Post 1- The Adventure Begins!

Aloha! This week, I embarked my "Ukulele Adventure", and have learned quite a bit from it already. In case you were not sure, a ukulele is a small stringed instrument played similarly to a guitar. However, when playing a ukulele you hold the instrument higher up, and strum closer to the neck. There are three types of ukuleles; the soprano, the concert, the tenor, and the baritone. For my genius experience, I will be using the soprano ukulele. The way that the strings work on a ukulele works differently also. The strings go in the order "G, C, E, A", which sounds much different when strummed than a guitar. This ukulele tuner displays the sound of each note when strummed.

Basic Layout of Ukulele Strings

So far, I have learned the tuning, the hold, and the basic chords of the ukulele. In this week, I have put in about 3-4 hours of work onto the ukulele, already 1/2500 of the way to my 10,000 hour mastery! Despite this, I think that if I progress at the rate at which I have, I will be able to play a few songs in a matter of weeks.


The reason that I chose to delve into the art of the ukulele, for the most part, is because I love the sound and feel that the ukulele displays. Also, for nearly ten years there has been a ukulele lying around in my room, just collecting dust. When the opportunity to use this instrument arose, I jumped at the chance.


Hopefully, by the end of my adventure, I can learn how to play a few songs with ease. This will be shown in the "Ted Talk" at the end, where I will attempt to play a song in front of the class. My playing will be done whether I succeed or not, which will act as incentive for me to master the song(s). Most likely, the way that I will perform will be to have the singing of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" playing, while I play the ukulele. So far, my learning has been very structured, however as I get to more in depth learning I hope to take a much more relaxed, "Hawaiian" style of learning.

Throughout, I will mark my progress by how much I have felt that I have mastered. Halfway through, I expect myself to be able to play one song, most likely with a music sheet. My learning has been driven by websites such as this, and this, and will continue to be the main source of my learning. These give a step by step explanation to starting the ukulele, and can provide many video tutorials to help my learning. The videos will act as a great supplement to my practice, giving me a much more interactive way of learning. So far, I have also been having some issues with switching between chords quickly, which has sometimes hurt the sound of the song. This is the type of problem that I want to fix as early as possible, as I am going for a learning style in which I fix problems that arise in my practice.

So far, I have found this project to be very fun and informational. Pursuing the ukulele was something that I had wanted to do for a while, I just never had the excuse or the incentive to do it. I hope to continue the progress that I have made in the ukulele, and I am happy to have a new creative outlet in my life.


By the way, if there are any ukulele players in the gifted classes, what are your techniques to switching between two chords on the ukulele smoothly and easily?


Aloha,

Lukas Uke

Works Cited

Esaki, Ryan. "Learn to Play the Ukulele." Ukulele Underground. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.

Gererlo, Aldrine. "How to Play the Ukulele in 5 Mi." YouTube. YouTube, 21 June 2011. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.

Gray, Peter. "Learn How To Play The Ukulele." Ukulele Lessons from Uke School. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.

"Ukulele Tuner." Ukulele Tricks. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.