Ukulele: The Best Way To Get Good

I stopped my ukulele practice session to say this. Unless you are on some kind of deadline for a performance or something it doesn't matter how fast you get good. Just work to get good. Slowly, quickly, or whatever. Who cares?

I would recommend frequently. But I wouldn't tell you how frequently or how much you have to achieve each practice session, each day or each week.

There are a lot of practice sessions where I don't have a goal in mind. But I figure that I'm getting better in some way just by playing.

Let it be so.

Nothing In Particular: A Ukulele Coast

And by ukulele coast I mean I haven't put a lot of work on the ukulele. Oh, I've been playing. I play most every day. But I didn't practice today with any goal in mind, much less with a plan to get there.

But I'm ok with that.

I find that I like to spend a few days every now and then just enjoying what I have learned so far. I still consider myself a beginner. I'd guess it's going to take two or three years before I even think about calling myself an intermediate level ukulele player.

But I'm ok with that.

I have learned enough to just enjoy playing a song, even though it still needs work. I enjoy the physical aspect of the playing experience. I enjoy hearing my touch get better. It relaxes me.

A Foot Tapping Session

Tonight I did something I rarely do. I tapped my foot to the beat of a song I was playing. I admit I am rhythmically challenged.

Oh, I can keep the beat in a simple way. Certainly enough to play the simple songs I play. To keep the tempo steady I need to use a metronome, which is a good thing to do. But it's not the only way I steady my rhythm.

Tonight I started a song and felt pretty good about how it started. Now in this song there are a few spots where I speed up if I don't have something with a beat to play along with. But like I said, the song felt good to start and I wanted to keep it steady. I didn't want to stop the song to start a metronome. So I started to tap my foot.

I'm terrible at tapping my foot when I'm playing. I'm not that good at it when I'm just listening to music. But tonight it worked, most of the time. Enough for me. I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

It definitely helped me in the usual spots where I always need help. I stopped tapping a couple of easy sections for a little break. But I would pick it back up after a few beats. It felt good.

Tapping my foot to the beat is something I need to include in my practice and playing sessions. It's a good skill to have. And it's more fun than a metronome.

My Ukulele Line Up in 2016

Ohana TK10, Kala KA-S and Makala Dolphin.

Here they are. Or I should say, here they were. I took this picture in June 2016. I've added and subtracted from the line up since then. But I still have these three.

That's all today. I'm still working on Danny Boy and transposing. Danny Boy is more fun.

A New Ukulele Direction

I'm going to try to tab a song. I don't know if I have the patience. I can already tell it's harder than I thought. And I'm using sheet music. Real tabbers do it by ear.

I'm working on a fingerstyle arrangement in Db. That means it has five flats and I'm not really used to that key. I'm going to use my baritone so I can do a straight tab and not have to transpose. I'll transpose it later. Maybe.

One of the things I never thought about was how to treat accidentals. If the note is flated by the key signature does the sharp accidental just raise the note a half step to make it a natural or does it make the note sharp?

Well, don't run away to look it up. I already did. The accidentals don't build on each other. If there's a sharp in front of a G in a Db song you play a G sharp, not a G natural.

So now I know that.

Small steps.

A Good Ukulele Practice

I did a half ass practice tonight. I'm actually still practicing a little. But it's all gravy at this point.

I have memorized the Campanella piece I'm working on. Remember? Danny Boy. It's a simple, melody only arrangement. The first one in the John King Ukulele Masters Classical book.

The book offers fingering suggestions which is a good thing for someone trying to learn Campanella. With Campanella one is supposed to keep the strings ringing as long as possible. But it's not always possible to keep every string ringing until it naturally stops.

I try to maximize sustain the best I can and the fingering suggestions give me the confidence that it's probably as good as I'm going to get, at least for now.

So tonight, thanks to the suggestions in the book, I think I have a handle on this piece. Now it's time to start polishing. I'll start with regular metronome sessions.

This is the fastest progress I've ever made on learning a song. Even though it's a short simple piece I really enjoy practicing it. I still like Campanella.

More Ukulele String Action

I just changed the strings on my Kala KA-S. I was looking forward to this but it didn't work out how I would have liked it to. I bought the wrong strings. I got the Aquila Super Nylgut but I meant to get the Aquila Lava.

I like the Lava strings on the tenor. I think they are nylon but they have a little more tension than the regular Nylguts. They're a little thinner than the D'Addario strings, not as thin as fluorocarbon. The Lavas have a smooth feel and no squeek like the Super Nylgut strings.

So the Super Nylguts probably won't be on for long.

Ukulele Status Update

Still like the Lava strings on the Ohana tenor. They are settling quickly. I'll probably put a set on the KA-S this weekend.

Ukulele String Change

I finally changed the strings on one of my ukuleles. The others need new strings but I'll change them one at a time.

I put Aquila Lava strings on my Ohana TK-10. I think I like them. They have a feel, to me at least, of something between nylon and carbon. They have more tension than the D'Addario strings I took off. Those strings were great and I will probably try them again. Or maybe I'll stick with Lava.

I'm starting to play around with Campanella. These strings have more of a bell like tone compared to D'Addario. But they have more of a jangle when I strum. I'm not a big fan of a lot of jangle on a tenor. That's probably why Iike the D'Addario strings. But the feel and finger picking tone might make me tolerate the jangle.

I think I last changed the strings on the Ohana back in October, 2017.

Next I'll change the Kala KA-S. I think I have D'Addario's on it too but I'm not positive. I have a Lava set for it, too. I'm looking forward to that change. I like a little jangle on a soprano. We'll see.

The Ukulele Zone

I hit a zone tonight. A Ukulele Practice Zone. It felt good. It was a first for me. Then the phone rang. I had to take the call.

I was a little aggravated. But I took the call even though I could have let it go to voice mail. The moment the phone rang I knew I left the zone. The ukulele practice zone. But just being there for a few brief minutes was a great feeling.

What made it different? I'm not sure. I know I was bouncing back and forth between practice and playing for over a half hour. Every strum felt like it was a little better than the last. Every pluck of a string felt clear and defined.

The metronome practice clicked. (Pun intended.) The dynamics were there. It was fun.

Maybe because I was in a bad mood all day and I forced myself to play made it different somehow. I don't know. I don't care. I just want to get back into the zone.

I played a little after the call. It was good but it wasn't the same. I was okay with that. I noodled the rest of the evening. I have a ukulele ready to go in the morning.

Because I Have To Post Something About Ukuleles

I know I don't really. Have to post something, like the title says. But I like to keep a log (blog) of what I'm doing so you have to suffer my meandering.

I want to change a string set this weekend. I have three sets of the Lava strings. I have four ukuleles. I have another set or two of non Lava strings so I'm covered in case a string breaks. The problem is I have to work this weekend. I'm not happy about that.

In the meantime I'll keep practicing Campanella Ukulele. I think it's a good diversion.

I searched a bit last night and found that some people think Campanella is really difficult. I can't disagree since I'm practicing simple stuff. Maybe the more advance Campanella Ukulele stuff is too hard for my skill level. But I'll give it a shot. I have never worried about moving on. Or meander.