A non exhaustive list of things I’ve learned so far

[Cramsknaj]

A few things I’ve learned after a few months playing ukulele in hopes that I can help or at least, someone will feel some solidarity

1. Your speed of progression will likely taper. This isn’t bad. It just harder to learn things past the basics. It really frustrated me but I’m just trying to learn harder stuff. Push thru and have fun
2. Having 2 ukuleles is really helpful. Not everyone can do this so if you can, consider yourself lucky. I have a starter uke that I keep out so I can see it and a ‘nicer’ uke that I keep in the bag when not playing. Having the visual reminder to practice in our busy lives is helpful
3. Try to tackle some of the harder chords. e is hard. I’m not great at it. But I’m a hell of a lot better at it now. Don’t boil the ocean. Try and practice one really hard thing even for a minute.
4. Try to play with someone. I have a post on here about my first (and to date only) jam. But boy was it fun. It will give you a boost to keep at it when things are hard.
5. Change your strings. This isn’t even so much about new strings sounding better for me. It’s that they sound different and that different sound will help broaden your ear.
6. Do whatever feels right/comfortable. I wear a strap. That seems to annoy people. Some people are dumb
7. Try to learn to read music. Duolingo has a free course. It’s been interesting to learn what notes I’m actually playing.

 

[TimWilson]

Try to tackle some of the harder chords. e is hard. I’m not great at it. But I’m a hell of a lot better at it now. Don’t boil the ocean. Try and practice one really hard thing even for a minute.

I love everything about your post, but this one is especially resonant for me. I'm okay with E and always have been (a topic that came up on another thread), but I'm NOT good at E7!!! I'm TERRIBLE at E7, which is supposed to be the easy one, but it's brutal for me.

(One thing that helps with E is that I do D with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers, so I'm in essence practicing E every time I play D. No bigs.)

I'm also not great with Bb. Again, weirdly, B minor is trivial, super-easy for reasons I can't even begin to guess, but I still have a tough time with Bb, especially going back and forth with F...

...so every day, for just a couple of minutes, I work on E7, and I work on Bb, and they're getting better! And seriously, it's a total of maybe 2 minutes. If I have them in a song, I'll work on that section of the song, but even apart from the song, it's just something to keep on the front burner, and not let it keep me from climbing my next hill.

Great stuff @Cramsknaj! Keep going!

 

[ploverwing]

Try to learn to read music. Duolingo has a free course. It’s been interesting to learn what notes I’m actually playing.

Wow! I never would have thought that Duolingo might have something to learn how to read music! That's very cool.

I'm with Tim - I am in total agreement with everything about your post. And it's an excellent reminder to work a little bit every day on something you find to be especially challenging. You're right - even if the progress isn't amazingly fast, you will experience progress if you actually focus on working to improve on something.

 

[Cramsknaj]

Oh.

Finger stretching. Both hands. Worlds of difference.

 

[Freya Vie]

A few things I’ve learned after a few months playing ukulele in hopes that I can help or at least, someone will feel some solidarity

1. Your speed of progression will likely taper. This isn’t bad. It just harder to learn things past the basics. It really frustrated me but I’m just trying to learn harder stuff. Push thru and have fun
2. Having 2 ukuleles is really helpful. Not everyone can do this so if you can, consider yourself lucky. I have a starter uke that I keep out so I can see it and a ‘nicer’ uke that I keep in the bag when not playing. Having the visual reminder to practice in our busy lives is helpful
3. Try to tackle some of the harder chords. e is hard. I’m not great at it. But I’m a hell of a lot better at it now. Don’t boil the ocean. Try and practice one really hard thing even for a minute.
4. Try to play with someone. I have a post on here about my first (and to date only) jam. But boy was it fun. It will give you a boost to keep at it when things are hard.
5. Change your strings. This isn’t even so much about new strings sounding better for me. It’s that they sound different and that different sound will help broaden your ear.
6. Do whatever feels right/comfortable. I wear a strap. That seems to annoy people. Some people are dumb
7. Try to learn to read music. Duolingo has a free course. It’s been interesting to learn what notes I’m actually playing.

Ahh.. this is amazing, thank you for sharing this! It was a joy to read and definitely insightful for me.

I dread the E chord too, but I'm glad it's slowly working out for you. I should practice this one more, lol.

And yes, I had my first uke jam with another fellow uker.. and boy, it was so much fun!

I love everything about your post, but this one is especially resonant for me. I'm okay with E and always have been (a topic that came up on another thread), but I'm NOT good at E7!!! I'm TERRIBLE at E7, which is supposed to be the easy one, but it's brutal for me.

(One thing that helps with E is that I do D with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers, so I'm in essence practicing E every time I play D. No bigs.)

I'm also not great with Bb. Again, weirdly, B minor is trivial, super-easy for reasons I can't even begin to guess, but I still have a tough time with Bb, especially going back and forth with F...

...so every day, for just a couple of minutes, I work on E7, and I work on Bb, and they're getting better! And seriously, it's a total of maybe 2 minutes. If I have them in a song, I'll work on that section of the song, but even apart from the song, it's just something to keep on the front burner, and not let it keep me from climbing my next hill.

Great stuff @Cramsknaj! Keep going!

Tim, it's interesting to know that we face different difficulties for the same chords.

And thank you so much for the great tip for the E chord. I will definitely try it out at home.

 

[ripock]

Hey guys, try the easy E: 1X02.

With my ring finger I fret the 2nd fret of the A string and with the index finger I fret the first fret of the G string. You have to fret the G string sloppily and lean your finger so that you mute the C string whilst fretting the G. If you do that you have a two finger E major chord. This voicing of E may not sound right in some contexts because of its low pitch, but give it a try.

 

[bilbo56]

I love everything about your post, but this one is especially resonant for me. I'm okay with E and always have been (a topic that came up on another thread), but I'm NOT good at E7!!! I'm TERRIBLE at E7, which is supposed to be the easy one, but it's brutal for me.

(One thing that helps with E is that I do D with my middle, ring, and pinky fingers, so I'm in essence practicing E every time I play D. No bigs.)

I'm also not great with Bb. Again, weirdly, B minor is trivial, super-easy for reasons I can't even begin to guess, but I still have a tough time with Bb, especially going back and forth with F...

...so every day, for just a couple of minutes, I work on E7, and I work on Bb, and they're getting better! And seriously, it's a total of maybe 2 minutes. If I have them in a song, I'll work on that section of the song, but even apart from the song, it's just something to keep on the front burner, and not let it keep me from climbing my next hill.

Great stuff @Cramsknaj! Keep going!

For me it's transitioning to Fm. So, Like you I just practice F to Fm and C to Bb before I start each session. I play E 4447.

 

[Wiggy]

Regularly trimming my nails to the way I like, especially on the fretting hand. In my case short.