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Eynowd
Lokahi
Australia
181 Posts |
 Posted - 05/21/2020 : 8:47:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Earl
I can highly recommend the instructional DVD's through The Guitar Workshop (http://www.theguitarworkshop.com/).
I had a subscription to the online version of these videos, but the site that hosted them seems to have disappeared. The lessons were on a different site to the Guitar Workshop, and any attempt to access it just bounces me back to the shop site now.
quote:
Originally posted by Earl
I have all of those titles, including the blues ones. I like the way they shoot these videos, from above as the player sees it. Big recommendation for the Keoki Kahumoku DVD's as the only true beginner level slack-key videos that don't rush into intermediate territory after five minutes.[u]
Seconded on that recommendation. He does provide some good foundational stuff, although I didn't get a sense of how to jump from that level to the intermediate stuff very well.
quote:
Originally posted by Earl
There is way more to the ukulele than down-up ISS - Incessant Strumming Syndrome (attributed to Jim DeVille).
I have tried many times fingerpicking my ukulele as part of our club jams. But one fingerpicked uke stands no chance against 15-20 strummed ukes, and beginner level players that have no idea about loudness dynamics. Unless I plug in. For example, I play "Desperado" by the Eagles in a fingerpicked version, among many others. Fingerpicked ukulele works great solo or in small groups.
In my experience, most Western uke groups are actually primarily a combination of social group and singing group. That's what most people seem to want. Uke playing is merely the vehicle to achieving that. If they can play a few basic chords and whack out some accompaniment, they're all happy. Some seem actively against learning any more advanced technique. I had one person tell me that to my face, although she's eventually come to realise that fingerpicking is cool and has dabbled in it a bit now.
Personally, I love fingerpicked stuff. It's so much more expressive. One delight was sitting in the Slack Key Master show on Maui last year and watching people like Herb Ohta Jr and Brad Bordessa play. No strumming there :) |
Geoff - g'day from Canberra, Australia. |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2020 : 06:54:03 AM
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| Geoff, we play music for ourselves so that eventually, we can play for others. Most will not appreciate what we do (it's beyond their present comprehension - they're not ready, yet). When we do find someone that "gets" it, that is the special moment. Continue you efforts, you don't know what seeds you plant in others or how those seeds will grow. Keep on keeping on. |
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Earl
`Olu`olu
USA
523 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2020 : 05:39:12 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by thumbstruck
....we play music for ourselves so that eventually, we can play for others. Most will not appreciate what we do (it's beyond their present comprehension - they're not ready, yet).
So true. I've said this before but it always amazes and even shocks me when someone is just not "interested". So many people are just passive and very casual listeners to music on the radio. 
Music - both listening and making it - has been a part of my life from childhood days. Dad gave me a Sears Silvertone acoustic guitar for Christmas at age nine. He played bluegrass and country while he and mom sang, so it was all pretty natural to me. High school brought trumpet and other horns in band class. Once I finished college and had some free time in my life, I took up guitar seriously and have been playing guitar almost daily ever since. |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2020 : 10:57:15 AM
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Most people are visually oriented, a smaller group is auditory. That's why there aren't all that many musicians in the population. Life is such a huge tidal wave for most that they function on "overload" and have trouble focusing on details. Scary. "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, administrate.' - Woody Allen. (sorry Andy - admin).
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Get to see some slack key!
