My action plan goal by March 1^st was to learn a short section of one of three above mentioned songs that I hoped to learn on the ukulele. I strived to also learn parts of the additional two songs, but it also took several hours to learn basics of the cords and strum effectively.

When I first started learning Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol on the ukulele, it was my first song to ever practice myself. Because I am a beginner, I made sure to provide myself with time to get my fingers adjusted to the chords as well as get comfortable with strumming. After several hours practicing the physical chord movements, I began to practice sections of the song. I found a well-demonstrated video on YouTube that demonstrated the song very well and easy to follow. The first part of the song is more of a finger-picking through the chords opposed to just a strum. Because of this, I just learnt the chorus of the song first to learn it by strumming. It took me longer than expected to learn the chorus because my fingers were getting used to the pressure on the tips of them by holding down the chords. I also realized that I was probably pressing too hard initially because I was trying to ensure that it sounded correct. I noticed that when I would play along with the instructional YouTube video, I could recognize what song I was playing rather well. However, when I would play on my own, it did not sound as good. In addition, it was difficult to maintain strumming properly while also singing and ensuring that I have the proper finger positioning and moving them throughout the song in a timely manner. It was definitely an adjustment by trying to multi-task singing, strumming and proper finger movement. I first tried to ensure that I had the chords figured out, and then tried moving my fingers through them quicker and quicker in my transitions. It was hard to do while not looking at my fingers, and often led to me having to start over. I tried to not get frustrated with this, but it took several hours of practice to be able to master. I also found that when the playing was going well, there was always one little thing off about each performance. Over several hours of practicing this songs chorus, it took a decent amount of time to be able to multitask these skills. It seemed easier said than done to be able to do. However, after several hours of practicing this same chorus over and over again, I believe that I have the chorus to this song figured out pretty well and can efficiently strum, sing and position my fingers accordingly. In regard to my other two songs, I will continue to practice their chorus’s now that I have the strumming and finger transitions figured out. Although each song is challenging in its own way, I believe that I now have the basics sorted out and will continue to practice to the best of my ability.

Below I have attached a video of myself playing the chorus section of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol on the ukulele in accordance with my action plan goal. Hope you enjoy!