Hey there. I’m not much of a songwriter. This is only the second one that I have ever written with the first being for the last challenge! So this is the first instrumental. It’s not much and it’s not very clean, but I thought that I would post it anyway. It’s variations on the C and Gm chords up and down the fretboard with arpeggios, hammer-ons, and strums throughout. This was my best attempt at using only 2 chords (with variations on them). I’ve been toying with it for a couple of weeks, but I just couldn’t come up with anything else to add to it. So…here it is.

Mike

Thanks for your answer. I’d love to hear you guys discuss it further on the podcast, but last night after posting my question, I began noodling around with various scales and I had that, “Aha,” moment where I realized that it’s the same scale pattern no matter where I start – just as you described above. I felt kinda stupid to realize that after posting the question. 🙂 That being said, I do need to memorize my fretboard and I also need to learn that if a scale starts higher on the fretboard, which notes correspond to that lower on the fretboard as well so that I can use the full range of the fretboard.

Thanks again!

Mike

OK. So I’ve been listening since before these song challenges started and I have always told myself that I ought to give it a chance. Well, I finally made myself do it. I’ve never written a song before so be kind. It was recorded with an iphone as that’s all that I have. The song is repetitive and very simple. F Dm Bb C (as called for) twice and then Gm C. I then threw in a little walkdown of the F scale at the end. I ended up going with the “leaving home” theme and couldn’t figure out a way to work “cheese” in with leaving home. Every time I tried it just sounded…well, cheesy. 🙂 So the song is about a guy who leaves home, then leaves home again, but eventually wants to come home. So without further ado.

Mike

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by mikhou.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by mikhou.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by mikhou.

marcg, thanks for chiming in. As to

What are you looking to improve on?

I really just want to be a jack of all trades type of player. I guess in my private lesson, I want Aldrine to say if he sees any obvious flaws in technique. For example, when I used to play Travis style picking with my guitar I used 3 fingers and a thumb, but with my uke I have gravitated to using a my thumb and index finger. Is that bad, good, indifferent? I’m wondering if I should focus more on 2 fingers and a thumb for smoothness, but then again, a lot of uke players pick primarily with their thumbs. So I’m really just looking for any obvious flaws that he sees.

I’m also working on a Jake song, but it’s not ready for publication yet, and I’m working on a chord melody version of Power of the Cross by Keith Getty.

End of the day, I’d like to be a jack of all trades player, who can strum and sing fun stuff, play instrumentals, play chord melodies, do whatever I want on the uke. My long term interests are learning more about playing improv after my knowledge of scales and chord theory catch up. Again, thanks for chiming in, and I’ll see you around.

Haha! After posting the video, I realized that I’m concentrating too hard to look happy! I really actually do enjoy playing the uke! 🙂

Mike