A Uke Birthday
Posted on May 10, 2020 by Aywren
Yesterday was my birthday!
Some of the items I requested for my birthday were gear for my Uke. I didn’t write about it, but a few months back, I picked up a Kala travel tenor ukulele when it went on major online sale at Musician’s Friend.
I have a concert that I like, but also wanted a tenor. Since ukes (in comparison to fiddles) are pretty cheap, I didn’t see harm in trying out different sizes to see which ones fit me best.
One thing about the Kala was that there weren’t knobs on it where you could hook a strap – my concert came with those installed. I didn’t want to chance to install my own, so I looked up straps that worked for this kind of uke, and found this nice one.
On top of that, I wanted a second stand for the new uke, and looked into a method for starting to practice uke. I really enjoyed the EEI method for violin, so I went ahead and added the Essential Elements book for uke, along with all the other gear, to my Amazon wish list.
My wish list was granted, and I was gifted all these things for my birthday! So now my Kala has a new spot on my shelf with a new strap!
The next step is to sit down and figure out how to work some uke practice into my schedule without compromising my fiddle practice. One thing I know I want to do is practice in different areas of the house.
I have a corner of my bedroom, and a laptop setup, dedicated to just fiddle practice. Originally, I had to hide away in my bedroom because I had a very sensitive older cat who couldn’t handle fiddle sounds – be it my own or even a recording/video I watched online. Sadly, this cat passed away over the winter, but I still keep my fiddle playing to that spot in the bedroom, even though fiddle playing doesn’t bother my other cat.
For the uke, I want to practice in a different spot, however. While it is a risk to try to practice around my main computer in the living room (more tempted to be distracted), it just feels like a more comfortable and laid-back spot for the type of instrument it is.
I’m looking forward to the EE lessons for Uke, though I have a feeling it will be a much more casual endeavor than what I do with fiddle. I plan on starting out small next week and seeing where that leads me.