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That’s awesome and welcome! Glad to have you here 🙂 If you ever need any help on the lessons, don’t hesitate to email me or post on the forums.
For what you played in the video, I would keep it straight. It’s probably reverting to angle as that’s closer to the habits you are used too. Try to be conscious of it this week and let me know how it goes.
Hi Phil, see if can straighten out that thumb, like this:
That should make it much more comfortable. Let me know how that feels/works.
Hi Rickey, thanks for sharing this video. So it looks like you have a lot of movement going on. So when you switch to the 5 – 6, your hand lifts up, then drops down a bit, and then positions into the shape.
If you watch how I do it below (and I’ll start the embedded video at that moment – 0:25), notice how my middle finger shift up to the 6th fret and the index finger comes down on the 5th fret, but my wrist remains straight and my hand does not lift up or move down.
So give that approach a shot and let me know how it goes. Also, let me know if you have any questions.
Give Norwegian Wood a shot. It’s a cool Melody and a fun strumming tune. There’s a stretch in it and it’s going to force you to break the thumb hugging habit in order to reach it. Check out this lesson if you need help on increasing your left hand reach. One helpful tip too, in the B Melody (bar 12) it switches to a Gm7. I wouldn’t play that chord change, instead I would play the regular G minor (seen in bar 11), it’s a lot easier and sounds just as good.
Well that’s impressive! But your analogy is correct and I see it all the time, in that people want to be able to play it up to speed off the bat. One of the best pieces of advice I heard came from a fellow teacher, he said: “I’d rather listen to someone play it slowly and in time, than fast and sloppy”.
I thought it was excellent Phil! The thumb placement is an issue though, because where it’s at currently will limit your mobility. The reason being, is because it perpetuates hugging the neck.
Your guitar teacher was right, what ends up happening (and I’ve seen it a lot as a private lessons instructor) is that bad technique ends up becoming bad habits. But, habits can be broken.
So I talked about thumb placement in this lesson and the video below (3:51 into it). Our thumb is usually placed slightly above the middle of the neck, but depending on what you’re playing, it can poke out on the top of the neck just a bit. So what I would do if I was you, is to go back to the beginning and practice some of your basic chords and simple fingerpicking and be very conscious of your thumb placement. If you’re still taking lessons, you can get feedback directly. And you’re always welcome to post here or email me, and I’d be happy to help track your progress.
Excellent job Rickey, your timing is great! I’d work on the five – six finger switch though. Your wrist should not rotate during this part, perhaps you were doing something funky that made it uncomfortable. Feel free to send me an email or post a video reply and I’ll be happy to take a look and see what’s going on. Keep up the good work though, it sounds great!
Wow Lisa, way to go! And congrats on the new uke!
I made a short little video with some feedback for both of you, let me know if you guys have any questions 🙂
Hi Anne, actually I’d advise against purchasing a Luna. I’ve noticed that they have a quality control issue, which is something I talked about in our review of their pineapple ukulele. I’d go for a Kala instead. Great brand, great ukes!
Hi rillke, I’m glad you enjoy the challenge and the steps. I’m looking forward to hearing your progress on the song and technique 🙂
My pleasure Lyndall! Structured practice is the best way to get results. And by the way, if anyone likes to write things down that they’re working on, one of our members created a great practice spreadsheet which is available HERE.
Sounds great Phil, honestly you’re almost there! Keep up the good work.
Totally normal Vida. Sometimes when we lift up the string pulls with our finger(s). It drives me crazy too! For the challenging chord sections, focus on playing the transitions only; you can put it into a time frame, for example: Strum one chord on beat one, then strum the next chord on beat 3. Loop this one bar, start slow and as you get a hang of it increase the tempo.
Welcome Carmen! Glad to have you onboard with us!
So this is actually one of the most common questions I get asked: Where to start? This week I’m working on creating: 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. And it will dive into detail on topics such as the ones you’re interested in.
In the meantime, let’s see if I can give you a couple ideas on where to start. First, you’ll need to establish a strong foundation in music theory, specifically as it relates to harmony. Luckily, we just released a course covering the fundamentals of this. The first module (5 lessons) in An Introduction to Music Theory & Jamming will be a a great first step in developing your theory knowledge.
Next, you’ll want to devote a lot of time to developing your ear. One of our members is actually working on the same thing. Check out this forum post for advice on how to get started with that.
Let me know if you have any questions.