Below is my final reflection for the process of beginning to learn the ukulele. Be chill and much aloha!
For this week I have focused primarily on practicing Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah,"and it doesn't sound all that bad although I am still having trouble with the transition from G to E minor to A minor (primarily G to E minor). I had surgery on my left hand when I was younger so the muscles can sometimes wear out pretty quick which makes the transitions even tougher at times (at least after I get tired). BUT I think playing is actually good in the long run because it is strengthening those muscles in that hand. This is very important because I am definitely not as active as I was when I was in the Marines, especially while going through this program.
I am still primarily using the Ukulele Teacher from Youtube as my primary form of instruction because I can follow along and see the notes I should be playing at the same time. I can also hear what it is supposed to sound like which is great. Additionally I have practiced the finger picking that was recommended for this song instead of just the down down up up strumming pattern. I'm not gonna lie the finger picking sounds pretty cool and I've even just been playing around with mixing up different strumming patterns and finger picking just to see how it sounds. In all this week I haven't really learned any new chords or notes because I have just been focusing mainly on this one song but this song itself is sounding better. I guess they are right, practice makes perfect... although I am far from perfect at this current stage.
Here is a Storify of some of my colleagues Tweets of quotes and ideas from the book "The 20Time Project" by Kevin Brookhouser. Enjoy.
Meant to post a couple days ago... So this week I decided to really focus on 1 song. I chose the ukulele arrangement for the Jeff Buckley song, "Hallelujah" posted in my previous week's post. While I like Vance Joy's Riptide it seems very repetitive and I was getting bored with it. I picked this song because: 1. I like it a lot . 2. It is a relatively easy beginner song with 5 chords (which means I'm learning more than just the 3 in the Vance Joy song). 3. It has a fairly simple and slow strumming pattern (which is great for practicing transitions between chords). 4. It has the ability to increase the difficulty with trying to use fingerpicking instead of strumming. There is still an element of Yikes this doesn't sound great (yet), but it sounds ok and is sounding better as I continue. It is also a song I think I could sing along to, which is not going to happen on film or audio because I am not learning to do that (well). I've learned with some of the songs, without being played along with lyrics they just seemed so repetitive. This one doesn't seem quite that way. My primary method for learning has been through Youtube. The video tutorials are great. While it could be good to get an actual lesson, I can't say that it is needed and might even be a waste of money. Although, it might help if I ever wanted to read music, as the videos model what it should sound like, what the strumming pattern is and show you the chords you should be playing. Scaffolding. Anyhow, I'm actually posting some audio here so be kind :) I'm putting myself out there. Here's me learning to play through play. It's been fun (more fun the better and better it sounds). *Disclaimer - This audio is taken after playing for a while so my left hand was starting to get pretty tired and the transitions between chords were getting more and more difficult. There's one really tough spot (among others) that goes from G to E minor to A minor right before the chorus that you'll hear. I just can't seem to get right so that's my focus this week. I have mad respect for professional musicians. Mahalo!
So I definitely fell behind here with my TPAs and fully taking over the planning and teaching of my classes since the quarter changed in April. It's been the perfect storm of babies and one thing after another. Needless to say I can't seem to get ahead of the game. That being said, I resumed my practicing of the ukulele this past week. I have to tell you, they weren't joking when they said "if you don't use it, you lose it..." At least it seemed that way when I picked the uke up again. It was nice to have it in my hands again, and I can say that while it seemed I'd forgotten everything, it came back very quick. Specifically the chords and chord progressions for Vance Joy's "Riptide." While not perfect, it is sounding better. I was also interested to discover that after I practice a new song like the Beatle's "Here comes the Sun" the Vance Joy song sounds better and better. Maybe that's relative though (to how bad the other song sounds). While Vance Joy's is a pretty simple 3 chord progression(with a 4th chord added in every once in a while), "Here Comes the Sun" starts by picking individual strings instead of strumming the whole chord. Talk about tough. Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah" is similar with the picking involved. These are great goals for down the road, but quite difficult right now. Another song I heard that I thought would be good to play is Donovan Frankenreiter's "Free." Similar chords to Vance Joy's but add a couple more and some different strumming patterns and chord progressions.
A lot of these are the same tune over and over as well which makes it tough to get through a whole song. This is one reason I've looked at quite a few songs, but I think this is helping me learn more chords and practice my transitions. I've still got a long way to go though... Here's my favorite ukulele teacher so far doing Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah." Youtube is the way to go by the way...
So I got the ukulele to at least hit the right notes and hold a tune long enough to get through some songs (or at least some combination of chords and strumming patterns)! I'm finding Youtube to be my biggest ally so far. I'm finding the tutorial videos extremely helpful, although many of the songs I've looked at are a few chords that repeat over and over for the most part, none of which have been that long. Youtube is very helpful as a type of modeling to see the chords used (most times they are shown at the beginning of the video) as well as the strumming patterns for the song. The strumming patterns is where I have been getting caught up the most when just trying to read the chords or tabs. I need to hear it, at least this early on, so the audio in the videos has been great. I know if I ever try to make a uke arrangement of a song I'm going to have to work hard at figuring out the strumming patterns... chances are though, from what I'm seeing there is probably a ukulele arrangement for almost everything.
That said, I was starting with Vance Joy's Rip Tide week 1, but got sidetracked this week. We had a birthday party for Scarlett's 2nd birthday so I thought I would look at the theme song to her favorite show... Sesame Street! She loves Elmo and is learning the words to the song too. All I hear is her singing, "Sunny Day" all the time. So we tried that out for her birthday. Needless to say, With my current level of playing and her lack of fully knowing the words, there is some room for improvement but it was fun none-the-less. For week three I will continue practicing Sesame Street for her, and Vance Joy for me, but I might look for one more song to try and play (mostly) all the way through... I'm thinking a version of Jeff Buckley's "Halleluja" or "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles. Thoughts? Alright, so last night after I got home from class I thought I needed to strum away on the ukulele so I could get it to stretch the strings out some more as I only have 5 weeks for this project. When tuning the ukulele I looked closer at the note that was registering on the tuner for some of the strings I was strumming and noticed that the strings were SO out of tune it was tuning as either the note above or below what it should have been. For example, say I was tuning the G string. When I first strummed it, I assumed it was hitting G but I realized last night it was tuning as either F or A so the string tension was WAY off. I did not realize this during my first go around. Now I think we are in business. Vance Joy's "Riptide" sounds much more like it should. Maybe I will even have some video or audio to share after I practice a bit more this week.
This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Right off the bat getting this thing to stay tuned is proving to be quite difficult, but I did find out that it takes a while for the strings to stretch appropriately so it will hold a tune. I hope that's the case and it isn't that my ukulele is a piece.
Despite that hiccup (which makes whatever I play not sound great) I went ahead and started working on trying to learn the different chords. The biggest difficulty I was having was with chord progressions and transitions, particularly with finger placement. I could play the chords one at a time, but when switching from one to another I had to try and figure out what might be the most comfortable and efficient finger placement. It was also difficult to just listen to chords and know if they sounded right without having them be in the context of a song so I soon found myself looking for simple songs that I know the tunes to. Even then just trying to read tabs were difficult without knowing what the specific ukulele strumming patterns were. I soon found myself taking Rik's advice from a comment on my last post and went on youtube and found a tutorial for Vance Joy's song "Rip Tide." This is a simple 4 chord song (majority of the song is only playing three of the chords) that I hope will at least get me some confidence built up. I would post a video clip here, but while I'm playing the chords correctly, the tuning issue isn't helping me out in the way it is sounding. Maybe next week. Talk about starting off with failure right out the gate! Until then I will be strumming away this week practicing the chords, transitions, and Vance Joy song to try and get the strings to stretch properly to keep a tune. Funny thing about my two ideas I was brainstorming... I told my wife I had to do this project where I learn to do something and reflect about and document the process along the way. I only mentioned one of my options to her: Learn to drop into and skate a bowl/pool like the Zephyr team back in the 70's. She didn't think that was the best idea having two babies and all on top of being in the credential program and the risk of injury. Valid points, but I didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence she excitedly said, "I know what you should learn! How about you learn to play that ukulele that's been on your shelf in the closet for 5 years!"
After that I had to come clean and tell her that was one of my options I was thinking about. She also mentioned how much fun my daughter Scarlett would have with it because she loves music. I even pulled it out at the house and Scarlett had a fit when it was time to put it away. Then, a couple days later at the alumni event at San Dieguito Academy High School which was raising money for my wife's theatre program there, I got to meet Eddie Vedder who was there to perform as an SDA alum (one song happened to be a ukulele song). The amazing thing about this is that his release of his album, "Ukulele Songs" was what inspired me to go out and buy my ukulele with the intent to learn it. Life just got in the way of the learning part. I am taking this whole chain of events from my discussions with my wife to meeting and interacting with Eddie as a sign that this is what I should choose my project to be about. And more specifically I will try and adapt a song to the ukulele. I'm thinking Sesame Street or various nursery rhymes. Scarlett would dig it and be able to sing along. Now I should go buy another ukulele though because I had Eddie sign mine for Scarlett :) During this stage of my pedagogical journey I will be participating in what is called a 20% project. I will be deciding on an activity to learn and documenting my successes and failures here along the way. I currently have two options I am seriously considering that I have wanted to learn for some time now. The first option, while very exciting and adrenaline inducing (which I am all about), is to learn how to skateboard. I'm not talking ride around on the pavement and do some ollies skateboarding either. I'm talking Z-Boys pool skating type skateboarding. This is something I have wanted to try for a long time due to my love of surfing and the influence each sport has had on each other. I even have the equipment already, BUT this activity is potentially dangerous and I do have two babies under two... even though they enjoy watching surfing and skating as much as I do.
My other option, a much safer option, but still something I have wanted to learn for a long time is to play the ukulele. I come from a very musical family and I grew up playing the piano and trumpet and score quite high in the rythmic/musical category of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. I even have a ukulele I bought a couple years ago that has just been sitting in the closet. This is an activity that could possibly bring the family together at the beach, around campfires or just playing tunes at home. My daughter loves music too so this could also become a family practice and still be something to incorporate into out beachy lifestyle. Skate... or die? 1. Do I have the right kind of skateboard for the type of skating I want to do? 2. What is the recommended PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) so I can still be mobile. 3. Is there maintenance to be done on a skateboard? 4. Who can I reach out to for tips, pointers, or even a lesson? 5. Where are the local skateparks? 6. Do I just go for it my first time out? 7. What is the science behind the maneuvers? 8. Am I in good enough shape to do this? 9 Are the other skaters going to be accepting of my probable failures? 10. Where are the closest ERs? Uke can do it. Can I? 1. How do I know if I have a quality ukulele and how can I tell? 2. What is similar to or different from learning the guitar? 3. What is the science behind the acoustics. 4. How do you tune this thing? 5. Do ukuleles require any special maintenance? 6. Where can I find places to get lessons for the ukulele? 7. What are some good ukulele songs to learn? 8. How can I make a ukulele arrangement(s) for a popular song(s)? 9. Should I learn to read music or just try to learn to play a specific song? 10. What is the best way to teach myself the ukulele? |
20% ProjectThis page will follow my learning of the ukulele Archives
May 2016
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