So why am I now having ukulele lessons, after all this time?

So why, after owning a uke for nine years and starting to try to seriously get to grips with it for three and a half, have I decided to start taking lessons just now? After all, I’ve been getting on OK on my own, following videos and so on; I can play quite a few chords, do an instrumental or two, play a couple of tricky strums, have fun on my own or with other folks… well. It’s because it was gradually dawning on me that I need guidance… and taking in hand. Some discipline. A route through the maze. I’ve been having lots of fun for more than three years, dipping into this, having a go at that, but I came to think that learning in my own way was rather like herding cats. Because there’s Chord Melody cat, Jazz Standards cat, Blues cat, the George Formby-style cat… and chief cat Myself was actually not doing the most productive and efficient job iof turning me into a half-decent player - which is what I want to be. To make faster progress I needed a proper shepherd. What’s more, I hate Skype, and I realised ages ago that if I were to have uke lessons, they would have to be face-to-face ones...

So the bottom line is, I’m having lessons with the wonderful Phil Doleman, (more about Phil later…. ) Lucky me…. He lives not TOO far away for me to travel. Right now I’ve had three lessons, and already I know it’s paying off…. Phil’s a great teacher, and his love of the music of the 20’s and 30’s and blues suits me down to a T.

This is a piece he gave me a couple of weeks ago. Shine on Harvest Moon. Still a little ragged, but definitely getting there!



This is unlisted... but I'll do another video when I can play it better!

If you watched - thank you! And if you are learning to play the uke, don't stop!