5 Bad Chord Habits To Break Today ~ Chord Mistakes My Students Make
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Greetings from Okinawa! In today's video I am going to share with you the mistakes I see on a DAILY basis in my music classroom. Every day 60-75 kids come to my class and play ukuleles, so these are the mistakes and bad habits I see most frequently.
Obviously, my students make more than 5 mistakes, so if you would like me to make more videos like this, let me know in the comments below and I will gladly do it!
Alrighty... here we go.
0:26 So the first mistake that I see is that fingers and strings don't meet in the right place. Naturally, we want to use the bed of our fingers to play the ukulele, but that doesn't leave much room for other strings to ring!
If you physically CAN NOT play with the fingertips, it may be because of habit #5... and habit #5 is VERY easy to fix!
I know I spent A LOT of time explaining mistake/habit number 1 in this video, but that's because it's the one I spend more time on in the classroom! If I can get a student to play with the TIPS of their fingers, anything is possible!
2:01 The next mistake I see is that students have their fingers accidentally touch the next string (either with their nail or their finger), and it creates a buzz, a high-pitched sound, or it mutes the string altogether.
2:57 The third mistake that most students make in the beginning is twofold... on one end, students thumbs are all over the place. In order to avoid this, I have stickers on the back of the ukulele so that ALL of my students place the thumb in the same place. On the other end students don't SQUEEZE the string hard enough for it to ring beautifully.
3:54 Bad habit #4 is muted strings due to long sleeves, jackets, sweaters, hair, jewelry, shall I continue?! Students will look at me with a frustrated look wondering why their ukulele doesn't sound right. After rolling up their sleeves or moving
5:07 Bad habit and reason #5 why chords don't sound good... LONG NAILS on the fretboard hand. This is the most frustrating habit because it's not like I can cut my student's nails, you know?! That is not something I can change or control!!! Luckily, this is a mistake you can avoid. Keep the nails on your chord hand short and you'll see just how much easier it is to play with the fingertips.
For those of you who are new to my community... Hi! I'm Ms. B and I'm an elementary music teacher. I teach grades K, 1, and 2 and in my classroom we play ukuleles every day.
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Bernadette Etcheverry
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Hi! My name is Ms. B and I am a happy teacher working abroad. I love technology, I love learning more about the ukulele, and I love helping beginners.
I hope you found value in my video. Please let me know if there is a video I can make that will help you.
I'm getting ready to teach my parents Ukulele in two weeks, awesome beginner videos, good stuff.
Aww yeah!!! It’s gonna be so fun!!! You should have them watch Diana’s video so they can see what it’s like to be a beginner 😆
Already guilty in the first mistake :")
Thanks a lot Mrs.B!
It’s okay, Ananta :) the fact that you’re aware of it means you can fix it!
I’m 44 and learning the Ukulele for the first time. I’m finding your videos to be more than helpful, I am going to keep looking through your videos to see what more tips I can find. Especially about transitioning between chords. Thanks so much for sharing these.
I knew nibbling off my Fingernails would be of use someday! :D
(Don't do it guys, really bad habit and doesn't look nice)
I have really bad anxiety so I’m always biting my nails.
I was this close hating the G chord at first but now it’s like my favorite one. Though now I hate the D chord because most of the time the last string is giving me that cracky noise /o\
Perhaps I should find a hamster and practice with it 🤔
Thanks for the tutorial!
Hahahaha "House for a Hamster!"
When I tried correcting the flat fingers mistake, I realized that the tip of my nail was limiting me - was wondering if you would mention that and then... confirmed! Thanks, from the outside looking in at uke players, you wouldn't think that they'd have to be so careful about their nails.
Hey! Nice to meet you :)
Yes, nails are a BIG limiting factor, especially because some students refuse to cut theirs! Manicures over ukuleles for some, lol ;) -you see this mostly in middle school. Thankfully my elementary students bite their nails off as soon as they hear that they'll play better without them.
Glad this video helped you! Hope to see you again in the comments ;)
Oof i never realized that my long nails are the problem the whole time i thought it was the ukelele’s fault 👌
The nails being shorter will help!!! Keep me updated ❤️❤️❤️
🤣🤣
I DIDNT MAKE ANY OF THE MISTAKESSSSS
I'm also low-key being proud about my hands being calloused though fidbdkbdksbdks
I am HIGH KEY proud of your calluses!!!
I NEED A VIDEO LIKE THIS FOR BARRE CHORDS SHSJNDR
let me do some research on the barre chord front. I don't use them a lot with my babies because they're sooooo entry-level in K, 1, and 2.
Every time I lift my fingers to switch chord, the action of lifting fingers create a sound. Can you share any tip to improve this, please?
That's actually a technique called pull offs! It's mainly used for finger picking, and it just takes practice to switch the chords fast enough so you dont hear the sound:)
Thanks for sharing Bernadette. Finger placement is very important.
Thank you for your support, Dan! Always!
Thank you so much for this concise and helpful video! Although many people do "Mistakes" videos, I think yours is quality because you go straight to the point, you make it brief, you show visually where the problem is immediately after you identify and you don't bore the shit out of a beginner by talking too much. Really good video editing! Kudos!
I am a beginner. I just got my first Ukulele which is my first instrument except for playing a piano as a child and teenager. Thank you for this! I would love to see more of what not to do! I do not want to create bad habits out of ignorance although I'm sure I will anyway! lol
Your lessons are great. Thank you!
Hi Susan! 👋🏼
We are currently doing a 30 day ukulele challenge and I teach the good habits and talk about how to break bad ones through the video series. You can check it out here
czcams.com/play/PLJFa3EaocfZncpdhCRBCF302yIHnaRxOq.html
thanks so much! I teach a small ukulele class at my school and this video literally help all my students fix something they were doing wrong! thank you thank you thank you! they way described it was so much better than I could have!
Hey Rabbi!!! Email me if you ever want to network on ukulele teacher stuff. I’m sure I have a lot to learn from you too and we can share ideas 💡
I’m in the 30 day challenge, and just watched this video. Very helpful reminder!
Hi Barbara! Good luck with the 30 Day Challenge!!! 👏
You have such long fingers, when someone has shorter fingers, it's more challenging :(
It's actually not. I used to think the same thing when I tried to learn Emaj. It just takes repetition, and proper thumb/wrist placement to spread your fingers in ways you're not used to. It's difficult to explain, but it will begin to feel more natural in time. Just keep practicing! :)
Buy a soprano ukulele.
It's so hard to play in the winter. I'm always hearing sleeves and it's constantly muting my strings.. Grr!
😂😂😂
Wonderful advice - thank you! I especially liked the Lego analogy. 👍🏼
Hey there! Hope you're alright! Lovely lesson. Really enjoyed it. You're a really gifted teacher. :)
Hey, long time no see! I'm great, how are you? I was browsing your videos the other day and admiring how many views you have 👏👏👏
I know! I've been so busy. I'll check up on your channel more often, I promise. Good to hear you're fine! I am as well, thanks. Yeah, some of my videos are doing quite well. I'm really happy about that. I started uploading new drum loops by the way with rhythmic changes. I'm also gonna start a new metronome series soon. You might be interested in them, I don't know. Your channel's doing amazingly well! Loving your subscribers count. Congrats on all your success! 😊😊
Thank you so much for this video!!! I went and cut my nails at mistake number 1 and instantly noticed a difference with using my tips.... and then got to number 5 and it made so much sense!
One mistake I have done several times when performing is leaving my tuner on the headstock. And though it’s not a good habit; I forget. But the battery in some tuners rattle with the bass from the ukulele. And when using an acoustic ukulele with a microphone; it can sound buzzy. At least for me haha. Great video!
Oh, I agree with you! I’m going to make sure I don’t leave the tuner on the headstock on my newest ukulele! It’s a high gloss one and I want to take care of it.
Hi, Bernadette! I got a ukelele for my birthday, and the first set of videos that I came across was your 30 day uke challenge. I'm so thankful you make videos because you're an excellent teacher. I really appreciate how thorough you are with your explanations.
~Hallelujah chorus~ This has saved me a lot of frustration! Gracias :)
😆😆😆 love that!
I've only just started the Uke and want to say your lessons are absolutely brilliant. Thank you.👏
Ann, thank you so much! You don’t know how much I appreciate the comment and the fact that you took the time to write to me.
Keep me updated on your progress, don’t be a stranger ;)
ah thank you so much! i kept on getting frustrated when my strings were muted. my fingers were very flat because i have long nails ( im quite lazy to cut them ) so thank you
You just made my school day a lot less boring haha I love your videos and also, I cannot play ukulele with long sleeves at all I fee like I don't have a good grip on the ukulele and it slips!!
😆😆😆 thank you!
Bernadette,
I received a baritone ukulele for Christmas (a requested gift!). I have watched a number of your videos, some multiple times, and enjoy them. I also am impressed by your attention to many subtleties of play, which easily confound the beginner, that other online sources fail to address. Do you have a 30 day challenge, or something similar, for the beginner baritone uke player? I have learned much general info/technique from your non-baritone videos, but would like to try an organized approach to learning the baritone uke. Thanks for the help and keep up the good work.
My god, you are the funnest uketeacher EVER!
I'm a beginner (i play uke for 2 months now) and i never did any of these mistakes. I'm kinda proud now :)
Thanks I was making those mistakes I just bought the uke today and I thought it was hard to play but it didn’t work cause I was making one of the mistakes in your video thank you so much
you are a LIFE SAVER . THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I've just bought a ukulele and your tutorials are very, very helpful. I've already learnt how to play a song following your advice. Thank you so much.
Love from Macedonia
I wish I could have taken classes from you, when we lived in Okinawa. Thank you for the videos! They are very helpful.
When did you live here?!?!
So well-explained!! I wish higher education teachers could teach that clearly
I was facing the same problem thank you so much for helping me out
Pretty nice tips ! I bought an Ukulele last week and decided to learn on my own so that kind of tips are really, really, useful ! Thank you!
Welcome to the Ukulele Family, Karim :)
Glad you liked this video.
As a complete beginner, This has helped me tremendously ! Your videos are truly a blessing ! You’re a great teacher ! Just started with your 30 day uke challenge too and I’m loving it ! Lots of love from India ❤️
Thank you Ms. B. 👍 These are good examples. One bad "form" I made in the first week was tilting the ukulele upward so I could see my fingers to make sure I was playing the right chord and then having wrist pain. Also another "poor form" was not keeping my strumming wrist straight. Playing an instrument shouldn't be so painful afterwards, right?
Oh, these are great to share with the community! Thank you so much :D
LilBit AtATime Guilty!
Thank you, I do so many mistakes that I didn’t even realize😃😃😃👍👍👍
EXCELLENT Advice!!! Love it!!!!😍. Thanks “COACH”!!!!😍
I can't seem to get my strumming style down. I watched your video on strumming and you gave two options: thumb and first finger. But I've seen people strum with all their fingers. Do you have any suggestions on how to try out all of the strumming techniques to see which fits best. So far, I've tried everything and nothing really feels right except the thumb.
Just started playing Uke a week ago...can't put it down! This video was VERY helpful to resolve some of my cord issues! Thanx much
this helped me so much! i was playing g wrong because I had flat fingers, but on all my other chords I had tips and now it sounds right! thank you!
thank you the Lego hand trick helped so much!!!
to avoid hurting yourself, trim your nails shorter and then fill down the rest until you get to the desired length (shortness). After that, just give them a quick touchup filing every day or two and you won’t need to cut them again plus they will always be the ideal length. You only need to do one hand. Make it like brushing your teeth in the morning. It only takes a minute if you give it 10 seconds a finger
Just did playing ukelele but have to learn more.
This has helped me sm and overall ur account helped me sm i just started playing and its been a difficult process since i dont have any experience with instruments thank you :)
Can you do a video of mistakes for specific chords- like what are you doing wrong in the E, G7... chord where and how to properly place your fingers and so on...
hey! I have chord tutorials for each one of those chords ;)
I would love a video with tips on what not to do to improve my up-strum
I wish you were my music teacher 😂😊 mine only lets us play the recorder 😢
😿😿😿😿
When I was at school we had 3 violins for the whole school and I played with a broken recorder. It made me hate music for many years. I really wanted to learn the violin. Now many years later I can play guitar real well, and only just started learning the ukelele. Have been a secret George Formby fan for years
Better try and learn by yourself. I am. I watch these videos and learning ukulele. Sometimes, the wrong sort of teachers can kill the wish we have to learn. They are not good teachers.
The teacher in the group I tried to learn from seems more interested in booking her group to play at various venues. I credit her for doing so much charity work, but it's not a situation for a beginner like me.
Truuuu
Very many thanks, Bernadette! Is there anything we should or shouldn't know for holding down multiple strings? I do my D with one finger to allow for jumps to D7, and E is one finger holding strings G, C and E.
I liked it before watching it because All of your videos are my favorite and your voice is so sweet
you are seriously the sweetest. Thank you
It’s ALWAYS good to Review the Basics!!! Thanks “Coach”!!!😍
I do mistake 1 more than I thought. I’ll work on it👍
You’ll get a lot better when you fix this ;)
Yeah same I was wondering why my sound wasn’t right
Hi miss I’m sending this on my grandpas laptop but anyways I’m playing g chord and when I play it it mutes and even tho I’m doing on the tip of my finger please reply I need to know and I’m only a beginner so please help me out miss
So helpful! Thank you Bernadette!
Also another bad habit that I used to struggle with was every time I would switch chords I would stop strumming[this would happen to me on both ukulele and guitar]. I would do this because I needed time to "perfectly" place my fingers on the fretboard to play which ever chord.
Very good enjoy and learn so easily from your great videos. As you say other video go to fast to learn and retain. You are a great teacher.
I love these type of videos - I learn so much! It’s great :)
Thank you so much, Marie ❤️
Bernadette Teaches Music thank you ❤️
Hello Mrs Bernadette ,I am safia . And I am your big fan ...You help me very much about the ukulele but I don't have any idea what is "chord" and the alphabet of the chord and also I don't know how hold the strings . IT WILL BE VERY NICE IF YOU REPLY AND TRY TO MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT IT.
THANKS
Mrs.Bernadette
for your help
Thank you so much! I'm super excited to learn the uke, and our daughter, who plays guitar, is interested in learning, too. It's so valuable to learn correctly from the start, so I don't have to correct bad habits, later. You're fabulous!
This is amazing! I wish I would have had a music teacher like you in grade school! lol... instead i'm 30 years old (new to playing ukulele) and STILL found your video quite helpful! Thanks for sharing :) :)
Ms B. Great tips... Literally... Tips of fingers... Hehehe. But Mistake #5 is a big one for me as my nails grow so fast. I really have to pay attention to that one. Because mistake can turn into bad habits so quickly! Thanks for your videos!
Hey Rainey! What vitamins are you taking!?! I need some of those!!!
But if your nails grow really fast, you can carry a cute nail file in your case ;)
Bernadette Teaches Music I take collagen and drink bone broth everyday. I guess I could make a habit to file them daily. I did get a really cute diamond file in my stocking for Christmas.
Man! I'll have to start taking some of that! I'd love to have my hair growing faster :D
And yes, you'll have to file the left hand often. You can neglect the other hand's nails a little bit 🙃
Second upload of the day? Wow.
Nice tips. I will write these down and use them when I start teaching.
Yeah! I’m trying to get my five videos of the week out so I can work on my website and a few PDFs ;)
Alright. Upload one per day. Schedule the uploads :)
I thought I had! Must’ve gotten my dates mixed up 😆
ha ha.. ok :)
Love this learning video. Very generous of you. You give valuable tips without charging for them, unlike a book called 101 Tips for Ukulele.
I wash my hands and clean my nails before practicing to keep my uke fr picking up too much grunge. Again, love your fabulous tips. Will be watching for more mistakes and good tips❤️❤️
Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️
It's nice to hear from my virtual students 😉
I am a 68-year old retired courtreporter. So my fingers are pretty good in terms of strength. Someone joked with me saying I spent 25 years as a courtreporter so my hands would be ready to learn the uke.Merry Christmas!!!!
I always mess up on my g chord 😅 but now I know what to NOT do! Thank you!
You should take the 30 Day Uke Challenge!
So helpful! What part of the finger do you use when you need to play multiple strings at once with the same finger? My chords often get muted when I try to do this. Also should you be able to support the instrument with the strumming arm alone?
Thank you so much for making this video! Now I know why I can hear wrong music when pressing the chord, I was pressing it with the chunky part haha. And the rest are super helpful
Thank you for these reminders! Even though I think I'm past these mistakes I still find myself making them haha. I was wondering if you have any tips for not tapping the body of the ukulele while strumming? Often on my down strums I scrape the body with my fingernails and it definitely distracts from the overall sound of the uke. Thanks!
Can you send me a video showing me how you do this? I can give you better feedback if I can see it. What do you prefer? fb or insta?
I'll try to send one to your Instagram. Keep an eye out for a DM from @ tjbierle :)
responded!
Ya u teach good stuff I'm a beginner and I'm learning how to play the ukulele from your videos:)
and here I thought I had FAT FINGERS and was not destined to play my nice ukulele I just bought! Thank you sooooo much for this video it has helped a lot! Since I've never played a string instrument I have to get my fingers to accustom to play on the tips of them, should you ever feel any discomfort when training your fingers to play like that?
Well, you found this video, which means that you are destined to play the ukulele!!! Thank you for letting me know these videos do help! I’ll keep making them ;)
Thank you So much for your lessons, tury are Very helpful
I could not for the life of me figure out why my F always sounded muted, thank you! (I’m self learning at home)
I am new here, your videos are very helpful. I hope you can teach my daughter too. JK. Mabuhay from the Philippines 🇵🇭
You are incredible! From a fellow music teacher, thank you!
Hi Alayna!! Thank you so much! Music teachers have to boost each other up!
Let me know if you ever need video/PDF resources ;)
facebook.com/bernadetteteachesmusic
instagram.com/plazi
Another thing I found out about what not to do. Be careful of any buttons on your blouse or shirt or jacket. It can SCRATCH the back of your uke :(
Oh nooooo!
Well, a few scratches means the uke has not been sitting idle, lol.
Great lesson! Thank you.
Thank you, Stephen 🤗🤗🤗
How long should a person practice , a day, to get good on the ukulele?
Is it a bad habit to form cords with the wrong fingers? For instance, on a G cord, I always switch my middle and index fingers around. Idk why I do I think it’s just more comfortable.
I noticed my students not placing the ukulele against their stomachs but Placing the uke on their lap * always reminding them the proper way of holding the ukulele . Ms. B do you have any games or fun activities using the ukulele for elementary students ( in order for them to gain more practice)?
Hi Ana! I'm okay with ukes on the lap as long as the mouth of the ukulele is pointing out, not up... ukuleles have a way of defying gravity, you know what I mean? LOL
Have you seen the boomwhacker page? We do Pirates of the Caribbean for boomwhackers on ukuleles!
Let me know if you want the link ;)
Yes please ....
czcams.com/video/6OaZaqyZKyI/video.html
When I strum my ukulele it's sounds normal except the c string. It's fine when I strum it open c without pressing down on the frets but when I do it creates a buzz noise and I know it's not poor finger placing.
Great advice this - thanks
this is so helpful, thank you!
Thank you for this mam. I learned a lot.
Thanks,I'm glad to say I'm not making any of those mistakes. When making Bar Chords which seem to be harder,obviously their is no mouse hole. It is difficult to get them to ring clearly. Secondly,do you have any instructions or tips on thumb placement and how the thumb might move as we try to play different chords? Does the wrist also move and change it's position to accommodate different chords. My wrist aches but maybe that's because I'm a beginner and my wrist is being broken in the same way an athlete gets used to running?
Hi Paul,
would you send me a video of yourself playing? I don't need to see your face if you prefer to leave that out... I just need to see the ukulele and your hand. I'm wondering if you're hurting because of the way you are holding it or because of your injury.
You can send it to either of these
facebook.com/bernadetteteachesmusic
instagram.com/plazi
Thank you
CosmicAgate 86 😘
I did what you said on the first problem and I STILL cannot do the G chord. Please help.
Omg the ukulele ur using is so beautiful!
Thank you so much!
thanks for these lessons! nice!
I grew my nails really long during this quarantine and I love them💓 but I recently bought a ukulele and I wanna play but the nails give me trouble idk what to do!?🤷
Thanks for the tips! I hope when your channel gains more attention you won't forget yr older viewers dat are fans of you
Oh, stop it!!!! Come on :) you’ve been here a while... you know how much I care about you guys
I had a zipper on my sweater that made my ukulele sound awful. Same thing as the necklace you talked about.
I have all of them right besides number five. My silver bracelet is always in the way!
That was very helpful. Thank you.
really useful for newbies like me, any more be great. thanks for this vid
Such great stuff! Thanks :)
Super Helpful!!! thanks
Great! I'm so glad I'm not doing anything wrong :D I'm still a beginner, so I was a bit worried
Thanks this was so helpful 💙