Ukulele Vibes
Do you have favourite hobby?
At some point in our lives, we are sure that some of us have encountered a special activity that we have grown to love and enjoy doing in our free time. It’s that “one hobby” that allows us to escape from our busy lives and is the perfect solution to reliving stress.
For us, our favourite hobby is playing the ukulele. In the last blog post, we discussed that we enjoy playing the piano, however, being able to play the piano has guided us to learn how to play many other instruments such as the ukulele!
When our Interest for Playing the Ukulele Began:
We both started playing the ukulele about five or six years ago and have been intrigued ever since. Our interest immediately sparked when we both watched a YouTube video of two females playing the ukulele in Hawaii. Watching them play, hearing the beautiful sound and seeing amazing landscapes of Hawaii made playing the ukulele seem that much more interesting. Listening to their songs whenever we needed a study break really helped calm and relax the mind! As a result, these positive vibes prompted us to start learning!
On a personal note, whenever we strum our own ukuleles, they inherit such beautiful island vibe that it reminds us of being somewhere peaceful and relaxing much like the beach.
The Perks of Learning and Playing the Ukulele:
Anyone who has a musical background would say that learning how to play the ukulele is a breeze. But the easiness of learning the ukulele can also apply to those that have little to no experience with any instrument! All you really need is a ukulele and the motivation to play and you are set to go!
Learning how to play the ukulele became easy as we are also guitar players. The format of playing the ukulele is very similar to a guitar. You can strum and pic songs, tune, play chords and scales, just like the guitar. Though, there are minor differences between the ukulele and guitar. The ukulele has a smaller fret board, and has four strings instead of six strings.
A huge positive of playing the ukulele is how easy the instrument is to handle. To be honest, getting used to handling a guitar is far more difficult than playing on a smaller instrument like the ukulele. When getting used to playing on a hand-held instrument like a guitar it can get a little painful on the wrist having to wrap around the fret board. This was a little tricky to get used to when we decided to pick up the guitar for the first few times! The placement of fingers is very key, as it drives the sound of each chord or scale played on the instrument.
Another benefit of playing the ukulele is the strings! Many of us may not know this but, our fingertips have to adapt and build up a tolerance to playing on strings. Luckily, the strings on the ukulele are plastic so it’s not as straining compared to the metal strings on a guitar.
How to Begin Learning How to the Play the Ukulele:
Of course, learning how to play any instrument requires a little patience and practice like any skill and eventually with repetition, anyone can become a pro!
For any of you who are wondering where to begin and how to start learning, the first step is to try and get comfortable with the instrument. Wrap your wrist around the neck and try placing your fingers on the fret board! We understand that it may feel a little awkward, but you will get used to this!
Next, once you feel more comfortable with how your hand and fingers feel holding the ukulele, you can begin to play some chords nice and slow. But before you start playing remember to tune up your uke. You want it to sound perfect! Some chords that are not too difficult or straining include, the C, Am and F chords. Once you master these chords individually, you can try to pick up some speed with playing and potentially try some variations of many strumming patterns.
Finally, once you have played some chords, you can now play your first song! By far, our favourite song to play on the ukulele is ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.
We hope with our message you will start some amazing new hobby! Whether its reading a book, painting on a canvas or even learning a new instrument like the ukulele, we encourage you to try something new this year!!
We also wanted to make a shoutout to the Mac Uke club for the opportunity to gather with many other students and to take some time to jam out our favourite songs on the ukulele!
