Disneyland?

  1. Work on your song, for now you have a progression: C, D, Em, Am, Am7. Now you need a melody and lyrics. Start on the next part of the song if you finish this one.
  2. Practice your Bb barre chord. Take your time and make sure each note rings freely.
  3. Work on last weeks stuff as well.

 

Lucy:

  1. Practice tuning.
  2. Standardize uke body position.
  3. Play and sing notes of open strings to metronome randomly.
  4. Keep working on focus. Try to keep her on task as much as possible. Make her make eye contact and repeat things you've told her.
  5. Work on C chord to metronome.
  6. Watch Lucy's pick form and form in general. Fretting for C chord should be on fingertip.

Lucy in the Sky with Ukuleles

  1. Keep working on your single note sheets, singing the letter notes loud as you play, and practicing slowly to the metronome in chunks using the Rule of Five.
  2. Make 2-3 new chord progressions using at least six different chords with two different chords within each measure.
  3. Work with Lucy on tuning and playing each open string to the metronome.
  4. As you practice with Lucy, try to get her to hold her focus on the task at hand as much as possible, as we'll be gradually trying to build up her ability to focus in for longer stretches without getting distracted.

Getting Better!

  1. Continue to work through your pages of single note exercises. Remember to practice in chunks using the Rule of Five and go slow.
  2. Keep up the good work singing out the notes as play them during these exercises, try to strengthen your voice by pushing more air from your diaphragm and singing nice and loud. Opening your mouth to let the air and sound out will help as well.
  3. Keep working on your chords, make 2-3 new progressions with increased rhythmic difficulty where you're changing chords within measures using shorter note values of half notes or quarter notes.
  4. Go ahead and look at your fretting hand again at this point if it helps, but remember to work on reducing indecision and fingering errors, especially by going even slower with the metronome if necessary and remembering to build your chords from the lowest string being fretted to the highest. Remember to mute the low E string with your thumb on the applicable chords and to have an ear out for when you play a chord incorrectly so you can adjust the next time.
  5. Another thing that might help when doing your chord practice is to count the beats aloud along with the metronome, which should help you focus in and has a variety of addition timing benefits.
  6. Check out the video below about sleeping positions. It can be difficult to adjust at first, but I think you would benefit in a number of ways from switching to a more ergonomic side-sleeping position.
  7. I also put a link for the tuner I recommend for Lucy since her Uke doesn't have one built in.

Thinking Positive and Executing

  1. Make 2-3 new chord progressions using the chords you know, but within four measures and using a least one different duration.
  2. Practice playing your chords without looking more and more.
  3. Note reading exercises; make sure you're playing in time, and playing and singing loudly!
  4. Focus on trying to think less and commit to your actions and execute more. 
  5. Keep pinky compact (into the palm).
  6. Make sure your thumb is muting where needed on your chords.

Rolling into Practice

  1. Make 2-3 new chord progressions using at least five chords. Incorporate your three new chords Emajor, Aminor, and C and add two of your older chords.
  2. Keep working on your B and E string sheets. Keep practicing singing the notes as you play along.
  3. Take your time, break things down to simpler forms or go slower than the metronome if you need to to get the hang of something.
  4. Work on strumming more smoothly. Listen for a good sound and focus on adding wrist rotation.
  5. Remember to keep your pinky compact, fold it into your palm.

Stay Cool and Take it Slow

  1. Make sure to breathe and stay cool while you practice.
  2. Take your time to make sure things go right and you don't get too stressed out.
  3. Finish your old pages for the high E string before moving on to the new pages for the B string.
  4. Keep working on the goals from last week regarding chords and your chord progressions.
  5. Keep pinky compact.
  6. Practice in chunks using the Rule of Five!
  7. Take time to save time.
  8. Remember the Power of Now.

Moving Right Along

  1. Continue to practice your original chosen chord progression of Emin, A, D, G to the metronome. Start off strumming whole notes, then half notes, then quarter notes. Try to let the chords ring as long as possible before shifting for the next chord.
  2. Make another 2-3 chord progressions using the same chords in different orders and repeat the same process.
  3. Practice reading and playing the notes on the excerpts from last week for the notes E, F, and G on the high E string. Practice these exercises to the metronome in chunks of one or two measures at a time using the Rule of Five (five consecutive reps with no mistakes) before moving on to another chunk. Gradually build each practiced chunk together until you are practicing the whole exercise.
  4. Remember to go slow and focus on quality reps above all else. Form, posture, sound, timing, all the various aspects should be continually evaluated as you go and refined, but slowly, so you have time to adjust and consider and ensure each rep is as consistent and quality as possible.
  5. Don't forget to watch your picking hand and make sure you're holding the pick correctly and refining your strumming and picking techniques.

Taking Time and Staying on the Level

  1. Work on each chord by itself. Focus on nailing the fingering and general form and staying relaxed. Take your hand off and reset between each attempt of each chord.
  2. Practice in chunks. Break things into small pieces, then build.
  3. Use the Rule of Five when practicing in chunks. Rule of Five: Don't move on from your current chunk until you can execute it correctly five times consecutively.
  4. Take your time! The key is quality, not quantity when it comes to reps.
  5. Everything you do in practice, you're practicing to do.
  6. Don't be too hard on yourself.