Hello from Sunny Stafford in the UK

[techdojo]

Hey folks,
Just wanted to quickly introduce myself as I’ve just signed up for premium membership – I’ve been a basic member for a while now and finally decided to take the plunge and join the “premium club” 🙂

I’ve been a recovering ukeholic for a few years now and every so often I fall off the wagon and pick up either my RISA solid stick tenor or my tenor sized Bamboo “Bambookele” which only seems to want to drive my wife and kids to want to drink! 🙂 – not surprising as my uke repertoire seems to consist of basic strumming, picking “Smoke on the water”, “Ode to Joy” and running through the C Major scale. Whilst I know a few chords I still struggle with chord changes whilst strumming (basically anything that entails making the left and right hands do anything at the same time).

During a bout of madness / frustration I created “The Ukulele App” with the aim of creating a mobile app to help players of all ages / abilities but then I ended up spending more time coding than playing (so if anyone has any thoughts / comments / feedback on the uke app please feel free to PM me).

Now I want to get back to playing and learning to play the Uke properly so I can actually bang out some recognisable songs without heading to the divorce courts! 🙂

Any advice on where to start, how to get the best out of the site (and the community), how to set achievable targets and how to track my progress so I can stay on track would be greatly appreciated.

Regards
Jon…

[Andrew]

Welcome Jon! And no way, you are behind the Ukulele Teacher‘s app. That’s so cool! I hear it’s extremely popular, congrats on the success!

So this is actually one of the most common questions I get asked: Where to start? I’m planning to create what I’ll call: Learning Paths. Which will be guided step-by-step plans for where to start in regards to beginner, intermediate, and advanced players. It’s much needed as we currently have over 215 lessons 🙂

But, in the meantime let’s see if I can help you out.

It sounds like you are a seasoned beginner. So a great place to start would be our Beginner’s Course. There are two lessons in module 3 you should check out:

Chord Library: Basic Chords
Barre Chords: An Introduction

Now I’m sure your app contains these chords, but how you approach practicing them is what’s going to make the difference in your playing. A great way to work on chord changes is to take two chords at a time and add a simple rhythm. So for example, if you were to play the basic G to D chords. Strum the G chord on beat 1 and switch to D on beat 3. Start slow and loop this. In those lessons above, I talk about moving all three fingers at the same time instead of one at a time. That’s one of the most important things to grasp when working towards increasing your speed. If you’re new to barre chords, check out our lesson on Proper Left Hand Form.

I’d also recommend to check out our Fingerpicking Course. The course teaches you three approaches for fingerpicking (using thumb, 3 fingers, or 4 fingers). This course will help you build dexterity and fluidity in your playing.

Furthermore, we have beginner level songs at the very top of the Ukulele Songs page. I would recommend to start with these songs before diving into levels 1 through 4.

—-

So you asked about achievable targets and tracking your progress. First, check out our guidelines for Proper Practicing to get an idea of the best way to approach practicing. Now the timing couldn’t have been better as I just created a new thread: The Accountability Thread. Here you’ll be able to join myself and other members as we continually track our progress over the next weeks/months. Take a look at the thread, because it lists a few steps that you can follow when you pick one or multiple items to work on.

Don’t hesitate to post on our forum or send me an email anytime you have questions or need help, that’s what I’m here for 🙂 Glad to have you onboard Jon!

[techdojo]

Wow thanks Andrew for such a comprehensive reply, I’ve read it through a couple of times and I’ll definitely take your advice. I originally started work on my app as I felt there was a space in the market for a good mobile app (especially after I realised just how big the market was) and I approached John (The Ukulele Teacher) via his YouTube channel back when he was living in London to see if he’d be the “face” of the app and a friend of mine who used to be graphic designer for the BBC is responsible for all the artwork – it’s worked out pretty well for us so far, the app’s been downloaded almost 700,000 times and if memory serves we have just over 200,000 active installs and since last Christmas (according to Google) we’ve recorded users in over 220 countries / territories which is still totally mind blowing for me (although we’re far from being able to retire from the proceeds just yet 🙂 )

I saw the accountability thread and I guess I’m going to have to make an entry – I’ll have a think about setting an achievable goal and a reasonable time frame and then just go for it!

In fact I’ll make myself accountable by stating that I’ll make an entry by this weekend! 🙂

Ironically enough one of the original app ideas was for it to act as an electronic practice diary and progress recorder that would automatically track what you practiced and then suggest / remind you to practice – I hope to start work on that part of the app later this year and if any forum members reading this would be be interested in a free Pro-mode upgrade – (iOS only sorry), or would like to get in on the beta test list (iOS or Android) please feel free to drop me a PM.

Thanks again for the warm welcome and I’m looking forward to participating.

[Andrew]

That’s awesome, congrats on the success! You should start a new thread asking for volunteers, it will be easier for them to find it that way. I’m sure some of our members would love to try it out and give you feedback 🙂

I’m looking forward to your post this weekend. Remember, there’s no pressure, but everyone’s counting on you 😉

[45241lvl]

Hello from Sunny Telford.

[techdojo]

Hello right back (not so sunny today!) 🙂

[Author]

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