Starting to Uke Again
Posted on July 6, 2023 by Aywren
While I don’t think I’ll be posting monthly uke progress like I tried to do last year, I did want to write something up (since this is the first post of 2023 for uke). I picked up my uke again back in late May and have, for the most part, been consistent with practicing every day.
I did miss a few days back when my air condition unit was out and it was simply too hot to even consider strumming. I feel that’s a valid reason, however, and I got right back on the wagon once all that was smoothed out.
Often, my biggest trouble with picking up the uke again after not having played for a while is the way the strings do in my strumming finger. My fretting hand is usually fine, but my strumming finger ends up blistered, even with the lighter plastic strings – go figure.
I had to work through this back in May and early June, but at this point, I’m doing well with getting through short practices without finger pain again.
I’m still using the EEI method book which I have a physical copy and a Kindel copy. I use the Kindel copy on a Kindel Fire because it comes with the audio backing tracks, which I just play on a USB speaker. I originally bought my Kindel Fire for this very reason, but lately, I’ve been using the 10-inch Fire that I inherited from my Dad when he passed away.
I think he’d want me to use it for something like this.
Anyhow, I’ve been consistent in practice but not very aggressive or ambitious in making my way further into the book. I know eventually I need to move beyond the song I’ve been playing for the last few weeks, but sometimes it’s just enough to squeeze a short practice in each day.
I’ll get there. I know I will. It would be nice to push beyond the point that I’ve always reached when I started over on my uke practice. Maybe this time I will. I believe this is as long a streak as I’ve ever had, and I do enjoy my practice time once I shove everything else out of mind to focus on it.