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!