I had to explain to one of my coworkers what Kreutzer #2 was. I showed him this video and he was like "whoa, that is intense". He plays guitar and was a little disheartened when I told him it was the sort of thing just about any 3rd year violinist should be able to play in his sleep.
picked up a copy of the violin sheet music for Bach Partita #3. It was devilishly hard when I played violin. It looks every bit as hard now on mando.
OK, I posted this in the "silly purchases" thread but I should come out now. I make noise on my new Ibanez UEW20S Ukulele! (I can't yet claim to play music being a beginner at the art, but it sure is fun!
Spalted maple concert size.
I went to a Guitar Center yesterday at lunch and screwed around with a bunch of ukuleles. I was initially convinced I needed to get a tenor, but have gotten pretty used to playing my nephew's concert size and the tenor I tried there seemed to be pretty "reachy" on some pretty basic chords like the Gm7.
I also noticed that some of the reviews I read about "good student ukuleles" failed to mention important details like how high the action is on instruments like the Luna Tattoo (a favorite among users as a good beginner instrument). I found it nearly unmanageable and am really hoping that the Greitsch 9120 doesn't disappoint in similar fashion.
I am still mostly sold on the tenor mostly because I noticed far fewer intonation issues with the larger sound box and longer string length than I find with the concert or soprano. Makes me wonder if a long neck would make a difference as well.
In any event, my Greitsch is due to arrive this afternoon, so I will get to run it through its paces before putting the money down.
OK, I posted this in the "silly purchases" thread but I should come out now. I make noise on my new Ibanez UEW20S Ukulele! (I can't yet claim to play music being a beginner at the art, but it sure is fun!
Spalted maple concert size.
great looking instrument and from the reviews, it looks like it has a huge sound.
Did you opt for the cutaway because you plan to spend a lot of time in upper registers?
I ended up getting the tenor and despite the adjustment, I don't regret the choice. It is quite a it easier on the back and shoulders because it is a far more natural position. The sound is big, but I can definitely tell that it is a student instrument. The finish on it is not quite as nice as my nephew's uke, but it plays just fine.
I was worried about the action because of the Luna Tattoo I saw at the other shop, but it seems fine on this one. It sits a little higher the closer you get to the bridge, but that actually makes finger picking a bit easier.
The only thing that made me scratch my head a bit was that the "case" it comes with is basically little more than a nylon bag. It seemed like a pretty thoughtless afterthought and I would never transport my instrument in it. I figure that was an austerity measure and probably explains why the 9120 was at a similar or lower price point to the Luna despite being (at least in my estimation) a better instrument. Even so, it means I will probably be scouring craigslist or ebay for a case. That isn't terrible since I was pretty well sold on getting a hard case anyway. At least this way I didn't end up paying for a padded gig bag.
Trying to learn this song and finding the going a little slow. I'll probably have it by tomorrow.
great looking instrument and from the reviews, it looks like it has a huge sound.
Did you opt for the cutaway because you plan to spend a lot of time in upper registers?
No, I just liked the look but i see what you mean...it would make it much easier to reach
Hmm I think I will need to take my uke in to get checked. The C is not holding tune at all.
I know it is completely silly, but I really want to be able to play Manatsu no Kajitsu (by The Southern All Stars) on my uke someday.
I picked up a copy of Ukulele Aerobics and finding that it gets pretty diabolically hard after the first couple lessons. It helps that I already sightread pretty well. I can see how folks without a prior musical background would find it nearly impossible.
I also discovered ukulele underground on YouTube and am pretty sure I want to set One Note Samba as my 2 year goal. I have a lot of right hand technique to work on before I am ready for something like that, but I am not intimidated by it.
I think the going is likely to be slower with self learning, but I don't have the resources for a private teacher yet. I think I will look into that in a year.
Started out on bass in various college ska bands, then after a breif hiatus got back into guitar. Mostly just bedroom noodling. I've taken a shine to Fender Jazzmasters and all their interesting little quirks. I can do all the basic chords, but I need to work more on getting better at scales and finger picking. Been playing around w/ volume pedals and delays/reverbs a lot lately for interesting ambient stuff.
More recently I've gotten into Modular Synthesis. I.e taking all the parts of your standard keyboard synthesizer (oscillators, voltage controlled amps, voltage controlled filters, sequencers, etc) and splitting them up into individual modules and connecting them via patch cables. I started small about a year and a half ago and ended up w/ this:
My partner thinks I'm weird sitting in front of a giant control panel with blinky light and knobs listening to bleeps and bloops on headphones, but I really enjoy it.
Is that the machine that goes "ping"?
It's Mission Control for his Moog spaceship.
It's Mission Control for his Moog spaceship.
With the right reverb settings you can get spacey af!
Only 8 minutes to learn how to make major and minor chords on a piano and string them together with little shifting.
I ordered a hard case from the Amazon warehouse sale. It was $40 with free shipping. It makes me feel a lot better about my instrument storage.
Hard cases are great when you drop your french horn down half a flight of steps:)
Hard cases are great when you drop your french horn down half a flight of steps:)
Yup. I do a lot of airline travel which is one of the reasons I settled on a uke instead of a guitar. The flimsy bag that came with the instrument is basically just in case someone spills coffee in my direction while I am transporting it. It is worthless against even the lightest impact.
edit:
Here is a picture I found of it online, but it doesn't really even do its flimsiness justice. I swear, I can fold it up and stick it in my back pocket and I would forget I had it after a couple minutes of sitting on it.
Hard cases are great when you drop your french horn down half a flight of steps:)
Nooooooo! ... Literally, the stuff of my nightmares. It's right up there with reversing out of the driveway with the horn behind the car.
dibs wrote:Hard cases are great when you drop your french horn down half a flight of steps:)
Nooooooo! ... Literally, the stuff of my nightmares. It's right up there with reversing out of the driveway with the horn behind the car.
Not a fun 20 seconds before i got the case open, but there wasn't a scratch on the horn! Nice few scratches on my palms thouhg.
Whew! You lucked out sir!
Started out on bass in various college ska bands, then after a breif hiatus got back into guitar. Mostly just bedroom noodling. I've taken a shine to Fender Jazzmasters and all their interesting little quirks. I can do all the basic chords, but I need to work more on getting better at scales and finger picking. Been playing around w/ volume pedals and delays/reverbs a lot lately for interesting ambient stuff.
More recently I've gotten into Modular Synthesis. I.e taking all the parts of your standard keyboard synthesizer (oscillators, voltage controlled amps, voltage controlled filters, sequencers, etc) and splitting them up into individual modules and connecting them via patch cables. I started small about a year and a half ago and ended up w/ this:
My partner thinks I'm weird sitting in front of a giant control panel with blinky light and knobs listening to bleeps and bloops on headphones, but I really enjoy it.
HOLY CRAP I thought my Kinks was the only one that did that - it bugs the crap out of me that the red light is on the S&H all the time. Is that normal?
Nice setup! I'm super envious of your DPO, I'd like to get one of those eventually. I just added an Intellijel Polaris to mine and I feel like I finally found the filter that I'm in love with.
Here's a post I did on MW regarding the Braids wavetables, maybe you'll find it useful: https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/vi...
Hmm I think I will need to take my uke in to get checked. The C is not holding tune at all.
I know it is completely silly, but I really want to be able to play Manatsu no Kajitsu (by The Southern All Stars) on my uke someday.
For me it's my C string is buzzing. I think the nut needs to be adjusted down a bit. I'll probably bring it in somewhere sooner or later to have it looked at. No hurry.
I also discovered ukulele underground on YouTube and am pretty sure I want to set One Note Samba as my 2 year goal. I have a lot of right hand technique to work on before I am ready for something like that, but I am not intimidated by it.
I think the going is likely to be slower with self learning, but I don't have the resources for a private teacher yet. I think I will look into that in a year.
I LOVE UU. The forum is also very informative. I have no goals at this point, except to learn What a Wonderful World (simple version) for valentines day.
https://ukutabs.com/l/louis-armstron...
I definitely use ukutabs a lot. I am at the point now that I am mostly stealing guitar tabs and replacing the chords for songs I can't find online for ukulele. I did that for the Skyliners song Since I Can't Have You and the Patsy Cline song You Belong to Me.
I have a buzz in my C string as well and it loses at least a half pitch overnight. I definitely need to bring it in and have the luthier look at it.
I am thinking about going premium on UU since it looks like the lessons are pretty solid. I come from a family of music educators (dad was violin prof at Peabody, brother is a cello teacher in KC), so I am pretty solid on how to practice and what I need to work on skillswise. But I would really like a solid curriculum to work through. So far, the best I have managed is the Ukulele Aerobics book.
I look forward to hearing what you think of UU premium. I'm not in a position to subscribe to it at this point but maybe some day.
I look forward to hearing what you think of UU premium. I'm not in a position to subscribe to it at this point but maybe some day.
I figure prepaying for a full year ($150) is about as much as I would pay for two one hour private lessons.
I gave the loaner ukulele back to my nephew, but he wasn't doing anything with it and my wife expressed interest in starting. So now she's learning chords. Looks like I might have started something.
I know of another professional musician on this forum. Any others off hand?
It's not a full-time thing by any means at all, but the recorder group I'm in has been paid for playing the local farmer's markets, so that might count about .1%.
This isn't the farmer's market group, just part of the club I play with:
Here's the current state of my bleeps and bloops machine. If you squint, it can kind of look like a ukulele.
If you squint it looks like Mission Control for the Kerbal Space Program.
Learning to play Here Comes the Sun. Fingerpicking is fun.
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