Consistent Practicing for Permanent Improvement

Do you want to learn to practice better? Do you want results when you work on something new? Well, we’ve developed a new membership program called Practice Makes Permanent to address these goals. In this membership program, you’ll get guidance on how to practice consistently and mindfully. You will have a permanent improvement in your ukulele skill.

To show you how it works, we thought showing my consistent practicing would be helpful. Over a period of several weeks, I have used the same charts I created for you. In my videos, you can see how consistent, slow practice creates improvement over time. I may be working on harder music, but the principle is the same. Consistent and mindful practicing makes permanent improvement.

Jenny’s Practicing Videos

I hope these videos will show how improvement is hard to detect when you’re doing it. But if you record over a period of 3 to 4 weeks and listen back to how you sounded at the beginning, you can hear growth. Journaling about what works and what doesn’t is helpful too. Marking things off on a chart, to keep you on track works wonders!

I recorded three different songs or etudes. The first song was a fingerpicking etude that moves up the neck of the ukulele. Here is my progress over 4 weeks on this etude. An etude is a study that works on something that is hard. It’s supposed to teach you how to get better at that technique.

Fingerpicking Etude

Watch videos of me practicing this 4 measure phrase over the course of 4 weeks. It takes a while, but daily repetitions build competence.

Spanish Fandango – Working on the “Hard” Part

Then, I worked on “Spanish Fandango.” I only recorded the hard part for you. Watch here to see my progress over 4 weeks.

Spanish Fandango is a beautiful piece from the classical guitar tradition. It is composed by Henry Worrall and arranged for ukulele by N.B. Bailey.

Spanish Fandango Performance

After practicing the fast part at the end A LOT, I could play the whole piece. Enjoy!

“Ain’t She Sweet” and “Five Foot Two”

I am also working on learning chord melodies. Enjoy my progress over four weeks ans I learned these two songs. 

Using Practice Charts and Journaling Helps a Lot

I used charts for 4 weeks and made videos at the end of each week. I also recorded my thoughts about my progress (or lack thereof LOL) in a journal. Here is a picture of my practice chart and journal.

The Practice Makes Permanent Program gives you charts and journaling questions to guide your practice.

Jenny’s Consistent Practicing Journal Entries

7/2/2021

“Ain’t She Sweet” and “Five Foot Two” are getting better. In “Five Foot Two,” there are some mistakes and it is too slow. I’ll record in a week after I’ve practiced it.

In Spanish Fandango, a lot of the notes are unclear, because the finger is not close enough to the fret. I’ll keep working as described above and review progress in a week.

7/4/2021

Practiced everything on the chart. Took 30 minutes. Did fun stuff at night before bed. (Blues and Ukulele Book)

7/5/2021

Practiced everything on the chart. Found this link for “Spanish Fandango.” Had to do the 16ths at 50% speed. Can play the rest of the song at tempo. Bookmarked the link for tomorrow. Practicing with the YouTube video was helpful. I could hear if I got it right and I could slow the music down a lot.

7/10/2021

Since my playing was so sloppy on “Spanish Fandango,” I’m going to practice it at a tempo where I don’t mess up. I won’t try to go any faster until I know it better. “Five Foot Two” and “Ain’t She Sweet” are coming along well, so I’ll play these songs at moderate speeds to maintain them. The Etude is getting better

7/11/2021

It would be great if I could add singing to “Five Foot Two” and “Ain’t She Sweet.” That makes them more interesting and is an added challenge. I know “Five Foot Two” a lot better. The etude is improving. “Spanish Fandango” is too hard. I’m going to practice it at moderate tempos only, so I don’t learn sloppy habits. Go slow to go fast.

7/12/2021

I went through all the songs on the chart. I figured out new inversions of chords for “Ain’t She Sweet” for singing and memorized the lyrics. “Spanish Fandango” is getting better.

Practice Makes Permanent Program

• Teaches you how to practice

If all these practicing tips interest you, find out more by going to our new membership program. We call it the “Practice Makes Permanent Program.” We’ll teach you how consistent and mindful practicing makes permanent improvement.

•  Gives you practice charts and a journal

Each lesson comes with a practice chart and Questions for Reflection. These charts and questions will help you to do what I did to learn my music better. When you plan your practice and reflect on it, you make progress. Remember, consistent and mindful practicing makes permanent improvement. Good luck!