Yesterday I posed the question:
When does ukulele PRACTICE become ukulele PLAYING? (Or is that like asking when does bread become toast?)
- To me, PLAYING happens when you can get through song without thinking — which means you can focus on feeling and fun.
- Ukulele PRACTICE is everything that leads up to that.
AND…
I’ve got the simplest little trick that will help you reach the “PLAYING” level almost instantly
The trick is…
Lower your expectations.
Now I know that sounds silly, maybe even depressing, because you want to be a UKULELE GOD.
BUT —
I’m not asking you to PERMANENTLY lower your expectations — just for now, while you’re “practicing.”
For any given song you’re working on, ask yourself:
What is the SIMPLEST version of this song that YOUR current brain clearly understands and YOUR current fingers can play right now?
You see where this is going?
If you play the SIMPLEST version, then you can play it NOW, with a minimum of practice. And that means you can experience the “feeling” and the “fun” that PLAYING provides NOW.
Do that; enjoy that!
Here are some strategies for simplifying a song:
- Simplify the chords: You might need to temporarily change the chords into simpler versions that require less finger movement.
- Use single strums: Instead of following a complex strumming pattern, you could just use single strums, meaning you strum down on each new chord.
- Even simpler: Strum muted strings: To start, you might not play any chords at all. Instead, you could strum along with the music while your fingers mute the strings.
- Don’t sing it yet — talk the lyrics, or leave them out altogether
Remember, the goal is to make it as simple as possible for you to start playing and gradually build up your skills. ENJOY the FUN of PLAYING.
And then when you’re in ukulele practice mode, you can start to work on the skills to get better — and that’s another topic for another day.