Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
@rgillof – It’s the up strum making that click, I think. Work on a steeper angle with the thumb nail and practice just the up motion until you get it clean. I totally understand how it feels impossible, so practice different positions and stay patient – you’ll get it!
It’s all about the tuning of the ukulele! Dm allowed for a much easier arrangement to take advantage of the open strings, especially on the C chord. Open strings always create depth and a fullness. Doing this in Em would make the 0000 of our current arr. into 2222 and make it substantially more difficult and sound a bit less full.
It’s most important to focus on the melody notes, which are on the A string. It’s ok to directionalize (is that a word? :D) your fingers motion so it focuses more on the A and E strings to help pronounce the melody.
Remember, the ultimate golden rule of playing is, “Does it sound good?”. If it sounds great, don’t worry if you aren’t squared up on the up strum. 🙂
Hello!
This is a tricky one, but the answer lies in how your finger strikes the string – your nails shouldn’t be a problem. Try to allow your finger tips to have some “give by” to them as they go along the strings. Think of it like a stiff pick vs a flexible pick. You want your finger to be like the flexible pick and have bend to it in your first knuckle as you go across the strings. The zen way of looking at it is to think that you aren’t as much moving your strings with your finger as much as you are moving your finger with the strings.
Oh, and practice! 😉
Great questions! My internet died mid-stream so I didn’t see them. I’m so sorry about that!
1. I really enjoy the D’Addario Pro Arte Low G set. My Moore Betta is strung with Thomastik-Infeld strings, as those are what the builder, Chuck Moore, prefers. (And I trust his judgement best!)
2. A wound C is definitely more sound than an unwound! As I mentioned in the video, wound strings are louder, have better sustain, and are a bit ‘boomier’ over-all. They are also much less likely to buzz, so many builders use them as the default set. The negatives are the squeakiness, and sometimes that extra sound can overpower the other strings.
I’m so sorry, my internet connection died during the stream! That’s never happened to me before…
The 5 string High G and Low G is something that really intrigues me, but my actual experience with it is quite limited. It seems very difficult to play just one or the other, as they are doubled, so it sort of makes it more like a low G than a high G since you will still have the booming bass note. I think they probably sound more full, but I think it’s a bit more of a gimmick than anything else.
Hi tastyshrimp!
Another way to get more comfortable with this is to start angling your strumming just a bit inward toward the ukulele so that you catch the A string more prominently. I’ll give a demo of this at the next live lesson, but it’s a really effective way to make your melody notes more pronounced while strumming.
Woohoo! I can’t wait to have our first online session together. We will be working on creating efficient fingering habits and approaching fretting based on what works best for what the situation calls for. It’s a bit hard to explain in text, but works out really well in practice! If you have any questions for the Q+A, and don’t think you’ll be able to attend, be sure to leave your message down below.
