Noodling

Jerryc41

Jerryc41

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One term I learned from going to uke fests is "noodling" - playing around with the strings while the instructor is trying to instruct. "If you will all stop noodling, you will be able to hear me better." When I have a uke in my hands, I noodle constantly. I wonder if any of you do what I do.

I'll pluck two or three string, maybe fretting and maybe not, and the sequence will remind me of a tune. At that point, I start looking for other notes in the tune until I can pick the notes of the entire song.

Some examples are "If I Loved You," "Tom Dooley," "Amazing Grace," "Something" (Beetles).
 
Noodling is wonderful...I do it all the time, just sitting with the uke picking and strumming at random... Best to do it when everybody else is out of the house though....it tends to annoy the others after a while. It’s almost like some kind of sub-conscious practising.
 
Noodling is great, as long as you're doing it by yourself and not twiddling about as an instructor is teaching or a performer is playing a quiet solo. It's very distracting to the rest of the room. You may think you're playing so quietly that no one will notice, but trust me, they will!

One of my other musical pursuits is West African drumming. When my wife and I take classes, we always record the entire session for future reference and practice. Going back and listening to the recordings, you can always hear the noodlers, to the point where it's hard to separate their noises from the instructors. People think they're just lightly tapping their drums, but the sound carries through the entire room.

Noodling by Yourself = Good!
Noodling in a Class = Bad!
 
Snargle said:
Noodling is great, as long as you're doing it by yourself and not twiddling about as an instructor is teaching or a performer is playing a quiet solo. It's very distracting to the rest of the room. You may think you're playing so quietly that no one will notice, but trust me, they will!
Click to expand...

Yes, I hate that, especially when the instructor says to stop, but someone people continue. Aaron Keim is ruthless with that, so beware if you go to one of his sessions.
 
Jerryc41 said:
Yes, I hate that, especially when the instructor says to stop, but someone people continue. Aaron Keim is ruthless with that, so beware if you go to one of his sessions.
Click to expand...

Our African drum teachers will ask you once to stop. You better hope they don't have to ask you a second time! :eek:
 
By yourself noodling is fine, but in a group, no. Talk about distracting, my uke group met twice a week with about 40 people each time, not only do people noodle and tune their ukes while the leader speaks, she ALSO noodles. I find it terribly annoying. When I mention it to her, her reply is that it's just something she does, can't change. I wish she would be more conscientious.

This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
kohanmike said:
...it's just something she does, can't change.



This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
Click to expand...

I bet she could change - with some serious incentive. :D
 
I have a uke hook on my music stand for classes and group jams. If there’s talking long enough that I can’t resist noodling I hang up the uke to prevent temptation.

A good thing about zoom sessions is that I can mute and noodle away if want to experiment with the song we just did!
 
Noodling in private is a good way to explore for ideas, but noodling in public is often obnoxious and self-centered.

The late great Lyle Ritz encouraged students to practice hard and later just fool around, noodle. Moderation in all things except serious practice.
 
To me there are two types of noodling. The first they also call woodshacking, and that is when you are just making things up to see how they sound. I do that all the time. But then there is that nervous incessant plucking of strings that goes on between songs when you are in a group or when the leader of the group is trying to talk. That is a very annoying habit that people need to break. Luckily I used to do that when I was playing my uke and my wife would come into the room to talk to me about something. She nipped that habit in the bud right away and I thank her for that.
 
Arcy said:
A good thing about zoom sessions is that I can mute and noodle away if want to experiment with the song we just did!
Click to expand...

Right! And if they're playing a song I don't like, or if I don't have the music, I play something else. No one knows.
 
Noodling in a workshop is just down right RUDE.
Today with so many of us using Zoom, noodling while unmuted is equally RUDE.
You should MUTE yourself while tuning and/or noodling.
 
Noodling at home is essential, but in a public/performing context it is another matter. In ensemble/orchestral experiences I've had noodlers were immediately dealt with. Since the behavior is puerile, the offenders were usually young people. They were set straight in no uncertain terms or ejected.
 
One of the things I’ve learned as a teacher is that teachers are often the worst offenders of their own rules. You know those really strict teachers who bully kids if they make any kind of distraction in their class? Those are often the worst-behaved people at staff meetings, etc.

Generally, it’s never good for anyone (including ourselves) when we put our own interests first.

The secret with any situation is wait time, with continual re-teaching. But in the context of a larger class (or a session like a ukulele festival) the goal is to talk as little as possible and to keep people playing. That doesn’t give them time to noodle.

Bernadette—and I know she isn’t some of your favorites, but I do very much appreciate her as a fellow music teacher—has this habit of saying, “Look up!” in her sessions AND in her videos. It makes you STOP. Once you get a group to stop, you have about 30 seconds to a minute (tops) to make a point...and then they need to be playing again.

One of the benefits (!) of COVID-19 and teaching classes online right now (generally videos) is that there is no distraction made by human beings.

Also...check out Abe’s Ukulele Podcast. He had an interview with Jim Beloff, and they talk about “The Art of the Noodle.” Check it out. Good stuff.
 
Harpists often noodle on their harps, especially when they need to fill in extra time at a gig and have already performed their regular repertoire. Frequently, after they have finished playing, a listener will come up to them and say, “What was that last song you played? It was so beautiful!” So not all public noodles are no-no’s. :)
 
Choirguy said:
One of the things I’ve learned as a teacher is that teachers are often the worst offenders of their own rules. You know those really strict teachers who bully kids if they make any kind of distraction in their class? Those are often the worst-behaved people at staff meetings, etc.

...

Bernadette—and I know she isn’t some of your favorites, but I do very much appreciate her as a fellow music teacher—has this habit of saying, “Look up!” in her sessions AND in her videos. It makes you STOP. Once you get a group to stop, you have about 30 seconds to a minute (tops) to make a point...and then they need to be playing again.
Click to expand...

Having taught a little bit, I hafta agree on both points.

Teachers are some of the worst listeners at development trainings and such.

As for timing, a good teaching skill is developing lessons (online and in person) where the pacing flows and the explaining and activity are broken into manageable chunks. Spend too long one or the other, and people get distracted.
 
Thank you, haziz. I just listened to the Lyle Ritz interview you gave a link to in your comment, well worth listening to. Nice to hear in the interview words from Roy Sakuma, the great ukulele teacher here in Hawaii.

Yes, Lyle kept a uke close at hand for noodling, most likely while alone. Boy, it would have been interesting to hear him noodle. RIP Lyle, great man, great musician, kind spirit.
 
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