3 Weeks Left...

Last Thursday, I learned how to play the chords of Hey Jude by the Beatles. This week's lesson is arranged to this upcoming weekend, due to the two hour band rehearsal yesterday. Next, I'm willing to learn the chords for Hey, Soul Sister. I believe the song composes majority of the melodies, instead of chords, that could be played by ukuleles.

My top successes were playing the song, Shape of You, by Ed Sheeran. After achieving the goal of playing the song fluently, I realized by each song I play, it gets addicting because of the satisfaction there is when reaching that desire. I thought I would never play a new song by each week in just 30 minutes of practice every Thursday with a mentor.

If I could go back in time, I would watch more videos of other professional and recreational ukulele players to see what their style and what details they put when playing a certain note or a type of song.

Practice until Perfection...

This week is a short week (no Friday or Monday) due to weather day. I am going to my ukulele lesson today, and hopefully I'll learn a new song with an additional scale. I've been practicing little by little everyday, and I think I've got the basics of it. 

Little Time, Loads of Work

This week, I couldn't go to my ukulele lesson due to the drastic weather that day. Although, it has been a busy week, I've had some time to practice. 

Some of the good things that have happened is how flowing one song can go. Even though, it can be hard to master a song with its complexity, I can always accomplish it with time and practice. You need to take your time getting use to the song and how the movement of your fingers will work out from chord to chord. With practice, it can come perfection. 

One of the hardest thing I've done so far is the music "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran. 

My relationships with my friends definitely strengthened through music. Each and every one are so fond of ukulele, that they actually want to try it out. My friend, Anna, who has been working on hers longer are communicating through the rough times of the journey.

Expanding my knowledge in music will help me through the course of life. There will be benefits and advantages in my present and future life. Band, which I hopefully will continue, is helpful when I have the background knowledge from the past. When going into universities and finding jobs, it will be handy if I have an additional skill to use in my future life.

Weekly Update
I've been so busy this week with loads of homework, a practice examination, getting my braces, and getting makeup work done. I was so busy to the point I had to reschedule my ukulele lessons twice and only had the time to practice for 30 minutes. Hopefully, next week will be calmer, so I can really get the songs finished and start new ones.

I will have my videos of myself playing the ukulele as soon as I can.

Some of the songs I want to start with my tutor is Over the Rainbow by Israel "Bruddah Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole; Hey, Soul Sister by Train; Hey Jude by the Beatles; City of Stars by La La Land Cast; Yesterday by the Beatles.

I also want to try more difficult songs like Payphone by Maroon 5 or Ride by Twenty One Pilots.

Progressing...

During spring break, I went to my ukulele tutor and learned a few songs. One of them is called Lava by the Pixar Short Movie. This Wednesday, I learning to play Pompeii by Bastille. The chords are getting harder and harder by each song I play, but it just takes a lot of practice for me to get use to it. Every week, I've been practicing for about 20-30 minutes, and it is exhilarating to play your own choice of music that you'd never even thought of achieving before. Even though, each songs are a few minutes long, they use very minimum chords. The singer just sings many different melodies that makes the song more complex and interesting There are about 3-4 chords for the songs I play, except for some that has the chorus and the intro. This weekend, I want to make videos of myself to show you my skills and songs that I've learned so far.

3/10/17
This week, the ukulele lesson was Thursday, because I had to go to MPA. I picked out my song that we'll be practicing on, Shape of You, by Ed Sheeran. The tutor would hear the song and pick out which chords would be the best, so there were no music sheets or other composers who would arrange the chords for ukulele. The chords are getting harder than I thought it'd be, and time was getting shorter for this instrument due to midterms. However, during the spring break, I'll definitely have time to practice.

Week 3
This week, I couldn't go to my ukulele lessons on Tuesday because, I decided to work with my friend on Wednesday starting next week. This Wednesday, the tutor could not come due to time difficulty.

This blog making process has been going very well with no difficulty or complexity at all. Because I've worked with other programs close to the Blogger, it's very smooth and easy to work with.

Some of my favorite sites that I use is https://ukutabs.com/

Some of the songs that I've been working on is "Can't Stop Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley and "Riptide" by Vance Joy.  I'm searching for more songs that I could play with the tutor that contains some level of difficulty.

Updates...
I went to my first ukulele lesson Tuesday and learned the way ukulele sounds by G,C,E,A strings. Additionally, I learned the C scale and how to strum the the strings.

Weekly Update
I've gotten hold of my ukulele tutor, and I'll be practicing every Tuesday from now on. It's definitely difficult when trying to get the chords down because of its complex fingering. This week's task was to be able to do the minor, major, and the seventh chords and to polish its sound; however, it's harder than it looks like. With the ukulele being such a tiny instrument, majority of the chords are very tricky to play.
The website that I'm currently using is https://ukuguides.com/tips/basic-ukulele-chords-for-beginning-players/ It's really efficient when you are first starting out and need the basics.

Project Proposal

2/10/17

Emma Kim

Proposal: Learning to play the ukulele

Expansion of My Musical Abilities

Needs and Opportunities

I’m helping myself by expanding my musical abilities with different instrumental experiences other than piano and the clarinet. Learning a distinct instrument will definitely help me contribute to other learning of guitars and maybe even the orchestra instruments, such as the violin. I would like to help others who wants to know how ukulele is designed and how it is to play by learning from my personal experiences so theirs would be easy going. Additionally, I’ll be showing ones who wants to know how I progressed overtime, both individually and through other help. This project is a growing experience because there are so many techniques and methods around the world within the playing of ukulele, as well as different style of songs that I want to achieve. My goal is to get the basics down, with the chords, few songs, and acknowledge the origin of the ukulele.

Audience / Clients / Users

I will benefit those who wants to try something unusual for once and challenge themselves with new skills. I will discuss what is like to play ukulele as a beginner, how to start out with what, and where to start with. The people I’m benefiting is for the ones that wants to try a hobby that can be very simple; however, can also be developing and growing when getting into harder areas throughout their level.

Mentors

I will have a personal guidance through the process with a tutor that will hopefully teach me the origin and basics of ukulele. There, I could learn more methods that would help me ease throughout the learning of the ukulele. I will contact my friend, who has some experience with the ukulele, so I can have more background information and have the preparation in order for me to do this project. In this way, I would expect my future of struggles and satisfaction.

Timeline

February 17	Learn Chords
February 24	Learn Chords
March 3	Practice the movement from note to note
March 10	Learn a few songs
March 24	Learn a few songs
March 31	Learn a few songs
April 7	Learn a few songs
April 14	Learn a few songs
April 21	Learn few songs
April 28	Learn few songs
May 5 (Prep for Presentation Day)	Practice presenting a few of my favorite songs
May 12 (Presentation Day)	Perform those songs and reflect on my project

Product

One of the products I will bring is my ukulele, showing all the features and the design of the material. There, I will play my ukulele, demonstrating my beginner level abilities and will talk about the positive and negative sides of the ukulele. I will also show the books that I had used to learn the songs and chords. Additionally, I will show the materials needing to play, which is a pick and its use. Lastly, there will be technology involved when searching for different songs and researching more about the ukulele.

Technology

To enhance the process of the project, I will record myself playing the ukulele to really see what it is like to play it. Additionally, I would take pictures of the ukulele alone and myself playing, so people can better visualization. There will also be a PowerPoint, showing the different chords, songs, and the aspects I’ve learned throughout the journey. It will also include websites I used to help me discover more about ukulele and assist me during complications, such as videos.

Reality Check

Even though the ukulele had cost more than I had expected, I’ve managed to buy it for 100 dollars to continue on with my project. Also, I will have to buy the books I need to learn the songs and chords through. Lastly, I want to get a tutor so I will have a benefit when there is something that has confused me and will guide me throughout the beginning process. The lessons will cost 30 dollars for half an hour, but I believe it is worth it if you are taking this chance to see the possibilities when trying something new.

Possible Roadblocks

There will be times when I won’t get the notes easily and complications when learning a new song or chord. Since this is such a new instrument for me, I will definitely struggle through many different times. Also, there will be times when time management will block me during a test or project week, or something that had distracted me from practicing and following the plan.  

Conclusion

I am so excited to be doing this because I’ve always wanted to do something new that I can enjoy through my lifetime and where I can improve my skills on. You should definitely consider my project because when learning something new, like an instrument, you might find your passion that could hold on to you until you age. Additionally, Ukulele is something that you could always find yourself doing, no matter your age, location, nor gender. When trying distinctive hobbies, you’ve never imagined doing, it really inspires me to try other activities as well. It is a lifetime experience where not a lot of people have the chance to suddenly try an instrument because of a school activity. Thus, I want to work diligently and put my dedication through this project to see if this could possibly be the turning point of my life, where I could put my commitment to. It’s not all about learning the ukulele, it’s about attempting an experience that you might get to make a difference to that specific industry or something that could hold on to you for lifelong.

Starting the Ukulele

For my 20 percent time project, I will be learning to play the ukulele. It is a lot different from what I'd usually play, but I think I'll learn a lot about the strings instruments as I experience this journey. I hope to make the best out of this blog and update constantly to see what kind of an experience I had when starting with the ukulele. Even though, there will be difficult times throughout this project, I hope it will turn out just fine by committing to this instrument. My ultimate goal is to play all the chords by the end of the school year and play variations of songs.