First day, first strum! Out of the blue a friend unexpectedly handed me a ukulele, showed me 3 chords, then striolled away; gauntlet tossed down gently with a kind, twinkly smile. So I fled to my iPad and there you were with encouragement and pictures and a relaxed, welcoming one-small-step-at-a-time vibe. Thank you so very much. I wish to play and sing a few songs to my young grandchildren and I feel I just might learn to do that now. I’m 75.
I just took up acoustic around 2 months ago. Your videos are so laid back yet informative. You make Uke playing so relaxing and fun. You have turned my progress with both instruments into leaps and bounds. Thanx for all your efforts.
Thanks a lot for that strum along session. It was really good to have your rock steady beat. Thanks also for showing us the Calypso strum...nice one Ray Harris
I am just learning the ukulele at age 68, and it is so much fun. However, my hands do not move very fast in the chord changes, but I like how you keep a steady pace and just keep going. You are easy to listen to and your lessons are engaging. Thank you.
Your play-alongs are great. I tend to go in and out of connection with what I am playing - the ryhtmn, notes, timing, etc. I get off track or in my head. With the length of time you chose, I was able to get a good dose of intentionally staying present and reconnecting with the music. It felt so rewarding sticking with it. Thank you for making this. Your videos are helping me a lot.
I love your channel! I found my old ukulele a few days ago and really wanted to start learning it again. You’ve helped me a lot and you seem like such a friendly person. Your videos really cheer me up!
I love you’re lessons, when you repeat a pattern this long I have the time too get it right. You learned me how to play! Now I use it in my classroom with toddlers and the past year I started out with toddlers who didn’t like to sing, but at the end of the year they loved it. I made some college’s jealous and I send them the link to you’re lessons. Hopefully the like it just as much as I do.
That was great! Really helpful, thanks so much! I am keen to learn to play to be able to sing and play Christmas songs along with my grandkids this year, and this is such a promising and nice way to practice!
really enjoyed the calypso beat with the c f g f chords. I felt I waa just playing a song with others and at the same time learning chords and how to switch to other chords. Playing trumpet was fun but after 45 years or so it got old, I now have something new and picking up other string instruments now and learning.
Agree with Grace and that is why I am here. Giving an idea, 10 minutes jamming playalong with no comments but with chord pictures or at least some quick comments at the beginning and each time providing different but melodic chords to playalong with you. Many of us even not needed on beating technique but looking for only chord subsequences to learn new of them. The problem of beginners is that we can download the chords list and even do but we dont know how to follow to make sounding melodic. Doesnt matter how difficult the chords will be, people will learn them as the again the problem is to keep the play melodic. I am beginner and if my words are been listened then I am with you for all my life since today. Thanks a lot...
Loved this! So many you tube "teachers" show a progression and then speed it up so fast no way I can keep up. This was perfect. Suggestions for the future: a separate video with maybe the same progression but speeding up as you go along; get a progression that works with a song we can recognize, teach the strumming pattern and allow us to follow along; eventually work to a song with a couple of strumming patterns and show how to make that switch. I'm practicing while on vacation in Hawaii, definitely adds to the fun!! Thank you very much!
Great feedback, Adrienne! I'm happy to hear you were able to follow along with this one. I definitely think there is room to do more practical application to familiar songs as well as experiencing a rhythm at a slow and faster tempo. Thank you for your comment and sharing your thoughts with me. Enjoy your vacation! Hawaii is a beautiful and special place!
Thank you! It was nice to jam with you. ( I really need to practice strumming and this video comes in handy! So, please, do post more videos like this one!)
Great way to practice...especially if you are a new uke player. My husband is learning so he can hopefully play along with me. This will be great practice for him!! Thanks, Brett!
Really useful - thank you! I really struggle changing chords quickly enough but this has helped me a lot as it makes me practise and master the chords. Also, I struggle with picking up strumming patterns but your other video on the Calypso helped here too. Your strumming pattern explanations would be even better if you said 'mute' where there's a little pause to make it really clear what's going on. You've really motivated me to keep practising as I can now just about keep up with you in this with not too many errors. Nothing even more practise won't fix. Thank you very much for excellent tutorials!! 🇬🇧
There are many tricks to speed up the transition and save movement, for example by finding open notes that facilitate the transition. A video on this subject would be welcome. This is just a suggestion, thank you Brettt
Hi Brett, Thanks for posting this video. Helpful. One thing that would help me next is to play along to a song or two that applies the calypso chord progression. Thanks for your consideration. Davis
This was so fantastic! This is helping me in so many ways-keeping a steady rhythm, practicing cord changes and “reading” music (it’s in quotes because I’m not sure I’m actually reading music but its there😂 and it sure can’t hurt to try!). Can you do more jam sessions using different chords? If you have, could you send me links because I haven’t been able to find them. Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing your talent with us!
Thank you for having fun with the ukulele! I was wanting to know how you choose a strum pattern to put with a song, for example, if I want to play ‘The World Es Mi Familia, I have the chords but how do I choose a strum pattern to go with it…just experience or is there a science behind it ? :0) Thank you for teaching me!
Hey Pam, check out my latest video "Why This is My Favorite Strumming Pattern of All Time" where I explore this exact idea! ua-cam.com/video/whwef8B99a4/v-deo.html
That was great Brett ,It's nice to be able to jam out with someone and not strum alone .Could we have more please maybe how strum to a backing track. I have downloaded some but have no idea when to come in on the track. Something nice and slow as I find when learning new things it needs to be slow .I know I can slow down a video but it would be nice not to have to do that at first we can all speed up later .Thanks Brett
I like this, Margaret. Can you tell me what kind of backing track it is? Is it like a blues backing track? Jazz? Is it a full band backing track for a specific kind of song (like a karaoke track)? Thanks for your comment and feedback!
Hi Brett I downloaded a few blues backing tracks in different keys but found it difficult to use them some tips on how to use a backing track would help.Hopefully it would me keep in time as well .Any tips would be appreciated.I tried La Mer (Beyond The Sea) By Bobby Darin as well it's a great song .There is no one doing any tutorial with backing tracks at the moment I don't think .
I have a question about the position of the thumb. In most of the lessons I have read on the web it is recommended to lay it flat on the back of the neck, as if it were forceps. I can not. I look closely at your fingers and see that the thumb is sticking out. Wouldn't a video on this matter be helpful, Brett? Thank you.
Good question! It might be a good idea to do a video on this. The main advantage of placing the ball of the thumb behind the neck is that you increase your reach and increase the leverage to press down on the strings. This is especially beneficial in fingerpicking and solo ukulele playing. However, the disadvantage of this is that you can experience the "diving ukulele problem" where the ukulele moves every time you change a chord, so you have to be in a very stable posture. I will try to address this in a video!
Yikes! When I transition from F to G, I lose hold of the neck because of my weak, short fingers/hand. I can do F to G7 pretty well, though. I heard it's OK to use a G7 rather than G in songs. Hope that's true. I'm learning the 10 must-know chords from your other video. I'll feel so accomplished when I get those down!
I love this and I try to keep up. But no matter what, there's always a little pause between two chords. For example: you are playing the first "up" of a chord by the time I play the first "down"... For my life I can't change my finger position in time. I practice and practice and it doesn't improve. Frustrating. Everyone says that will come with time. But I might be the hopeless exception 😉
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Hi I'm in sixth grade and I'm just learning ukulele for fun. You're a fantastic teacher and I think I'm gonna keep watching your videos!
First day, first strum! Out of the blue a friend unexpectedly handed me a ukulele, showed me 3 chords, then striolled away; gauntlet tossed down gently with a kind, twinkly smile. So I fled to my iPad and there you were with encouragement and pictures and a relaxed, welcoming one-small-step-at-a-time vibe. Thank you so very much. I wish to play and sing a few songs to my young grandchildren and I feel I just might learn to do that now. I’m 75.
That’s an awesome goal! You can do it!
Thanks. This is so helpful for new learners like me who struggle to change chords in time. Great for repetitive practice which is what I need
I just took up acoustic around 2 months ago. Your videos are so laid back yet informative. You make Uke playing so relaxing and fun. You have turned my progress with both instruments into leaps and bounds. Thanx for all your efforts.
Thanks a lot for that strum along session. It was really good to have your rock steady beat.
Thanks also for showing us the Calypso strum...nice one
Ray Harris
very cool tutorial!!! More please!
More to come! Thanks for watching!
I am just learning the ukulele at age 68, and it is so much fun. However, my hands do not move very fast in the chord changes, but I like how you keep a steady pace and just keep going. You are easy to listen to and your lessons are engaging. Thank you.
Your play-alongs are great. I tend to go in and out of connection with what I am playing - the ryhtmn, notes, timing, etc. I get off track or in my head. With the length of time you chose, I was able to get a good dose of intentionally staying present and reconnecting with the music. It felt so rewarding sticking with it. Thank you for making this. Your videos are helping me a lot.
spot on perfect. Exactly what I needed. Thank you.
Perfect! Glad it could help.
I am a musician but enjoy learning again, different instruments and having fun.
Absolutely! It's great to have you.
I love your channel! I found my old ukulele a few days ago and really wanted to start learning it again. You’ve helped me a lot and you seem like such a friendly person. Your videos really cheer me up!
Yay, Seren! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the videos! Thanks for your comment.
Really enjoyed this, a nice way to practice changing chords, it feels like making actual music.
I love you’re lessons, when you repeat a pattern this long I have the time too get it right. You learned me how to play! Now I use it in my classroom with toddlers and the past year I started out with toddlers who didn’t like to sing, but at the end of the year they loved it. I made some college’s jealous and I send them the link to you’re lessons. Hopefully the like it just as much as I do.
Thanks for the kind words, Karen! I'll try to do more videos like this one! Keep up the awesome work!!
i love your vids so much i want more (lol)
Thanks for watching, Ellie!
I like that you had longer play along time on this one. Good lesson thank you.
That was great! Really helpful, thanks so much! I am keen to learn to play to be able to sing and play Christmas songs along with my grandkids this year, and this is such a promising and nice way to practice!
really enjoyed the calypso beat with the c f g f chords. I felt I waa just playing a song with others and at the same time learning chords and how to switch to other chords. Playing trumpet was fun but after 45 years or so it got old, I now have something new and picking up other string instruments now and learning.
Glad you enjoyed this one! I tried trumpet when I was younger but had to give it up when I got braces...
Simple practice track. Steady rhythm. Thank you,
You bet! Happy to hold it down. Thanks for watching!
Super helpful to become more consistent with a steady rhythm. Thank you.
so helpful, and really helped me keep up with the steady rhythm. Thank you!
Great job!!
Can't thank you enough for posting this video!!
It helps me to practice better with playalong
More strumming patterns please 😍
So glad this helped, Anita! I definitely want to do more of these.
Keep un your Work its a lot of fun
Agree with Grace and that is why I am here. Giving an idea, 10 minutes jamming playalong with no comments but with chord pictures or at least some quick comments at the beginning and each time providing different but melodic chords to playalong with you. Many of us even not needed on beating technique but looking for only chord subsequences to learn new of them. The problem of beginners is that we can download the chords list and even do but we dont know how to follow to make sounding melodic. Doesnt matter how difficult the chords will be, people will learn them as the again the problem is to keep the play melodic. I am beginner and if my words are been listened then I am with you for all my life since today. Thanks a lot...
Hi there I'm from New Zealand, I'm still trying to tune my yuk
Loved this! So many you tube "teachers" show a progression and then speed it up so fast no way I can keep up. This was perfect. Suggestions for the future: a separate video with maybe the same progression but speeding up as you go along; get a progression that works with a song we can recognize, teach the strumming pattern and allow us to follow along; eventually work to a song with a couple of strumming patterns and show how to make that switch. I'm practicing while on vacation in Hawaii, definitely adds to the fun!! Thank you very much!
Great feedback, Adrienne! I'm happy to hear you were able to follow along with this one. I definitely think there is room to do more practical application to familiar songs as well as experiencing a rhythm at a slow and faster tempo. Thank you for your comment and sharing your thoughts with me. Enjoy your vacation! Hawaii is a beautiful and special place!
Thank you! It was nice to jam with you. ( I really need to practice strumming and this video comes in handy! So, please, do post more videos like this one!)
Nice to jam with you too, Dan! Glad you enjoyed this video. Thanks for your comment!
Just found your channel. So glad to be able to play with someone else! Thanks for the video!
Welcome, Terri!!
Thanks Brett. I liked the speed since I can focus on chord changing and strum pattern skills. But also this helped with my listening skills
Awesome, Steve! That's good for me to know. Thanks for your comment!
This is really helpful. You are a gifted teacher amd I deeply appreciate the time you put in to provide your experience for free.
You are so welcome! Thanks for your comment, Blyma!
Love this one!
Thanks a lot I've learned playing youkelele and strumming from you. In one session thank you!
Yes, good job!
Lovly sir... I am from india... Your classes are very very help full to me... Thank you very much
Thanks and welcome!
LOVE THIS! Love playing together with you!
Yay, glad we can jam together!!
Great way to practice...especially if you are a new uke player. My husband is learning so he can hopefully play along with me. This will be great practice for him!! Thanks, Brett!
Heck yeah! Thanks for your comment!
THIS WAS BRILLIANT FUN!! KEEP IT GOING....maybe a simple song together? THANKS
Thank you.. just starting now that I am retired!! I have time to practice...
Brilliant, thank you.
I tried this video and enjoyed the challenge. I like playing along with someone as long as they are not too fast.
Glad you enjoyed it, Carol! Thanks for joining along with me :)
im a third grader your good teacher of ukelele
This video was a great practice for me in improvising on ukulele. Keep it up and I would love to see more of this kind of videos.
Thanks for watching! Definitely want to do more of these in the future. Glad it could help!
Thank you. I enjoyed this exercise.
Thanks for watching, Carol! Glad you liked it.
The whole reason i did is so i could find out how to play the same cords as Albert in ''How to build a better boy'' cause i loved them!!!!!!
Keep continue
Great! Very helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
Love it
Awesome!
i love this thank you.
You're so welcome! Thanks for watching.
It helps me alot thank you❤
I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching!
Really useful - thank you! I really struggle changing chords quickly enough but this has helped me a lot as it makes me practise and master the chords. Also, I struggle with picking up strumming patterns but your other video on the Calypso helped here too. Your strumming pattern explanations would be even better if you said 'mute' where there's a little pause to make it really clear what's going on. You've really motivated me to keep practising as I can now just about keep up with you in this with not too many errors. Nothing even more practise won't fix. Thank you very much for excellent tutorials!! 🇬🇧
Great job, Nick!! Super happy to hear you are enjoying the videos and seeing improvement in your playing. Keep it up and thanks for your comment!
Great thank u
it’s really a great source of learning ukulele....
your student
Sudha
It's a pleasure to have you, Sudha! I'm glad to see you're still diligently practicing!
There are many tricks to speed up the transition and save movement, for example by finding open notes that facilitate the transition. A video on this subject would be welcome. This is just a suggestion, thank you Brettt
Thanks for the idea!
This helped so much!)
I'm glad I could help!! Thanks for watching.
hi ...thank you for your video I'm a beginner to play ukulele.
Thanks for your comment, Max! Great to have you.
Hi Brett, Thanks for posting this video. Helpful. One thing that would help me next is to play along to a song or two that applies the calypso chord progression. Thanks for your consideration. Davis
That's a great idea, Davis. Thanks for your comment!
Wonderful. Tell us about the ukulele you play? Please?
This was so fantastic! This is helping me in so many ways-keeping a steady rhythm, practicing cord changes and “reading” music (it’s in quotes because I’m not sure I’m actually reading music but its there😂 and it sure can’t hurt to try!). Can you do more jam sessions using different chords? If you have, could you send me links because I haven’t been able to find them. Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing your talent with us!
Glad we could jam together, Amy! I would love to make more of these. What songs would you like me to do next?
Thank you for having fun with the ukulele!
I was wanting to know how you choose a strum pattern to put with a song, for example, if I want to play ‘The World Es Mi Familia, I have the chords but how do I choose a strum pattern to go with it…just experience or is there a science behind it ? :0) Thank you for teaching me!
Hey Pam, check out my latest video "Why This is My Favorite Strumming Pattern of All Time" where I explore this exact idea! ua-cam.com/video/whwef8B99a4/v-deo.html
That was great Brett ,It's nice to be able to jam out with someone and not strum alone .Could we have more please maybe how strum to a backing track. I have downloaded some but have no idea when to come in on the track. Something nice and slow as I find when learning new things it needs to be slow .I know I can slow down a video but it would be nice not to have to do that at first we can all speed up later .Thanks Brett
I like this, Margaret. Can you tell me what kind of backing track it is? Is it like a blues backing track? Jazz? Is it a full band backing track for a specific kind of song (like a karaoke track)? Thanks for your comment and feedback!
Hi Brett I downloaded a few blues backing tracks in different keys but found it difficult to use them some tips on how to use a backing track would help.Hopefully it would me keep in time as well .Any tips would be appreciated.I tried La Mer (Beyond The Sea) By Bobby Darin as well it's a great song .There is no one doing any tutorial with backing tracks at the moment I don't think .
Awesome, thanks for that! I like the idea of how to use backing track. I will see what I can do.
This is very helpful. Also what make is your Ukulele? Is it a Koa? Is it a tenor, or saprano. Sounds very nice.
glad to hear that, Dan! It's a Kala tenor ukulele.
Subscribed
Welcome, Leandro! Great to have you!
I have a question about the position of the thumb. In most of the lessons I have read on the web it is recommended to lay it flat on the back of the neck, as if it were forceps. I can not. I look closely at your fingers and see that the thumb is sticking out.
Wouldn't a video on this matter be helpful, Brett? Thank you.
Good question! It might be a good idea to do a video on this. The main advantage of placing the ball of the thumb behind the neck is that you increase your reach and increase the leverage to press down on the strings. This is especially beneficial in fingerpicking and solo ukulele playing. However, the disadvantage of this is that you can experience the "diving ukulele problem" where the ukulele moves every time you change a chord, so you have to be in a very stable posture. I will try to address this in a video!
Loved jamming along! Tempo was perfect for me. Unfortunately, any time I a calypso strum with C, F, G or Am my girlfriend goes "Not this song again!"
Haha! Yes, it's easy to fall into the same patterns!
Yikes! When I transition from F to G, I lose hold of the neck because of my weak, short fingers/hand. I can do F to G7 pretty well, though. I heard it's OK to use a G7 rather than G in songs. Hope that's true. I'm learning the 10 must-know chords from your other video. I'll feel so accomplished when I get those down!
Keep going!
♥️♥️👌👌👍
I love this and I try to keep up.
But no matter what, there's always a little pause between two chords.
For example: you are playing the first "up" of a chord by the time I play the first "down"...
For my life I can't change my finger position in time.
I practice and practice and it doesn't improve. Frustrating.
Everyone says that will come with time. But I might be the hopeless exception 😉
This is all part of the process of learning! Keep at it.
@@UkuleleTricks I do...
I wish that wouldn't take so long.
It's my first instrument with strings, so everything is new.
I'm not... 😉😅
lol
Lose the 'tache - not flattering! :)