Originally, as per my musical demonstration action plan, it was my goal to learn three songs by April when classes end. As I have aforementioned above, I have been practicing for two to three nights a week, depending on other classes homework assignments, for about an hour to an hour and a half. I find that spreading out my times to practice the ukulele is more beneficial than practicing for long periods of time. When I first began practicing, my fingers would get rather sore as they adjusted to the feeling of the strings and chords on the tips. I even find that sometimes when I began to play for too long, they can start feeling sore again, which is why I try to spread out my practices into short periods of time throughout the week.

Since my goal was to practice and learn three songs, I have been practicing the choruses for these songs rather frequently. However, I am only a beginner on the ukulele and to a musical instrument in general. I had not played a musical instrument since I was 14 (11 years ago) so learning the ukulele was a new concept for me. It took me some time (as I mentioned in my midterm blog posts) to learn how to hold the ukulele, learn the chords, and learn how to strum it. Because I am a beginner and had to learn the basic fundamentals of the ukulele prior to diving into learning music, it took away a lot of practicing sessions from learning actual songs. I would try to learn the songs that I chose out of excitement but felt rushed and felt that I was forcing it when I was still unclear on certain fundamentals of the ukulele itself. Because of this, I had to take my time and not rush when it came to learning various songs. I started just strumming and listening to the chords and what sounds they would make, while ensuring that my ukulele was always in tune. Although it took some time to develop my understanding of the basics of the ukulele, I did get around to learning the choruses of my three desired songs. It took me longer than anticipated because I wanted to ensure that I got the sounds down correctly, and I made sure that I put hard work and dedication into each one. Although I was very eager and excited to be able to play a song, I had to take my time. I would familiarize myself with one songs chorus rather well, and practice that for a few nights. Then once I felt familiar with the chords, I moved onto the next song, and so on. I found that this was a beneficial way of learning, because playing a song flawlessly each time was rather difficult, and I did not want it to hold me back. Therefore, I would practice each song’s chorus every so often so that I became familiar with each one. I took my time and would follow instructional YouTube videos of the songs, while listening to some verbally announce which chords. By taking my time and keeping my dedication high, I learnt the choruses to my three desired songs.