Too Good to be True

Part of playing an instrument, at least in my belief, is in order to truly play, and play well, it is necessary to feel some sort of emotion while playing. To figure out what the song means to you, and play it as though you are trying to get across that emotion. Once again, I decided to learn a Twenty One Pilots song, "We Don't Believe What's On TV. I find their ukulele parts refreshing as they are different than most of the tradition ukulele songs in their structure or use of chords. In this case I also took it upon myself to learn the vocals to go along with the strumming. I surprised myself with the speed at which I learned this specific song, and after several hours of work, I considered myself capable of producing a video of me playing the song. Another period of time passed as I attempted to find a good location to place my camera, and a good distance away from the camera as to prevent my voice and instrument from overpowering the cheap microphone on my IPhone 4s. Eventually I found such a location by placing my camera on top of my unbroken book which itself was placed upon the bass speaker of my computer. It would take several attempts before I produced a video I was content with. Even the video I am as of now still content with contains mistakes. It's technically a live performance done in a bedroom and scrapped together within the span of less then half a day. Oh wait, never mind, it isn't technically that, it is literally that. The video is down below, should you care to watch it. I hope you like Twenty One Pilots, because I am probably going to be learning a lot more of their music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtjii9DOpyQ

To the Beat of the Drum

The terribly unfortunate aspect of the ukulele is that it's basic are just that; basic. There are many songs that require only the strumming of three or four simple chords with a basic strumming patter in 4/4. My struggle is those songs are too simple and I will stay at a level of mediocrity if I limited myself to only those songs. Thankfully, more "modern" ukulele songs exist. Songs requiring reggae, which where the emphasis is placed on beats two and four, and more staccato pieces requiring the muting of strings after a strum, or the independent plucking of a string while still strumming. I find those more percussive songs incredibly interesting to play. Percussion in itself is the driving force in music, so being able to almost produce my own percussive element while still creating a melody is incredibly engaging, and most importantly, fun. I came across a musician on YouTube after searching for "modern ukulele music", and was not the least disappointed when I heard him begin to play. I am not anywhere near his ability or skill, but I believe his video may give you a smidgen more respect for the instrument in general.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7pGB3gxUZk

All Thumbs

I play three different stringed instrument: violin, guitar, and finally ukulele. Though each shares nuances with the others, they are all independent, unique instruments requiring work and practice to be put into them before progress can be made. Time spent on one instrument can, however, affect my ability on another. A specific example of this is the shape of my left hand when playing my violin. The thumb should be perpendicular to the ground, across from my index finger when I am in first position. Guitar requires my thumb to be much closer to my middle finger as it must be closer to the center of my hand so it can support more pressure. For the ukulele, do to its small size, my thumb tends to rest a little bit off center from palm, though it is largely in the same position due to the similarities between the ukulele and guitar. This constant change in the position of my thumb causes me to, if I am not actively thinking about my thumb placement, move my thumb much to far down my violin neck. This in turn changes the position of my hand just enough to where my muscle memory is causing me to play sharp. Despite having played the violin for almost seven years, the more natural thumb position required to play both my guitar and ukulele has caused my less natural thumb position on the violin to degrade. On another note, my progress with the ukulele has been chugging along. I took it with me to celebrate Christmas in the balmy winter weather of Florida. Musicians are drawn to other musicians, and while waiting for my flight, a friendly woman struck up conversation. She herself was a professional ukulele player and played in an all ukulele orchestra. I know, I didn't know such a thing existed either. After discussing the joys of ukulele playing, and dispensing some advice, she left to board her plane and I left to board mine. I later searched "ukulele orchestra", and not to my surprise, they are as weird as they are cool.