Learn to fingerpick your ukulele and join these happy students:
“I really enjoyed the lesson. You have great chemistry together and I really like how you can tag team to make a very happy and enjoyable lesson!“
“The open dialogue teaching approaches used in this course were exactly what I needed to begin fingerpicking. The ability of the instructors to answer questions in practical ways that are easily understandable for beginners was outstanding. I’m confident that practicing and mastering the exercises taught in this course provides me with the foundation I need to build my fingerpicking skills. As a bonus, the course was a lot of fun.”
“I am a better performer for taking this course. The familiar atmosphere and encouragement boost my confidence.
Thank you both!”
“This was the most fun I’ve had in a ukulele workshop. And, I got more out of it than I would have imagined. The exercises were tied together such that we could be successful week-to-week in continuous growth, but also challenging in the context of the musical pieces. I also like the short videos that supported the practice sessions. Looking forward to more!”
Your fingerpicking teachers:
What will I learn?
What will I learn? We are interested in blues and fiddle tunes, so that’s the music we teach. We help you learn to hear melodies and figure tunes out by ear, and help you hear the danceable rhythms that make blues and fiddle tunes so attractive and fun to play. Your thumb will learn to keep time like a bass player, while your fingers play melodies and chords.
Level 1 starts from scratch with 4 finger (thumb,index, middle, ring) picking basics, hearing melodies by ear and using solfege and the C scale to get melodies under your fingers while maintaining a 4/4 time note.
Level 2 moves on to alternating thumb and more syncopated melodies, assuming students can maintain a 4 beat thumb on less syncopated melodies. We’ll be using the keys of F and C in Level 2.
You can take Levels 1 and 2 anytime!
Levels 1 and 2 are available for you as video courses. Jim has edited the best of several sessions so you can learn when you want. We are not currently doing live classes, but we are here to answer questions as you work through the video classes and daily practice videos.
Format? Four one hour classes recorded from Zoom. You’ll have access to the recording of each lesson on Youtube . Plus every week there’s a 5-10 minute “Thumb Practice” video for you to play with every day. The course originally went for a month of Sundays, but you can work at your own speed. The picking hand goal here is to be able to keep time with your thumb while playing melody and chords of various degrees of syncopation with your fingers-yes- no more need for a late bass player or a snotty lead guitarist. Your access to these videos is forever-or until the end of society as we know it, whichever comes first.
Skill level? We can accommodate a variety of skill levels, (but not absolute beginners). For Level 1, you need to be comfortable with first position chords and able to keep time while changing them.
Questions?
$50 for 4 lessons and weekly practice videos. Access is eternal (or as long as there’s no internet apocalypse…)
PLEASE NOTE-After signing up, you’ll receive an email with password and login info within 24 hours. Be sure to acknowledge receipt of this email, so we know it’s not caught in your spam filter!