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My goals this year:
1. Learn 1 song from here passably well each month, whether one of the challenge pieces or something else.
2. Work through the etudes. Probably won’t get through them all but I think it would be fun and a systematic way to improve.
3. Learn one song by ear each month, trying to make my own simple arrangement. Others have talked about how quickly they forget songs and I’m that way too, but I find that if I learn something by ear it tends to stick. That way when someone comes along with the “give us a tune” request I hope to be able to produce something, however simple.
4. Watch and try one of the weekly lessons a month. Maybe I should be watching all of them but I don’t think that’s realistic in my world.Through this all I hope to be more comfortable in C tuning but meanwhile I do all my group stuff and lessons in D tuning so it’s a challenge.
Welcome! I have a few parallels with you– only it was the harp I took up in preparation for retirement. You are doing a wonderful thing for yourself– it’s lovely to have a new interest (esp a musical one) to carry you through those last few years of retirement and then you can hit the ground running. I started the uke last year just after I retired. Slow going for me but it is fun! And I just acquired a piano so once it is settled and tuned I will be re-acquainting myself with that. I hope you end up loving this site as much as I do (I just joined last month as a way to augment the mostly chord-playing group I attend locally). It is so well laid out and you can just dip a toe in from time to time or fully immerse yourself as your time and interest allows!
@stinyuke how glorious to see you in your own environment. It is beautiful. I love the song you chose and I love that you posted a work in progress. Gives hope to the rest of us and keeps it real! It is sounding good and knowing you, you will work relentlessly til it is perfect!
@miztaken it is beautiful and sounds beautiful. So mellow. Congratulations!
I think you are on the right track. I think of dynamics as loud/soft and different attacks. I think of phrasing as how a group of notes connects to each other. Phrasing to me is more about how you would sing a particular passage, what notes you would put together smoothly, where you might make breaks or pauses. Of course they overlap. My harp teacher suggested I think about how I would sing a melody and base dynamics and phrasing on that. Of course a lot of composers put in marks to help us out. Does that help? I went back and read what you wrote and then what I wrote and it seems to me we are saying the same thing.
@lyndalk– wow,I admire you for playing in a venue like this. The sound is remarkably good given the conditions and I loved your song.
Thanks for your kind words.
@rickymike funny you should mention drums. One of our out-takes featured my dog’s toenails clicking as he walked across the floor!
You sound fabulous at Peggy’s Cove, even with the wind. It was so inspiring to work with you– you play so beautifully and also you work really hard! Music is in your soul.
