For this week save 40% off the Strumming Tricks online video lesson course with the coupon code THANKFUL.
To help you become a better ukulele player and to give you an idea of the quality of instruction you can expect in the course, I present to you this exclusive lesson preview from Strumming Tricks where you uncover the secret of singing and playing at the same time.
Watch the video to learn more.
Three Steps to Learning a New Song
As you can see, the secret to singing and playing at the same time lies in your process, not your innate musical ability.
Like I said in the video, I’ve been playing ukulele for over 20 years and I still follow this process when learning a new song to give myself the best chance of successfully singing and playing at the same time.
When it comes to learning each of these songs, break learning the song into three easy steps.
Step 1: Learn the Chords
The first step to learning a song is to look over the chord chart or arrangement of the song and see what chords are in the song.
It’s possible there are some new chords that will require dedicated practice.
Practice playing through each of these chords with simple down strums. For now, you’re not worrying about the lyrics or singing.
Step 2: Learn the Rhythm
The second step to learning a song is learning the rhythm of the song.
This means you have to ask questions like:
- How is this song counted?
- How many beats is each chord played?
- What strumming pattern is used in the song?
For this course, each song comes with an easy-to-follow arrangement indicating the song’s time signature, beats, and a suggested strumming pattern.
In this step, the goal is to learn the strumming pattern and count out loud. Do this to the point where you can play the pattern without a second thought.
Additionally, listening to the performance of the song is a great way to get a strong sense for how the song should sound. As I play in the videos, try counting out loud and tapping your foot to the beat.
Step 3: Play Through the Song Without Singing
The last step to learning a song is practice strumming through the song’s entire chord progression without singing.
This allows you to catch any chords of the song that you may have difficulty switching to. It gives you an opportunity to practice.
These chord changes have to be solid before you can think about singing the song.
Once you can strum through the chord changes at a nice, steady tempo, then, begin to hum the melody of the song and eventually sing.
Before you know it, you’re singing and strumming the song!
Each lesson in this course is broken up into these steps. If at any point the steps become hard, go back to the previous step before moving forward.
How Strumming Tricks Makes These Steps Easy to Follow
One of the biggest benefits of Strumming Tricks is that each lesson has the three steps I present built in, so that you’re able to learn a wide vocabulary of ukulele chords, dozens of strumming patterns, and how to put those together to sing and play actual songs.
I remember first learning ukulele and being envious of my family members who could flip through lyric chord chart books and start playing and singing the song on the page.
You too probably want to one day be able to look up the chords for any song and be able to play them with ease, it’s hard to know how to get to that point.
This is exactly why I created Strumming Tricks.
The course is set up for you to go at your own pace with a step-by-step, easy-to-follow roadmap to help you become a proficient ukulele player.
You’re exposed to a variety of music in different styles, tempos, rhythms, and chords, and I introduce you to each piece exactly at the right time so you can move forward in a progressive and clear manner.
Now is the time to become a proficient ukulele player and I hope you’ll join me in the course.
Perfect for beginners. Become proficient in strumming, rhythm and chord changes on the ukulele, improving your skills while learning actual songs.
Remember to enter the coupon code THANKFUL upon checkout to save 40% off.