Uke Can Do It! My Learning Project Introduction
Welcome to the start of my learning project journey! After humming and hawing for a few days trying to narrow down my list of things I'd like to learn, I have finally made a decision to work on the ukulele! I think knowing a few songs on the ukulele would be fun and might also be helpful as a future educator. You never know when you might end up teaching ukulele or playing some live music as a way to call students' attention or notify them of a transition time.
My experience with ukulele is very minimal. Several of my family members own ukuleles, and about 5 years ago I taught myself how to play one song. I learned the Lava song from the Pixar short that came out a couple years earlier by watching this YouTube video (I didn't remember this exact video, but when I typed "I lava you ukulele" in the search bar, YouTube kindly showed me my previously watched video) and following along until I memorized the chords. In the past 5 years, I have occasionally picked up a ukulele and reviewed these chords, but I haven't ever dedicated real time and effort to improving or learning more. Also, although I took piano lessons and exams throughout elementary and high school, I have never learned a string instrument that requires strumming. As a result of these two facts, my strumming technique leaves much to be desired! I have decided that I want to improve my strumming technique, improve my chord transitions, learn how to fingerpick, and finish off my learning journey by learning 3 new songs.
In light of these areas to work on, I borrowed my mom's ukulele for the remainder of this class and set about tuning it today. I've been using this YouTube video to tune by ear, but I have noticed that one string is determined to not stay in tune. Sorry to anyone who has perfect pitch - this might be a bit difficult to listen to! I think alongside my strumming, fingerpicking, and song learning plans, I also want to see if I can tune my ukulele more effectively and more permanently, too.
My current ukulele skills, showcased in this thrilling performance:
Goals:
Throughout this journey, I want to improve my strumming and chord transitions, learn how to fingerpick, learn how to tune the ukulele properly (and hopefully fix my one tricky string), and learn 3 new songs. I plan to follow some videos and learn tips and tricks through online resources like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and dedicated music websites like Yousician. I think I will find resources along the way to help me that I may not even be thinking of yet! I am planning to start my learning journey this week using YouTube and focusing on strumming technique and the song Stand By Me!
I hope you'll follow along with me and maybe even be inspired to pick up a ukulele yourself!
Hi Emily! I am so excited to follow your journey learning the ukulele. I have always enjoyed how string instruments sounded, but I could never figure out the strumming patterns. Needless to say, I usually just gave up on learning. I've played a variety of different instruments throughout the years, but strings were never meant for me. I really enjoyed that you clearly laid out your goals at the end of the post and included a video of your current progress. You are going to have an awesome learning journey, and I'm so excited to follow along!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Johnna! Strumming patterns are definitely the trickiest thing I've encountered so far! What instruments do you play?
DeleteHey Emily!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing idea for your learning project. I have never been musically inclined in any capacity, so I absolutely admire your goals and ambitions to learn and play the ukulele. I am excited to see where you go from here!
Delaney Epp
p.s. Your facial expressions in the video put a smile on my face. It really looks like you are going to have fun with this!
Thanks for the comment, Delaney! Haha I figured I might as well have some fun with my videos!
DeleteThe Ukulele always reminds me of the movie Lilo and Stitch; maybe I’m dating myself. What a neat idea for your learning project and I love that you mention how your project could transition to the classroom. I know you mention piano and string instruments to be two different things but do you find any similarities at all? I honestly don’t know much about musical instruments at all but I always thought parts of knowing one musical instrument would transition to knowing another. Enjoy your journey!
ReplyDeleteI love Lilo and Stitch! I find ukulele to be very different from piano. While they both use strings, there's no strumming at all with piano. It is also a very different feel for your hands. Playing chords is also very different because each individual key is separate on a piano, while you have to find the right strings and frets for your chords with the ukulele. I think my music training does help with learning ukulele, because there is a lot of playing by ear and making sure the rhythm is right and those are skills I developed in piano lessons. But that's where most of the similarities end for me!
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