I often joke that my mantra is “Better five minutes a day, every day, than an hour once a week.” In fact, I suspect a few people roll their eyes and think, “There she goes again.” But there’s a reason I say it so often.

          Playing your `ukulele (or any instrument) is really all about muscle memory. You want your fingers to get to the point where you can move smoothly from one note or chord to another practically without thinking about it! And that can only happen with repetition.

          Sitting down for a marathon hour-long practice session the day before your jam session or class (and come on – we’ve all done it!) is like cramming for a test. You may ace it the next day, but how much do you remember a month, or a year, or many years later? We want to train our fingers until they know their ‘routine’.

Say you’re learning a new song, or a new chord. Leave your `ukulele where you can grab it easily. Next time you walk past, pick it up and play it for a few minutes. Do it again later – for just five minutes. Keep that up every day. You’ll find that after a while your fingers are ready to get into that first chord position almost before you realize it. And that’s what you want! You want your fingers to use their memory. And they will, with just five minutes a day!