This evening I was congratulated by the Uke School's ubiquitous text on finishing the series of beginner lessons (http://www.ukeschool.com/ukulele/lessons/beginners_summary.html).  Much of it felt like review, but I am glad I didn't skip over it for a number of reasons.

The first is that I wouldn't want to create gaps in my ukulele knowlege that might affect me later on in the course.  And I payed attention to a few key phrases that I would normally have skipped.

"You may or may not be enjoying all these one-chord training phrases, but I hope you'll stick with it just a little longer."  I certainly wasn't enjoying all these one-chord training pieces, but conditioning myself to make them become part of my routine definitely helped.  It might be helpful for the Uke School to include a time recommondation or some kind of timer to force those of us who like to skip ahead not to skip ahead.  Again, without live feedback or continuous coaching it is very difficult not to want to move (too) quickly ahead.

"Remember that you can have the ukulele track or the band track playing or silent in the trainer above.

Does it feel comfortable? Easy? Natural? If not, don't rush ahead. It's pretty simple, and if you just do it for a while more, it will seem simple, too."

There was again reminders encouraging the student not to rush ahead.  I followed these suggestions and, yes, like it said, it became more natural.

When I began the lesson on shuffling, I really started to appreciate the accompanying ukulele model and backup band.  The lesson states: "You have to become at one with the groove."  After playing with the ukulele, the band, and then both, I really got into a little bit imagining I was playing with a live group of musicians.  Well, perhaps not that real, but I did take some strumming liberties and took some time to experiment with different strumming patterns.