Your mother is blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.
motivation to play ukulele and continue practicing?
- Thread starter tbeltrans
- Start date
Shastastan
Well-known member
I'm a trumpet player and an old curmudgeon. I play in a couple of bands and duets with my wife (flute) at retirement homes and church. I know that my chops won't hold up forever so I know that I need to learn another instrument. I tried guitar and piano, but my old man hands didn't work too well. My piano teacher (a friend) asked about a uke since she had just started playing. We got ukes and started a uke club, but it just sort of drizzled out. I now have more ukes than I deserve, but hope to continue to play after my trumpet days are over. I don't practice the uke enough right now to play in public except for singalongs in my teacher daughter's classroom. She's going to learn uke for her classroom also. The idea from the teacher about slowing the tempo for English learners is excellent! I just really like the uke, but I'm not sure I can put it all into words. It's just fun!
Four months ago I was flipping channels and stumbled upon a documentary called "The Mighty Uke". I sat there mesmerized by the music coming out of this ukulele thing, I had NO idea. Two days later I am at a music store looking at guitars and I see the ukuleles so I pick one up and start messing around. I really liked the sweet sound that it produced. Early on in this adventure I met someone from the Toronto uke community that pointed me in the right direction and I found three different uke jams in the area. That gave me the motivation to learn. Hearing Izzy perform Somewhere over the Rainbow on youtube fueled my desire to make this happen.
I gave my very first performance at an open mike for newbies last week and I am hooked on the rush from that. I had practiced at least an hour a day for two weeks to get a simple song down pat. I now really want to do more open mikes, though it does scare the life out of me. This is all very new and exciting for me............that is how life was meant to be.
I gave my very first performance at an open mike for newbies last week and I am hooked on the rush from that. I had practiced at least an hour a day for two weeks to get a simple song down pat. I now really want to do more open mikes, though it does scare the life out of me. This is all very new and exciting for me............that is how life was meant to be.
You are touching on areas that also concern me. I just retired last week, and have a decent Yamaha workstation (Motif XS8), Lyon and Healy lever harp, acoustic guitar, archtop guitar, and now ukulele. I am hoping that out of these, one or more will be compatible with my fingers as they age. From what I have been reading, it seems that most likely, it will be ukulele and harp for me, though I do routinely see people play the archtop and classical (nylon string) guitar well into old age.
Tony
Shastastan
Well-known member
My plan is go as long as I can. Our section leader in the symphonic band is 86 yrs old and that's out of 20 trumpets. I'll be happy to just still be playing at 86. I probably won't get much further than strumming with songs on the uke, but that's okay. I just feel fortunate that I can learn and play a stringed instrument since I'm such a klutz.
Kevs-the-name
Well-known member
I started playing because my wife thought it would be good for ‘her’ to learn.
i bought her a bargain Uke that she never played.... so I did!
I have played many instruments to a poor standard! but enjoy music!
I play almost daily and the rest has been said by ‘Ukulele Eddie’
I can concur with this almost word for word!
i bought her a bargain Uke that she never played.... so I did!
I have played many instruments to a poor standard! but enjoy music!
I play almost daily and the rest has been said by ‘Ukulele Eddie’
I can concur with this almost word for word!
The contents of this post are probably "old hat" to those of you coming from other instruments, especially other string instruments and maybe piano, but I am just discovering this for myself and I am motivated!
Over the past few weeks, I have purchased a number of books, mostly focusing on solo fingerstyle and chord melody ukulele. However, what I am finding is that absolutely the most interesting practice I engage in is finding my way around the fretboard on my own. I know how to spell chords, what chords go to a given key, key signatures, and I am getting a good handle on where the notes are on the fretboard. So I am finding my own chords and inversions rather than looking in a book. In addition to that, I am continuing to pick out familiar melodies by ear and am starting to put chords under them. Fingerstyle arranging just seems to come with that territory. What I know from the guitar - how I found my way around the fretboard, etc. and especially the technique for fingerstyle, seems to translate well on the ukulele. What I mean by "translate" is NOT finding something on the guitar and then finding it on the ukulele, but instead the manner in which I went about finding my way around.
In another thread, I said that I intended to get serious about the ukulele and study a series of books I had purchased on the ukulele, but I am discovering that my previous music experiences are providing a much more fun and direct way of learning this instrument. For now, I have decided to put the books aside and stop playing guitar altogether while I get through the early stages of finding my own way around the ukulele. This is fun, and I can definitely see that in time (no shortcuts as far as I can tell, just different approaches), I will be able to pick out any melody I can hum and with the fretboard knowledge I am gaining, be able to put together an arrangement on the spot.
Things I see common between the guitar and the ukulele are that there are no shortcuts - I have to put in consistent effort, and music theory translates to either instrument equally well. What I find different is that the ukulele fretboard is A LOT friendlier than that of the guitar in terms of figuring stuff out on it. Instead of knowing nothing about the ukulele as a beginner, I am finding that my experience on the guitar gives me a perfectly good musical foundation from which to approach the ukulele. I am finding the ukulele much easier to navigate and for some reason (I don't claim to know why, though I can make guesses), the ukulele just invites "doing your own thing" as in playing completely by ear and it just seems much easier to "see" the entire fretboard and find what I want quickly even after owning a ukulele for only a couple of weeks. I am fired up, to say the least!
For any other guitar players, especially those who worked at least partially by ear (I can read music, but more often than not, choose to use my ear if at all possible), the ukulele is a real "freeing" experience. I wish I had waited to buy all the books because most likely, other than occasionally referring to them for ideas, I probably will just go my own way on the ukulele.
Imagine if somebody asks if I can play tune X, maybe "Happy Birthday" or some standard, at a party. After a small bit of fumbling around, I come up with an arrangement. That is much nicer for me than "sorry I don't have the music or TAB for it", or having to memorize a repertoire (which I have always been really terrible at doing since my memory has never been very good). That is where I want to be, and I really think I can get there in the not too distant future. I would bet that most of the ukulele players we really admire can do that sort of thing without even thinking about it, especially those who compose much of their own music. This stuff is REALLY motivating for me.
Tony
Over the past few weeks, I have purchased a number of books, mostly focusing on solo fingerstyle and chord melody ukulele. However, what I am finding is that absolutely the most interesting practice I engage in is finding my way around the fretboard on my own. I know how to spell chords, what chords go to a given key, key signatures, and I am getting a good handle on where the notes are on the fretboard. So I am finding my own chords and inversions rather than looking in a book. In addition to that, I am continuing to pick out familiar melodies by ear and am starting to put chords under them. Fingerstyle arranging just seems to come with that territory. What I know from the guitar - how I found my way around the fretboard, etc. and especially the technique for fingerstyle, seems to translate well on the ukulele. What I mean by "translate" is NOT finding something on the guitar and then finding it on the ukulele, but instead the manner in which I went about finding my way around.
In another thread, I said that I intended to get serious about the ukulele and study a series of books I had purchased on the ukulele, but I am discovering that my previous music experiences are providing a much more fun and direct way of learning this instrument. For now, I have decided to put the books aside and stop playing guitar altogether while I get through the early stages of finding my own way around the ukulele. This is fun, and I can definitely see that in time (no shortcuts as far as I can tell, just different approaches), I will be able to pick out any melody I can hum and with the fretboard knowledge I am gaining, be able to put together an arrangement on the spot.
Things I see common between the guitar and the ukulele are that there are no shortcuts - I have to put in consistent effort, and music theory translates to either instrument equally well. What I find different is that the ukulele fretboard is A LOT friendlier than that of the guitar in terms of figuring stuff out on it. Instead of knowing nothing about the ukulele as a beginner, I am finding that my experience on the guitar gives me a perfectly good musical foundation from which to approach the ukulele. I am finding the ukulele much easier to navigate and for some reason (I don't claim to know why, though I can make guesses), the ukulele just invites "doing your own thing" as in playing completely by ear and it just seems much easier to "see" the entire fretboard and find what I want quickly even after owning a ukulele for only a couple of weeks. I am fired up, to say the least!
For any other guitar players, especially those who worked at least partially by ear (I can read music, but more often than not, choose to use my ear if at all possible), the ukulele is a real "freeing" experience. I wish I had waited to buy all the books because most likely, other than occasionally referring to them for ideas, I probably will just go my own way on the ukulele.
Imagine if somebody asks if I can play tune X, maybe "Happy Birthday" or some standard, at a party. After a small bit of fumbling around, I come up with an arrangement. That is much nicer for me than "sorry I don't have the music or TAB for it", or having to memorize a repertoire (which I have always been really terrible at doing since my memory has never been very good). That is where I want to be, and I really think I can get there in the not too distant future. I would bet that most of the ukulele players we really admire can do that sort of thing without even thinking about it, especially those who compose much of their own music. This stuff is REALLY motivating for me.
Tony
Last edited:
ukemunga
Well-known member
Because it's fun as hell. What more do you need? :cheers:
Shastastan
Well-known member
@Tony
<<Imagine if somebody asks if I can play tune X, maybe "Happy Birthday" or some standard, at a party. After a small bit of fumbling around, I come up with an arrangement. That is much nicer for me than "sorry I don't have the music or TAB for it", or having to memorize a repertoire (which I have always been really terrible at doing since my memory has never been very good). That is where I want to be, and I really think I can get there in the not too distant future. I would bet that most of the ukulele players we really admire can do that sort of thing without even thinking about it, especially those who compose much of their own music. This stuff is REALLY motivating for me.>>
Well, I wish I could say the same. I can't play anything without the charts. That's due to my old age. I can remember songs from jr. high, but now I can play a song 50 times and not remember it. We have been embarrassed on gigs more than once when asked to play a particular song and we didn't have the chart for it. The way you are going about this is obviously correct for you since you are having so much fun. Way to go!
<<Imagine if somebody asks if I can play tune X, maybe "Happy Birthday" or some standard, at a party. After a small bit of fumbling around, I come up with an arrangement. That is much nicer for me than "sorry I don't have the music or TAB for it", or having to memorize a repertoire (which I have always been really terrible at doing since my memory has never been very good). That is where I want to be, and I really think I can get there in the not too distant future. I would bet that most of the ukulele players we really admire can do that sort of thing without even thinking about it, especially those who compose much of their own music. This stuff is REALLY motivating for me.>>
Well, I wish I could say the same. I can't play anything without the charts. That's due to my old age. I can remember songs from jr. high, but now I can play a song 50 times and not remember it. We have been embarrassed on gigs more than once when asked to play a particular song and we didn't have the chart for it. The way you are going about this is obviously correct for you since you are having so much fun. Way to go!
Trinimon
Well-known member
I've been stuck in advancing my playing skills after having reached a plateau in my playing. It kinda sucked 'cause I started sounding like a one-trick pony show. I decided to take some time away from the uke (hence my low presence on the UU the last while). I need something to kick start the interest again... A trip back to Oahu and a new Kanile'a tenor uke should get the fire going again. 
KnowsPickin
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That is me to a tee. I've played music all my life and generally play 95% by ear. But with uke I find myself chained to the sheet music and cord symbols. It is embarrassing. CRS is a terrible thing [Can't Remember S**t]. But I'm doing my best to still have fun with it.
I think that most likely, there are as many ways to approach music as there are people doing it. I tend to shy away from any one "right way" after watching people fight over belief systems and all manner of things that really should be very individual. I am hoping the way I laid out will work for me. So far, it seems to be getting some results - nothing overnight, that is for sure. It seems to me that we can all hum melodies (quietly to ourselves, for those of us who don't want to sing). As long as we can do that, there really would not be anything else to forget, so we would have a repertoire of anything we can hum. Of course, most of us can hum PARTS of songs rather than the whole thing, and that is something I will have to overcome to ultimately be successful at this path.
Tony
I like that - CRS! Maybe there will eventually be some pharmaceutical cure for it, now that it has an "official" acronym.
Tony
You mean they fish in those things?
Best way for me to stay motivated is taking lessons. He'll know if I don't practice.
That's my next challenge - to find a tutor... I need deadlines and tests, otherwise I just get lazy. You're lucky in the states, ukulele tutors and groups seem pretty thin on the ground in the UK...
Shastastan
Well-known member
Depends on "where", in the states or elsewhere. In some places the ukulele "craze" has really taken off. in my town it has not. Our uke club had members who are experienced musicians on other instruments and even some on guitar, but they dropped out just like most everyone else. I'm not sure why this is except it's a choice of where to use your time. Many of these are retirees, too.
I take lessons via Skype. He lives on Kauai. I live in Minnesota. There are many teachers available through Skype. A week or so ago -- maybe longer, but not much -- there was a thread listing possible teachers in the UK. Good luck.
KoaDependent
Well-known member
Check out Zahra - she's an astoundingly brilliant player, and a patient teacher. Her rates are the lowest I've ever seen a tutor charge as well. http://www.theukuleletutor.com/
rappsy
Well-known member
Do we know anyone here on UU that has used Zahra? I checked out her site and the rates are great and she teaches for the hour. A half hour and I'm barely started. I would like to be able to chat with someone who is taking lesson from her through Skype. She's in the UK, but that doesn't matter through Skype.
Here is a site that may be of interest: http://www.playukulelebyear.com/
I discovered this by going back through the UkeTalk forum pages from the beginning. I am about halfway through them now and have found out about a number of really good books and a few sites, with Jim D'Ville's being a goldmine. He has a series of 26 videos for beginning players (such as me) on Youtube and a series of 4 DVDs (also available as download) that constitute his workshop on playing by ear.
Then, in addition to these, there is another "by ear" video called "Hear the Strum" at http://www.musiclessonsvancouver.com/page6/page6.html. The idea in this video (DVD or download) is that instead of trying to memorize a bunch of strums as "down down up down ...", you learn to FEEL the rhythm of the music and strum with it as you hear and feel it.
I am working through these at the moment. I think the cost is very reasonable for what you are getting. We each have at least slightly different learning styles and ways of taking in information. For some, taking lessons either in person or via Skype is the way to go. For others, this series of videos/DVDs is the way to go. For others, books and other DVDs might be a good path. I suspect that for most of us, some combination is a workable solution.
There is a lot of good information to be had by going back through the UkeTalk sub forum, especially the earlier pages. I found one post by seeso (is he still around?) that I printed and laminated for reference. It gave a very concise example and description of coming up with a short musical phrase (motif) and developing it into a longer piece as a means of composition. There are some real gems in those pages.
I have also just "googled" for various ukulele related subjects. The best thing I found for me at this stage was a list of relatively simple two and three chord songs. The list consists of the titles and the letter of the first note of the tune as it fits nicely on the ukulele. This is great for daily exercise picking out the melody and chords of tunes for ear training on the ukulele.
Two books that were mentioned in the UkeTalk pages that I am finding particularly helpful are:
The Natural Way To Music (you can get the accompanying CDROM as a separate item) by Jim D'Ville and Bill Keith (the famous banjo player): http://www.beaconbanjo.com/product/music-etc/the-natural-way-to-music-wcd-rom/.
Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robert van Renesse. This is a Mel Bay publication, so it should be easily available. This book is very well laid out, with each page being a lesson. The book teaches most everything you need to know about understand how chords work in music and how to create them on the ukulele, all in bite-sized lessons that are easy to assimilate.
I hope this information is helpful at least to some reading here. Not all information is useful to everybody, but it is definitely worth a look to see if some of it may be useful to you. The books and DVDs discussed in this post are really foundational to whatever music and styles any of us learning to play the ukulele are interested in.
Edit: I forgot to mention what is really probably the most important part of all this - two "fakebooks" by Liz and Jim Beloff:
The Daily Ukulele and the leap year edition of The Daily Ukulele
From what I have read, these seem to be the standard books for ukulele jam sessions of various types. They are certainly a good way to both check your "by ear" efforts and as a starting point if you want to arrange tunes in whatever style you want to play them, as well as for strumming and singing. In other words, these are great collections for any ukulele player.
None of the information in my post is new, and is probably "old hat" to those who have been playing for even a few months. But sometimes it is good to post this information as earlier posts scroll off into the archive pages, where one must search to find the information.
Tony
I discovered this by going back through the UkeTalk forum pages from the beginning. I am about halfway through them now and have found out about a number of really good books and a few sites, with Jim D'Ville's being a goldmine. He has a series of 26 videos for beginning players (such as me) on Youtube and a series of 4 DVDs (also available as download) that constitute his workshop on playing by ear.
Then, in addition to these, there is another "by ear" video called "Hear the Strum" at http://www.musiclessonsvancouver.com/page6/page6.html. The idea in this video (DVD or download) is that instead of trying to memorize a bunch of strums as "down down up down ...", you learn to FEEL the rhythm of the music and strum with it as you hear and feel it.
I am working through these at the moment. I think the cost is very reasonable for what you are getting. We each have at least slightly different learning styles and ways of taking in information. For some, taking lessons either in person or via Skype is the way to go. For others, this series of videos/DVDs is the way to go. For others, books and other DVDs might be a good path. I suspect that for most of us, some combination is a workable solution.
There is a lot of good information to be had by going back through the UkeTalk sub forum, especially the earlier pages. I found one post by seeso (is he still around?) that I printed and laminated for reference. It gave a very concise example and description of coming up with a short musical phrase (motif) and developing it into a longer piece as a means of composition. There are some real gems in those pages.
I have also just "googled" for various ukulele related subjects. The best thing I found for me at this stage was a list of relatively simple two and three chord songs. The list consists of the titles and the letter of the first note of the tune as it fits nicely on the ukulele. This is great for daily exercise picking out the melody and chords of tunes for ear training on the ukulele.
Two books that were mentioned in the UkeTalk pages that I am finding particularly helpful are:
The Natural Way To Music (you can get the accompanying CDROM as a separate item) by Jim D'Ville and Bill Keith (the famous banjo player): http://www.beaconbanjo.com/product/music-etc/the-natural-way-to-music-wcd-rom/.
Understanding Ukulele Chords by Robert van Renesse. This is a Mel Bay publication, so it should be easily available. This book is very well laid out, with each page being a lesson. The book teaches most everything you need to know about understand how chords work in music and how to create them on the ukulele, all in bite-sized lessons that are easy to assimilate.
I hope this information is helpful at least to some reading here. Not all information is useful to everybody, but it is definitely worth a look to see if some of it may be useful to you. The books and DVDs discussed in this post are really foundational to whatever music and styles any of us learning to play the ukulele are interested in.
Edit: I forgot to mention what is really probably the most important part of all this - two "fakebooks" by Liz and Jim Beloff:
The Daily Ukulele and the leap year edition of The Daily Ukulele
From what I have read, these seem to be the standard books for ukulele jam sessions of various types. They are certainly a good way to both check your "by ear" efforts and as a starting point if you want to arrange tunes in whatever style you want to play them, as well as for strumming and singing. In other words, these are great collections for any ukulele player.
None of the information in my post is new, and is probably "old hat" to those who have been playing for even a few months. But sometimes it is good to post this information as earlier posts scroll off into the archive pages, where one must search to find the information.
Tony
Last edited:
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