Samantha Muir’s left hand technique

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kerneltime

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I am very envious of how her left hand is able to get the right notes with barely any effort/movement. I am sure years of proper technique learning has helped but when I try the same my left hand seems to be wanting to wrap around itself.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! And yes I am slowing down the video and trying to match... She seems to be following John King’s recommenced fingers from what I can tell...

Oh! Also the arrangement has a lot of chimes with normal plucks!
 
She is very smooth. One thing that helps is her thumb placement. Like most players I've seen, I tend to wrap my thumb around the neck, resting it over onto the side of the fretboard by the 4th string, which is very comfortable since the neck rests in the crook of my hand. It was a more useful habit for the guitar, since I actually used my thumb with the 6th string from time to time. But after I'd been playing for a while, I briefly took some classical guitar lessons, and my instructor had me relearn the way I held the guitar, placing my thumb nearer the middle of the back of the neck.

If I'm not mistaken, Sam Muir is a classical guitarist and brings that expertise to the ukulele. So you can see she keeps her thumb behind the neck, which enables her to use her fingers more effectively. The drawback is that it's much more difficult for players to hold up the instrument by the neck, since the neck doesn't rest in the crook of your hand. You're basically pinching the neck between your thumb and fingers, and when you're constantly moving your fingers, this makes keeping a grip to hold up the uke a challenge.

The typical solution for classical guitar players is to get a holder to rest the guitar on, and you can see that she's using something to hold up her uke. I don't think they're typically made for ukuleles, and I wouldn't be surprised if hers is a guitar support. Uke players often just use a strap if they want that support.

I've recently been working on a song that requires a lot of movement in my left, but being stubborn and perhaps a bit irrational, I've eschewed straps and just tried to make a go of it without. Maybe it's because I hated the classical thumb positioning and this is a small form of foolish rebellion. Maybe I just want to be able to swing my ukulele about in self-defense at moment's notice. Whatever the reason, for fingerstyle pieces that require lots of movement, I have to tilt the instrument at a higher angle to keep it balanced. My right forearm pinches the lower bout for balance. I find this is easier on a tenor than a soprano, but a terrible strategy altogether, and I'm not surprised Sam Muir hasn't followed my example.
 
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Here is what Sam had to say a couple of years back about holding the ukulele, " tried various supports including a guitar rest which attached to the ukulele with suction cups. Being designed for a guitar, the rest was too big and only one suction cup attached. This kept un-suctioning. Something which nearly drove me to distraction! Eventually I gave up on the rest and started using a strap. (Gasp! Yes, you wouldn’t believe how emotional people get about straps. This is another topic to avoid on ukulele forums!) The strap is attached to the ukulele with two buttons. One button on the end and one under the heal. After much trial and error I found the best strap was a wide, padded strap. Once the ukulele is in position the instrument is very secure. My arms and hands are uninhibited. I can play standing up or sitting down. (No! I can’t play standing on my head.) Using a strap gives me musical freedom."
 
What I've noticed in the video is that her hand position is quite high. Her long slim fingers are coming straight down on the frets, not stretching sideways over the frets.
 
Every time I hear Samantha play and hear how nice her playing sounds, it makes me want to buy a soprano ukulele. Her technique is fantastic. I’m a tenor player and when she plays so clearly and with such precision I get envious and work on my technique. Her sound coming out of that small soprano ukulele is fantastic. Being a guitar player, I have a lot of bad habit with thumb wrap around etc that I’m aware of and work on. Thumb placement is the big one. With arthritis in my left thumb making it hard to play, I’m always aware and looking for that position that extends my playing and reduces Pain so I can keep going.

I’m off to bookmark her site and videos now that it’s top of mind, and see what I can pick up. I’ve never been a classical player. Half my songs I know are Beatle tunes and the other half are Jake and Kalei tunes! LOL. You know what they say, try to emulate the best.......haha

But there is so much MORE and Different music to learn.

I think left and right hand technique are so important especially when trying to break into new playing barriers.

Thanks for posting.
 
I think another important point is that if you watch her left hand closely, it never looks tense. Even when fingering, it looks firm but relaxed. I always have the worst time fingering when I start to tense up my left hand. Once you start to "death grip" the instrument, everything falls apart.
 
Bill1 said:
Maybe a good start is to buy her books? There is one called "100 Arpeggios" which probably will give you plenty of exercise in left hand work.

If you are really keen maybe you could ask her about lessons?

If you read her Bio on her webpage, she is very talented and has been working on her technique since the early 1990s, including working on the Ukulele since 2012. If you start now and work for eight years at a tertiary education level, like until 2028, you may start to be able to have her skill set.
Click to expand...
Yup! That’s the plan. I started with zero knowledge about 2.5 years back. I have come to the point where I need to improve my technique to be able to learn new songs quickly.
 
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Bill1 said:
Maybe a good start is to buy her books? There is one called "100 Arpeggios" which probably will give you plenty of exercise in left hand work.

If you are really keen maybe you could ask her about lessons?

If you read her Bio on her webpage, she is very talented and has been working on her technique since the early 1990s, including working on the Ukulele since 2012. If you start now and work for eight years at a tertiary education level, like until 2028, you may start to be able to have her skill set.
Click to expand...

I'm a beginning uke player but I've been playing stringed instruments for a very long time. I bought 3 of her books - the 100 Arpeggios, the Classical Ukulele Method and a third one that's just graded etudes. All of them have something to offer, and it depends a bit on what you're trying to accomplish and where you're coming from.

For me, the 100 Arpeggios gets a lot of use because it's full of exercises to play, and they get difficult very gradually so I can play through 5 or 6 in a practice session beginning with some that I've played before and continuing into new material. The Classical Ukulele Method teaches a lot of music notation and theory that I don't need particularly, but it also includes a lot of right hand exercises, which are very useful, and some simple tunes which are nice to have. I haven't worked much on the graded etudes but I'm starting to because I think I'm ready to start playing simple tunes.

If you are working on the classical ukulele method, you should also watch at least the first 5 or 6 videos of her free series on YouTube for demonstrations of her right hand technique.

I have a handful of other classical or fingerpicking books that have other little tunes that I like to play through as well. Again, I'm very much a beginner, but I think these materials are helping me get up to speed pretty quickly.
 
Cluze said:
I think another important point is that if you watch her left hand closely, it never looks tense. Even when fingering, it looks firm but relaxed. I always have the worst time fingering when I start to tense up my left hand. Once you start to "death grip" the instrument, everything falls apart.
Click to expand...

This is what struck me first. Her left hand looks so relaxed.
I'm going to have to work more on that...lots more.

Thanks for posting the video.
 
I tried holding the uke up high for a while, but for me it was introducing a sharp bend in my right elbow. By holding the instrument a little lower I think I've reduced the tension in my right arm without adding much/any to my left.
 
Bill1 said:
Sam Muir plays both Classical Guitar and Ukulele.

The most efficient and effective pathway in my opinion is to take a break from ukulele for about 12-18 months and sign up for classical guitar lessons. Then come back to the ukulele. Learning the classical guitar left hand techniques is the key to starting to be able to play as well as Sam does. If you can apply yourself for a whole year, under instruction from a good teacher, you will improve a lot. But it is hard to find the cost (30 - 50 lessons at $20 each = $600 - $1000) and the time for lessons (40 minute lesson each week and 30 minutes a day) , and probably there are going to be some lessons on music theory etc. to get through.

If the lessons are too hard, consider buying a low cost 3/4 or 1/2 sized guitar. Two examples are the Yamaha CS40 (3/4 size) and the Yamaha GL1 (1/2 size). They will probably cost around $150. Maybe there is a used one in a local shop. I am not recommending to buy them to replace your ukuleles. They would be like gym equipment to help you develop your ukulele skill set, so sound and intonation are not a priority. Once you have the six stringed instrument, you buy a book of studies or arpeggios and work on them to get your left hand in shape to play your ukulele. The extra stretching will grow your left hand. You do need to start slowly and keep working at it. Over 18 months, you should be able to get a lot more control over your left hand.

If you want to stick to ukulele, then look at something that might be enjoyable and not repetitive or boring. Instead of learning strums to accompany your favourite tunes, learn arpeggio patterns. You can work them out your self. First you write out the chord progression. Then you look up the notes that are in each chord. Then you find those notes on your ukulele fretboard and bar by bar, write out the arpeggio pattern. Some trial and error and noodling is required to refine the patterns. Once you are happy with the pattern write it out as TAB, with the lyrics, and start to play the tune. The first 10(?)times it may be hard to sing along, but with persistence you will get it working, then you will be enjoying singing and playing and your left hand will get a workout.
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That is good sound advice. I will need to find an online instructor for more than one reason...

I did pick up her books around arpeggios and have put a high G on a tenor with straps. That reminds me I need to order strap buttons for sopranos..

Strap helps a lot, I have been slowly modifying my playing to always include strap and revisit both right and left hand.

My ukulele journey is more about the journey than a destination. I have already come a lot further than I could have ever imagined, so every thing is a bonus here on.

That said there are definitely a few schools of uke playing...
Fromby is very different than folks coming from classical guitar which is very different from some like like Led K who is very different than Jake or Alderina and there is Kimo Hussey. Ukulele is its own instrument, classical guitar helps a lot but Led K pulls off Killing me softly on a uke with just 2 fingers..



I do want to learn the guitar and I have the DHo 6 which is a 21 inch scale... but I always default to ukulele and if I get twice as good in a year, I will be elated.

My main goal here is to improve the speed at which I learn new songs.
It took me the entire lock down to play the whole Cello Suite 1 by Back as arranged by Daniel Ho but when I went to John King's Jesu Joy in campanella style, it was like beginning from start and I found Samantha M's video which drove home the following
1. Use strap
2. Learn more than one way for left hand and slowly focus on right hand positions. Some songs need ring finger on A to be easier to play while some need just 3 to sound right.

Started this thread just to express my appreciation for an amazing player!
 
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