Fin

So our Google projects are now over.  For the last two days of class people presented what they have been working on for the last few months.  I thought that the presentations went very well.  Everyone had creative projects and I definitely learned new things (about the topics and the people presenting).  I especially liked how well the class received everyone projects.  The audience was always respectful:  listening and asking questions.  No one made it seem like anyone else's project was bad in any way. 

For my final presentation I played Moon River on the ukulele.  It is not a very lively song but I chose it because I felt that it contains several different challenges.  Most of the songs I found online were pop songs that involved difficult chords and didn't sound like anything without singing (and I was not going to sing) or else they involved a lot of difficult finger picking that would have taken forever to learn.  To play Moon River I had to learn how to read tabs.  This was not too difficult.  Once I figured out that the top string on the paper was my bottom string, it just took some coordination to learn.  What I really liked about this arrangement was that it contains the melody but also adds in some harmony so the song doesn't sound too sparse by itself. 

Overall, I thought that the Google projects were a very good experience.  It was amazing to see how creative people were and how much time they put into their projects.  I think that this project should be continued every year, although I can see why it would have to be limited to the fall as it is quite a big time commitment.  I am sure that in the future, the projects would continue to be more creative and productive every year as students learn of how much they are capable.  It would also be very interesting to see what people could do, continuing the same project over several years. 

La Chanson

There are now about two weeks until we need to present our Google projects to the class for the first time.  I feel like I've learned a lot, but I think it would be good if I could learn just one song before the presentation day.  Luckily, I have located just about the easiest song possible:  "Zombie" by The Cranberries.  This song only has four chords that are repeated over and over again.  They are  Em, C, G, and D.  Surprisingly, my biggest problem has nothing to do with the chords.  I know these four very well now and just need to practice switching between them.  My strumming capabilities have also improved immensely.  Although I cannot sing and do not want to sing in front of my class (I am not sure, yet, how I will present my song since without the words it is almost too simple), I do think that to really know this song I should at least be able to say the words in my head at the right time.  I am now really struggling with my coordination.  Hopefully this will teach me to listen better and be more aware of how different parts of the music fit together.  I cannot figure out how to play the chords and get the lyrics to line up with the time correctly, but separately I completely understand them both.  To get better at this, I am listening to the song a lot and then trying to say the words with a metronome.  I just need to be able to put the music and words together and I will have actually learned a song!

Hé, c'est moi! -- Le jour de Google

Le "Tuning"

I had planned to write about this right after it happened but time sort of got away from me.  So if you could please take yourself back to several weeks ago when this post should have been made (when it was actually started and then kind of abandoned)..........................thank you!

My ability to tune is still not very good.  So today I went with my mother to the music store to get some advice.  Firstly, there are apparently two different types of tuning pegs:  geared

and  friction. 
My ukulele has friction tuners.  These are more traditional but sometimes harder to get in tune.  The guy at the music store advised me to find the position where the strings are in tune, and then turn the pegs slightly past that.  This should help because once you start playing after tuning the strings they ten to slip a little bit so that they are no longer in tune.  Tuning them very slightly sharp may prevent the strings from going flat one I start playing.  He also told us a little bit about how to check the tuning by playing chords.  Hopefully all of this will help me to cure or at least control my chronically out of tune ukulele.  You may now return to the present................

Like I said, that was a number of weeks ago.  I am definitely sure that my tuning skills have improved since then.  Not a ton but they have improved.  My ear is getting a lot better at noticing when I am not in tune, and I have been able to make the tuning a little better without completely losing the note that it is supposed to be.  Unfortunately, my c string still get out of tune a lot.  Still not sure what that's all about, I'm still trying to get more help in dealing with that little issue. 

Le Travaille

So I have not posted on my blog for a while but that totally does not mean that I have not been practicing ukulele.  This week I will be attempting to make up for that lapse.  For the past few weeks I have been continuing to work on chords.  One of the things that I have found most helpful is to get really short, easy songs online and just play different ones for about five minutes each.  I try to find songs with one or two chords that I don't really know.  Then, after tying the song for a while, I may not be able to play the whole song but I have gotten used to some new chords.  http://www.scorpex.net/Uke/ This has been one of the most helpful sites for me.  There are lots of songs, many only a page long and not too difficult, with lyrics and chords.  They are mostly really old pop songs, which means that I actually know some of them!  I have printed ten of these songs and am now just practicing them repeatedly.  I am pretty sure that my dog likes my playing more than before, he has stopped leaving the room, at least, when I practice.  This I will take as a good sign and keep on with what I have been doing. 

Le temps nous dira

Today was our second day in class working on our projects.  I got a lot of help with tuning and strumming.  I was told to hold my fingers kind of how you would hold a pick, but just to strum with my hand instead of the pick.  I was also reminded multiple times that the strings are supposed to hurt your fingers (apparently).  It was absolutely amazing when I started to play something that was truly recognizable as a song!  I hope that the more I play, the better I'll get at recognising how things are supposed to sound, like tuning and chord progressions.  Maybe when I'm a lot better I can write a song!  Or maybe that's a little too optimistic; time will tell.  Learning ukulele is very fun, I just wish it didn't distract me so much from other things I need to finish.  But at least I can say that I'm doing homework and accomplishing something!

J'ai un gros rhume

I am really, really sick right now.  My first bad cold of this year has caused me to miss two days of school already.  So what better thing to do than practice an instrument that doesn't require that you breathe?  I have had my ukulele for about a week now.  First thing:  tuning it was not easy.  I was so afraid I would break it, I had to ask a viola player to tune it for me.  After that, I went to the library and got every book that was there about learning ukulele, although so far youtube has been my best resource.  I have been told by more experienced people that it is easiest to learn chords first.  So, for now I am trying to learn some basic chords and strumming techniques.  Another thing, the day I got my ukulele people started warning me that sometimes you can get calluses from playing guitar and that it might happen with ukulele too.  This has not happened yet and I hope it never does, but my fingers do hurt after playing it.  You have to press down on the strings very hard.  Another example of my ignorance concerning string instruments:  I had to ask my mother if you put your fingers on the frets or between them.  No worries though, these little problems have been sorted out.  I will keep practicing chords for now, but I really want to be able to play just one song really well!