Category: Music

I had a bit of an interruption in my practicing schedule given that I had to pack up my apartment and move home and then find a ukulele from a friend given that our music stores were closed here. Since then I was able to secure a ukulele and have had plenty of time on my hands to practice. After a full semester of playing “Mamma Mia” I feel like I am at a place that I am ready to submit my final video.

I pivoted away from the video of  “Mamma Mia” and instead found tabs for the song. I practiced independently and with Heather who was also learning the song.

I practiced most days of the week for 15 or 20 mins.

In my video, you can see that I have mastered most of the song using smooth chord changes and strumming, correct tuning,  and appropriate tempo, but unfortunately, I was unable to get the Bm chord correct at the tempo of play. I have practiced it over and over and given the time restraints, I decided that it was not possible. I will continue to try this chord but maybe in different songs that have an easier transition.

Overall, I feel like my hand and finger position was correct, again minus the Bm and occasionally the Em.

This song was definitely a challenge for me and I didn’t master it as much as I thought I would be able to, but I feel like I have come a long way since I began learning it.

I have been practicing a bunch this past week trying to learn “Mama Mia” more. Here is what I have been working on and learned:

1. Timing is something I have been struggling with. I have had a hard time memorizing this song for some reason so I am trying to learn it slow and then speed it up when I am ready. For this reason, I am not to the correct tempo quite yet.
2. I have really mastered the D, A, C, G chords and am still working on getting the Bm and F#m correct. They are becoming easier for sure, but I’m still having trouble holding the strings down hard enough to create a clear sound.
3. I have begun trying to play it with music a few times, but as stated above, I am mostly trying to play it slower. I usually get lost in the chorus.
4. I feel like my hand posture and holding posture has become easier and more natural over time as well.
5. To help learn the song, Heather and I practiced a few times together which is very helpful. Unfortunately, given that I have returned home, this has since ended.

Overall, I feel on my way to giving a good performance for my final next week.

I have been practicing and working towards learning “Mama Mia” by Abba on the Ukulele in this half of the term. So far I am finding it much harder than my other songs the last term because of the constant changing of note patterns. The last term is was a rotation of a few notes over and over but this song has less pattern throughout it. Here are some things I am currently working on, feel good about, or still have left to achieve.

1. I am really working on using correct hand and finger posture to ensure that I am playing the chords correctly. I am particularly struggling with the Bm in regards to hand posture and getting a clear sound from it. Other than that one chord, I am finding that My hand posture is feeling more natural.
2.  I am also working on having smooth chord changes and strumming. This song, like I said, is much harder than my others, so having smooth chord changes has been challenging and I definitely need more work on that. Tied to this is the use of appropriate tempo while playing the song. I have yet to use the propper tempo and speed for the song
3. I am able to tune correctly with the tuning app.
4. I have mastered the D, G, C, A. I am still working on Em, Bm, F#m.

Overall, I am not feeling great about where I am at with the song and really need to focus on practicing in the coming weeks before my final blog.

I have now had many weeks of practicing the ukulele and am feeling fairly good about it! My goal for the semester midterm was to have smooth chord changes and strumming, be able to tune correctly and play both songs. Here is how I felt about each of those categories and what I feel like I need to work on going forward.

Smooth chord changes: I feel like I demonstrated adequate to good chord changes. My change from C7 to F in “You are my sunshine” is not quite on time or as sharp as I would have hoped, but overall I think I did well with remaining on time and changing chords smoothly.

Smooth/ consistent strumming pattern: I feel like I really mastered this in both songs. There was even disrupted strumming in “Who am I” that I was able to incorporate it and then return to the normal strumming pattern.

Able to tune: I am able to tune very easily with a tuning app.

Able to play both songs: I feel like I played both songs well and fully. Each could be more polished, this is something I hope to do next semester. I did begin too early in “You are my Sunshine” but chose to keep playing rather than start over.

Hand placement and holding: Holding the ukulele was my biggest struggle but I found it much easier to hold it correct when I stand up. Once I did this I felt much better about it. I still need more practice but overall I think I am on my way to mastering this. Hand placement is still not great but I maintain the C shape through most of the song. This is something that I will work on for the second half of the semester as well.

I really enjoyed what I have learned so far and look forward to learning “Mama Mia”!

Here is a link to my “Who am I” video

Here is a link to my “You are my Sunshine” video

Since the last check-in, I have made lots of progress. Here are some of the things I have improved on, and some things that I am still working on.

Improvements/ Accomplishments:

1. I have finished learning “You are my sunshine” and can now play it with minimal mistakes.
   1. F chord is still not 100% each time, but it is much improved over my last check-in.
2. I can now tune the ukulele very easily with the app tuner.
3. I am successful in my use of a strumming pattern throughout an entire song.
4. I can keep time with “You are my Sunshine”.
5. I am using all the correct fingers for the chords and my hand posture is much better. It is closer to the ideal C shape that was talked about in class.

Things I am still working on:

1. I have started learning my second song “Who am I”. I can play most of it except for a fingerpicking section, as well as, an interruption in the strumming pattern for a few counts. I will continue to practice this song to have it mastered by the next check-in.
2. I am still struggling to hold the ukulele properly. I have a hard time keeping it in place while I am playing. I am going to play standing up this week to try and master it.
3. I also need to practice more this week as I won’t be able to take my Ukulele home over reading break.

As I have recently begun my journey to learn the ukulele, I have grown much faster than I was expecting! I have really enjoyed learning and practicing so far. Here I will give a brief overview of what I have been working on and learning.

Firstly, I have been using a tuning app on my phone and have been quite successful in keeping my instrument in tune. I have been able to tell when it is out of tune but still can not tune to ear.

Secondly, I have worked on the basic strumming pattern for my first song “You are my Sunshine”. The pattern is DDUDDU. It usually takes me a bit to get it at the beginning of each practice session, but by the end, I can keep it going for a while. I have memorized the chords of C,C7, F, G7. The C and C7 are really easy. The F is ok, but I often mute the A string on accident.  The G7 is still quite tricky.

Thirdly, my hand position is still a bit shakey but I am getting better.

Overall, I have made great progress so far in my learning of the ukulele. There is lots of room to grow for sure, but I hope to have my first song learned by this Saturday! I will continue to practice throughout the rest of the term as well.