(Originally written 19/3/20) – KAME Chord task : “The new set of strings… or about how I plan to learn to play the ukulele”

~ mitchelljamesdavis

Under the current circumstances, our learning here at the Sydney Conservatorium is now online. As such, music ed students have been given the opportunity to fulfil a task normally given to us in a later class. The task is to learn a chord playing instrument that we do not already play. As a guitarist, the choices are piano/keyboard or ukulele. While I do plan to learn keyboard in the near future, the ukulele is a more convenient option especially with the current day by day changes in our communities. 

I managed to purchase a ukulele from a music store close to home. Learning an instrument without a live teacher, instead from written or online sources and listening to records is something I am familiar with. My first year of guitar playing was through listening to Malcolm and Angus young of AC/DC, and the tab books made for their rock and roll masterpieces. James mentioned some options for online such as Justinguitar (Justin Sandercoe) of whom I am a fan of, as he creates engaging content for guitarists that I personally have used many times. I will definitely be exploring his ukulele instructional material. James also mentioned lynda.com has a free option for Sydney uni students, which I will also explore. I look forward to the challenge of learning an instrument from scratch once again.

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Published by mitchelljamesdavis

Mitchell Davis is currently a music education student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, born in 1997 in Sydney. Following a positive experience with music education in primary and secondary school combined with a personal interest in music as an art form and pastime, the decision to become a secondary school music teacher was naturally made. Complimentary to studying music education, Mitchell also holds ongoing experience working casually in a youth centre in his home town of Liverpool, New South Wales. After studying a Certificate IV in Youth Work, It was here that he initially found his confidence and appreciation for working with young people to achieve positive outcomes, predominately running various sport and recreational youth programs both in local Liverpool school environments and at the youth centre's facilities. Mitchell's specific area of musical expertise is in contemporary popular music. He is a guitarist and songwriter who enjoys genres such as heavy metal, extreme metal, hard rock, blues and pop. He has begun to write, release and perform his original music in order to gain greater experience in the world of contemporary music and give more value to his skills in becoming a music educator.

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