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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
 Posted - 12/06/2009 : 06:09:57 AM
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Aloha,
I would appreciate some advice about selecting an efficient path to develop intermediate/advanced ukulele skills. I can read TABs and struggle through a simple musical score. My tenor ukes are strung for low GCEA, or low GCEG. My singing voice is so lacking in range and pitch accuracy that I haven't inflicted it on anything but the shower and the beach in 35 years. I have been attempting to improve my aural skills with the EarMaster software, and the jury is out about whether I will see enough progress to make the purchase before the free trial runs out. I belong to a ukulele club that sings old popular tunes to ukulele chord accompaniment, and I play the chords that I can get to in time. I've never visited the islands, don't speak more than one word of Hawaiian, and I'm fascinated with Hawaiian slack key music.
I have tended to focus on learning the sometimes confusing material in Uncle Dave Heaukulani's Slack Key Ukulele book as that is what I like the best thus far, but this is competing with a number of other paths. I have been advised to drill myself on the I, IV, V (V7) chord progressions in the GCEA tuning for the keys of A, C, D, E, F, & G. I've been told to sing popular songs privately until my voice eventually improves. And I've been told to go buy a guitar if I want to learn slack key.
What do you folks suggest?
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2009 : 09:16:36 AM
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First and foremost, are you enjoying what you're currently doing? That's really the bottom line. Don't stop what's fun, unless it's immoral, or, maybe, fattening! The inner person has to eat, too.
I'm not familiar with Uncle Dave's book, so I can't comment on that. Hopefully, someone else can help explain that. Drilling yourself on the I,IV,V progressions is good for the muscle memory required to play and catch all the chords as they come. It also helps you hear the chord changes when you encounter a song you aren't familiar with. For Hawaiian music, also practice the vamps for each of the keys you're practicing. Usually, the vamps are two measures long, consisting of one measure split between the II7 & V7 chords, followed by a measure of the I chord.
If you like to sing, do so. Your local radio stations have spent years trying to convince you that only those blessed with excellent voices should sing, but that's contrary to Mother Natures creation. If only the best birds sang, the forrest would be a quiet place. If Neil Young and Bob Dylan can get paid to sing, no one else should be told to stay quiet. And I have records by both of them. If it's in your heart to sing,go right ahead, and I'll listen. Don't be too surprised if I join in. I don't know much about slack key uke, or uke in general, I've only had mine for a few weeks. Much of what I'm playing on it comes from years of guitar playing. If you really want to learn to play a specific style of music, listen to as much of that style as you can. Ya gotta get the sound and the feeling in your head. Never take your ears out of the process when learning music, they're the best tool you have.
As for buying a guitar, if you're having fun with the uke, worry about a guitar later, if you decide you want one. Don't be too willing to let other folks (like me) make decisions based on what our choices have been. If you listen too much to me, you'll find yourself with a banjo as well. The domino effect, etc. Save yourself while you can.
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 12/09/2009 : 5:19:08 PM
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Michael,
The ukulele is primarily an acompaniment instrument. Not to say, that some terrific musicians have not created beautiful solos and fingerstyle arrangements. But the ukulele's strength in a newer musician is it's ability to be strummed and chorded while singing along. This is often much more difficult (and expensive) to accomplish with a guitar. Brain scan studies have shown that the one human activity that activates more areas of the brain simultaneously, than any other, is singing and playing a musical instrument at the same time. Motor skills, languange skills, emotions, you name it. Playing an ukulele and singing is like wind sprints for the brain -- use it or lose it buddy.
I have found that playing and singing with other musicians, is, more often than not, much more fun and satisfying. Keep playing with the group. Focus on hearing your instrument and voice in relation to the others.
The focus on the I, IV, and V7 (as well as the ii7 in vamps) chords is because most of the music we sing and play uses those chords in a song. This is not just a mental exercise but a skill to be accomplished so you can pick up the instrument and play by ear when there is no sheet music in front of you. Try it sometime, it is very revealing. Listen to a song and play the chords you know until one sounds right when the melody or chorus starts or ends. That usually is the song key. Then when that chord sounds (a little funny to your ear) shift to either the V7 or the IV chord (one or the other will usually fit). I teach in our ukulele group to number your left hand fingers one through five starting with the thumb. If the key of a song sounds good to you with the D major chord, then think of your thumb as "D" and alphabetize towards your ring finger and pinky. The ring finger is the IV chord (G major) and the pinkie is the V7 chord (A7). Play those three chords to the song and you will be amazed. Most of the songs will usually fall in the F, C or G keys anyway, so this is not a whole lot of chords to memorize.
If you really want to learn slack key, however, you will be more satisfied and rewarded if you play it on a guitar. There are many reasons why this is so -- the most important, it sounds better.
I play both ukulele and slack key guitar. Well enough to have fun with both.
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E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
Edited by - Mika ele on 12/09/2009 5:20:07 PM |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2009 : 07:00:55 AM
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Thank you for your replies. I guess it is time to try singing along with my Bob Dylan and Neal Young albums and see if anything explodes. I will be focusing on the I, IV, and V7 chords though I am not good at sensing what sounds right or wrong.
I have been messing with a trial version of the EarMaster software and I suspect that I may have ground out at differentiating between major and minor 2nd intervals. It is obvious from the software that my pitch perception is not that great, but it is not clear that continued work with this software will lead to improvement.
I got outbid on a nice guitar not long ago, but not on the tiple. Fiscal prudence suggests that I put off the joys of slack key guitar for a bit. Time will tell whether I listen to Prudence or not.
Thanks again. |
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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 07:03:17 AM
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If you're singing and emulating Bob Dylan and Neil Young, some truly great artists and writers...but as singers...
well, that could be the root of a whole generation of bad singing problems.
Of course, most voices can be improved, (but the voice has to want to change) and I suspect, with patience, perhaps better pitch and tone...and it doesn't need to be classical, just find a coach... someone who understands the pop/folk...less classical sounds we wanna cover...although most breathing technique is applicable.
and recommended.
also a good pasta dish before.
I took my first voice lesson when I was 47...Geez, I coulda been a contenda', but at least now I can shatter glass--with a good wind-up!
Our Good Crystal breaks easiest, and after that, my wife breaks my face. |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 08:50:35 AM
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| Playing and singing along with others is excellent. You can jsut hang in there and make what chords you can, and, after a while, you'll get more and more of them. Two rules from Uncle Keaka: 1) the more you do it, the better you get, and 2) Ho'olohe (listen!). It takes time, Bra! |
keaka |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 10:22:17 AM
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I say keep working on TABS and simple musical scores. That will build your repertoire and "vocabulary". Keep singing. If you enjoy it, don't let anybody stop you. Sing by your self, sing in front of people. Practice helps. And then, as Jack said, play with other people. Play with people who are better than you. Play with people the same level as you. Play with people who are not as good as you. All these things will help you get to where you want... intermediate/advanced ʻukulele skills.
On whether or not you need a guitar, I believe there are really no rules. If you are happy playing ʻukulele, slacked or not, just keep playing ʻukulele. Do whatever feels right for you. |
Andy |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 08:02:56 AM
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Aloha,
Thank you all again for the advice. I purchased a Mel Bay book on learning to sing that may help me transition from terrible to tolerable. There really isn't anyone telling me that I can't sing other than myself, though that may be due to the infrequency with which I sing in public. I'm learning to play some simple folk tunes in GCEG tuning rather than GCEA, and I am continuing to work on the slack key melodies that I have access to. I have yet to find anyone interested in playing slack key ukulele, let alone fingerstyle, to play with. Perhaps I should be looking for an engineering job in Hawaii. |
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Newbie seeks efficient path to int./adv. play
