What is your player level
- Thread starter Bobsdad
- Start date
Nickie
Well-known member
I'm an intermediate player who tries to play advanced stuff and makes it sound like a beginner.
Phluffy the Destroyer
Well-known member
Just out of curiosity, is this because the organizers foolishly failed to provide an adequate space for the summit, or is this just a dick move by James Hill? I like James Hill (by reputation anyway). I'd hate to think it's James Hill's idea to audition people in order to keep the plebes from learning something that might benefit them...
Regardless, and maybe this is just me...; I would have a very difficult time supporting an event that excluded ANYONE from a class or function after charging them $375 to attend...
The Big Kahuna
Well-known member
Hopefully they are trying to save rank beginners from wasting their money on a workshop that is way above their level, and to which they signed up only because it was James Hill, and they thought that somehow they would magically leapfrog all that tedious "practice" between "how do I tune this thing?" and "look at me, I can play Billie Jean" just by breathing his farts.
Phluffy the Destroyer
Well-known member
If either of those reasons were the case, it would settle the issue for me. I consider myself a fairly basic player with little more than passing fair skills. If the organizers were so obviously placing a higher value on the more advanced players cash than mine, I wouldn't want to waste their time depositing my money in their bank account.
If these were first-come-first-serve seating, I would have no issue with it. I've helped organize big events, and understand they can be challenging. I also understand that you don't use something to up the market value of your event then exclude paying patrons from having access to it. James Hill's name being associated with any ukulele event ups it's value, and I'm sure his name is part of the justification for charging almost $400 to attend. Let's be fair here.... what percentage of people do you think will be good enough to pass an audition? 3%? 5%? Hell, lets be kind and say 10% of the attendees will be good enough to go to this class. That means that 90% of the people who paid $375 to attend are effectively being bilked out of their event fees because they have literally no chance (zero, zip, nada) of access to the star attraction.
Maybe 90% of the attendees should only be paying $300 to attend...
If these were first-come-first-serve seating, I would have no issue with it. I've helped organize big events, and understand they can be challenging. I also understand that you don't use something to up the market value of your event then exclude paying patrons from having access to it. James Hill's name being associated with any ukulele event ups it's value, and I'm sure his name is part of the justification for charging almost $400 to attend. Let's be fair here.... what percentage of people do you think will be good enough to pass an audition? 3%? 5%? Hell, lets be kind and say 10% of the attendees will be good enough to go to this class. That means that 90% of the people who paid $375 to attend are effectively being bilked out of their event fees because they have literally no chance (zero, zip, nada) of access to the star attraction.
Maybe 90% of the attendees should only be paying $300 to attend...
k0k0peli
Well-known member
Q: How can you tell if the drum platform is level?
A: The drummer drools from both sides of his mouth.
A: The drummer drools from both sides of his mouth.
bunnyf
Well-known member
lol, CeeJay. My level is so where between advanced beginner and early intermediate. I know lots of chords and can change smoothly into them, could play a little cleaner tho, can easily sing, strum, perform but don't pick much yet and don't play up the neck with great frequency. Until I can get into chord/melody finger style, know my scales and use 2,3 position chords more, I won't consider myself a solid intermediate player. Doesn't uncle rod have a test/guide for telling where you're at?
SteveZ
Well-known member
Definitely! As old Billy wrote, "This above all: to thine own self be true." What good is any of this i it doesn't bring a smile on your own face? If anyone else gets something positive out of it, that's fine.
And as old John of Bury clarified, “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time." So, if some folk don't like how you play, just point them to the door and warn them not to let the doorknob hit them on the butt on the way out!
Amen to that!
It takes a fellow banjo player to make this a drummer joke.
k0k0peli
Well-known member
My fave was a Celtic festival with ten-buck admission (the sponsor had populist political goals) and free workshops by John Renbourne, Kevin McCarty, and Maura O'Connell. Hasn't happened since. Darn.
The Big Kahuna
Well-known member
There isn't a god, but if there was, he'd be John Renbourn.
Tootler
Well-known member
I'm up and down all the time. :nana:
Gillian
Well-known member
Hippie Guy (Brad Bordessa), a ukulele instructor who also has a very informational website, posted his idea of playing level skills in this thread:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?100996-Things-You-quot-Should-quot-Know
I realized I had quite an inflated idea of what level I thought I was at after reading his post. I am now humbled.
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?100996-Things-You-quot-Should-quot-Know
I realized I had quite an inflated idea of what level I thought I was at after reading his post. I am now humbled.
rappsy
Well-known member
Superb quote Nickie. It brought about an all too familiar feeling. :music:
Tootler
Well-known member
After reading Hippie Guy's definitions, I realised that I am borderline incompetent. 
I call myself an advanced beginner. Some others call me an advanced intermediate. Still more others call me advanced.
Finally, there are those who call me foolish for attempting to quantify something I have fun with.
They are probably right.
But seriously, I looked through Brad Bordessa's list, as linked to by Gillian, and I have several traits from each of the categories (other than expert), but I'm missing a lot of them.
For example, I really don't give a damn about "strum patterns"; I strum or fingerpick as the mood and music strike me. I know a lot of chord patterns and positions, but not necessarily the names.
Because of some of the folks I occasionally play with, and their judicious use of capos, I have learned to transpose on the fly - sometime by ear, and sometimes by sheer luck.
I can't read music, tab confuses the hell out of me, time signatures are fine in the abstract, but don't expect me to count them out. I can occasionally remember the names of the strings, but not the names of the notes on the fretboard (although I still remember them from guitar, which I played 10 times longer than I've played a uke.)
But I can lead a song circle, easily have a 2-hour repertoire (unless you want me to remember all of the lyrics; then I have about a 1-hour repertoire), have played with people of all different skill levels (last summer, Stu Fuchs called on my to take a solo during a Jazz workshop with instruments running the gamut from ukes, guitars, and fiddles to woodwinds and brass. I surprised myself by making it sound good.), and have been asked to play at yet another Farmers' Market this summer, so I must be doing something right.
But I'm not coordinated enough to do a triple strum (a la Formby), nor can I play along with a metronome on anything other than simple rhythms.
Beginner? Intermediate? Advanced? How about I'm just "A Mess".
Finally, there are those who call me foolish for attempting to quantify something I have fun with.
They are probably right.
But seriously, I looked through Brad Bordessa's list, as linked to by Gillian, and I have several traits from each of the categories (other than expert), but I'm missing a lot of them.
For example, I really don't give a damn about "strum patterns"; I strum or fingerpick as the mood and music strike me. I know a lot of chord patterns and positions, but not necessarily the names.
Because of some of the folks I occasionally play with, and their judicious use of capos, I have learned to transpose on the fly - sometime by ear, and sometimes by sheer luck.
I can't read music, tab confuses the hell out of me, time signatures are fine in the abstract, but don't expect me to count them out. I can occasionally remember the names of the strings, but not the names of the notes on the fretboard (although I still remember them from guitar, which I played 10 times longer than I've played a uke.)
But I can lead a song circle, easily have a 2-hour repertoire (unless you want me to remember all of the lyrics; then I have about a 1-hour repertoire), have played with people of all different skill levels (last summer, Stu Fuchs called on my to take a solo during a Jazz workshop with instruments running the gamut from ukes, guitars, and fiddles to woodwinds and brass. I surprised myself by making it sound good.), and have been asked to play at yet another Farmers' Market this summer, so I must be doing something right.
But I'm not coordinated enough to do a triple strum (a la Formby), nor can I play along with a metronome on anything other than simple rhythms.
Beginner? Intermediate? Advanced? How about I'm just "A Mess".
-Kurt
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