Do you feel a teacher is necessary?

Theoretically, a teacher would help me. In practice, getting instruction doesn't seem to help. I'm thinking of the dozens of workshops I've attended. I look on them more as entertainment than education. Maybe if a patient instructor worked with me, I could show some improvement in my playing. I find playing and more playing is what helps me to improve. I'm doing this for fun, not to earn a living, so I don't want to worry about lessons and the pressure of performing for a teacher.

I'm like you Jerry. I'm sure that if I had a teacher that there would be more structure in my learning and I would learn faster. My practice would be more focused and efficient, and there would be accountability to keep me on track. But that just sounds like work, and I'm retired. I don't want to work at playing the ukulele. Also, when I think about it in those terms, I do not understand the whole idea of learning faster and more efficiently, at least for people like me. It isn't a race. There is no finish line. You're never going to get done, so what's the hurry? I am quite happy to stumble merrily along my way. That said, sometimes I get stuck and can't move on. When that happens I run down a friend who knows more than I do and get some help. I suppose that is having a teacher in a way, but it is a temporary adjustment, nothing formal and not some long term commitment.
 
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I guess a lot depends on what you want to accomplish. I'm mostly self-taught (although I did have intermittent guitar lessons over the years). However, self-taught to me includes a lot of books, videos, recordings, etc., so it's not like I'm sitting here in my man cave learning in a total vacuum. I'm quite happy with playing other people's songs and arrangements and playing for my own enjoyment. I've recently started taking some one-on-one lessons and it's going OK, but I can't say that I've made any great breakthroughs. The teacher seems to want to focus more on making my own arrangements, but as an old, retired guy, that seems like too much work. I'll probably stick it out for a few more lessons and see if I can pick up any pointers, but I suspect I'll probably drop the lessons at the end of the month (when the prepayment runs out).
 
Good stuff. Questions I"m asking myself lately as I take piano lessons, to some extent. (I'm nervous performing for her, which makes it difficult).

I've taught tennis (and uke) a number of times, and I'll tell you: for beginners a teacher can make things happen fast. . . for absolute beginners. But past this point?

I know my tennis improved when I regularly played against an opponent slightly better than me. Maybe the secret is playing with a uke player who is a bit better than you, and you can pick up tips.
 
I'm like you Jerry. I'm sure that if I had a teacher that there would be more structure in my learning and I would learn faster. My practice would be more focused and efficient, and there would be accountability to keep me on track. But that just sounds like work, and I'm retired. I don't want to work at playing the ukulele. Also, when I think about it in those terms, I do not understand the whole idea of learning faster and more efficiently, at least for people like me. It isn't a race. There is no finish line. You're never going to get done, so what's the hurry? I am quite happy to stumble merrily along my way. That said, sometimes I get stuck and can't move on. When that happens I run down a friend who knows more than I do and get some help. I suppose that is having a teacher in a way, but it is a temporary adjustment, nothing formal and not some long term commitment.

Right. On the other hand, it would be nice if I could play better after doing this for five years. :D
 
Good stuff. Questions I"m asking myself lately as I take piano lessons, to some extent. (I'm nervous performing for her, which makes it difficult).

The leader of our uke group is a sound engineer, and he'd like to record us individually singing and playing. I don't sing, but I'm trying to work up the nerve to have him record me.
 
I suppose, if we are intending to learn on our own ,the next question would be where to get the best information from. Lots of basic stuff but not too much if specialising into say , blues or fingerpicking for example. Then again finding a teacher whose interests are the same as yours won’t be easy.
Oldden
 
I suppose, if we are intending to learn on our own ,the next question would be where to get the best information from. Lots of basic stuff but not too much if specialising into say , blues or fingerpicking for example. Then again finding a teacher whose interests are the same as yours won’t be easy.
Oldden

Those more complicated and advanced techniques that I've learned I've picked up by getting out playing with other musicians and ukulele players. There is a lot to be said about learning them in context and not just learning to go through the motions. I know though that a lot of ukulele players do not like to expose themselves in that way and hiring a teacher would be a more comfortable alternative for them. So there is always that.
 
If someone just wants to learn to play a ukulele, I don’t think a teacher is necessarily. Let’s face it. There are 4 strings and most chord shapes are relatively easy. Picking up a ukulele and strumming along is not that tough.

If someone is looking to play fingerstyle melodies, classical, etc. at the highest level you have to have incredible musical ability and even then it might be worth your while to take lessons.

And just in case anyone wants to toss out YouTube videos. You’re being taught. You didn’t sit down and figure it out. Someone showed you how to play the selection. It t is pretty funny that people think they can watch a note by note tutorial, or even a performance with close-up shots, and then say that they figured it out and didn’t need a teacher.

John
 
Is there anyone who has never watched a Youtube video, I know I’ve watched a fair few, often when my wife is watching the soaps on the tv. I think they do a good service, not only in learning but also in keeping ones interest going. The slightly hard part is finding the best bits from the rest, if you Google YouTube and Ukulele there are almost eight million hits. Do we need something like a top ten recommended sites
Oldden
 
I learn from YouTube videos. Sometimes I can figure things out with their them, sometimes I can’t.

Years ago I was part of a worship team band that played for the youth at our church. The drummer wanted his 10 year old son to join us on keyboards. Granted he was already proficient, but what amazed me was his ability to play from just hearing the song. His Mom said that when he was younger he would go to a recital, heat what the older kids were playing, go home and play it. I imagine he had lessons at one time, but he was amazing.

John
 
I learn from YouTube videos. Sometimes I can figure things out with their them, sometimes I can’t.

Years ago I was part of a worship team band that played for the youth at our church. The drummer wanted his 10 year old son to join us on keyboards. Granted he was already proficient, but what amazed me was his ability to play from just hearing the song. His Mom said that when he was younger he would go to a recital, heat what the older kids were playing, go home and play it. I imagine he had lessons at one time, but he was amazing.

John

That is interesting and thought provoking. When you think about it, music is all about hearing it, yet we seem to be compelled to turn it into a visual exercise. It sounds like the young man in your narrative had developed his aural abilities over the visual. Maybe we all should take a lesson from that.
 
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Very few of us are self-taught. While I have not taken what we think of as "music lessons" on the ukulele, (I did take a couple of years of accordion lessons when I was in public school) I don't consider myself "self-taught". I have learned the most from listening to and imitating recordings; not just ukulele recordings. I have learned a few things from friends who've showed me licks and picked up licks just from jamming with others. I've watched some Youtube videos by people like Marcy Marxer, Manitoba Hal and Stu Fuchs and learned a lot from them. I also attended an informative workshop on chord melody that Marcy Marxer gave in Toronto.
So you can see from this that I cannot call myself "self-taught".
Many ukulele teachers are teachers of other instruments who have added the uke to their teaching arsenal. While this may be fine for beginners or for folks who just want to strum chords to accompany their vocals, you will want a teacher who really knows the ukulele if you want to learn some more complicated techniques and to play instrumentals.
 
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Yes and no. How's that for an answer? :D

If I wanted to make real progress quickly, I'd get a teacher. I've seen dozens of instructional videos, but that's nothing like one-to-one instruction designed just for me - covering what I want. The trick is finding the right teacher.

Fortunately, I am not turning professional, and ukulele is just a fun activity to me. I've gotten better gradually, and that's fine with me.
 
Teachers can give you structure, so you can more meaningfully make progress. They also help with discipline, keeping you on tasks that you may just want to avoid but which are critical. They keep you accountable to your progress.

I self-taught myself guitar and would never recommend doing that. Just too much, too much, time wasted. And I plateaud quickly.
 
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