Strings - a beginner's debacle

I bought my ukulele in March, 2012. I didn't know anything about ukuleles except I wanted one and I recently had come upon enough money to buy one. When I walked into the store, I was carrying my sleeping child, and therefore didn't even play any of the selection. The salesman gave me a quick run over of the different types of ukes, I grabbed the one that sounded the best that he played, felt the neck to see if it was comfortable in my hand, and that was just about it.

I have loved the sound my ukulele makes, and around Christmas of 2013, I began thinking that I should probably get new strings. They aren't expensive, and they make the instrument sound so much cleaner and crisper. It was silly to have waited so long, right?

I went to my local music store (not the same store I bought my Cordoba denty face) and asked if they had concert ukulele strings. He looked at me and said, "those are just normal strings, right?" Um... sure? I assume so. He grabbed the first thing he saw, handed them to me for $6, and that was the end of it.

I'll just skip to the lessons learned in my experience.

1) When buying strings, Soprano and Concert ukuleles generally use the same strings (it's the high G tuning). Tenor ukuleles typically use a low G, and bass ukuleles are tuned like a guitar. So make sure you buy appropriate strings for your respective instrument. It's important.

2) Make sure you get strings that are standard tuning: G, C, E, A. It turns out the guy grabbed strings that were tuned a full step up than standard tuning: A, D, F#, B. You can still tune these strings to standard, but they sound dull and are super loose.

3) Make sure you double check the color of your strings. I spend enough time posting my silly videos that I've grown fairly accustomed to my bright white strings. I ended up getting clear nylon strings, which are difficult to see, especially when you're not using a real video camera.

4) Youtube has many, many videos on changing strings, but there aren't solid videos on how to tie that knot on the bridge of the uke. Trial and error. Just make sure that knot is tied properly before you cut the excess string off or you'll eventually pull the knot out and have a significantly shorter string.

So anyways, I'l buying new strings because I'm disappointed with the ones I did get. If anyone out in the world wants to be string brothers/sisters, I'm going with Aquila, Standard C tuning (AQU-AQ-S ). I have heard good reviews on these strings, and will have to keep my fingers crossed that they meet my needs. Here is hoping.

Once I receive them, I'll post a video on how I changed strings for anyone in the same boat.

It's important to get new strings often enough, but after an experience like I had, I'm wondering if I'll ever get new strings again! Kidding. I just now know a few things about what not to buy. I'm confident I'll make different mistakes in the future.

Tuning your ukulele, and the best way to do it

I have probably mentioned this before, but it needs to be reiterated constantly. If your ukulele is out of tune, it sounds absolutely dreadful. You might not know this, but I bet you do! There is a very fine balance between a perfectly in-tune ukulele and a slightly off key one. The problem is, if it doesn't sound right, you're going to think you aren't very good, get discouraged, quit, and then I won't have anyone reading my blog anymore.

Assuming anyone reads this.

Also assuming anyone would be so rash as to give up playing the ukulele. Silly Spoon.

Tuning is the essential beginner function, important way beyond any other fundamental you'll ever learn because you HAVE TO HAVE A TUNED ukulele.

Click to buy!

There are a number of ways to get in tune, but my highest recommendation is a tuner that you can carry with you anywhere you go, like a clip on tuner seen here. This will give you a perfectly tuned uke every time. G, C, E and A.

But let's say you don't want to get the fancy thing, there are other ways. Do you have a piano? Do you know the notes on your piano? Find middle C, G, E and A. Simple enough. Play the note, get your strings to sound the same.

Tuning fork? That's complicated, but quite doable.

If you have a smart phone, there are many different tuners out there that will mimic the sound (kind of like tuning with a piano), but not as good as something that will dial in the actual note you're playing (like the clip on tuner I mentioned - the Lanikai CO-UT Clip-on Ukulele Electronic Tuner).

So there you have it. The best way to tune your ukulele is to have a tuner. I said it. I'll post a video of how I like to tune my ukulele.

That's all for now.

How to play Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's

I am a big fan of Plain White T's really enjoyed learning this song: Rhythm of Love. It's fun, it's easy to play, and it's just all around a good time. Here is a walk through of the song, followed by the chords I use to play a simple version of it.

http://youtu.be/ZzhiJrw-Th8 

INTRO: 

|G---|--D-|
|G---|--D-|

VERSE 

G                                      D
My head is stuck in the clouds

G                                   D

She begs me to come down

         Em         D       C           D

Says, "Boy, quit foolin' around"

D                G                                      D
I told her, "I love the view from up here

G                                          D

Warm sun and wind in my ear

        Em         D              C

We'll watch the world from above

         D               G  

As it turns to the rhythm of love"

CHORUS:

               Em   C       G
We may only have tonight

               Em        C              G

But till the morning sun, you're mine

B7  Em

All mine

            D       C

Play the music low

      D                             G

And sway to the rhythm of love

VERSE 2
G                            D

My heart beats like a drum
   G                         D

A guitar string to the strum
   Em         D            C           

A beautiful song to be sung

D            G                              D

She's got blue eyes deep like the sea
G                                             D

That roll back when she's laughing at me
      Em   D              C

She rises up like the tide

      D                             G

The moment her lips meet mine

CHORUS

            Em   C      G

We may only have tonight
              Em          C             G

But till the morning sun, you're mine
B7  Em

All mine

            D       C

Play the music low
       C              D            G

And sway to the rhythm of love

BRIDGE
B7            C           G        D

When the moon is low
B7            C           G        D - A

We can dance in slow motion

C                D

And all your tears will subside

C             D             G
All your tears will dry

VERSE 3
G                  D
Ba ba (ba ba ba ba) 

Em             D               C

Dum da da dum da da dum.

G                              D

And long after I've gone
G                              D

You'll still be humming along
Em                 D             C

And I will keep you in my mind
       D                            G

The way you make love so fine

CHORUS

            Em   C      G

We may only have tonight
              Em          C             G

But till the morning sun, you're mine
B7  Em

All mine

            D       C

Play the music low
       C              D            G

And sway to the rhythm of love

            D        C

Play the music low

      C               D            G

And sway to the rhythm of love

          C                   D              G
Yeah, sway to the rhythm of love

G   D   G

Finding motivation despite a million excuses not to

I'm clearly not an expert in finding motivation despite life happening around me. To provide a perfect example of this, I've started this blog to note my progress on the ukulele and to possibly help others learn how to play along with me. My last post was May, 2013. It's currently October.

So how do we pursue our hobbies in a way that doesn't get blocked out by life's happenings?

I don't know, but I have a few ideas.

1. Set a goal. When we work toward something, we are more likely to commit to pursuing it on a regular basis.  There are millions of articles on goal setting, so this is a summary of items that resonated with me:

• Be specific yet realistic: what exactly are you trying to accomplish? Is it possible? Do you want to play songs for your friends, or do you want to sell a million records of ukulele solos? One is much more attainable than the other.
• Set a timeline: what do you want to be able to do and by when? How are you going to accomplish that and how often will you need to work on this before you reach that goal.
• Accountability: Who is going to keep you accountable? Are you going to tell your friends about it? Are you going to post it on the interweb and have millions of people inevitably both cheer you on and discourage your efforts in order to prove you can accomplish the goals you set out to achieve?

2. Once you have a goal set, the best way to pursue it is to make a daily habit of it. I'm specifically talking about the ukulele here, so the nice thing about it is it's 1) highly portable and 2) addicting and easy to play. With a goal in mind, you're going to be more likely to make a habit of playing on a regular basis. But this leads to the biggest obstacle of all.

3. Always seek improvement. As a musician, I've dabbled at guitar, bass, drums, piano and ukulele throughout my adult life. I've been described as bi-polar in these pursuits because it seems to be all-or-nothing. I decide I'm going to get better and then I go crazy and practice all the time and people get annoyed quickly with these excessive efforts. But the only way you are going to get better at any level is to decide to get better and put forth the effort to do so. If you can make a more consistent effort of improvement, and a habit to be constantly learning, then you don't have to worry about such incidents where you constantly annoy the people around you who like to hear you "play" but do not enjoy listening to you "practice". A big difference between the two.

My goal is to start posting more tutorials in the near future because that's something I genuinely enjoy, and I think there are people out there who benefit from it. Pretty fun. This post was really just to get me thinking and motivated to begin posting stuff again. I hope to post stuff soon!

Ukulele tutorial: Amazing Grace

A campfire song we can all hum along to; Amazing Grace. I have put together a quick tutorial of how to play this song. Enjoy!

Ukulele tutorial - Taking Back Sunday's "Cute without the E"

Here is a tutorial of how to play Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team) by Taking Back Sunday on the ukulele.

This was requested by someone, and was not a song I would have pictured to be popular on the ukulele, but who can argue? I mean, in many ways the song can carry more meaning from the uke because it's quieter, and a little more, oh what would be the best word? Intimate? Passive-aggressive? Rather than in your face rock-n-roll!!

Whatever the case may be, here is my tutorial:

Many of my lessons reference a variety of ukulele chords. You can get a grasp of all of them here: Hal Leonard Ukulele Chord Find (Google Affiliate Ad)

Back to that familiar place

I fall under the sad and lonely position many solo musicians encounter; we have no one to play with.

Insert sad face.

The biggest problem you have when there's no one to play with, is you, or at least I, tend to just play the same things over and over and over again. Though it really fine tunes what I can play, it doesn't challenge me to learn the way playing with others does.

I've mentioned this before, but the best option for folks who don't have anyone to play with is to find tutorials and suggestions and so on online. And that's the part where I'm back to that familiar place; I don't have the accountability or energy to think of what to play next.

I'm always looking for song suggestions, but I tend to do much better when other people suggest songs I should learn how to play. Maybe I never will, but there's a certain accountability that way.

Long story short, does anyone have any song suggestions, or songs you want to learn? Let's learn together!

Cheers.