Apologies in advance for this post, this is just me waffling on about all kinds of things that have been going on over the past month…
I seem to spend crazy amounts of time thinking about how to practice more effectively. I feel I’m in this weird plateau with the ukulele where progress is slow and I’m never quite sure if or how I’m improving. I even signed up to Ukulele Underground Plus, which I’m not sold on yet. There’s load of material there don’t get me wrong but I think it’s better suited to beginners. In terms of practice I’m working on a lot of playing by ear and generally technique (like pinky muting) more than songs at the minute.
On a different note I have a bit of a secret ukulele related project going on that I’m hoping will be complete in the next few weeks. I don’t want to say too much at this stage as it could all still go horribly wrong but so far so good and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. What I will say is that it’s kind of a mix of my actual job and ukulele which is pretty cool.
Following my almost near success with the cardboard ukulele I’m quite interested in building an electric diddley bow and possibly a cigar box guitar. I ordered a cheap pickup from Amazon and will get started with on a diddley bow one as soon as it arrives.
I tried to join the Ukulele Cosmos forum as it seems a bit more UK based than the UU forum but either I’ve offended someone there or the moderators just aren’t that active. I’m still waiting approval weeks later. If anyone knows a moderator, please give them a nudge from me.
So far I’ve interviewed a few UK ukulele artists for the interviews section of this site and I’m really interested to interview a luthier next. I’m hugely interested in building ukuleles and how it all comes together and think it could make for a great interview – if that sounds like you please give me a shout and we can work something out.
I thought the same thing when I signed up for ukulele cosmos, but don’t worry. It’s not just you. The moderator is slow (at least with accepting new members). Have patience and all will be well.
Thanks Mark, I’m still waiting – kind of given up.
How long do you have building ukes Dave? That’s certainly a unique skill to have.
I wish I did build ukes, its more something I wish I could do!