My goal for Week 7 & 8 (from my growth plan):

  • Focus on the song “I’m Yours”
    • Learn strumming pattern (down, up, down, up, down)
    • Practice strumming pattern with 4 chords (Am, G, C, F)
    • Combine the chords and strumming and focus on playing at the correct tempo

The learning process for the song “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz came quite easily to me. I was already familiar with the chords (Am, G, C, F) from the song I played for my midterm demonstration (Riptide, by Vance Joy), so all I needed to focus on was changing the strumming pattern and the order of the chords. Since I had the chords memorized, I was able to just pick up my ukulele and play the song! I found the strumming pattern (down, up, down, up) really easy, so I worked on adding some emphasis to the chords to make the song a bit more challenging. This is the strumming pattern I attempted, the small letters are when I played the chord quietly, whereas the capital letters are when I added some emphasis: duDuduDudu.

After a couple of days of practicing with that strumming pattern, I found a tutorial on YouTube that demonstrated a new strumming pattern and some ways to make the song more dynamic. Here is the video:

This video had the strumming pattern of down, down, up, up, down, up. It also added a fifth chord to the song, which is D7. Here is what the D7 chord looks like:

I found the original strumming pattern for this song too simple, even with the added emphasis. So, I decided to switch it up and try with this new strumming pattern. At first, it was really tricky. I needed to focus and say the downs and ups in my head as I was playing it. During these first few weeks, this new strumming pattern was the hardest for me to become familiar with and it took a lot of practice. However, I felt it was worth the extra practice to have more of a challenge!

Another thing I liked about this video tutorial was the variation in the song. The entire song follows the pattern of C, G, Am, F, with the strumming pattern D DU U DU. But for the interlude, it goes C, G, Am, G (one strumming pattern for each chord), and then F (play the strumming pattern twice) and then D7 at the end (strumming pattern played once). It is really fun to change it up. It makes the song more challenging, but also more enjoyable.

After one week of practicing, “I’m Yours”, I felt that I was pretty comfortable with the song and ready to start learning “Like I’m Going to Lose You”. The strumming pattern is really simple, as it is just down, down, down, down. I was already familiar with 3 of the chords (Am, F, C), but I needed to learn a new chord of Em. This chord was super challenging for me, as it was difficult to avoid placing my fingers on all the strings, as opposed to the specific strings needed for the chord. Over the next few weeks, my goal was to get comfortable with the Em chord!

Here are the goals I set for the next few weeks:

  • Work on the chord Em
  • Change up the strumming pattern for “Like I’m Going to Lose You” (the current strumming pattern is a bit too easy)
  • Continue working on “I’m Yours”