A-Chording to Cynthia | September 2022 Patron Newsletter (Patreon)

{Patron-only post: please click through and heart this post so I know you've seen it, thank you!}

Aloha, Patrons!

September is here, and here in the States, as we celebrate our end-of-summer holiday, there is a distinct feeling of change in the air. 🧡 Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer/winter holidays and has taken some time to rest and recharge - as i always say, practice your ukulele 5 minutes a day, it's good for your brain and good for your soul!

A special welcome to all the New Patrons who've recently joined us!  Please introduce yourself in the comments: I'd love to hear how long you've been playing, what kind of uke you play, if you have a group to play with, what songs you've been working on, or anything else you'd like to share.  

There's a lot of info here on Patreon, so take some time to look around and check out our Welcome Guide / FAQ post. For additional help, join our Patron-only Facebook group (be sure to answer BOTH membership questions) or post your question on the Community tab here on Patreon. See the bottom of this post for more resources to get started in our community.   We're so happy to have you here!

Community announcements

🦄 **NEW** Navigating Patreon with Jenny, 9/15 - For anyone who's asked the question "How do I find X song on Cynthia's Patreon?", join us for a special live session where Community Manager Jenny Selig will demonstrate how to use the handy Cynthia Lin Song Index to find lessons and videos.  This session will be live on Zoom as part of our regular Pre-Lesson Zoom Social, and will be available to all Patrons ($1+).  We'll start at 4:45pm PT with a meet and greet for folks who can join the Zoom Room, and at 5pm PT Jenny will screen-share a guided walk-through of the Song Index tool, and then open up the chat for Q+A and wrap up before the Live Lesson at 5:30pm PT.  The Zoom session will be streamed and recorded on YouTube, and will be available for replay at your convenience.  Details and links are coming in a separate post.  Hope to see some new faces at the Zoom Social, and thank you to Jenny for leading this session!

💃🏻 Intro to Hula Workshop #2, 9/22 - I'm very excited to welcome back Uncle Allen for another bonus Hula lesson.  This time he will be teaching a beginner-friendly hula for Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love."  We will warm up and review some hula basics before learning the dance.  If you'd like, refresh yourself and watch the first Intro to Hula workshop, where Uncle Allen taught "Pearly Shells."  The Hula workshops are available for $20+ tiers (be sure to change your tier, not just your pledge).  Just a reminder that you will only be charged for the difference in upgrade, and if there's ever an issue, send a message to patronhelp@cynthialin.com, and we can easily issue a refund.  Details below in calendar, link will be sent the day before the workshop.

5️⃣ 5@5 with Abe - My uke brother and bandmate Abe Lagrimas, Jr. has recently moved back to Oahu (yay!) and joined me for 5@5 a couple weeks ago.  Patrons might like to check out our impromptu attempt at the full Stairway to Heaven. You can also play along with our duo version of Both Sides Now, which was last month's Live Lesson (now available for all Patrons).

Notes from the Creative Journey:  How do you deal with frustration?

Lately, I've seen comments from Patrons and fans on YouTube expressing frustration in a lesson or song being too hard. I'd like to break down this topic, because the creative journey is full of challenges, and it's important to learn how to navigate around frustration and keep moving forward.  I'd love to get your feedback as well.  How has frustration gotten in the way of your learning, and how did you overcome it?  While I'll specifically talk about the creative journey, I think these lessons apply to all parts of our lives.

Frustration vs Expectations: First, frustration is a natural, personal, and internal feeling of things not working out the way you expected.  I think "beginner's luck" has more to do with the fact that we have no expectations when we try something new.  It's fun to try ukulele.  When you play your first chords, you experience the joy of creating music for the first time.  But as you get further along in your journey, you may have consciously or sub-consciously set expectations for yourself.

Perhaps you're watching a live lesson, and it's going way over your head.  You think, How come everyone else is getting it?  Or you're practicing and practicing and it still doesn't meet your expectations. You might feel a sense of shame, or disappointment in yourself, or wanting to give up. (Honestly, in the middle of every recording project, I've felt like giving up. And it's not until years later that I understand what I was battling, in terms of ego, artistic identity, some feeling of needing to be "better".)

You are not alone - we have all experienced this, and I believe the creative journey may have more of these up and down cycles than other paths in life. Why? Because, on the creative journey, only you and you alone can guide your own personal growth.  As a teacher, I could hold your hand through learning ukulele but I'm not interested in that - I'd rather help you develop the patience and awareness to meet these moments of frustration and decipher the next step that's best for you in your journey.

Permission to Fall / Permission to Fail: I like to think of the creative spirit as a child - we are all more forgiving of children, and children are far more forgiving of themselves.  Children explore and take risks and make mistakes in order to grow.  They run with abandon towards fun, and they may fall repeatedly, and cry, but they always get up and try again. Treat your creative spirit like a toddler - especially if you've only been playing ukulele for a few years.  If your child said to you, I'm frustrated and I want to give up, what would you say in response?  Keep nurturing and encouraging that toddler.

I'd say, take one step at a time. You might fall many times before you can take the next step, so allow yourself many breaks, and hugs and sweets to soothe the bruises. There's no forcing a child to walk - there is only encouragement to try.  When one step becomes steady, try another step.  Eventually everything comes into balance.  The goal is not to run. The goal is to develop the focus on the present step and to keep trying.  Running comes with the confidence of consistent, steady practice.

For some people, their creative spirit/inner child was stifled early on because of parents/teachers/outside forces that placed undue expectations on them.  It takes some soul work to let go of those expectations and return to the childlike spirit that is necessary to create.

Mindful Repetition, and Presence as a Practice: One of the reasons I love the 100 Days of Ukulele Project is because the daily video sharing teaches us to get over our expectations (and egos) pretty quickly.  After x number of takes, you just need to say, "That's good enough for today."  And I believe that's the best thing you can learn for your creative journey.

Mindful repetition is something all professional musicians (and I imagine all artists) embrace as a lifelong practice.  When you observe the effortless execution of a musical piece by Jake Shimabukuro, you're witnessing tens of thousands of hours of mindful repetition.  When you meet a point of frustration, focus on one specific thing that you could improve, and practice building awareness of everything that goes into that step.  Something as simple as playing a new chord - what does each finger feel like? What does each string sound like? How many days will it take to build the stretch between the fingers?  Can you experiment with ways to make it easier or more comfortable for yourself?  When do you find yourself getting frustrated?  Can you stop, physically or mentally, before that point?

Also, I always recommend giving your brain a night of sleep to absorb new learnings.  Ukulele is a mind-body practice.  Breathing and relaxation make it easier to play.  When you watch performers, take note of how they breathe, and how they engage their minds and full bodies into the experience.

Your thoughts and experiences?  Please share them below.  I'm eager to write more about the creative journey, and I'd love to hear your feedback. 

Thanks for reading, for being here, for supporting my journey and for sharing yours. 🌈

xo cynthia 🌺

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SEPTEMBER '22 PATRON EVENTS CALENDAR

See all Patron events on our Patron Google calendar. Access this calendar and get notifications for events on the Cynthia Lin Patron App, created by our Patron Community Manager, Rich!  Download: Android app | iOS app

• Tuesdays in September (6, 13, 20, 27) @ 10AM Hawaii Time / 1PM Pacific Time - Weekly Voice Workshop ($30+ Patrons)
• Thurs 9/8 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 5:30PM Pacific Time - Beginner Live Jam ($10+ Patrons).  Pre-lesson Zoom Social at 2PM HT / 5PM PT.
• Thurs 9/15 @ 2PM Hawaii Time / 5PM Pacific Time - Navigating Patreon with Jenny: How to Use the Cynthia Lin Song Index.  Pre-lesson Zoom Social at 1:45PM HT / 4:45PM PT. (ALL Patrons $1+)
• Thurs 9/15 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 5:30PM Pacific Time - Patron Monthly All-Levels Live Lesson ($5+ Patrons). 
• Thurs 9/22 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 5:30PM Pacific Time- Bonus Intro to Hula Workshop #2 with Uncle Allen ($20+ Patrons)
• Thurs 9/29 @ 2:30PM Hawaii Time / 5:30PM Pacific Time- Intermediate Live Jam ($20+ Patrons)
• plus tune in Wednesdays 5pm Pacific Time for my weekly 5@5 LIVE show, streaming on my new LIVE YouTube channel.

Details for all Patrons events will be posted separately.  To edit your pledge level, visit https://www.patreon.com/join/cynthialin and select your desired reward tier.  (Patreon will only charge you for the difference in the upgrade).

For Patrons who are looking for more live jam opportunities, NYC Squad leader Jenny is hosting 4 monthly Zoom play-alongs at both USA- and UK/Europe-friendly times via her Patreon.  Support her and find more information here.

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August 2022 Recap - News, Patron Events and new Videos:

• There were 4 live voice lessons in August ($30+ Patrons)
• For our Beginner Live Jam ($10+ Patrons), we jammed on the Beginner Songbook and also learned "One Day" by Matisyahu. Check out the new U3 playalong video! 
• The Patron Monthly Live Lesson for "Both Sides Now" is now available to all Patrons.
• For the Intermediate Live Jam ($20+ Patrons), we worked on a "Sunny" Chord Melody arrangement with guest teacher Brian Liu.

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Special note for new Patrons

I recommend all new Patrons check out our community WelcomeGuide/FAQ post.  Please be patient as you get familiar with the Patreon platform. I promise it will get easier to use if you take time to look around. If you have a question that the WelcomeGuide/FAQ post doesn't answer, please comment there to help us continue to update the FAQ.

To find a specific song or lesson, learn to use the updated Cynthia Lin Song Index.  Thank you to the Community Managers for creating and maintaining this helpful resource.

If you have more questions about Patreon, I encourage you to post your questions to one of our Community groups. Our community has tons of friendly folks who love sharing their uke experience. Our private Facebook group is particularly active, and we've streamlined the steps to join. Request to join right on the Facebook group page, and be sure to answer BOTH membership questions so Community Managers can verify your Patron status. Scroll to the Community Notes section at bottom of this post for more ways to join and post to our Community.

Seasoned Patrons, I always appreciate it when you help me answer any newbie questions in the comments of this or any post.  Thank you! Feel free to post your questions in the comments as well.

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COMMUNITY NOTES:

1. Join our private Facebook group: In the Facebook group, Patrons can share videos, advice, support, and encouragement!  Be sure to answer both membership questions so that Community Managers can verify your Patron status. If you wish to connect and are not on Facebook, you can share a post on the Community tab here on Patreon. If you have questions about Patreon or ukulele or otherwise, posting the question to our very helpful and active Community will generate the fastest answer.

2. More Facebook public groups - we're using Facebook as our community gathering place because it has the best community features. Find all the CL groups here, including the CL Uke Newbies group, an all-levels group, and several active regional groups (NYC / LA / the Pacific Northwest / Hawaii and more).  https://www.facebook.com/cynthialinmusic/groups

3. Learn to use the Cynthia Lin Song Index, created and maintained (and updated recently!) by the amazing CL Community Managers! The super helpful CL Song Index organizes all CL songs, Patreon posts, YouTube videos, and tutorials.

4. Download the Cynthia Lin Patron App, created by our Patron Community Manager, Rich! Android app | iOS app

5. Find all Patron events on our Patron Google Calendar

6. Find answers to many Frequently Asked Questions in our New Patron Guide/FAQ post.

7. To edit your pledge, visit https://www.patreon.com/join/cynthialin