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Set myself the 17th March to get this one up to speed – still a bit hesitant, but getting there. Lots of fun to play!
Happy St Patrick’s day everyone!
😉You have proven age never matters, proud of you! 🙂 I wish I could be proud of myself though.:/ I want to be a professional musician when I grow up, and that’s hard, some might say impossible. Becoming a musician to be able to play the ukulele is hard to fit in with other bands, choir and around other people as well. I want to be a performer when I grow up, and it’s hard when you start at the age of 14. I have doubts, yet I came here because I thought it would help me and that’s for the future to decide. It’s too early for me because I’m new but what happens if it’s too late. I’ve been practicing more than I enjoy life and yet I really don’t see improvement in myself. I know age doesn’t matter but there are events happening and a day can’t repeat itself. For example, a talent show, and that talent show won’t come back on the same day anymore. I’m proud of all of the ukulele players out there, including ones here, I just hope it’s not too late for me because I’m scared when days passed. The prize is just a bonus, but the real prize is your progress with your instrument. So thank you Rock class 101 all staff and students, I hope to see this community grow bigger every year. Thank you….
Hi Awesomestrings, I had a student who had never played an instrument until he arrived at my school at the time, where he joined the choir and then took up piano and clarinet. He is now a professional musician. It can be done – please don’t stress about time. Rockclass 101 is an incredible resource and will help you progress quickly, but unlike most other things in this crazy hi-tech world, it’s not instant gratification…. although the instructions are super clear, it still takes time to get your fingers around it all and embed techniques into your muscle memory. You need to slow it up, break it down and use the online tab reader – that’s a great strategy. However, I’m concerned that you say that you ‘are practicing more than you enjoy life’…. you have to enjoy the journey and if you are not, you need to change something. I would advise that you choose pieces which are level appropriate (so if you are beginning don’t choose Bach’s Toccata) Record yourself at the start and then daily. You will definitely see progress and that may be more motivating for you. Andrew did a course on learning pathways which you should check out. He has also done loads of etudes working on specific skills…. and also music theory which would be transferable skills. Many of the participants on Rockclass 101 are starting out so you’ve got a supportive network here. If you want to perform and want to perform with others, then you could use the ukulele to build skills and musicality and then later on, look at expanding your instruments, depending on the type of music you want to play (double bass players are always in great demand around here for example, although I love the portability of the uke) I hope that’s even a little useful. Hang in there – and just enjoy your uke and your journey. 😉
Going to rename the song from this week to “Go! Lisa, Go!” LOL! that was awesome! Such a fun song to play, I really need to add another jig for next year 🙂
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Hey Awesomestrings, don’t beat yourself up. I didn’t get serious in my practicing until 13/14, same age as you. So I had started playing at 10, but it took years until I became focused. There were a number of factors on why 3 years passed and I didn’t progress, but the bottom line was I hadn’t fallen in love with music… yet.
When I stumbled onto Van Halen, I was hooked. I had a Non-Stop passion that began with one band and spewed into countless other artists, genres, and instruments. The most important thing is to have this passion, where you know that this is what you want to do, without doubt. I knew that music was what I wanted to do at 15, but I didn’t know what or how I was going to do it.
I’m not going to lie, this is a really tough career field. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have the passion. If you do, it is the best career because there is no Option B.
Check out this video from my friend from Music College. We went through the entire program together. He makes a great point on the reality of being a a professional musician, which is it is not enough to only play an instrument. You have to wear multiple hats. For example, take a look at what I do here: I compose, perform, and teach. Three different hats 🙂
Sounds very cool, I love the sound of these challenges! I’m going to give it a try doing chopsticks. Turning 14 the day after the drawing, so if I am lucky enough to get it it will be a great birthday present. Good luck to the whole rockclass101 community, can’t wait to learn it!
Hi, Andrew,
Here is my entry for March. As usual, I do not want to win anything. I am just entering for fun.
Thanks for your prayers for my father-in-law. He rallied very nicely. He was home from the hospital just before we left for our trip. We had a good visit with everyone. Dad loaned me a spare baritone so I could continue practising during the trip.
Regards,
Vida FentonThanks for another fun challenge, Andrew. Here’s my chopsticks entry. The high in the neck portion is still super tricky for me to play in time, so I cheated a little. I’ll keep practicing it. 🙂
Thanks again, also, for the awesome tabs and lessons!This is my entry for the March 2018 Member Challenge I had challenges but with the support, I managed to do it. Please tell me if this doesn’t count, I can’t get a youtube account, or SoundCloud because I don’t have an original email only my school, and my parents. I think I’m still too young. But here enjoy.:)
Big Thanks to Lisamcc, Curlyuke and of course Andrew!
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