Practicing the ukulele, as with any instrument, is vital to improve. But as important as the amount of time spent practice is, it is even more important that you practice in the right way.
When people start to play any instrument, they often equate good playing with fast playing. This makes them very eager to play as fast as they can. This is a big mistake. Playing too fast, too soon will mean that your playing is sloppy and too prone to mistakes.
The Brain and Practicing
The brain works in a very specific way when it comes to practice. It's simple enough. The more you make a certain movement, the more easily the brain will make that movement in future. This simple fact has big implications for making your practice effective.
This idea means that playing the same phrase over and over until you get it right is not effective. If you play a phrase and make a mistake, it is more likely you will make that mistake the next time you attempt to play the phrase. In this case, practicing can be counter-productive. So how do you make practice effective and avoid this trap?
Play As Slowly As You Can
You absolutely need to slow down your playing as far as you can. Play so slowly that you can't possibly make a mistake. That means playing very slowly at first. It is important not to get frustrated at this stage. Each time you play a phrase correctly, no matter how slowly, you are laying the foundation for playing it correctly at full speed.
Keep the Rhythm Across Chord Changes
One of the most common mistakes you see amongst beginners is in their chord changes. They will often strum along at full speed, reach a chord change, stop completely while they change chords, then head off at full speed. This is not an effective way to play.
You need to slow down so that you can change chords whilst maintaining a steady rhythm to the strumming. Don't worry about how slow this means you have to play at first. When you are learning a new chord change, it will take time before you can change smoothly. But once you do, it will be under your fingers whenever you need it next.
