Anyone play instruments in here?

[Maka]

Oct 13, 2018 19:21:36 GMT 8 Yuki said:

Oct 13, 2018 17:31:08 GMT 8 Maka said:

on a side note on accompaniment. Husky (🐕) is a great vocal singer, especially for high pitch instruments;)

Ahhh, I love husky singing!

Odin makes some interesting noises, but usually only when he really wants something... which is rare. He probably won’t sing with me, and will probably just sleep when I play. Lol

You never know what would happen and, sleeping when something is going on is an act, actually, an act of a trust and of a feeling of being secure(d) and of a feeling of being enjoying. Especially with animals, they are so straight in their likes and dislikes. So no worries here should be.

[Yuki]

It's heeeeere!

It's so small. I saw the little box it came in, and was surprised. But I got it tuned, with the tuning app that I had to put on hubby's phone. lol. It's out of tune already, which is apparently common since the strings need to stretch before it holds a tune? But it does sound nice, anyway. And I loooove it.






I watched some videos of other people with no instrument background trying it out for the first time and they seemed to struggle with placing their fingers? But it didn't seem too hard to me, so I should be able to do this. lol. I don't see why not... just have to practice a lot of course. But so far it seems easy enough, not frustrating.

[Trinity]

Have fun:)

[Trinity]

Oct 14, 2018 4:20:05 GMT 8 Trinity said:

Have fun:)

Is it holding its tune Yuki?

[Yuki]

Oct 14, 2018 10:36:23 GMT 8 Trinity said:

Oct 14, 2018 4:20:05 GMT 8 Trinity said:

Have fun:)

Is it holding its tune Yuki?

I haven't tried to tune it again yet. My nap made me feel more tired for a while, and hubby has his phone with the app on it so I'll have to try to do it by ear, maybe by finding a video? I want to get one of the clip-on tuners. But I'm actually awake now so I'll try a video and see if I can do it that way lol. I hope I keep everyone awake since they all run around screaming all day... hahaha.

But I see everyone say that, because of the material the strings are made from, they do need to be re-tuned a LOT for up to a few weeks until the strings are worn in and stretched out. So it doesn't seem like anything unusual. After that, it should start to hold it's tune for a long time. (Yay for youtube so I can know these things ahead of time, and not get frustrated or worried or anything)

[Ativan Prescribed]

Oct 14, 2018 3:49:11 GMT 8 Yuki said:

It's heeeeere!

It's so small. I saw the little box it came in, and was surprised. But I got it tuned, with the tuning app that I had to put on hubby's phone. lol. It's out of tune already, which is apparently common since the strings need to stretch before it holds a tune? But it does sound nice, anyway. And I loooove it.

I watched some videos of other people with no instrument background trying it out for the first time and they seemed to struggle with placing their fingers? But it didn't seem too hard to me, so I should be able to do this. lol. I don't see why not... just have to practice a lot of course. But so far it seems easy enough, not frustrating.

Yep, they keep on stretching, but less each time.
I usually will tighten them up and then just pull on them hard, but not so hard to break them, and hold them like that for a few seconds or more.
Pre stretching them, if they go out a lot, try stretching them some before retuning.
And... you don't have to tune it the way they say, you can tune it the same as a violin, so that you know the fingering already.
And... you don't have to tune it up to the notes, you can always detune it a note or so and it gives it a whole new sound.
I tune my guitar to a chord, like a major fingering so that it is playing that chord without having to do tha fingering.
It makes it kinda limited, but I can quickly change it to a different fingering or chord, or just do the standard tuning.
So they can be more than just the standard instrument, with a little imagining, you can actually do a lot more once you figure out how to use it tuned different, it really does change the sound.
The fingering I use the most allows me to just bar the strings and slide that up and down the neck, and that makes for some pretty fast changes that go over an octave.
It's the same fingering used to play slide guitar, so it has that kind of sound then.
Try it out once yup get used to the standar tuning, a few simple changes makes it a whole new instrument to play again, widens out the possibilities for them.
I occasionally will use a tone on my computer to set the tuning, I'm so used to it that I really can tune an E most of the time just by the way it sounds, then the rest just goes pretty quick.
And if you can't find the right tone to  tune to, each string has a certain resonance for the diameter and will sound right when it gets to that point, I used to use the old TV's that flickered to see the strings vibrating as a whole instead of several bends at once, it's that whole that makes it pretty much in tune without having something right there, I think maybe something like a fluorescent light can do that, I never tried it before, but they flicker, 60 times a second.
But computer generated tones are so easy to find, there are ones from everyone's websites for stuff, Fender guitar has one, I suppose Gibson and others do as well, I just google it and go with the first one that comes up, they are all basically the same thing.
Stretch those strings and have fun...

[Yuki]

My fingers are numb. They hurt for a few minutes, but then just went numb and are still numb. I guess that's good? I mean, at least they don't hurt.. lol

I got to play with the app on the phone today. It's basically similar to playing one of those music games... where you just tap the screen when you're supposed to hit the note. Except, you're playing an actual instrument with the note, instead. And it listens and gives feedback, and saves it. So at the end, it will tell you how many notes you missed... and then it keeps track of your progress. Really cool! And for each song, it has a tab that shows what chords you'll be using (with a video for each one to show you finger placement) and another tab that tells you the strumming pattern. So it basically makes it really easy.

I played one with two chords.

Super simple, but at least I did it... and didn't miss too many, once I figured out how the app works. So I feel kind of accomplished.

[Trinity]

Oct 15, 2018 8:01:12 GMT 8 Yuki said:

My fingers are numb. They hurt for a few minutes, but then just went numb and are still numb. I guess that's good? I mean, at least they don't hurt.. lol

I got to play with the app on the phone today. It's basically similar to playing one of those music games... where you just tap the screen when you're supposed to hit the note. Except, you're playing an actual instrument with the note, instead. And it listens and gives feedback, and saves it. So at the end, it will tell you how many notes you missed... and then it keeps track of your progress. Really cool! And for each song, it has a tab that shows what chords you'll be using (with a video for each one to show you finger placement) and another tab that tells you the strumming pattern. So it basically makes it really easy.

I played one with two chords.

Super simple, but at least I did it... and didn't miss too many, once I figured out how the app works. So I feel kind of accomplished.

This is great.  And yes.  Normal.  It takes a while to build vallouses too.  Mysteeel strings can really bite if i let it sit too long.e

[Ativan Prescribed]

You can tune each string down a whole note and that takes some of the bite out of it.
My fingertips are permanently numb, but not from playing, but it does affect how I play and what I can play.
Callous will build up and those take some getting used to, so let them grow, don't try to soften them up until they are bigger, and even then...
It should be the same as when you played a violin.
No pain no gain...

[Yuki]

Oct 15, 2018 10:39:07 GMT 8 Ativan Prescribed said:

You can tune each string down a whole note and that takes some of the bite out of it.
My fingertips are permanently numb, but not from playing, but it does affect how I play and what I can play.
Callous will build up and those take some getting used to, so let them grow, don't try to soften them up until they are bigger, and even then...
It should be the same as when you played a violin.
No pain no gain...

I don't remember much from violin, I was probably only 8 or 9. Whatever age you are in 4th grade.

All I remember is I didn't practice much because I was afraid to practice at home because my bio dad was so judgmental of everything, and if it wasn't perfect he'd complain at tear me down. So really I mainly practiced at school for class... so not much. lol. I just remember liking the way it sounded, and feeling special that I had one... even if it was a rental. And I remember having to use the resin on the bow. Not much else, really. Maybe just a little bit about how to hold your hand? But not much of that, even.

They also bought me a cheap guitar when I was in high school I think. But I didn't want it, it was something I hadn't asked for. I was too depressed to want to mess with anything, it was around the time I ran away a few times. That, coupled with remembering how shitty they were when I messed up on my violin made me never touch it. I didn't have a guitar class to take it to. lol. Probably wouldn't have went anyway, since I was also skipping school around that time.

So yeah my experience is very limited, and my memory of it is even more limited since my memory sucks for anything before I was 18... probably because I blocked a lot out and tried to not be present most of the time. So it's pretty much like I've never picked up any instrument before.

But the ukulele strings aren't too bad, so I don't think I'll loosen it. I'll just tough it out. It's not that bad. I just really found it interesting that they're numb now, lol. I keep wanting to tap my fingers on things because it feels weird. I'm slightly easily amused...

I did just find a 30 day challenge video playlist on youtube that's done by someone that actually teaches ukulele to kids as her career. So it starts out at the very basics and goes up from there. So that's cool, I'm going to follow that and then I should have a better foundation I guess, for learning other stuff. And it'll go sloooow since she's used to teaching kids. Slow is what I need right now. LOL. Then maybe I can start looking at tutorials from other people, after this, and be able to follow better... I'm glad there's lot of people that do this.

[Ativan Prescribed]

One of the numb feeling things could be from pressing down to hard, a common thing in the beginning.
Get used to holding the strings down so the touch the frets enough and don't try to push hard on the wood, just a waste of energy really.
But it takes getting used to like all of it does, but it isn't nearly as hard as it might seem at times.
Everyone has experience with music, whether they played anything or not.
Kinda like knowing about cars and how they work sortof even though you never drove one, not as hard as it seems once you get used to it.
And lightly tapping your fingers might help, but not smacking them daon, that just makes it easier for them to get sore.
And the numb is your fingers trying not to hurt, so it isn't a bad thing, the feeling comes right back again in no time.
When I first started to play a guitar, the determination was so high that my fingers would bleed from cracked callus, split right open and that really hurt, so be careful of that.
Once they start to build up some, be careful they don't get to dry, but you don't want to soften them up either, you'll see when they get there.

[anzu2snow]

I play clarinet. Been playing it (with the same instrument) since I was 10. Played in concerts, marching band, pep rallies, pit orchestra for a little bit, parades, and competitions in school. Stopped marching band my 2nd year in college because of a nasty injury during practice. I was devastated. I had been marching for a long time before that. Now, I just play for myself. I've thought about making a klezmer band in the future. I play mainly jazz, klezmer, Irish, and classical. Before the clarinet, I played a little of the violin, recorder before that, and keyboard before that. So, I've been around music most of my life.

[Yuki]

I challenge the guitar players here to try this....

Someone posted it on Facebook and it's pretty amazing. I need videos.



Ukulele definitely can't do that, I don't think. LOL

[Leena]

I don't think I am up to this challenge.

[Trinity]

Nov 16, 2018 13:41:00 GMT 8 Leena said:

I don't think I am up to this challenge.

I'd be happy to play jingle bells