Beginner problems, Chords

Yes, she tried it just yesterday, and she prefers her tenor, much to my surprise. She’s finally doing a little better and is encouraged. Yes, she uses a strap. I noticed this weekend while sitting she tilts her uke way back so she can see her fingers on the fretboard. I suggested she hold it straight up and down and lean her head forward to see her fingers. This tilting habit might be a lot of her problem.
My one and only ever ukulele student turned her ukulele up like that. She was thirteen. I reminded her time after time after time to sit up straight and not tip the ukulele back. I never could break her of it. She has moved on her own now, but toward the end I found out that she doesn't do it if she is standing. If I had it to do over, maybe I would have her stand more. I don't know if that is an option for you or not.
 
Thanks, I’ll mention standing to her. She says she can’t see if she holds it straight, which is true, lol. In any case, she’s learned a different way to do F and has found a chord practicing tutorial on YouTube and is making a lot of improvements finally. She was almost ready to give it up.
 
I'm new to the uke too and one of the things that I have found to help is to simply (and as slowly as one needs) go from one chord to a second over and over (forgetting the strumming for a bit each practice session) just to force the muscle memory to begin to develop. I would mention the other bit that I read that helped but it's for multi fingered chords which it sounds like is a little bit down the road yet. Good for her for persevering and good for you for helping her!

The other thing for you to check is to see how high the action is on the Luna that she has. It doesn't surprise me that she like the tenor better simply because she has 2+ months working on it already. I think it would take more time for her on a soprano to switch over to it. However, there are other easy to play tenor options that don't cost a fortune if that might be the problem. I found out that ukes are worlds apart on how easy they are to play and the uke I ended up with is so, so, so much easier than other I've tried. So, just keep that in mind. It's better to have options than to see her give up. :) It's amazing how healing playing can be and how calming on the mind. Sometimes late at night, if I can't get my mind to switch off so I can sleep, I'll sneak into the family room and play for a bit. I can't think of much else while I play and the music is so helpful itself. Helps me be able to fall asleep. I really hope things turn around for her!
 
Thanks, I’ll mention standing to her. She says she can’t see if she holds it straight, which is true, lol. In any case, she’s learned a different way to do F and has found a chord practicing tutorial on YouTube and is making a lot of improvements finally. She was almost ready to give it up.

I'm so happy to read this, go Mom!
P.s. I mentioned a one finger chord songbook for ukulele before.
If you're interested, contact me trough a p.m. and I'll send you my copy as a gift to your mom.
 
Some people can unknowingly hinder their progress by concentrating too much, feeling it's hard to do.
Suggest her to try playing e.g. chord she can do already repeatedly, and pay less and less attention to it e.g. watching TV or talking with someone at the same time.
Just play the chord for a while (one strum per beat), stop (break fingers away from the chord form), play chord again for a while, stop again... check hands as necessary, and try aiming attention away from it as playing.
This can build up the confidence, automate process, and simplify also more difficult finger formations.
 
Last edited:
You've got some great advice here. You can also try to teach her to play Within you, Without you by the Beatles. It is just the C chord for the whole song.
Not a long-term strategy, but at least she can learn to play a song with a chord she can strum....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP_Y2k2KveQ
 
My best tip for any beginner is linked to your first one - on finger pain, and that is this.

DONT PRESS TOO HARD! most strain comes from gripping the neck with the fretting hand like your are trying to throttle it. Not only does that start to hurt after a while, it also makes for very slow chord changes.

Aim to apply a light touch - you only need to press each string hard enough for it to cleanly engage with the fret without buzzing.

For most beginners this is hard to achieve without pressing hard, but it's something I would aim on with early practice from the get go. You are looking for a light touch only. It will mean less pain and much faster chord transition
 
Thank you all for the great advice! She’s made a lot of progress using her video she found. I guess it just had to click in her head.

Awww, thank you so much, Sven! What a generous offer! I’m touched. I’ll talk to her and see if she’s interested. I think I suggested something like this, and she said she’s determined to persevere.
 
I Holland there is a guy who made a one-finger ukulele song book.
I'm not sure if they ship outside of NL, but if you are interested, here is the link :
http://www.ukulele.nl/paradijs/cascodes/BOEKJES

Thanks for sharing,for me as a beginner this is very useful information!hat looks really good, I've never bothered with learning the different scales or even their names, lol. I think you need to set aside 2 days a week, the first is to take a day off. The formula for gain is stress + rest = progress.:eek:
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom