What is your player level

Bobsdad

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So I am planning on attending the Uke & Guitar Summit at Strathoore in Washington DC area in August. Looking at the program they list the classes by levels....Novice, Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. They give no guidelines as to what constitutes a level...so I ask this group what you think.

I guess that signing up for a certain level of class one should be somewhat realistic, I think pushing oneself is better than being in a class where one would be bored. Any thoughts?

AS an aside James Hill is one of the teachers for an advanced class and requires an audition to get it. I'll not be pushing myself that much!!!
 
Having no idea of your playing level, I can't offer much advice. Other than...knowing several chords and the basics would move you to intermediate. Novice would be if you have never played an uke. Have fun!
 
Ask the organizers of the summit to define the levels for you since you're spending money to go there and want to get the most out of it. I'm an advanced player (although only in my own mind) but I enjoy the beginner classes because it's quite a feat to teach and inspire beginners. In other words, you can learn something from every level if you're open to it.
 
Novice - never seen or held a ukulele before.probably sees one and thinks it's a banjo or violin.
Beginner - knows how to hold the thing and play a 3 chord song in C... old time children's folk songs et al
A. Beginner - knows a dozen or more chords probably and has some basic strumming technique/rhythm
Inter - who the hell knows..that's the most broad and indefinable category in the universe and will inevitably depend on the teacher. one folks' intermediate is another folks' "dude, you don't know nuffink". you'd probably know diminished chords, minor & maj 7th and 6ths, plus some different strumming rhythms and time sigs
Advanced - another one impossible to define (same as above - will depend on the teacher). you'd have a broad based chord knowledge and know how to play solo stuff ad lib, make up some chord solo melodies etc. But I guess if you get kicked out of James' audition you'll know youse aint advanced.
 
Novice - never seen or held a ukulele before.probably sees one and thinks it's a banjo or violin.
Beginner - knows how to hold the thing and play a 3 chord song in C... old time children's folk songs et al
A. Beginner - knows a dozen or more chords probably and has some basic strumming technique/rhythm
Inter - who the hell knows..that's the most broad and indefinable category in the universe and will inevitably depend on the teacher. one folks' intermediate is another folks' "dude, you don't know nuffink". you'd probably know diminished chords, minor & maj 7th and 6ths, plus some different strumming rhythms and time sigs
Advanced - another one impossible to define (same as above - will depend on the teacher). you'd have a broad based chord knowledge and know how to play solo stuff ad lib, make up some chord solo melodies etc. But I guess if you get kicked out of James' audition you'll know youse aint advanced.

This is good!
 
Depends on broad areas. A jazz or classical player should read music; 'advanced' includes fluid sight-reading. Many traditional music areas have much less stringent requirements, but a grounding in music theory is still essential to advancing beyond Beginner. I'm Intermediate in some areas and Novice in others (like fiddle). But yes, get the people who take your money to explain CLEARLY what their levels mean.
 
I would consider myself "barely competent!" haha but it's all good. Love it regardless of my playing ability.
The uke's not all douche-y and hyper-competitive like guitar players.
 
I've taken classes called beginner but they went too fast for me and I played guitar for almost 50 years and knew many more than 3 ukulele chords. I also took what was called an intermediate course of 6 classes and only the last class did I actually learn something new. One of the best classes I took was at the 1st Santa Monica Ukulele Festival, "Moving Up the Fretboard" with Sarah Maisel, she really knows how to teach, which is a specialty unto itself.
 
I am at the point where I am acutely aware of how much I suck.

Note that this stage comes AFTER the stage when people start to tell you, "Hey, you're pretty good . . " not before.
 
I'm an Expert...at entertaining myself, that's what's most important! :shaka:
 
. A ukulele class at a festival that requires an audition is beyond my comprehension.
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Mine too. That's a tad odd. And good advice to pick the subject matter with the most appeal, and attend just to have fun and meet folks and possibly learn some cool stuff in the process.
 
go for the very begginer one and pretend to be a newcomer.. would be my choice hahahaha, because it would be very nice to meet first timer ukulele players , way more fun than talking with pros in my experience hahaha, whichever seems best !
 
I am surprised there isn't a synopsis of the classes.
Edit.... There are descriptions. If you want to take the fingerpicking the blues course, which is inter/adv, then you better be comfortable with all kinds of chords. You won't get much out of that class if you are struggling with learning still.

Many of the courses lump more than one skill level together.

Why don't you audition for us? ;)

I am stuck in the ether....They would have to create an course called "The Impatient Novice".
 
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I went to uke camp in the Columbia River Gorge about a year ago, having been playing for about a year.

The teachers were;

Gerald Ross: Swing is the Thing and A Blue Lagoon and You.
Aaron Keim: Vintage Jukebox
Paul Hemmings: Ukulele Big Band and Bebop ‘n’ Blues
Jere & Greg Canote, Old-Time Ukulele String Band
Nichole Keim, Ukulele Jumpstart for Beginners.

Here was it said in the band camp's FAQ:

Q: What skill levels are required for each type of band?

"The Jump Start for Beginners is designed for complete beginners and those with very little ukulele experience. All you need is a desire to learn and have fun.

"For all of the other bands, anyone with 2-years of playing consistently should have no difficulty. All classes require that students be able to change between simple chords without hesitation. For example, C, F & G7, and G, C & D7 (I IV V) in a few keys. The faculty recognize that there will be a range of skills in class and usually provide different parts to accommodate the students."

I spoke about my experiences at some length elsewhere, but the gist if that is, I was fine for the ole-time music band taught by the Canote Brothers, no problems. The be-bop band, taught by Paul Hemmings? I struggled to keep up, and couldn't. Fortunately, he was a great teacher and knew some of us weren't ready, so we got to pick simple parts to go along with the players who knew what they were doing. We had guys who could transpose keys on the fly, and who had no trouble doing Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser."

Hemmings had taken classic bebop tunes and scored them for multiple ukuleles. In keys like Eb, and F, thank you very much. Ever see a B-flat-thirteenth sharped-ninth chord? Not really that hard to play, once somebody shows it to you, but C, F, and G7 ain't gonna do the trick when you get into serious jazz ...

Upshot of this is, choose your classes based on what you can do, or maybe almost do. A little stretch is fine, but dropping into a full split cold? Not so easy ...
 
Upshot of this is, choose your classes based on what you can do, or maybe almost do. A little stretch is fine, but dropping into a full split cold? Not so easy ...

Couldn't agree more. While normally I'm a fan of jumping in the deep end and sinking or swimming, I've found it doesn't work so well with group uke classes. I think there are several reasons for this. For one, classes are already short and tend to move very, very quickly. And, many times the instructors are great musicians but not necessarily great educators. In my experience at three different camps, it is rare to find one who adequately manages the classroom (two notable exceptions here are Lil' Rev and the combo of Kimo Hussey/Zanuck Lindsay).

As Steve said, a little stretch is good. You're there to learn, after all. But don't bite off too much, as you'll likely find it frustrating for yourself and for others in the class if you impede its progress.
 
Thanks to all! You folks all have great insight into this especially Bill1. I'll take this Swathmore event as a Uke Festival, meet a bunch of folks, have some fun and sign up for some beginner----intermediate classes and see what happens. I did call Swathmore and ask if they had any guidelines for the various skill levels and they acted like I had three heads. I guess no one has ask that before forking up $350. I'll be happy with $350 worth of fun. I am currently taking James Hill's Ukulele Way course which I think is great,
but I won't be auditioning for his advances class.......

Thanks All
 
I really don't know, since there seem to be various "ratings". I never really understood playing music having to be rated, categorized, and competitive. What I do know is that I am learning to play the music I want to play.

Tony
 
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