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@annyuke: Thanks a lot! You already made the first and most important step by becoming a premium member. Now just keep doing the challenges every month, and you will inevitably get there. 98% of what you hear in my recording is the result of me doing the challenge month after month for almost six years now, and literally challenging myself by picking a piece at the upper end (or slightly beyond) my current playing abilities, even though sometimes it seemed completely impossible at the beginning of the month to get that down within just one month. Somehow it has always worked out. And remember: if you don’t make mistakes, you don’t practice. By definition, practicing means learning something you can’t play yet, so mistakes are inevitable and proof that you’re actually practicing. My personal experience is also, if I had the feeling I was just not getting better at a specific part no matter how much I practice, I would let it rest for a couple of days and work on something different, and when coming back later to that part, more often than not it would go much better right away. I don’t know if there’s scientifc research behind this phenomenon, but it’s definitely something I noticed for myself.
Thank you for your encouraging words @misterbones
I’m probably not patient enough with myself 😅
I practice every day and I really love it. I picked up the ukulele 5 month ago. To become good at it is a long run, I know.
Just getting a bit frustrated when I manage to play something right for about ten times in a row and then get it wrong again. Or completely forget what comes next in the progression even though I’ve already practiced it since a week and could remember it before.
However what you describe to stop and do something else for a day or two and then come back to it does really help. I experienced this too several times. So let’s keep strumming 🤙🏼@annyuke Are you kidding me? 5 months only? For someone who’s just started 5 months ago, your progress is outstanding. You’ll get there in no time. I was not nearly that good after 5 months.
@annyuke – @misterbones is spot on, for 5 months your playing is outstanding! Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working!
And the only mistake I hear is measure 11, the first double stop (2 note pluck) should last a quarter note, not an 8th.
@misterbones, you’ve put into words what I’ve discovered about my own practice. There have been songs where I’ve felt like tearing my hair out because it feels like I’ll never get my fingers to go where I want them to, but somehow by the end of the month it seems to work out.
I try to get a longer practice session in each day, but that doesn’t always happen. Then I heard from more than one source that progress actually happens more quickly if you just spend a few minutes on a piece or on a particularly tricky passage, walk away for a while, then come back again later, rather than belaboring something in the hope of quick improvement. That seems counterintuitive, and I’ve also wondered if there’s any research around that.
By the way, I always enjoy watching you play. You’re always spot on, and you make it appear so effortless! I like your approach of trying to choose something that’s a bit challenging – that’s what keeps the interest going.
Such a great discussion on practice! I think it’s true with the idea of walking away from a song and coming back to it later, but I also don’t know the science behind it! I think I’ve heard it said that after 30 minutes or so of practice, there is diminishing returns with how your brain processes / imbibes information (I watched an expert talk on this once and that concept also applies to studying). I’m not sure that’s always the case, though, because there have been times that I’ve played instruments for hours, sometimes many hours, but then I do feel like I reach a “threshold” where I start making more mistakes and it can get frustrating, but for me I am okay with that because, like misterbones said, when I come back to it later, my brain actually did compute / retain a lot more than I thought. But then there is also the risk of “learning mistakes” if you keep playing while messing up in a brain-fog of too much playing. Just my thoughts on / experience with that.
@annyuke, I agree with others that your playing is amazing for such a short time and, in general, such a lovely take on that tune! And @misterbones, such a beautiful take on Red is the Rose! You play that one so delicately and precisely. I, like a bunch of others, am also trying to learn that one. That’s right, I didn’t wait until the very last day of the challenge to *start* learning a challenge tune, but started several days early! Maybe I’m learning. Well, maybe my aging heart can’t take that much stress anymore. 😂😆Haha!! The thing with using a flower to pick a tune, @brettboy, so glad you liked that idea! That image was just hilarious for some reason and I could so clearly picture you doing that! 😂 @leb397, mayhaps you could also use that method at some point! And thank you – there have been so many ups and downs in the past few years especially, but it has led me to a deeper connection to my Christian faith, to God, so for that I am very grateful. Whew, there have been some doozies of “events” though, the last few years. As C.S. Lewis says, “pain is God’s megaphone” and that’s so true (to quote exactly, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”). *Anyway,* I am really grateful for this community and all the kindness, support, and so much ukulele joy and fun we’ve shared through it all! And looking forward to hearing a bunch more tunes this month!! 🥰
@misterbones that was lovely to listen to, well done!
And @annyuke also great job for 5 months playing and 10 days on this song!
I have been waffling and I am nervous about La Vie En Rose but I just love that song. A version of that song, a simple chord strumming version, has been one of my go-tos for a while to just play around with, so learning a chord melody version would be great. It won’t be perfect, but reading @misterbones’ comment about trying songs that feel a little beyond current ability is what I needed to see to make a decision and just go for it. I’m putting it out here now to work on La Vie En Rose this month to hold myself accountable and we’ll see how far I can get!
-Caryn
Thank you so much @Andrew and @misterbones and everyone for your really really nice comments. Sometimes when practicing all by myself I don’t even realise my progress and I don’t have a comparison point. Then it’s hard to know.
So thanks to all of you for the feedback. It helps a lot 🤍I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
I picked La Vie En Rose for this month, but adapted it for low G and preferred it with a swung feel. Great arrangement, thanks RC101! 🙂
Hi All!
I am a premium member.
I will not have much time to practice for the rest of this month, so I chose Jasmine Flower. The song grew on me as I learned it, and, in the end, I enjoyed playing it and really liked how parts of it sounded on my ukulele. Even though it is a relatively slow and simple piece, it was a challenge to keep the timing and sustain right in parts.
I agree with what’s been said about practicing. Consistency is important, but sometimes, a break from a section or technique helps. When you return to it, somehow you’re a bit better than you thought!
Great work, @annyuke! You’re well on your way in such a short time!
@annyuke Nice job for 5 months. I remember when I was at that stage. I would look for 1 yr progression videos on You Tube. I would see how they went from zero to hero in a year. Every time I got discouraged I would watch a few of those videos and it would keep me going. You really did a good job. Do you play any other instruments? Keep it up before you know it you’ll be playig like @Misterbones 🙂
Thank you, @gi_gi_
I’ll check out these one year zero to hero videos. Sounds interesting. To answer your question, I do sound therapy, so I play a lot of instruments like singing bowls, tuning forks, drums etc. but most of them have only one specific frequency (and overtones) and are very intuitive to play. There’s no tabs or anything to read and follow. I don’t play other string instruments.PREMIUM MEMBER
Hello everyone.
Greetings from the south of France.
I couldn’t pass through this iconic french song. 🇨🇵🌹
@darktoto – Beautifully played and love the face paint!
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