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!
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20% ProjectThis page will follow my learning of the ukulele Archives
May 2016
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