Category: Music (page 1 of 1)

This is my last blog documenting my journey of learning the ukulele. This final song Everything I Wanted by Billie Ellish gave me the most grief, learning how to play and singing while playing. I thought about changing the song twice because it just wasn’t sounding how I wanted it to. I don’t like how the chords sound, nor the picking pattern, and it felt like it was too low for my vocal range.  The reason that I chose to stick with it was because I have a tendency to be stubborn and thought that with more practice it would sound better but the reality of it was that with the many weeks and hours I put into learning this song it was as good as it was going to get.

I have never learned how to pick a song before, I have always chosen to strum because it was easier. So when it came time to choose an instrument and songs to learn for this assignment I wanted to really go out of my comfort zone and see what happened. Compared to how this song sounded my first week playing it to now, it is like night and day. My third blog that I wrote for this assignment I remember saying that it didn’t even sound similar to the actual song and at least now I can say that it does. I found that while picking I had to constantly look down at the strings which changed the position in which I held the ukulele. I also had a difficult time figuring out my timing for singing because I was concentrating so hard on not messing up.

Even with all the trouble that I had trying to learn this song I am glad that I chose to stick with it because it made me understand some of the techniques the someone has to have in order to pick a song, such as which fingers they use. It is easier to switch between your thumb, pointer and middle finger compared to just using your thumb. I also gained an understanding towards the effort that goes into learning this style of playing, and with the experience that I have now I would like to try to learn another song that uses a similar motion.

This week I have been spending time playing the singing the song Valerie by Amy Winehouse. This has by far been the most enjoyable song to play. The song sounds really good on ukulele and now that I am getting better playing the chorus I am enjoying playing it more. At first I found the verses the easiest to play because it only switches between two chords, C and Dm. The chorus is where I had the most trouble due to the transition between F and Em. It took a week or two of practice to finally start making that transition sound and feel smoother and now I am starting to sing along with it.

I think the reason this song is working out so well for me is because I knew the song really well before hand, and it is in my tessitura. The other song that I learned was Skinny Love by Bon Iver was a little high for me to sing so I was more nervous to record myself . At this point in time I have remembered most of the chords for this song, but still need to have my sheet laid out in front of me while I play, especially while I sing because I still need a reminder of what verse is coming up. I am happy with how this song sounds and how far I have come. When I first started I didn’t know anything about the ukulele. I didn’t know any chords, how to tune or hold it. Throughout this process, the more I practiced and saw improvement the more I loved playing. It has definitely become a new hobby.

Here is a short video of me playing the song Valerie by Amy Winehouse

It has now been a few weeks since midterm and I am feeling more confident with my ukulele playing. I am at the point now where I have learned how to play all three songs that I have chosen, and have also learned one more from our personalized learning sessions. While playing next to Catrina, I noticed that she was playing a song that I really liked and asked her to show me how to play it. Turns out, it uses all the chords that I have already learned. So that has been a cool experience.

After learning all of the songs on ukulele my next step was to add lyrics to the songs while playing them. This has been something that I have been slowly working on by humming the melody while I play. Through my journey I have found that by humming the words it is easier to tell when I need to change the chords. Since midterm I have been trying to learn all the words to my first song Skinny Love by Bon Iver so that I can sing and play. This has been a learning curve for me because I do not think of myself as a good singer so it feels strange to spend so much time to singing aloud. At first I felt awkward but after practicing for a few days it has been something that I have been looking forward to and using for a mental break while studying or doing homework. I feel as though I am at the point where I know the chords and how to play the song well enough that learning how to sing along with the song doesn’t feel like homework, it is just fun to have my own little jam sesh.

I have been devoting about 30 minutes a day to playing the ukulele and singing and this is the progress that I have made so far with the song Skinny Love by Bon Iver.

Here is a video of me playing the song Skinny love by Bon Iver. This took me quite a while to learn and to get to the point where it sounds fluent and like the actual song. Although I needed to cheat by looking down at my chords a few times, the rest of it I memorized with practice.

It has now been a few weeks of learning how to play the ukulele and practicing the song Skinny Love by Bon Iver. Since I have started I definitely feel as though my chord transitions have gotten better and I am starting to hum the song while I play it. A few days ago I started learning my next song which is Valerie by Amy Winehouse. The chords that are used in this song are C and Dm in the verses and F Em Dm G and C in the chorus. So far I am finding the verses easier to play than the chorus, the chord Em stretches along three frets and is not the easiest chord to play and switch to after F. This transition slows me down quite a bit but is the only part that I am really having a hard time with and will need more practice working on. I am starting to hum along while I play, because I am finding it easier to learn the song while singing along with the transitions. The strumming pattern is coming more naturally to me in this song because I have known it since I have been a kid and can establish if I am on or off beat.

As of right now I have fully learned one song and am confident in playing it, I can also slowly play the other from beginning to end. During the week I am going to work on memorizing the chords and lyrics for both songs so that I am not dependent on my sheet that I have printed out for them. I am also going to work on that transition from F to Em in the chorus so that it sounds and feels smoother.

It has now been a week and a half since I started learning how to play the ukulele. My first goal was to learn how to tune my ukulele which turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I ended up using an app to help me tune my ukulele just so I could get used to how the strings sound when it is tuned, then possibly after midterm I will try again to tune it by ear. The first song that I am currently learning is Skinny Love by Bon Iver. The chords in this song are Am F and C in the verses and C G and F in the chorus.  So far I have found the verses the easiest to play because of the chord progression. The chord Am naturally leads in the chord F which makes the transition pretty easy and the switch to C is fine as well because I am only using one finger to play the chord as opposed to two or three. The chorus on the other hand is a bit trickier because of the switch to G which take me a second to fully position myself and then it is a very quick switch to F which is also not the easiest transition. The strumming pattern in the song is a simple down down up up down up motion, I started slowly practicing the strumming pattern while initially learning the song and was able to find the rhythm of the strumming and keep up with it, and now I can strum it without hesitation.

I am finding at the moment that I am able to play the song from beginning to end slowly but my chord transitions are not as smooth as I would like them to be. I would also like to work on memorizing the chords with the lyrics so that I do not have to look down at my sheet the whole song. The liabilities that I have listed in my Musical growth template at the start of this assignment haven’t really been an issue as of yet and because I am aware that I have a busy schedule, I have been trying to organize my time better and put time aside to learn how to play the ukulele. I am very happy of the progress that I have made and cannot wait to learn more songs! I am really loving this instrument!