music

My First Ukulele Cover: Free to Decide

Yay! I’m finally able to make a video of a Ukulele Cover!

Unfortunately, since my S1800 is broken, I used my old Nikon Coolpix L20. Also my lighting is pretty dark… or maybe because my face is just dark. XD

Urghhh… I really need to work on my strumming and singing. ~_~

Ukulele Frustration: Ukulele Lady

I’m actually a little frustrated that I can’t play this properly on my ukulele, and that I wasn’t able to play it during my office’s Hawaiian party. T_T

I even planned to bang on a Paiste cymbal after the performance.

I can’t seem to play a D-flat7 (or a Db7) on my ukulele. It’s still a little hard chord for me to do, kind of like my frustration with the E chord. My fingers are not that long, and it’s not that strong either. I’m having some problems doing a “barre” (or basically, barring or pressing all the strings down all at once) while pressing down on other strings as well. My left fingers need some major strengthening exercises.

Or maybe my hands are just not that well equipped for a Concert sized ukulele. Maybe they’d fit better with a Soprano Ukulele? Problem is, the Soprano Ukulele I found a few months ago, costs around P3,000… a Tennessee Soprano ukulele I believe. Maybe I can buy it during my summer bonus?

Early Morning Wake-Up Ukulele?

Is it so wrong of me to wish I could do something like this on my wood daybed frame at 5am in the morning? XD

Anyway, My Ukulele Obsession would’ve has reached new heights if I would want to play ukulele at such an early time. Every one in my house is still sleeping, and I’m probably going to wake everyone up if I do this.

I’m really beginning to enjoy playing the ukulele… it’s actually shocking since I’ve never really been so obsessed about something like this.

Don’t get me wrong. I still suck a little… I can’t sing for the life of me. And I just found out that there’s a strumming technique I can’t do (huhuhu T_T). But as far as being a beginner, I think I’m doing pretty good. Especially now that I’ve bought a decent beginner’s ukulele. Which I will tell you about some other time. XD

Not to mention I’ve just found someone here in Manila who sells D’Addario Ukulele strings! Whooot!

*So yeah… this is probably one of the reasons why I haven’t been blogging lately. My brand-spanking-new ukulele sounds positively AWESOME with D’Addario strings XD*

Hmm… maybe I’ll do this kind of early morning ukulele when I’m alone at home sometime. XD

ZenkX’s V-Log: My Ukulele

From Ukulele to Acoustic Guitar?

I am actually thinking of buying an Acoustic Guitar… probably just a cheap one for the time being, not like the expensive ones that need to be scanned by Honeywell Barcode Scanner.

It’s not that I don’t like the ukulele, I actually love it to bits. But the thing is, there are just some songs that don’t sound good on the Ukulele… like the “Huling El Bimbo”. It’s such a good song, but I personally believe that the song should be played a little more hauntingly. The ukulele makes any song seem so light-hearted, so it does not go quite well for a song like “Huling El Bimbo”.

Anyway, I actually tried playing my college bestfriend’s Classical Guitar before… I sucked at it. Hahaha! But I am willing to do it now. Call me trying to find my musical talent, since I suck at singing.

It’s going to be while before I can buy an Acoustic Guitar. Hopefully I can make a video of me playing it, although I haven’t actually made a video of me playing Ukulele yet. ~_~

Whatever Happened to the “Huling El Bimbo” girl?

This question came up rather randomly in my head. I’ve been very busy trying to read more now (especially The Hobbit book, since it’s coming out pretty soon), and during one of my lapses of reading I heard the Eraserhead’s “Ang Huling El Bimbo”.

Then I remembered the girl who was dancing in the video. I remembered her because she was so cute in that video. Quite an actress for such a young age.

Which made me realize, whatever happened to her? I don’t think she rose to stardom ever since that video was made. Which is quite a shame, really. For a few moments, this girl actually stole the show.

I’m actually learning to play this on the ukulele. It’s actually weird, since not as haunting in meaning with the ukulele. Maybe this song is reserved for the acoustic guitar.

Anyway, does anyone have any news about the girl? Or the woman in this video? This song and MTV won so many awards long ago, I hope they got a portion of the profits from this project, since it’s a really haunting video.

They don’t make music videos like these anymore. Sheesh.

A Beginner’s Opinion on the Ukulele

Well, it’s official. My finger tips hurt so much.

Pressing buttons on my keyboard right now is utter torture… well, not that much torture. I think I still prefer practicing my ukulele rather than being pulled on a medieval rack or something.

So here it is. Since I am practically too old to Buy Orbeez toys and/ or find new play things, I’ve decided to follow the advice of my favorite female artist, Amanda Palmer, and buy me a ukulele instead.

Suprisingly, it is just as hard as playing a guitar. I tried getting a guitar lesson from my college friends once, and it was horrible. The metal strings hurt, I can’t do picking so much, and I keep getting all the notes wrong.

I guess this means I’m a much better dancer than a musician… even though I may be a little overweight. ~_~

I bought the ukulele on a whim from my devilishly-persuasive conscience (I didn’t even think it was that possible XD). I was very, very enthralled with Amanda Palmer’s version of Creep (as seen in my past post), and I really, really, really wanted to try it. And now that I have it, it turns out that it still takes a lot of work.

I mean, sure, it took me an hour to get a few chords right, but after that, putting a song together is tough, even with a copy of the tablatures are nearby. ~_~”

Or maybe it’s because my pinky finger is way too weak. Anybody got any idea how I can remedy this? My pinky finger feels like it’s all bone and no muscle to press hard into the string.

Not to mention my strumming sucks eggs. ~_~

Anyway, this does not mean I give up though. It might hurt like hell, but I am absolutely loving it. I love it as much as I love to bellydance… which I haven’t been doing for a few weeks now because my Gym ID got lost (huhuhu). I just need lots and lots of practice. I’m actually loving it because… well, it’s the first time I’ve been able to make any music at all at any musical instrument.

So, back to the tablatures! Once I’ve rested my finger tips, though. ~_~

*Yes, this is my sweet, darling, black ukulele, with it’s soft case, tuner and my clear book of ukulele songs*

Amanda Palmer/ Ukulele Obsession

I am positively, absolutely, no-doubt-about-it, head-over-heels in love with this artist.

I even bought a ukulele (the same instrument she’s using) just so I’d be able to play it like her…

Obsessed much? Harharhar. XD

Bellydance Career? I Think Not.

No, I am not ready for professional bellydance, I think.

I’ve had three performances already. The 1st one on my mother’s birthday, the 2nd one on my gym’s Christmas Party, and the third one on my office’s Christmas Party.

And after all that, I have come to the conclusion that I am not ready for professional bellydance. XD

Don’t get me wrong, I love dancing. There is something about hearing the music out of the home theater speakers that make me just want to move, even though I might not move very well. It’s actually a great feeling. It’s like everything blacks out and all that’s with you is the music.

But still, I am not in par of other bellydancers. I have way, WAAAAAY lot more stuff to learn. I still haven’t mastered my zills, I haven’t done veils and veil pois and sword balancing… I can’t even do Rachel’s backbend. ~_~

I still have a lot of training and practice to do. I just hope my teacher at the gym would be more than happy to teach me. I think I’m really passionate about bellydance. ^_^

By the way, just in case you guys didn’t know, I’ve had 2 bellydance videos in YouTube. Click here to view my YouTube profile and see what other stuff I have in there. XD

Ukelele Obsession!!!

I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE UKELELE!!!!

All because of this woman. XD

I’ve heard that it’s only three to four chords. But I don’t have a ukelele… T_T

Remind me to buy one when I get enough money. XD