting close to midnight.. Em I missing something? Mean like, does the big Hawaiian kahuna take over our souls while playing it or what.. Or maybe just the tone, very beautiful and mellow. Plus so many tone veriations. Heck I only know 3 chords.. But the note picking I just seem to take off by ear.. Played guitar for 40 years.. Sure do love this little instrument..
Ok so I'm addicted
- Thread starter mistydoo
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actadh
Well-known member
I played for four hours straight when I first picked up the ukulele. It is a fascinating instrument. Now I feel like I miss out on something if there is a day I don't get to play.
Ukejenny
Well-known member
Similar experience with me. I was hooked, and now, if I don't play for a day, I feel like I forgot to take my vitamin or something.
iamesperambient
Well-known member
i pretty much play all day long there isn't a day that goes by. last n ight i played for 2 hours straight up to almost 3 am.
Me too! I feel the same way.
All I can say is DONT stop practicing. Whatever your practice is. There are thousands of 3-chord ukulele songs to choose from.
It's been a little over a year now with the uke for me (but 35 yrs with guitar before that) and while I'm no expert, I feel that I've improved greatly compared to when I started.
After a dry spell with my songwriting that lasted almost 3 years, when i got my first uke, about 1 week later, I started writing music again. I cannot say enough how significant this was for me. It's as if the uke has given me a new lease on life. I love the way the instument sounds (except when it's badly out of tune)....and how it responds to being played...this is the sound and feel I've been chasing my whole life on the guitar, and could not achieve, but found it on the ukulele.
I have 10 ukes now (UAS always in high gear, next uke will be another baritone), some are high-G and some are low-g and some are alternate tunings, as well as mostly different sets of strings (but I'm a big fan of both Worth Browns low-g and Aquila Reds low-g on tenors, and Martin M600 and Worth Clears CL (Light) on the other sizes) and try to give them all play time over a weeks period, so even a half hour day is a confirmed habit for me. Likely It's about 30-40 mins per uke, so I start on one, and then move to another. Trying to keep agility on soprano, concert and tenor...playing them all a few times each over the week.
The baritone is an antique Harmony from the '50s given to me by my grandfather who passed in 2009 and is very special to me. The bridge is lifting, so I try to baby it until I can fix it myself without killing it, and when it's resting I slack the strings all the way down so as to minimize the stress on the bridge, but it does not get as much play time as the other ukes, but I just love the deep, dulcet tones with the Worth Browns BF (FAT) low-g set on there (tuned D-G-B-E) which is a tad slack (which is better for this uke, given the bridge situation), and has incredible sustain. (not really a fan of wound strings at all)
Most of my practice is perfecting the performance of the 9 songs I've written, in preparing to record them, such that maybe I can do it in one take (barring technical issues)...for something I hope to release on iTunes and Amazon soon...
Other than that, I go through Jim & Liz Beloff's 'The Daily Ukulele' (365 songs) and just start at the beginning of the book, and go as far as I can before my arms and fingers get tired (typically about 90 mins). Rinse and repeat, as often as possible (striving for daily). Trying to build up a library of songs to play by memory for any occasion (it helps to work from home), and hopefully at some point I'll be good enough to do an open mic night somewhere...
(aahh dreams, good to have them...)
Oh, also, about once a week I try to make a video with my iPad (sort of a diary for myself) to document my progress and certain ideas for songs.
The video helps to remember the chords since I can see them when I play it back, as opposed to just an audio recording and some mangled transcription of the strumming/picking pattern and chord shapes...(I do not like tablature and prefer to read standard notation, but I'm not good at writing it out)
- Booli
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pixiepurls
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giveit100.com is a really great way to watch your progress! Here is my account, I literally started my first week on ukulele!! So fun to look back too!
https://giveit100.com/@pixiepurls/n9wk8h
I thought golf addiction was bad, it's got nothing on uke addiction. I play/practice at least 2 hrs a day, I only started with the uke at the beginning of March and I already own four them. I get great joy out of the simple soothing sounds my ukes put out. I can't stop thinking about ukulele.
Well been playing guitar for 40 years.. Tonight just taking off on all kinds of variations on the Uku.. Playing a cedar top concert and the tone is huge. Lady walking by on the street tonight 50 ft away stopped and said Wow.. Wasn't aware she was there or it projected that far. I have always played by ear. Don't know if it is a gift or a sloapy way of getting the job done. But just really cooking out some amazing tones tonight.. The bonding is happening.. Deff tone to the bone.. 3rd day with playing a Uku.. I stumbled apon every instrument, don't how I missed this one. Kinda feel like I'm finially home, specially with age setting in for me.
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Similar experience with me also, guitar player since 15 ( a long time ago). For the past 8 months or so I have been having such a great time playing the Uke. I quickly ended up with a very nice Mike Pereira tenor after some 'proof of concept' less expensive models. Just recently I have gone totally nuts and purchased two Mya-Moe tenors ( a 4 and a 6 string). So do I suffer from UAS, hell yes!
therinkydinktink
Well-known member
After the intervention my 'friends' and I decided that playing for 7-9 hours most days is ok but that I should consider taking the uke out of the bedroom.
I now sleep on the sofa!
I now sleep on the sofa!
This is the Uku I bought directly from China online via AliExpress.com, $184 including shipping. All acacia koa. I polished the finish, added a preamp/tuner pickup system, lowered the action and changed to Worth CT strings, which smoothed out the previously brash sound. I've been playing almost a year (played guitar for almost 50 years), have gone through 12 ukes, down to 4, with 2 on the way. I play with a group twice a week, another group twice a month, and in between as much as I can.
Brian W
Well-known member
After reading your post on this thread, all I can say is welcome to the club. I have been playing the ukulele for about a year-and-a-half now and I can't put it down. It's rare that I don't play/practice for at least an hour a day. I find the tone and musical possibilities of a uke more satisfying to my soul than a guitar; I have been playing the guitar for nearly 33 years and rarely touch it anymore. All I need to do now is find a good club to join so I can improve my playing ability. I own 2 sopranos (an Ohana SK-35 and a Kiwaya KTS-4) and hope to eventually own a Koaloha or Kamaka.
Amen to that, brother. :shaka:
I haven't touched my ukulele for at least 3 days -- I was busy becoming a Grandma -- and I'm missing it. I'll probably pick it up tonight.
Icelander53
Well-known member
That's neat, I still have days and nights (insomnia) like that. Just the sound of an open slow strum of the strings can get me going with a smile. It's one of the safest addictions I have and I have some experience with addiction. Of course there is UAS to deal with but unless you are going into debt and missing mortgage payments that's no biggie.
So play on and may the sun go down on your sore fingertips for many a day to come.
