Quietly practicing

Get a Risa stick?
 
I've heard of a suggestion of putting a sock under the strings to mute the noise.
 
Any tips on how to practice quietly, without disturbing anyone reading, sleeping or watching TV?

SOFTLY hit the strings. I play a resonator, and even that can be quietly played. Most wooden ukes can be gently picked and strummed as to only be slightly audible.
 
Weave a bit of card or plastic through the strings, down near the bridge should work.

This subject comes up every now & again, a fair few will say get a solid body uke. ;)
 
Gift your partner/roommate/whatever some good noise canceling headphones ;)

Or as others have said:
Practice quiet techniques, mute, or get a (nylon string) solid body.

Just make sure that what you practice is still relevant to your goal. Practice makes permanent, so it's counter productive to practice incorrectly. For quietish time I practice individual notes (fingerstyle, scales, arpeggios, etc) rather than normal strumming.

Also consider white noise: a fan or air filter can cover low volume music so it's not as attention grabbing. My steel- string electric solid-body uke is quite audible played dry in the quiet house, but not so bad with fans on.
 
Play outside.
 
Buy a solid bodied uke.

I practice more on my solid bodied electric Risa ST tenor than I do on my acoustic uke, I do not use an amp and headphones as the sound out of the uke is loud enough for me but anyone in the next room will not hear me.

The other way is to join a uke group and have regular jam sessions you can move from meeting in each house to house or find a venue.

Buy an RV and go out in the wilds.

Or just say zzzzzz it, I am allowed a bit of me time here and there in the course of a day.

Rock on.
 
Get a Risa stick?

This right here.

My wife and I both have Risa Sticks. They are our "travel" ukes, particularly when staying in a hotel. They are loud enough (un-ampified) so that we can hear them but not so loud that they disturb neighbors.
 
Give everyone ear plugs?
 
Daniel Ward's Arpeggio Meditations on a uke with a side sound hole.

Easily played at a low, background volume under even nearby conversation as the side sound port directs more to your ear as the player, allowing you to play softer overall. Plus, they are very pretty arrangements that are indeed meditative, both for the player and for listeners.
 
Daniel Ward's Arpeggio Meditations on a uke with a side sound hole.

Easily played at a low, background volume under even nearby conversation as the side sound port directs more to your ear as the player, allowing you to play softer overall. Plus, they are very pretty arrangements that are indeed meditative, both for the player and for listeners.
I absolutely love those. They are very meditative and very relaxing after long days.
 
I have one of the Eleuke Concert Electric Peanuts coming on Thursday. I currently own an Ammoon Electric Soprano which seems very similar to the specs of the original EleUke Peanuts (different shape) which required some extensive set-up work and a reseat of the piezo pickup. That done, it plays nicely and sounds good through an amp—through the connected headphone jack is another matter (not so good).

I am not sure what to expect from this one, which was an Indiegogo campaign. I’m hoping the onboard electrics will be better, because a huge part of my ukulele involvement these days is making play along videos on my iPad when the rest of the family has gone to bed—and being able to go Bluetooth into the ukulele (audio out through headphones or the 1/4” instrument cable) would be a huge benefit.

Look for a review on Friday or Saturday (Monday at the latest) on this one!
 
My bedroom is 27 feet long. I have a large bookcase that divides the room into a music room/office on one side and bedroom on the other. Wife is sort of a light sleeper who goes to bed around 9 or 10. I play guitar until 12 or 1 and it does not bother her. The lamp, guitar, and me are close to the bookcase. Bookcase is 6 feet long and almost 5 feet high. She cannot see me or the guitar when I am playing. She sees only a light glow of the lamp.I think the sound is absorbed some by the books and wood. I play a small classical type guitar and do not strum much, non at night. I fingerpicking softly. I do speed drills, scales, and some simple classical songs. Never bothers her. TV IMO TRASH is in the living room away from my music room. Ukulele is harder to play softer because I am learning mostly chord melodies which are louder so I try to play ukulele during the day while she works. IMO playing softly is good technique as is playing slowly when learning.
 
SOFTLY hit the strings. I play a resonator, and even that can be quietly played. Most wooden ukes can be gently picked and strummed as to only be slightly audible.

That's what I do. Fretting doesn't make any noise, so that hand is taken care of. I just strum very lightly.
 
You can mute any uke quite a bit by simply reaching your strumming arm over the bridge and allowing your wrist to contact the strings. It works best if you’re wearing long sleeves, as the cuff of the sleeve can mute the strings allowing your arm a little more freedom.
You can also weave a few passes with a strip of soft leather or some heavy yarn through the strings between the soundhole and the saddle.
 
A Risa Stick is a great, very quiet, way to practice. (It's my travel uke for hotels.)
I don't like the EleUke peanut. It's kinda crude. But, the Bluetooth worked very well with wireless earbuds.
A Godin MultiUke would be an excellent choice. It has more volume than most solid electrics.

There are several inexpensive earphone belt amplifiers that you can get if you want a more volume than a solid electric played acoustically.

Otherwise, a "Dome of Silence" would work. (Esoteric "Get Smart" reference. :confused:)
 
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I use this stick guitar (see the photo below) for silent practice. And my experience is same as Col50.

Buy a solid bodied uke.

I practice more on my solid bodied electric Risa ST tenor than I do on my acoustic uke, I do not use an amp and headphones as the sound out of the uke is loud enough for me but anyone in the next room will not hear me.

I made clip on string phone and it works but I don't need it. I think tenor is better for this usage. We can manage smaller sound.

 
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