Music Growth Project

Hello, welcome to my Music Growth Project. This project was tasked to us first semester of second year in the education program. We were given the option of learning the Ukulele, Recorder, Guitar or Piano. As you can see below, I chose the ukulele. This project implied six reflections showing our progression through the semester and our journey to learning a new instrument. Learning this instrument has given me insight on what it is like to struggle and keep at an activity to receive the result. In the end, I was very proud of what I could come up with, being able to fully play three songs.

Reflection 1

I have gone out and purchased my ukulele as I believe it will be extremely useful for the near future when I have to use it for music or any other form of education. Within the first week or so, I have learned to tune my instrument through viewing many YouTube videos and eventually settling on an iPhone app which helps me accurately tune my ukulele. After tuning my ukulele, I learned three basic major chords, C major, F major and G major. After viewing them on an online tutorial I worked on them until I could play them while looking at my fingers to ensure proper transitions and to make sure I didn’t hit any other strings while playing these notes. I have never played the ukulele before and wasn’t sure what to expect. This process of learning a string instrument has actually been quite enjoyable. I know it will get much harder when progressing further into my musical journey however while playing the basic chords, I have not found it much of a challenge to play three times a week and when I can I try and play whenever I have free time. I have found it effective to leave it out in an accessible location where I am able to pick it up and play it whenever I have a spare moment.

Reflection 2

I have now learned the chord progression C major, F major and G major much more comfortably and are playing them in different orders. I have learned my first song, which actually isn’t a part of my inquiry which is You are My Sunshine. The tutorial which I am following suggested that being able to play a starter song, to begin with, will help with my first strumming pattern and how to correctly integrate that within the song. The strumming pattern that I learned was extremely basic. The pattern was simply strum down pause, stum down, pause and repeat until the end of the song. After learning this song I went on to learn another chord which I will also be needing for my first song, Don’t Worry be Happy, which is A minor. This chord is similar to C major as it only requires one finger pressing down on the Uke. After learning this chord, I began slowly starting to look at the song Don’t worry be Happy to see what order the chords will be played in.

Blog 1

Welcome to my first music growth plan blog. Below is a video of myself explaining my progress with learning the Ukulele for the first time.

Here are the links to the tutorial videos I used to learn these songs:

Ukulele Lesson #1

Don’t Worry be Happy Ukulele Tutorial

Reflection 3

I have now learned the song Don’t worry be Happy and have successfully learned the new strumming pattern of down, down, up, tap. This strumming pattern however proven to be extremely difficult, allowing for a great sense of accomplishment after learning. I had to keep track of both rhythm and beat to allow for this strumming pattern to be integrated into the song. Learning this strumming pattern was easily the most difficult part of the ukulele which I’ve encountered thus far. I found that the strumming pattern and playing it on its own, is not too difficult, however, playing it and singing along has proven to be nearly impossible. For my mid-term, I will have played the chords on the ukulele along with singing however in two separate recordings and dubbed them on top of one another. Overall my experience with the Ukulele playing has been extremely enjoyable, learning something new which is challenging but beneficial. Continuing learning this instrument is something I look forward to progressing and learning more chords and strumming patterns.

Music MidTerm

Reflection 4

I have learned “Don’t Worry be Happy” and can play it smoothly on the ukulele. It is now just after reading break, and I am learning to play chords A minor and D major. A minor has been extremely easy to learn as it is only one finger on a string; however, D major has posed some difficulty. When playing D major, three fingers have to play in the same row on the ukulele. This makes it challenging to play as my fingers don’t want to fit in a line without straying off to a different note. I am now beginning the song “Hakuna Matata” and learning the basic chord structure. Although the song appears to be somewhat shorter in length from initial impressions the complicated strumming patterns later on and to its difficulty. I have been consistently playing the ukulele whenever I get a free moment, as it has become a relief tool when it comes to school.

Reflection 5

I have now been playing the song “Hakuna Matata” for a period of time and have successfully mastered the song. The piece in itself is only one chorus long; however, the strumming pattern, along with the note changes, especially for a beginner, is intricate. I found learning the chord progression not too difficult; however, integrating that with the strumming pattern got slightly tricky. Also, playing the song fast is an extreme challenge while attempting to switch between chords, hitting the right notes, and all in time, with the strumming pattern, makes the piece initially look more straightforward than it is. However, after numerous hours of practice, and tons of repetition, I am now confidently able to play the song and am now looking at learning the new chord E minor for the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. After learning how to play E minor, I am currently practicing the basic chord progression of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and my initial thoughts are that it is an extremely lengthy song to play.

Reflection 6

I have now successfully learned “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and am recording my Midterm video. The song comes in various strumming patterns and versions. The first version I initially intended on playing was difficult to sing to; thus, I will post two different versions. The first version will be me playing the song with the advanced strumming pattern but not attempting to accompany the playing with singing. While the other video will be a different version of the song, having a somewhat simpler strumming pattern allowing me to sing along. The song came out to be over 3 minutes long, and attempting that with one take would be nearly impossible and take forever. The version of the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” I will play for my final ukulele video will include an easier strumming pattern to allow myself to sing while playing. I also will challenge myself to play the entire song without any cuts or edits. This in itself is extremely difficult as there are numerous chord changes and variety from the intro to the verse to the chorus and outro. Although learning the ukulele seemed like a daunting task initially, I have enjoyed the journey I have embarked on to learning this new instrument. It has been a lot of fun and a memorable learning experience, which I will be able to take into the classroom setting.