Make your Playing More Interesting by Doing It Your Way.
When I asked David Megarrity, aka Tyrone in the duo Tyrone & Lesley (read the interview here) about his ukulele playing style he said he’d never been asked that question and promised to get back to me about it.
It was said that, before taking on any new lab assistant, Albert Einstein would first take them for lunch. If they put salt and pepper on their food without tasting it first, they didn’t get the job.
Many people approach their ukulele playing just like those unwary lab assistants. More often than not players will attack a new song without any thought as to how a song ought to be played. Result: it gets played the same as all their other songs.
It often happens, while I’m demonstrating a playing technique, that most of the class will straightaway join in and play along without having heard what it is I’m trying to show them. That’s when I stop what I’m doing and give a brief discourse on how the most important part of playing music is knowing how to listen.
We are creatures of habit. But how can we expect our playing to be varied and interesting if we bang away on our instrument without first thinking, “How should THIS song be played?”
By simply asking that question the answers will come forward and show themselves. Interestingly the player’s level of ability doesn’t matter too much. Just taking a breath and consciously searching for sounds and techniques will cause ideas to come. This is how we become better players.
I’d like to share with you a little of what David told me about his process. I found it fascinating that his songs inform how he will play them. There is no single style or signature strum that he uses. Each song is individually considered.
He sent me the following thoughts about his picking and strumming choices in the songs on his new album Keepers. At first glance these notes may look unhelpfully brief but I think they offer an insight into what could be a new way of thinking for those of us who wish to improve our playing on our own terms.
Uke styles on the new Tyrone & Lesley album Keepers
You can listen to the individual tracks described below (at no cost) on the album’s Bandcamp page
David says,
“As Tyrone & Lesley we play 99% original music and think of genre or style as a pathway rather than a destination. The playing styles are often inseparable from the song writing. Here are some specific techniques used on Keepers:
Rolling, untutored arpeggios, approaching campanella? (song: Keeper)
Soft brushing finger-strums (song: This House Knows)
Pizzicato, damped with the heel of the hand plus a ‘skank’ (song: Canoe)
Gypsy jazz rhythm style ‘la pompe’ – slow to frantic, sometimes with fingernail. More often with plectrum. (songs: Walter Taylor, People In Love)
People In Love also has a ukulele lead break harmonised with double bass part – composed by Sam, which I had to learn.
A sort of spacious strumming, sometimes with light percussive elements (song: Queue)
A sort of rolling, clawhammer – adjacent chordal strum with hammer-on/pull offs incorporated (song: This House Knows)
General insights:
I often do several playing styles within one song.
Sometimes I do ‘lead breaks’, but I’m not a good improviser – the actual notes of the fretboard are like submerged steppingstones – I just leap in.
I use a lot of harmonics – sometimes to make a point, sometimes I throw them in when I’m feeling confident or want to communicate that the instrument, and by extension the audience, are in good hands.
I have been using fingers more than plectrum latterly.
The location recordings made me realise that we’re both listeners.
As player/performers, we’re also an intent kind of mutual audience. There’s ‘listening back’ while demoing or in the studio, but there’s ‘listening during’ while rehearsing, performing – that’s key.
Playing style is also related to the instrument you’re playing – the Bruko ukulele I used to play didn’t have much sustain – the Captain ukulele does. Maybe if I plugged-in to play I could then have more sustain and my technique might be different. However I love the acoustic sound of the uke, and what you might gain in clarity by plugging in, you lose in intimacy – it might work well for others, but not for me.
Some of my favourite pieces were invented when I was supposed to be doing something else or just relaxing. Playing on the verandah, or in the backyard while my son was bouncing on the trampoline.
When I broke my arm and couldn’t play for a few months I really missed it and realised how much it’s a fixture in my life.”
And back to Ralph…
What I think this tells us, is that even without being taught specific strums, styles or techniques it is possible, by following your own imagination, to make your music more varied and interesting. Listen to yourself, without self-criticism, and feel your way towards figuring out what you can add to your own music in terms of strum variations, note picking and moments of ‘no-chord’ silence.
And, should a modern-day Einstein suddenly decide to interview you for a job, you’ll be at least somewhat prepared.