As I wrote in the spring, I’ve taken up playing the ukulele. It started with a friend giving me an extra concert uke that he had at home. I practiced a lot of chords and found decent online tutorials, but ultimately I wanted to take formal lessons. Our mid-summer move complicated my plan, but I found an instructor at the Northwest School of Music in downtown Salem and signed up to begin in late August.
I also changed to a different instrument size. I’ve still got the Mitchell MU-70 concert ukulele, but with a trip to Hawaii and a visit to the renowned Ukulele Site in Haleiwa, I purchased a beautiful Islander AT-4 tenor uke, manufactured by Kanilea. It’s got a laminate body made of acacia, with a mahogany neck and a rosewood fretboard. It’s an entry level ukulele but of higher quality than the Mitchell. The uke went through a professional set-up, which included lowering the action, and was shipped to me a couple weeks later. The Islander is a joy to play. The strings are a little thicker because the instrument is larger than what I played before, but I’ve adjusted.
My lessons are well underway. It became clear very early that Trevor, my teacher, wasn’t going to show me a few chords and strumming techniques and then send me on my way. From the second lesson, he’s been teaching me how to finger pick. I haven’t read music since taking piano as a kid, but a lot has come back to me. He is impressed enough with my progress that he has me adding chords that don’t compete with the melody line, rather than only playing single notes. The music theory that’s involved flies over my head, but I’m learning. It’s also a bit head-spinning to discover that the same note can be played in different places on a string instrument. As a simple example, I can play the C major scale on the C string going up the fretboard, or I can play the scale low on the fretboard using the C, E and A strings.
I’m also learning how to do barre chords, move chord shapes on the fretboard, and change “standard” fingering to make chords or notes easier to play. The latter is crazy to wrap my head around. Ultimately, Trevor wants to help me master the ukulele rather than just play a few sing-along songs with easy chords low on the fretboard, and so he pushes me out of my comfort zone. It’s the early days, but I believe my tuition has been well spent.
My daughter, Aria, is the resident critic at home. She’s told me she likes the music I make and that I can play anytime. She’s also demanded peace and quiet and made it clear she doesn’t want to hear me:
Hmm. That said, I’m able to make her melt with the first complete song I’ve learned:
I’ll update this series as my lessons progress. Currently I’m working on John Lennon’s Imagine. It’s not a terribly difficult song but uses triplets and techniques, such as hammer-ons and pull-offs, which is new territory.