Is this a common problem?

Twiggy

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Admittedly, it's been a few days since I have last tried practicing Ukulele.

However the last time, I was having problems just getting my fingers in the correct position to form chords. It's as if my fingers are not flexible enough, and the finger positioning is very awkward.

Is it possible that some people are just not capable of playing stringed instruments like this, or is this a common beginners issue, which you just develop the ability with time?

Are there any exercises (besides practicing) that one can do while watching TV or something to improve their finger flexibility?
 
It will get easier! Don't give up and don't get disheartened. It was so hard when I started, I never thought I'd get the hang of even the "easy" chords and "easy" strums, never mind trying to do them together or finger pick! With practice you'll get there :)
 
Practice switching between a few popular chord shapes without strumming. Most beginners need to build up finger strength and flexibility.
 
Contrary to what a lot of people say, it isn't easy to play the ukulele. It just takes some time and effort. You'll get there.
 
I play ukulele, mountain dulcimer, NA Flute, and harmonica. Not bragging, just making a point. Contrary to the popular belief, all are difficult, and require hundreds of hours to become even moderately proficient. I am not there yet. At 73 I don’t think I will live long enough to ever get there. But I try. Constantly. Because I love making music and entertaining beyond measure.

Unquestionably, out of the four instruments listed above, I’ve found the ukulele to be the most difficult to learn. Not even close. There is so much muscle memory going on with both hands that it can get you down in a hurry. What got me thru was learning 2 chord songs, then 3, then 4, and so on.

Try not to get discouraged, just continue practicing smart. There is no time limit. We can learn and get better forever. I can’t explain it, but the rewards you will reap along your journey are unimaginable at this moment. So much happiness awaits you. Think of the ukulele as a love machine.

Good luck, Twiggy
 
I agree with the others: it is difficult, because it is hard. However, the more you practice, the stronger your hand gets. Although it isn't necessary, you can do some isolation exercises for hand strength. For finger extensors I have these really thick rubber hands that you put around your fingertips and then forcefully extend your fingers. For hand flexors I use those grippers that you squeeze. I found it really helpful when sitting idly (something people did before smart phones) to concentrate on my fingers and move them individually. My ring and pinky fingers especially seemed somewhat dead and unresponsive. You can also search youtube for guitar stretching exercises. There are countless videos with guitarists showing how they stretch their hands. That being said, all you need to do is practice your music in order to get better at it.
 
Hi Twigy
I'm a bit younger (62) and play a similar mix of instruments. Something that has helped me is regular practices with our band, who are all strings-only players and who help with practical tips, advice and selecting suitable material. We do a monthly free gig in the hospital where I work, and use the opportunity to include suitable tunes for me. Gives me deadlines and a target, as well as the safety net of playing along with others - starting with the simplest possible accompaniment and gradually working up from there.
 
Turn on Karate Kid, grab your instrument, and: Chord on... Chord off... Chord on... Chord off...
 
Admittedly, it's been a few days since I have last tried practicing Ukulele.

Herein lies problem one ... practicing an instrument isn't something that can be done a couple of times a week, you really do need to find 15-30 minutes every day, in two or three shorter sessions if necessary. It's not necessarily the time you spend actually practicing, (though obviously it needs to be more than just "a few minutes"), but the time between practice sessions that causes the problems!

However the last time, I was having problems just getting my fingers in the correct position to form chords. It's as if my fingers are not flexible enough, and the finger positioning is very awkward.

Is it possible that some people are just not capable of playing stringed instruments like this, or is this a common beginners issue, which you just develop the ability with time?

Are there any exercises (besides practicing) that one can do while watching TV or something to improve their finger flexibility?

In the first instances, it's all down to regular practice with the instrument. Learning how to squeeze a tennis ball (or some other over-priced piece of "muscle development" equipment) will just make you very proficient at squeezing things ;)

If making too much noise is a problem, "stick a sock in it", literally!

Practice simple stuff first. Just two or three chords ... C to F to C to F etc or F to C7 to F to C7 'till your fingers can find their way around without thinking. After a few days you'll be strumming along to simple tunes and wondering what all the fuss was about ;)

Good luck :music:
 
As kypfer says, you need to play every day even if only for fifteen minutes. A lady at my old group used to complain that she was making no progress; I asked how often she played. 'Once a week for a full hour' was the reply. I suggested maybe ten minutes per day instead and she complained that her hectic life style prohibited this. I mentally shrugged and walked away, knowing that her 'progress' was bound to be somewhat limited, owing to her casual once per week regime. If you love your instrument and want to get better,like a human relationship, spend time with it,and care about the time you expend to improve your happiness at playing our favourite instrument!
 
build your muscle memory(spinal cord neuronal connections) through practice. You will get it with time. You can even practice silently during commercials without strumming. Use songs that only have 2 or 3 chords in it so the process is easier. keep at it. I believe in you!
 
The younger you are the easier it is to learn many tasks. Enjoyment is uttermost. Slow accurate repetition builds muscle memory. Your subconscious mind can help.I try to practice a new sequence or progression before sleep at night and while drifting off, imagine you are playing that tune, then again play through on awakening in the morning.
 
Thank everyone.

The reason I haven't practiced for a few days is that the issues with forming chords turned me off.

I should have no problem practicing for even just 15 minutes a day, as my life is not that eventful. I'll need to as well just to get the strings stretched to the point that they will hold tune.
 
Twiggy-

Make sure that the uke is immediately within reach (on a stand or hanger) from where you usually sit. When it's always available, you'll unconciously grab it often and 'practice.' I usually do 3-5 minutes spurts... I'll just say 'many' times a day. This keeps me from getting frustrated. When I'm just not getting it, I put it back on the stand and pick it up again later.

Keep a chord chart visable at all times, so you can look at it in an instant. Limit yourself to trying only few keys. Ignore the rest.

Get a strap and "wear" the uke when noodling around on the internet. This enables both hands to be free as you 'multitask.' I hope this helps.

Extra credit:

Try to learn I-IV-V major chords from a few keys.
Examples: C-F-G D-G-A G-C-D

Print out a Circle of 5ths and learn the relative minor chord that goes with each major.
Examples: C's is Am, D's is Bm, G's is Em

Add other Minors an 7ths as necessary when learning songs.

It really is fun.

-Wiggy
 
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I can't address the OP's problem remotely, but I have a few observations. In my beginning 'ukulele and guitar courses at Leeward Community College I've been helping aspiring musicians for decades and haven't met a student unable to learn to play. Yes, each individual is different in their learning ability and prior experiences but the most crucial factor in success is having a regular practice schedule and a lot of patience. We all hit walls and bounce off a few dozen times whenever trying something new.

There's a large man in one of my classes with hands made perfectly for bass guitar! And he came with a soprano 'ukulele and had a heck of a time forming chords. It was impossible to place his fingers without muffling the adjacent string. I let him try an old Takamine tenor with 1.5" nut and suddenly he was in business chord-wise. String instruments need to fit the player and finding the right one can make a big difference.
 
Peter,

I do have hands on the larger side, I mean I do wear large or sometimes even XL gloves. My Uke is a Soprano too, so maybe that could be an issue, maybe not, at this stage I'm not sure.

I guess try a little more, and if there's still no progress, maybe consider a larger Uke?
 
I have never played a Flight travel uke myself, but I was under the impression that the nut is a bit roomier than other sopranos. I would advise you to invest more time in playing this one first. Hold your soprano whilst you are watching tv or even reading a book. Forget about the right hand and just do the drill changing from C to G or C to G7.

There are some short cuts:
Leave your middle finger on the 2d fret of the A string behind your ring finger on the 3rd fret on the A string. This middle finger is your anchor or pivot when changing to the G.
For the change from C to G7 glide your finger.
Moving from G to Em is easy once your pinky is strong enough to be added onto your G shape. Keep the G and add your little finger on string 3, fret 4.
Going from Am to E7 is easy if you already have your index (pointer) finger on the first fret of the 4th string, with your middle finger on the 2nd fret (where it is supposed to be). This is another example of having a pivot or anchor point.
Find out how you can change chords economically (limit movements of your fingers up and down the frets on the neck, but move your fingers up and down the strings instead).

I find that if you go for a certain size and you build up that routine you will make big improvements on that instrument. It might be hard to notice it in the beginning or even after a fortnight or so. However, if you build up a regular practice and then would try out a different kind of neck, where the frets are larger and the strings potentially spaced differently (closer together or further apart) you would definitely notice the difference.
 
Twiggy,

A couple of things to keep in mind...

(1) The ability to move a finger independent from the others is something that needs to be developed. We just don’t do that kind of thing much in our regular life. The lack of individual dexterity generally doesn’t become an issue until we decide to take up a musical instrument. :) Improving individual finger flexibility may, in fact, be more important than developing overall strength. Another thing that will help is to keep your hand and wrist relaxed. When your fingers are tense and stiff, developing flexibility and individual dexterity becomes a lot more challenging. Practice playing a chord and then completely relaxing your fingers before moving on to the next chord. Play, relax, play, relax. Rinse and repeat. The good news is that the more you do it, the easier it will get, and eventually the relaxation will become automatic. Making chord shapes easily with your fingers requires muscle memory. Muscle memory can only be developed through repetition.

(2) If, after a suitable period of trying, you decide to move up to a larger scale ukulele (like a concert or tenor), I highly recommend you hang on to your Flight soprano. Many of us have found that when we became a bit more proficient at playing another size uke, we later found the soprano scale much easier to play than we did during our beginner days. The Flight is such a great ‘take anywhere, no worries’ instrument. At some point, you will be glad you kept it.

And yes, as others have stated, playing 10 minutes a day is better than one 70 minute session a week.

Good luck!
Jan
 
Twiggy, When I started learning to play the ukulele my fingers would get stiff after I practiced. Plus, I couldn't stretch to reach some of the chords.

I found two things that really helped.
1. I practiced every day. If I didn't, my fingers weren't as responsive as they were the last time I practiced.
2. I started to stretch my fingers and hands before I practiced. Mostly bending my fingers back to stretch and then down to stretch the back of the hand. Also preading your fingers as wide as you can to increase your reach.
Here is a link to exercise tips from LiveUkulele. Similar exercises are recommended by many other sites and in books:
https://liveukulele.com/lessons/intermediate/warmups/?fbclid=IwAR0BXS__Tz

Think of it as being similar to stretching before doing something athletic. Before you go running, or play tennis, or swimming. You want to loosen up your muscles before you do something strenuous. And muscles will get stiff if you make them work doing something they aren't used to doing.

It gets much better as you continue. But don't worry, it's a common thing we all have gone through.
 
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