Search Results for 'how to hold the ukulele'

[Andrew]

@planetfink – You nailed the feel and fun of the tune! Well done Kathy 👏

@misterbones – Lol, I loved the ending! Def gonna share this in our newsletter this Friday 🙂

@turbopstros – Well done Vlastimil! I have a few tips to share with you. The first is regarding how you are holding the uke. When we sit on a couch, unless it’s a firm couch, it causes us to sink in. In your video, you can see how the uke is pointed upward, instead of facing the camera. That position makes playing more difficult.

If you can, always practice on a firm chair or stool. I’ll go ahead and share a video below that I made for another member with a few tips on proper holding technique. I’ll also paste additional lessons that touch on this topic. Here is the first and second lesson I recommend reviewing.

Second tip, try not to stick your left-hand thumb above the neck as much. Try placing your thumb slightly above the middle of the neck, though for this song, having it stick out a little is okay. This adjustment will help improve your fretting dexterity. Check out this lesson, it talks in more detail about thumb placement as it relates to proper left hand form.

Your notes when you play out of a position or chord have a nice sustain, but the ones you play when moving up the neck sound a little staccato-y. Try to keep finger pressure held down throughout the duration of the notes value to increase sustain.

[cinichol]

My Late Week #2 Update 😁

I’m learning fundamentals of u-bass and have switched fron Ukulele Wales to Stephen Cox’s YouTube lessons for consistency (because he’s also here in Rock Class). Uke Wales is great; I’ll probably check there from time to time, but Stephen’s great too.

—> I’ve just started Lesson 7: Major and Minor Scales, but still working a bit on 6: Grid Warmup.

Didn’t realize that bass would be harder than regular uke in terms of fretting and plucking hand coordination. It’s fine; just a bit surprising. I played a little guitar as a kid, so that might be why regular uke felt natural from the start.

So since early Jan. I’ve done ultra basics like holding, tuning, and other, with some note learning which I started over at Uke Wales and will finish with Stephen’s Lesson 8.

—> I’m also learning “3 U-Bass Lines for 12-Bar Blues.” Coming along fine, just trying to make myself slow down and emphasize accuracy over speed. I always want to go too fast!

• This reply was modified 3 months, 4 weeks ago by cinichol.

[cinichol]

Thanks, @Andrew!

Weekly Report 1

It’s coming along, slow and steady. Well, too slowly and kind of unsteadily lol.

—Have learned to tune, hold, and pluck my u-bass.

—Am learning (from Ukulele Wales) to fret so that my whole hand is used, even if I’m just pressing one string, and am about a quarter of the way through learning the notes. I hope to join a uke group soon and at least be able to play along and pluck notes using their chord charts.

—Have just started learning Stephen’s “Come Together” and “3 U-Bass Lines.” I won’t be able to finish both; just wanted to get a taste of each before deciding which one to complete. “Come Together” has kind of a tricky number of continual small changes which will be hard to memorize, so I’ll likely do “3 Lines.”

Sure is fun playing the start of ”Come Together,” though.

Next week’s aim: finish learning notes, decide on song, be at least a quarter of the way through song.

[cinichol]

Love this challenge! Only problem is that I want to learn so many things, I initially thought I’d never decide. My Christmas gift, however, helped me to figure it out.

Execution

Learn preliminaries of U-bass.

I’ve had a Kala Journeyman U-bass for awhile but haven’t begun to play it. I got a Kala Solid Body for Christmas as well, so now’s the time to start!

Application

—-Learn bare-bone basics via Ukulele Wales on YouTube: holding, tuning, plucking, fretting.
—-Master Jaco Pastorius’ “Donna Lee” and perform it to a sold-out stadium.
—-Learn or get a start on “3 U-Bass Lines for 12 Bar Blues in G” on Rock Class 101.

I don’t know if I’m ready for the theory part of “3 U-Bass Lines” or its multiple levels, so I may instead learn one of these pieces: Beatles “Come Together,” Khruangbin, “August 10,” Brandi Carlile, “The Story,” or CCW, “Fortunate Son.” Tabs are available on Rock Class as well as YouTube.

Evaluation

I’ll post a paragraph summary each week.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by cinichol.
• This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by cinichol.

[katazumiri]

@The_Bumble_Bard – I don’t know if you like techno… I want to share what I found.

So here we have Klangphonics with a ukulele and a phone (but not vibrating sound)

[katazumiri]

Thank you, @The_Bumble_Bard 😊

Oh! When I read about the “vibrating phone sound,” I thought of Klangphonics. They play techno on anything they can get their hands on, including the ukulele and household appliances (everyday items). I’ll start a new thread so as not to clutter this one.

[robinboyd]

Unfortunately, my healing was not smooth, so it still hurts to hold a ukulele and I haven’t been able to practice much. This is the best I could do.

[misterbones]

@dianna: Thanks a lot! Yes, the easiest way to record multiple instrumental tracks is using an audio interface, and that’s what I did, pretty much exactly as described here: https://rockclass101.com/ultimate-guide-recording-ukulele/
This is particularly easy when the instruments have a pickup, so instead of using a mike, I can plug them directly into the audio interface. Then I can record each additional track directly by playing it live to what I’ve recorded before, without the need to use headphones. And the audio interface also allows me to add a metronome click, which is of course not audible in the final recording. I was actually shocked how bad I was at just holding a steady beat, just by listening back to my recording along with the click. Definitely a very good practice routine to improve timing.
Proceeding like this means all the audio is already in sync automatically, then I just have to sync it up with the video recorded separately via the phone.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Hello again, ukulele friends!! 😊

So sorry for the extreme delay in my replies! It was so heartwarming to read all of your kind words and it’ll be really lovely to read through them again as I reply! I have been having some (somewhat serious) mental and physical health issues right now, but I am trying to work through them (with the help of my family, a counselor, medical doctors, and so much prayer). I can’t really get into all of it, but I would appreciate any additional prayers right now in getting through this, for those who do – for those who do pray. 😂❤️

But this will be a nice way to take my mind off “my troubles” for right now. 😊

I also just wanted to say that I know – so many of you also love to regularly leave comments for everyone – like @Gi_Gi_ and @leb397 and @dianna and others, in addition to all of @Andrew’s in depth, insightful, kind feedback. And I definitely can’t reply to everyone like this every time, but it is really nice to once in a while (even as a single lady, I still have to work and take care of bidness [business], of course). 😂

ANYWAY, all that said, here are more replies (picking up from where I left off, after Gi Gi)!

***

@terryfallon3, thank you so much for saying that, Terry! I truly love this group of people, how encouraging, positive, and musically inspiring everyone here is – and indeed all brought together by Andrew and his vision, which I think is so beautiful. Also, yes, there is something magical about the ukulele itself – how it brings people together through its sheer cuteness, quirkiness, and “secret” awe-inspiring beauty. Thank you so much for your kind words, it really means so much to me, especially right now when I’ve been struggling so much this year! 😊 ❤️

@grannieannie, thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words, Annie! They mean extra to me right now and I appreciate them so much. 😊❤️

There’s so much I could say about singing. It’s been quite an experience trying to spend time working on that, since I’ve never been naturally good at singing, but always wanted to be. It is such an incredibly vulnerable thing to sing in front of others, especially if it’s just you singing. If it’s with other people, then no holds barred! Thank you so much for saying my singing is beautiful – that really means so much!! The puppets actually help incredibly much because then it’s “them” doing the singing, not me! 😂 It also helps me loosen up and not focus so much on myself or what I’m doing. Not sure if that makes sense. I really would love if everyone here sang more and if RC101 included even more tunes with singing! There are definitely a few here I wanted to try since I’ve been practicing singing more. One of them is Adele’s “Someone Like You.” I feel like I improved my singing by trying to copy Adele because I think my voice is like a Great Value Adele. 😉 😂 But weirdly, I think I improved my singing by mimicking / trying to impersonate other singers.

Thank you so much for that! It has been one of the hardest years of my life, if I’m being honest – but I have been very blessed through all of it and have grown so much through all of it, I think. I currently am having some new health concerns, so praying I am able to get through it. I appreciate your encouragement so very much! ❤️

@leihali, thank you so much for that! 😊 That makes me so happy to hear that! I’m so happy to have encouraged you in that way and I also look forward to hearing more of your tunes!! 😊

Okay, I’ll reply to the last few in a separate post – due to knowing I will ramble a lot more and also so hopefully this will post with no issues because of the length of it. I hope it’s okay that I’m replying so late! What everyone wrote to me here meant so much. 😊

This time I actually thought ahead and saved my replies separately in case this post vanishes again. 😂

[Andrew]

@alojzy_bomba – Dude, that was awesome! This is a very hard arr. to play with all the crazy rhythm and percussive elements, and you did amazing! The video backdrop was a nice touch too. Well done! 👏

@nelsonlin2021 – Really well played Nelson! My one suggestion would be to play the first half at the tempo you did the second half at. A slower tempo gives the music more room to breathe and enhances the prettiness of the melody and harmony IMO.

@lhamilton – Lovely performance Linda! The only thing I’d do is target your practice on the B Melody, focusing on smoothing and cleaning it up. But, it doesn’t sound like it will take much work, cause you’re already playing it very well, this is more like fine tuning it 🙂

@ccwuke – Bravo Chris! You played it with great feel, very well done! 👏

@henri0 – I thought you nailed it! Incredible performance Rhian!!

@anyon1 – Beautifully played Adriana! For the pinky, it might be due to how you’re holding the uke. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like there’s a gap between the body of the uke and your body. If you press it against your body and reduce the angle it’s pointing upward, that should put the neck in a more optimal fretting/playing position. I’d also recommend sitting on a firm chair. With a bed, we sink in, and that also will affect our posture when holding the uke.

Below’s a video I made on proper holding technique. I’ll also paste additional lessons that touch on this topic. Here is the first and second lesson I recommend reviewing.

With proper holding form intact, I’d then run exercises to strengthen your pinky. These are a few I wrote specifically for stretch chords, but you could also modify this exercise to reach beyond the 4 adjacent frets.

@johanna2509 – 🙂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Such a magical topic! So excited for this one! I hope other people chime in with their ukulele superpowers! 😀

And that clip was definitely worth watching!

Steve Vai:

“The level of achievement that we have at anything is a reflection of how well we were able to focus on it. Because the only thing holding you back, is the way you’re thinking.”

This is 100% fact. Our thoughts can hold us back from so many things in life, the thoughts we have about ourselves, “I can’t do this” or “I can’t do that.” Those are only stories we tell ourselves. Only if we believe them, will they become true. The power of our own thoughts cannot be underestimated. I say this from my heart based on so many things I’ve experienced in life, but this is also so true in any creative venture.

My ukulele superpower is turning (almost) any song into a clawhammer song. It makes absolutely no sense that I acquired this power, so it must be that I was bitten by a many-eyed ukulele and that’s where it came from. 😂

I really can’t wait for this lesson! Thank you all so much! 🙂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

I once again blew up the forum with my posts, but oh well – I’m going through ukulele / ukulele community withdrawals after the last week of insanity. I did so much cooking and party-prepping, I don’t even know how I got it done… 😂

@grannieannie, I know what you mean! There are definitely just some songs where they are not as “natural” to play for whatever reason – maybe just because you play in a different kind of style or approach. I definitely have experienced that. Also, that’s really lovely that you have so much natural beauty around you that can’t be tampered with! 😊

@leslieb, that sounds very lovely! @Andrew left you some great advice just for keeping the pace, but your playing sounded very beautiful! 😊

@gi_gi_ absolutely gorgeous, friend!! 😍 I love the feel behind your playing so much and how you really “dug in” to the groove (as Andrew likes to say) and really drew so much feeling out of that one! I like that you really let the notes breathe and sound out in all their beauty and pizazz (?). Haha! Yes, it gets to a point where you start thinking “oh, gosh, I can’t mess up now” near the end of the song, or else I’ll start over. 😂😂 But you played absolutely perfectly! Yay!! Also that sigh at the end – that moment where you realize you were holding your breath through the whole song! 😂 I also have screencapped Andrew’s comments before because countless times they have made my day and lifted my spirits when I was feeling bad about my playing – and indeed to look back on when you’re struggling. Ha, yes!

@johanna2509, oh, okay, that makes perfect sense with the outdoor recording that you’d “dub over” it later! I also would like to get one of those pick up things, but it seems all of my technology is too outdated. Some day, lol. Thank you so much about Free Fallin’, that was such a huge deal for me to get over that fear of strumming. So much of the time, the only thing holding us back is our own self-imposed limitations (fear, self-doubt, etc.) – that was the case there, I think. Haha!! See, this whole time, all I needed to do was glue googly eyes to myself and I was able to break freeeeee! 😂

@kanique, such lovely playing! Really a flawless performance with such beautiful feeling / style! 😊 Wait, what? That one is by George Gershwin? How did I not know that…?! 😂

@anyon1, I think I missed your entry earlier, but wow, that was a lovely take on Free Fallin’! Absolutely perfect. Very clear and apparently you have a much better sense of rhythm because you seemed to sense the beat enough to not have to do the non-stop up’s and down’s with strumming. For me, that’s the only way I can strum remotely on time. 😂 Haha!! I should really trademark that somehow. You know, I have mailed googly eyes to more than one person in the uke community at this point, but I have other “targets” in mind for that. As always, TMI, but thank you so much, I was so thrilled and amused that actually worked!! 😂

@lhamilton, beautiful take on that one! I also had that exact same struggle with the high section – you do have to hit those strums somewhat exactly because otherwise you miss the melody notes. But it sounded very lovely! 😊

@bibilele, so beautiful! A really perfect performance! I also love the settings you always choose for your videos – very interesting! 😊

The End. Looking forward to more tunes in The Final Countdown of this challenge!! 😊

• This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by The_Bumble_Bard.

[suekulele]

Post #1

I’m choosing Zelda’s Lullaby to refine and re-record. I first recorded it in November 2022, after a few months of practice. I had to play it on a concert sized ukulele then because my fingers couldn’t hold down the barre chords on a tenor.

I’m focusing on improving the overall dynamics of the piece, playing the notes at the 10th fret and above cleanly, and having smooth transitions – especially in measures 5 to 6, 6 to 9, and 9 to 10.

[Andrew]

Here is everyone on page 8.

@yukalele – To me, this piece sounds great played fast or slow. It’s just such a lovely tune and you played it beautifully David! Try adding it to your warm up routine. The more you play it, the more it will help with memorizing.

@nelsonlin2021 – That was awesome Nelson! The thing I’m hearing that I would recommend you work on is keeping the tempo steady. I’m hearing phrases that are fast followed by phrases the slow down. So I’d suggest working on one section at a time. Start at a slower tempo than you are playing at now. And play along with a metronome. Gradually work to boost the tempo over time. I think that approach will yield the best results.

@jody_hendrickson – Your rhythm technique is amazing, Jody! Great feel throughout, too. I’d say you aced all of the techniques in this piece. The main thing I’d focus on is bringing the sections where you slowed down up to the speed of the rest of the piece. Once that feels solid, you can start working on increasing the overall tempo. But again, well done, impressive work!

@maryjanew – Congrats to your daughter! You played it beautifully, MJ! I think it’s totally fine to use a floating hand strum technique if that feels more natural for you. What stood out to me was how nicely the piece flowed. Fluidity is super important in this tune, and your performance had it in spades, along with great sustain. For the A string notes that occasionally didn’t ring out, double-check that your left hand isn’t accidentally touching the string when fretting those higher chords around the 9th and 7th frets. Well done this month!

@xerxes – Hi Milo, below is a video with feedback for you. And here is a quick video that I made for another member a few years ago on how to hold the uke. If you’d like to dive further, here is another lesson and one more covering this topic in more detail.

@leihali – Here is my feedback for you 🙂

@otzepeng – You played it wonderfully! Unfortunately, you submitted past our deadline for February, but you can def revisit it for the March challenge 🙂

[Andrew]

Welcome Carl! Below, I’ve embedded a quick video I made for a member a few years ago on how to hold the uke. Additionally, we’ve covered proper holding technique in our Beginner’s Course and in the Classical Course.

But to directly answer your question, Steven is using Form 2, which uses the index finger to help support the neck. We actually had an email come in last month on this topic, and Steven filmed this video talking in more detail about his holding technique. But in a nutshell, he’s using form 2.

If you have any questions, please let me know. And def, please do not use a kitchen mat lol 😂