The Rodeo

I have been asked by Kim and Jason to take part in their Adultitis Escape Plan, a 40-day plan to become more childlike (not childish) and to reduce stress and prevent dullness, depression and [insert another word beginning with 'd' here]. Of course I’m gonna do it.

Dreary-ness, that begins with ‘D’.

The first task set was a fairly simple one: Spend at least 15 minutes immersing yourself in a field you know nothing about.

Sounds easy enough doesn’t it?

I think I spent nearly 2 hours trying to figure out what I didn’t know anything about. I was going to read up on French art history (really!) when Jen suggested I learn how to play the ukulele we bought Mat for Christmas.

So while Jen slipped into the bath, I started investigating the Ukulele. Did you know that ukulele means jumping flea? If you visit a site with that name (no, I won’t link it ) you will find lots of information on ukuleles presented by a hawaiian girl in a pink hibiscus bikini. I didn’t spend much time there. Rather, I went to Ukulele Lesson and the much more user-friendly The Uke which had a three minute learn-to-play-the-ukulele lesson, and a four minute lesson. I took both.

So after twenty (not seven… I’m a slow learner) minutes, I learned how to tune a ukulele (it’s not the same as a guitar – the strings are A-E-C-G, and they aren’t in pitch order), and the tuning gets lost very quickly (espescially since Mat’s uke is a cheap one).

I also learned how to play a C chord and a G⁷ chord. Together these make for very little song playing.

My final lesson learned was that I have very fat fingers (I actually already knew this – I find it hard to type fast because my fingers generally mash multiple keys at once) and that I am not built for playing the ukulele. I might try learning a few more chords so I can play some stuff for Matthias and Jen (who isn’t a fan of my uke skills as they stand), but I think on the whole I would much rather stick with my great bass guitar. One note at a time, with huge spaces between frets, is great for my chubby fingers.

As for immersing myself in something entirely new, I think that was a success.

RodeoClown: can play two chords on a ukulele, which he couldn’t this morning

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