"Who Am I, Who Are You?" : FAWM

Who Am I, Who Are You?

18 hours ago by @wynia

Liner Notes

I got a new instrument on the 1st of September - a baritone ukulele! I'm joining the FAWM Ukulele Club #fuc ! I have never played a string instrument before. So...apologies for the entirely amateur technique. I thought the #uglytrack challenge was the perfect opportunity to test drive my beautiful new friend.

What's the #uglytrack challenge? Hat tip to @catmisgivings for the encouragement to just get it out there! The details:

Write a song. Write it fast! Do it now.

Record it in #onetake whatever way you can (phone voice memo, anyone?) 2, Post it and tag it #uglytrack

Check, check, and check!

This song is about, um whatever, and all sorts of everything, especially that AI is skidmarks #AIisSkidmarks

Lyrics

Who Am I, Who Are You

Who am I? Who are you? Faces all around Can’t even move

What is real? What’s to do? Trying to keep up And I only lose

Why try so hard when all’s in disarray Spirit unopen Hope dies away

I’m still here awaiting Is anything changing?

When is now? When it’s through Will we recognize Anything true

Where to go? Where is new? Artificial skids Marking us too

Why try so hard when all’s in disarray Spirit unopen Hope dies away

I’m still here awaiting Now everything’s changing

Comments

@joeycyclone 2h

Hang on now, surely there’s some AI trickery going on here… you’ve only had the uke for two weeks??!! Wonderful musicianship, can’t wait to hear where your ukulele journey takes you. Beautiful vocals too

@wynia 2h

I hope that's a compliment lol! No Ai, absolutely not! I've been fortunate that my son who is also learning uke is very into playing around with it a lot! It's also not my first instrument (fourth or fifth depending on how we are counting my various horns), so I'm sure that helps greatly!

@edwinb 5h

Sounds lovely to me! And surely the best way (or at least the most fun way) to learn a new instrument is to write songs with it. That muscle memory won't take long to develop :). And there's some really nice sounding chords in here. It's always fun to experiment like that. I think I spotted a DMaj7...

@wynia 2h

From the baritone uke master, this is a great compliment! I'm excited to see where this sweet lil instrument takes me!

@alyxanderjames 6h

This is exactly why I keep a lot of instruments around that I barely know how to play -- they're great for getting me out of my comfort zone and I often find really fun sounds by just seeing what happens when I put my fingers here? 😀 (This is also just a fun thing about fretted instruments in general -- you can tune them differently and suddenly it's a whole new instrument!) This is a really lovely song, I love the unresolved questions throughout. And your melody is gorgeous!

@wynia 2h

Isn't it true, it's more likely you'll fiddle with something for a few mins here and there if it's just out! My keyboard has been the beneficiary of that ever since moving into our living room, and now the uke will join it! :) Thanks for your compliments on the song!

@ductapeguyTEAM 9h

What a beautiful, haunting song. And you are definitely on your way with the ukulele.

@wynia 7h

Thank you!! This means a ton coming from a uke teacher! I appreciate your kind words and encouragement

@frenchcricket 9h

First time on uke, immediately pulls out the spiciest chords 🤌🤤

Sounds amazing! I really like how dreamy and otherworldly it is. You have crafted a gorgeous melody here.

@wynia 7h

Thank you thank you thank you! Your compliments mean a lot, especially the chords. Problem is I don’t know what any of them are past Am and Em 😆 I had a vibe I was going for and noodly noodly helped me find the mystery sounds! I like them, and I probably should consult some Internet source to figure out what they are, so that I can use some of them again in the future

@sapient 10h

Well I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and already you play a uke better than me! Chapeau! Hoorah for just jumping in and getting it done, and darn, IT'S GOOD! 😁

@wynia 7h

Aah thank you, this is so kind and encouraging 🥹🥹🥹🥹

@andygetch 17h

I love this lyric. The melody is so beautiful and somber at the same time. While pausing for chord changes and a slow temp go with (as shared) learning a new instrument, I otherwise would not have guessed that and considered the pauses to one for dramatic effect. To me, the sparse playing and slow arpeggios allow the vocal melody to shine!

@wynia 7h

Awe this is a huge compliment, thank you so much! This encourages me greatly to keep going with the instrument for sure. To be fair I don’t have much of a choice, one of my kids is learning the ukulele, and we got me one too so that we could learn alongside each other other, since I would likely be supervising his practice times anyway! My kiddo is so excited about learning the instrument, it’s hard for me not to feel that enthusiasm too!

@nancyrostTEAM 18h

Some really haunting chords - lovely! I love hearing the cool stuff that comes out of learning a new instrument.

@wynia 8h

Thanks Nancy! I don’t know what any of them are besides the Am and Em at the start, they were all discovered by noodling chance. It is exciting in many ways to be a beginner, all the pressure is off!

@whispermouse 18h

Whoa whoa whoa, piano is a string instrument 😂

Nice job on the challenge, "Artificial skids / Marking us too" sent me.

Welcome to the #fuc!

@wynia 8h

Hahaha fair enough on the piano although my own personal keys instruments are both electronic. I should have said “fretted” instruments!! Glad to impart a little levity to the otherwise song-of-lament with the skids 🙃

@val 18h

Good for you learning a new instrument! You are doing so good for what, 2 weeks playing? That's great! Pretty somber lyrics, but it's a lovely melody. But you're right anyway, everything IS changing, and it's changing fast. The world is an absolute roller coaster right now.

@wynia 8h

Thanks so much for your kind words and for listening! I’ve been pulled along into learning uke by one of my kids, who also got his own instrument, and has been SO excited the last few weeks to play. It helps to have a buddy, makes the learning easier 😃

@nickweisenfels 18h

It seems like it's going well enough. =) Even considering the #uglytrack challenge. I'm not offended.

@wynia 8h

Haha thanks! It helps that I have a child in the house who is learning at the same time and I am hitching along for the ride

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