Post your New Year Uke Goal!! Happy New Year 2019!!

Sell one more uke, enjoy what I have, not buy anymore just for buying sake.
2018 was a wonderful learning curve, buying, trying, adapting, selling on those that didnt fit the bill.
 
1. Perfect various strums to the point they are rock solid and I don’t have to worry about them.
2. Get some fingerpicking patterns down as well.
3. Attend a Uke Festival or two.
 
Have fun playing ukulele. Wait, I'm already doing that. So let's make that; continue having fun playing ukulele.
 
1. have fun
2. relax
3. make music
4. having something like a one or two song fingerstyle solo repertoire would be nice. you know, something to keep in my back pocket to shut those uke naysayers right down
 
To use my uke books. I have many really great ones, and I have only learned one or two songs out of each of them. I would like to at least sight read all of them well. I think I spend too much time internalizing one or two songs so I can play from memory and then moving on to another book.
 
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1. Start playing with others, which may help,
2. figure out strumming patterns better. For some reason, finger picking feels much easier to me.
3. Take another voice class.
4. build myself a cookie tin banjo uke that works for me. Can't find one I like in concert size so I figure I have to build it. I really wish Duke made one in this size I love the sound of the tenor but it's just too big to play. Finished my first one. The sound's not bad but the action's too high. Tried to post it yesterday, but the evil 503 ate it.
5. After I settle 4, sell the Duke and keep it to the two concerts and the banjo ukes. I'll buy myself a better one as a gift for when I'm better.
6. Learn some music theory
 
Try to practice every day.
Try to get at least a little comfortable playing in front of other people.
 
My goal will be to learn more techniques to spice things up. Work more on intros and outros. Become better at picking and strumming combinations. I also want to work on my whole package, not just the ukulele playing, but my singing and my stage presence. Learn more about amps and my electronics. Most of all, I repeat, most of all, I want to avoid becoming obsessed with the insignificant. I want to keep myself from falling into a rabbit hole and spending an inordinate amount of time pursuing some insignificant aspect of the ukulele that has absolutely no impact or results in no benefit on what I'm doing. I did that a lot in 2018, and it is time I will never get back that I could have spent achieving the goals that I've set for 2019.
Haha, so much for good intentions. First thing I got up, I got on my computer and took a quick look to see what was posted overnight, then went to the thread about slotted headstocks and read the new posts, re-read some of the old ones. I don't even care if someone likes slotted headstocks or why they like them. Worst thing is that thread is mine. Okay, great to take the pressure off myself. Carry on, 2019 is going to be pretty much a rehash of 2018.:)
 
Haha, so much for good intentions. First thing I got up, I got on my computer and took a quick look to see what was posted overnight, then went to the thread about slotted headstocks and read the new posts, re-read some of the old ones. I don't even care if someone likes slotted headstocks or why they like them. Worst thing is that thread is mine. Okay, great to take the pressure off myself. Carry on, 2019 is going to be pretty much a rehash of 2018.:)

I watched some of your videos and thought you already achieved your goal a few years prior to 2019. May be you forgot. ha ha ha ha ha
 
Try to practice every day.
Try to get at least a little comfortable playing in front of other people.

Hey Toby, here's a word of encouragement relative to your goals for 2019... if you're desirous of getting more comfortable playing in front of other people, one of the best ways to do that is to develop, for starters, a personal setlist of perhaps 15 of your most loved songs, and then embark on a mission to practice them daily, over a period of perhaps several weeks, hit 'em really hard, until you can say to yourself, "I know these songs so well now that playing and/or singing any one of them all the way thru is as easy and anxiety-free as the simple act of strumming a C chord!" It has been my experience that concerns about my confidence or comfort level to play in front of others almost always go back to that most fundamental point-- my lack of comfort wasn't so much about a true "general" apprehension about performing as it is about my internal awareness that I honestly hadn't nailed down the material to the point that I could "do it in my sleep", and therefore, that I was simply afraid that I was going to flub it. I always say to myself, "Hey, are you afraid that you'd flub playing a C chord for the audience? No!! Well then, learn these tunes SO well that you can pull them off with the same ease as simply playing that one chord!" Once you're prepared to that level, the fear and discomfort converts to a nice enthusiastic feeling of being "up" for taking those tunes out there and "sharing them with" (rather than "performing them for") other people. For starters, consider finding a small coffee shop and see if they'd let you come in some afternoon for an hour or so and play totally without any kind of amplification. That's what I do occasionally. There's a tiny little place here in my town called "Custom Cup", and every so often they'll have me (along with my girlfriend and her daughter) come in with my uke and simply sit near the front door and play and sing for the patrons as they come in and place their order. No amp, no mic (the perfect light-packin' gig); it's very non-intimidating both for the patrons and for us, and the general "din" of the coffee machines and the patrons visiting with one another allows us to kinda blend in, so that the occasional flub (and of course there will be some, let's be real!) isn't really noticed. So, something along those lines is a great way to "get your feet wet", and then it's always fun to go back home and reflect on how things went and how you could tweak it to make it just a little bit better next time out! But I think your starting point is going to be getting that initial batch of songs down so well that doing them is as second-nature as breathing! Everything else will fall into place from there!
 
I have had a decent cheapie soprano for some months now, and recently played a couple of chord progressions. I really enjoy the sound of the chords, and it won't be long before I play a song that resembles music.

I am mostly tooled up to build ukes, and I have bought or salvaged plenty of wood. I have construction plans for a soprano from Hana Lima La. I've been itching to build ukuleles for years.

So then, goals for this year will be to: learn to sing and play a few songs, and build at least one ukulele.

Watch out world!

Michael
 
I have had a decent cheapie soprano for some months now, and recently played a couple of chord progressions. I really enjoy the sound of the chords, and it won't be long before I play a song that resembles music.

I am mostly tooled up to build ukes, and I have bought or salvaged plenty of wood. I have construction plans for a soprano from Hana Lima La. I've been itching to build ukuleles for years.

So then, goals for this year will be to: learn to sing and play a few songs, and build at least one ukulele.

Watch out world!

Michael

Awesome, Michael !! Best of luck on your journey!
 
I've played for nearly five years now, but never with a consistent/frequent practice schedule... Usually going through spurts of playing a lot, and then not touching it for a good while. So to start with I'd like to practice at least twice a week.

I'd also like to get better with strumming patterns. From the beginning I've leaned towards fingerpicking, so my strumming is very basic, and I always have a hard time trying to figure out a strumming pattern for new songs.
 
I've played for nearly five years now, but never with a consistent/frequent practice schedule... Usually going through spurts of playing a lot, and then not touching it for a good while. So to start with I'd like to practice at least twice a week.

I'd also like to get better with strumming patterns. From the beginning I've leaned towards fingerpicking, so my strumming is very basic, and I always have a hard time trying to figure out a strumming pattern for new songs.

Rox, don't feel discouraged. Quite honestly, I don't ever consciously think of what strumming pattern I'm using, in the sense of being mindful of down, up, etc. I just try to do what comes naturally and what seems suitable for the song I'm doing. I have never been able, for example, to do a decent version of the George Formby-style "triple stroke", although I've set about mastering it many times; so I've just developed my own version of it, which, oddly enough, doesn't even involve my strumming hand, but rather involves very subtle hammer-ons with my fretting hand which, when inserted in there at just the right moment, resemble the sound of the triple stroke to a pleasing degree. So, just keep at it, and have fun tinkering, and even developing your own way of doing things, and there will come a time when you'll "turn a corner" and realize that your skills have reached a new level. Mainly, have fun! Try not to put pressure on yourself to do certain things; just keep playing and singing (if you like to sing) the songs you really love and want to have in your repertoire, and you'll get there! Enjoy the journey, as they say. I started when I was 12, and I'm 65 now and still learning something new every day-- but also becoming increasingly adept at the art of "making things my own".
 
Mine
  1. Learn more songs and complete more books
  2. Go up the neck for chords more often
  3. Meet more uke players and play together
  4. Do not go over 20 ukes..
1. Done
2. Done
3. Done
4. Oh no..

2020
1. Learn more songs, finish the duet for solo book by James Hill (3 down so far)
2. Figure out chords by ear for songs I hear, cross check. Try more variations of chords/jazz things up.
3. Learn more slack key guitar songs
4. Try to find more folks (varying instruments) to jam with
5. Stop experimenting with strings and bring it down 2-3 string types (Uke logic, Worth brown, Living water)
6. Reduce uke collection, must let go of some puppies :-( and no new uke (except for the ones for which I have paid the deposit)
 
These were mine for 2019......
1. Gain confidence in playing & singing in front of people.
2. Learn more chord melodies & a little bit of finger picking.

1. Getting better. I played solos for uke groups and at church. Singing still needs a lot of work.
2. Done. I even wrote a couple original chord melodies.

For 2020......
1. Continue to work on performance skills.
2. Be content with the wonderful ukuleles that I have. Quit looking.
3. Retire after 40 years of pediatric nursing, but continue as a music volunteer at the children’s hospital.
I think #3 will go a long ways to fulfilling #1 &#2
 
Practice more. Play with people or in a Uke practice group. Play louder and with more confidence. Save up for a special Uke for my 40th birthday this year...I’m pretty obsessed with the Moon Birds, but have until August to figure it out. An anuenue in 2020 has a nice ring to it ��
 
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