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I’ve been off the Ukulele for nearly a month and hadn’t had a chance to pick it up until today.
As soon as I picked it up, I noticed the strings were off-tune which is understandable I guess. But my playing has slowed down quite a bit.
Has anyone experienced this before? Do I just play the songs I used to or do I need to do something else to get “back into the groove”?
Is it a bad time to learn a new song? I’ve been wanting to learn Animal Crossing theme ever since it was uploaded.
There was a time I went through a slump for 3 or 4 months and I found it was hard to be motivated for whatever reason. When I finally did pick up the uke again, my calluses had gone and playing was awkward. You can either do finger exercises or play old songs you’ve learned already just to get familiar again.
Everyone is different and I think you should do what makes you happy. As in, if you want to learn a new song, you should. There really isn’t a wrong way to get back into it. If it suits you, you should just do what draws you.
Samash07 – I think just the process of learning a new song with the practice of tackling two measures at a time and looping will get you back in the groove. Good luck.
There’s nothing wrong with slow and steady if you have good technique. The rest will come with time and you’ll build up speed again with muscle memory.
I have a few well learned tunes that I keep for warm ups, and for those times when I just am not interested. I have just come out of a FOUR month period where I have struggled with interest and wanting to learn. These tunes meant that I could still pick up a uke and spend just 15 minutes doing something musical, and maintain my calluses.
Coming back into enjoying music again, I picked easier songs BUT they had to be tunes I really wanted to play eg. Ode to Joy. With this tune, my brain was tricked into thinking “oh, this is easy to learn and to play!”
And then I went on to favourite songs only, not challenging pieces eg. Mad World (thanks Matt), and Harvest Moon.
My music teacher also insists on slowly, slowly… as does Andrew really. Go slow to really learn the fingering and rhythm patterns again, and build up those calluses.I’d say work on what interests you. It doesn’t matter whether you do a good job or not. What matters is that you continue, and if what you are playing bores you, you won’t continue.
Thanks for the tips guys, I was actually able to return to my form by continously playing the tune I cherish the most on this site – Zelda’s lullaby. As I’ve known it since I started playing.
Sadly, it’s too late to attempt the May challenge so I’ll focus on more practice.
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