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@surferjay – That’s definitely a lot of stuff
I see my guitalele as kind of a transition instrument between the ukulele and the guitar. I started on the uke, and still only play a little bit of guitar, but the guitalele helped me bridge the gap. It’s much more comfortable for me to carry and hold than a full-sized guitar.
My one is a little bit fancy, but I got it ultra cheap second-hand because it has a few cracks in it that don’t affect the sound or playability.
In reply to: Rough Version of Canon in D (C)
Oh yes……… I… I have snapped a few strings in my day, but not on ukulele. At one point I was trying to learn violin. Snapped dat string. Then I bought a guitar at Good Will (a thrift store in the US) and not only did I snap a string on that, but it also turned out to be a child’s guitar. I’m not “good at things” or “informed.” 😅😂🥺
Hmmm, I think I see what you mean. Are you sure that wouldn’t work though? If you tuned the E string up one half step only, then put on the capo on the first fret, wouldn’t the strings be A, D, F#, B? If that would work, then you’d only have to retune one string. I may be wrong though. Odds are, I am. 😂
That’s so true. Honestly I also prefer to start very modestly when experimenting with different instruments and equipment and things, partly to not spend too much and partly because… Well, reasons that may take too long for the forum’s limits to explain. 😂 Well, part of it is if an instrument is too beautiful I feel bad playing it. That may make no sense, but on my cheap little uke I feel perfectly fine smacking it around more and don’t hold back as much in playing more freely and trying different things. Also I’ve had it the longest and will always love it the most. It also is physically easier to play because I don’t have to press down as hard as on my other ukes. And it’s smaller, being a soprano uke and all. I can’t play some songs on it though because it only has twelve frets.
What is a pickup? And setup?
Hahaha!!!!!!!!! Heat resistant cows. That’s my new favorite thing. As it happens, Wisconsin cows are incredibly cold resistant. We have harsh winters in the Midwest. One winter the temps reached -70F (-56 degrees celsius if I did that right). But then they also have heated barns so I may be exaggerating…
I don’t think this post is going to make the cut due to its lengthiness….. 😅
Israel does seem really beautiful from what I’ve seen of it. It seems like an interesting place indeed. I feel like all of the religious connections there and indeed the history are why it gets so heated politically there, of course. Don’t want to get too into that but it is really interesting. It’s a small place but they sure are spicy over there, like fiesty. That’s what I mean by spicy…
The End! Sorry your thread got so derailed by this tangent. 😅
Here’s everyone on page 8 that I hadn’t gotten to yet.
@pysanky – Your performance was phenomenal! Great feel and energy throughout. I have no critics. Keep up the great work!
@uku241 & @dottiectrain – Bravo! Excellent duet, you guys make a great team! I loved it!Last month I left you this feedback:
One thing I want you to take a look at is this lesson. It’s an overview on how to hold the ukulele. Read the article and watch the video at the bottom of the page. I want you to angle the neck up a little bit, because you’re currently holding it like a guitar. If you can point the neck up at a 45 degree angle, it should make playing easier 🙂
Ask your dad to help you with this. He’s got great posture and form.
@biancak – That was an incredible performance. What you wrote implied that you learned it in two days… and played it like that!! Even I can’t do that! Wow!
@henri0 – Another fantastic performance with great feel throughout. Awesome work, Rhian!casadot349 – Excellent performance! Great feel and timing throughout. Very well done this month 👏
ukealori – great job, Lori! Trying looping the opening 4 bars with Matt in the tab player. Go slow and focus on getting the transitions down.
@uku241 – You’ve got a great singing voice! And very cool to see the fam join in 🙂dottiectrain – Amazing playing! How long have you been playing for?
One thing I want you to take a look at is this lesson. It’s an overview on how to hold the ukulele. Read the article and watch the video at the bottom of the page. I want you to angle the neck up a little bit, because you’re currently holding it like a guitar. If you can point the neck up at a 45 degree angle, it should make playing easier 🙂
jeg143 – Awesome performance! There’s a few pauses in some of the transitions, so that’s where I would focus my practice on. One way to work on this is to loop 4 bars at a time in the tab player.
smudge – Beautiful playing! I’d say you’re at the stage where you can start to increase tempo to build speed 🙂
mkstewart67 – Excellent performance! Really well done this month!!
russellbarnett – Excellent job on the timing and tempo! Even I don’t think I can play it that fast lol. Ohh, and don’t forget to add the “I am a premium member” tag to your posts 🙂
omaon4 – Excellent job! I dig the mix of staccato and sustained chord hits. Sounds really nice!
puppylovesuke – I think our definition of messy is quite different lol. That was a fantastic performance, David! Keep up the great work 🙂
ukukelley1 – Very well played and I like the subtle changes you through in. Couple little pauses in the timing, but nothing that a little more practice can’t resolve. Solid performance overall, great job this month!
kmoore925x – I wanted to apologize. I checked our spam filter and saw that both of your previous posts got caught in it. Looks like the first one came in at 11:52pm, so no worries you’ll get an entry for this month.
Onto your performance, it was excellent! Great tone and feel throughout. I’d say you’re at the stage where you can start to increase tempo to build speed 🙂
jojoba – Great job, Juan! So with this song, you want to aim for more sustain in the notes and chords than staccato. Check out this lesson, it’ll help you work on increasing sustain.
It also sounds like some of the bars are rhythmically tripping you up. Which is understandable as the song is extremely syncopated. Try playing along with Steven in the tab player. That should help clarify any confusion. Try 4 bars at a time.
Also, don’t be afraid to sing the bars out-loud (not playing). That always helps me memorize syncopated lines.
Unfortunately, you submitted past our deadline so I won’t be able to give you an entry for this month. I tried to give everyone a friendly reminder yesterday. But the good news is there are four more chances to enter for the prize.
moonshine – Great job! Double check the rhythm in bar six. That first note should be a quarter note. Also, check out this video that I made earlier this month for another member. It’ll give you a tip with fretting that first chord in bar 4.
BTW – Cool to see you do two songs this month 🙂
alysun1 – Nice job! Sounds like you’ve got a great base established, just need a little bit more practice to smooth it out 🙂
Unfortunately, you submitted past our deadline so I won’t be able to give you an entry for this month. I tried to give everyone a friendly reminder yesterday. But the good news is there are four more chances to enter for the prize.
barbecueblack – Beautiful performance! Only a few spots need a little polishing, but it was amazing overall! Great job this month 🙂
tules14 – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂
samash07 – I thought you did great on the strumming! The entire song was quite lovely to listen to.
I do want you to play that single-note melody run that happens before the last chorus with Matt in the tab player. Timing was a bit off in that section, so playing with him should help you strengthen it.
yukalele – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂
richard_siegert – Excellent playing, Richard! Only thing I’d say to work on is to eliminate some of the pauses in the transitions during the chorus. Try playing with a metronome or with Matt in the tab player. That’ll help you keep the tempo steady.
biancak – Beautiful playing! I did read everything you wrote, and I think you might be a little too harsh on yourself. But at the same time, aren’t we always our worst critic lol.
It is awesome to hear that you are recording your performances, watching back, and targeting your practice on specific areas. Keep doing that, it’s one of the best ways to improve!
morrieuke1 – Not going to lie, totally wish I phrased the “Yesterday” opening lyric line the way you did. Totally cool! Now if I only had a time machine to go back and redo it lol.
I’m impressed with your cramming sesh. Very well played and another solid performance in the books. Keep up the great work!
@tessiert – My pleasure! And I def will remember next time we add testimonials. Appreciate it! No need to hold back on questions. Happy to help anytime!tim0721 – Beautiful playing with great feel! It looked like you were referencing the music from time to time. So my only suggestion is to memorize it, that way you can put your full concentration into the performance.
@nelsonlin2021 – Excellent job this month! Only two things stood out to me. Look how you’re fretting the D chord at 13 seconds. You’re bending in at the first joint with the pinky finger. Keep that finger curved and fret the note with the fingertip.Also, there were a couple times where you messed up and restarted a section. Always play through your mistakes. We want to pretend like we’re playing in an ensemble. If we make a mistake, the band never stops and starts again, instead they carry on and the audience usually doesn’t notice 🙂
@ukulelee – Beautiful playing and your ukulele sounds incredible! So there’s a couple of areas where you want to smooth out the timing. But I also think you’re ready to start boosting the tempo. It was really well played overall so you pretty much at the polishing, tightening, and boosting tempo stage.
@dorabr – Congrats on becoming a mom! Your baby’s going to have some amazing serenading sessions because your playing is fantastic 🙂
@kpurdy – I thought you did a great job! I’d recommend playing along with Matt in the tab player. Loop 4 or 8 bars at a time and try to match him. His playing will act as a guide to help keep you locked in (timing wise).When you feel like you’re locked in with him, record yourself playing solo. And listen back to double check that you’ve got it flowing steady 🙂
Here is everyone on page 7:
bibilele – Very nice job on this one! Although there were still a couple of hesitations, your form, the notes, and the rhythm were very solid on this one. Great job!
lbilkie – You played this one very nicely! Your timing was good throughout, and all of the notes sound great. On Melody C, the strums might benefit from a slightly more accented strum to really get the intensity of that section. Your performance sounds great as it is, this just might add to the emotion slightly.
lynettejd – Great job on this, you are doing a good job with the timing and feel. Now is a great chance to work the song up to full speed! Keep up the great work!
kpurdy – You are off to a great start! With the right hand, try to bend the wrist less and mimic the posture Andrew has in the performance and lesson video. You may have to hold the ukulele a bit differently to achieve this, but it will be worth it to avoid wrist pain in the future. Then, notice that he alternates the plucking fingers – especially when playing several notes on the same string. Working on this technique will help you to play smoother and faster. You’re doing a great job, keep it up!
ukulelee – That was very nicely played, and you have a wonderful sound through that ukulele! I’m very impressed that you can play that smoothly with the thumb even on the faster passages! Just for an added challenge, try imitating Andrew’s right hand on the performance. This would just be for fun, as you can already play this one very well!
debb1985 – This piece sounds lovely on the baritone! You have a great feel, sound, and technique on this one. The stretch at 0:57 is a tricky one, and it may not be a bit too far. I would change where I’m playing the notes on that one to adjust it for the baritone rather than overstretching: 7th fret on the fourth string (instead of 2nd on the 3rd string), 5th fret on the 3rd string (instead of 1st fret on the 2nd string, and leave the 5th fret on the 1st string. It may be tricky to switch positions quickly for this, but I think it’s worth it. Excellent job on this one!
kmoore925x – Very nicely done! I did not hear the hesitations you mentioned, and it’s great that you played it at a speed you felt comfortable with! That is the best thing to do rather than make mistakes at full speed. You’re doing a great job, and the “yay” at the end cracked me up.
sarrafina – Excellent job! That was quite a quick tempo and a great performance! The vibrato on the last note was very professional as well. Keep up the great work!
wongbrown – You are doing a great job on this tricky piece! I think starting at a slower tempo would help you get through the harder passages a bit smoother. One way to figure out a good starting tempo is to warm up with the trickiest passage and use the tempo you can play it comfortably at as your starting tempo. Keep up the great work!
Here’s everyone on page 7.
tules14 – Playing sounded excellent and great job on the timing! Only thing I’d suggest working on is cleaning up some of the buzzy notes and chords that did not ring out completely. Most of this can be fixed by making sure you keep finger pressure held down throughout the entire notes duration.
P.S. I can’t believe you’ve only been playing for 5 months! It sounds like you’ve been at it for much longer. Keep up the good work!
janne__ – Beautiful performance played with excellent feel!
morrieuke1 – Excellent take this month and love harmonics at the end!
qiuyan -You played it beautifully! Keep working on the B melody and watch the timing a little bit. Overall it was excellent!
themccoys – Bravo, Tim! This is the best performance I’ve heard from you to date! Here’s what I would do as you continue to practice. There’s a couple spots where timing gets a little loose, for example bar 5 and 6 in the A melody.
I want you to take 4 bars at a time and play along to Steven’s performance in the tab player. His playing will act as a guide to help keep you locked into the timing. Do small sections like this at a time.
In essence, we’re just refining what you’ve already got which is really really good!
akukes73 – Wonderful playing! There’s a couple spots where the rhythm is incorrect. For example, the bar before the B Melody starts out with quarter notes, which you played as 8ths. Double check that and the B melody, because I’m hearing similar mistakes there. Other than that it was excellent!
Catherine – Great job and that uke sounds nice!! So I’d recommend the same advice I gave @themccoys above. Which is to work on timing and one of the the best ways to do that is to play along with the tab player 🙂
richard_siegert – Great performance! Excellent job with getting the sustain of each note and chord to ring beautifully.
biancak – Beautiful take! Keep up the great work 🙂
yukalele – Here’s a video I made last year to help another member out. Additionally, here is another lesson and one more covering this topic that I recommend reviewing.
Great job on the tune! Watching your performance, I can see that you are hugging the neck while playing. That’s going to limit the mobility and dexterity in your left hand. Check out the lessons I linked above and let me know if you have any questions.
jbmills07 – That was awesome! I’m impressed, really good job! Only thing I’d say is to speed up the ending lick of that first melody.
puppylovesuke – Excellent job and thank you so much for the kind words! You played it brilliantly with great feel and timing.
Only one thing to point out. Double check the notation in Theme 2. Sounds like a few of the bass notes in the walk-up bars are incorrect.
As for your question, Andrea’s advice is spot on. You’ll want to get a non-steel (a.k.a non-wound) string to avoid that sound.
zongozongo – Absolutely beautiful take, Nicolas. You nailed the relaxed feel which makes the melody shine. Well done! It was an honor to share it in our email newsletter last week 🙂
june2020 – Great job this month, June! So question, did you play along with the tab player in synthetic mode? Or with Matt? Because Matt’s performance uses rubato here and there. Which really lets the piece breathe as opposed to keeping a steady tempo and staying on the beat.
My suggestion for you is to slow the tempo down, but add a bit of rubato for a tasteful effect. For ex, try holding some of the dotted quarter or half note hits longer to build tension.
shmu88 – Excellent performance! I’m going to share this in our newsletter this week 🙂
brettboy – Excellent playing as always, Brett! And thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it 🙂
LOL @ the duet at the end haha
ajk101 – Beautifully played, Allen! You nailed the pace, feel and vibe. Keep up the excellent work 🙂
katazumiri – Well played and super cool to hear it as a duet 🙂
clempek – I thought it sounded great! As for your comment about giving the thumb section a more melodious sound. Try experimenting with softer, lighter attacks. Check out this video where I talk about this in more detail. While the video uses fingerpicking as its example, the same concept can be applied for thumb strums.
In reply to: I am feeling a bit frustrated, with myself
Hi @xerxes, Robin wrote a brilliant response which I agree with and hope you found helpful. Our lessons are geared more-so for the fingerstyle player than the singer/strummer. While we do have quite a few singing and strumming lessons up, most will be geared for folks that want to do something beyond the beginner level.
Robin mentioned UU and the Uke Teacher, but I’d also recommend Katie with One Music School and Bernadette Teaches Music on YouTube for beginner-friendly singing/strumming lessons.
Our Beginner’s Course will prep you from day 1 (how to hold the uke) all the way to playing your first fingerstyle songs (using: fingerpicking and strumming). I recall offering some advice for you in this forum post which was related to the Beginner’s Course.
Which BTW, I see you’ve made excellent progress! You’re into the performance song modules now. That’s where the fun starts 🙂
In that post, I recommended setting up a practice schedule that consisted of 3 parts. The 3rd part was songs. Besides the tunes in the Beginner’s Course, I’d add this lesson to your song list. It’s our beginner-friendly lesson that teaches you how to sing and strum.
As far as warm-up exercises, check out this lesson. It’s a great warm up tool that builds dexterity in your fretting hand. Plus, you can do it to a metronome to work on timing 🙂
You mentioned:
I was gifted a number of ukulele song books they have the chords and notes of the sung notes but most don’t have strumming patterns.
A lot of simple songs can be played using the Island Strum. But it doesn’t work for every song. If you need a bit of help with the tunes in that book, this is something Stephen can help you with in a one-on-one private lesson.
I’d also encourage you to join our February Challenge. The beginner blues strumming tune from the Beginner’s Course is one of the songs you can pick for this month. Challenges are a great way to stay motivated as it gives you a goal to aim for, which is to learn a song within a month and share your performance with our community 🙂
Here’s everyone on page 12:
@sarahmusic – You did a very nice job on this one! You seem to be getting the hang of fingerpicking very quickly! Just as a general suggestion, you may want to fingerpick closer to the sound hole of the ukulele and not over the fretboard as possible to keep your fingernails from tapping the ukulele itself. Great playing on this song!
@yukalele – You are off to a wonderful start, and you did a great job of rising to the challenge of such a difficult piece! I noticed that your left hand thumb ended up sideways over the top of the ukulele at times, and working on left hand technique might make some of those passages easier to play. Keep working at it, you’re doing a great job!
@kirpuff – You’re doing great on this one! You have the notes down and are very close on the timing. There are a few spots where you are holding notes just slightly too long: in the first measure and other measures like it, the last note comes in on the upbeat rather than waiting for the downbeat of measure two. Once you incorporate that rhythm, it will feel much more like the original song. Keep up the great work!
@mac1984 – Very nicely done! You played the song great, with the rhythm exactly as it’s written. In Melody A, measure 6 will sound more like the original song if you play the first and second note of the measure as swung 8th notes instead of a quarter note followed by two 8th notes. Also, it sounds to me like when he returns to this figure at the end, he plays those notes as triplet quarter notes instead of the rhythm written. I can tell you are good at reading rhythm, as this is the first performance I’ve heard that has that rhythm as written instead of how it is played in his performance. You did a wonderful job! My only other suggestion is that playing with the thumb of the picking hand like Matt does might give the song a more relaxed feel with a softer attack on each note.
@themccoys – You are doing a great job! You have a great grasp on the song over all, and are doing a great job with the feel. I suggest trying to let the notes ring out a bit longer, which means making sure the melody notes are held out as long as possible before switching to the next note giving it more of a legato rather than staccato feel. Keep it up, you are doing a great job!
@lovebats – You are off to a great start on this one. I notice that your right hand is moving positions a lot and that it seems like you are holding the ukulele up with that hand, making the song harder. You may want to get a ukulele strap to help free that hand up to stay in one position. Unfortunately, we can’t give you an entry for the prize as the rules state that you have to perform the entire piece. But keep up the great work!
@kpurdy – You are doing a great job so far! This one is a bit tough, and it sounds like you will benefit from memorizing the piece a bit. It seems like you are only hesitating to look up at the music. In certain spots. Keep going, you’re getting close!
@kelsey91 – You are getting the hang of this! It’s a tough piece, but it’s really starting to come together. One thing that might help you is to get a ukulele strap or to sit down while playing so that you don’t have to hold the ukulele up with the right arm so much. With the left hand, I see your pinky sticking straight out from time to time, which might actually limit the motion of your other fingers a bit. If you spend a bit of time working on form, I bet your playing will become smoother just from that. Great work on this one! The edits all went together fairly smoothly!
@charles605 – You’re off to a great start! It sounds like you’re starting to have the notes down. What I would do now is take 4 measure sections and focus on one at a time, trying to keep a smooth flow for the whole phrase. This may require you to memorize a bit more of the song, but it will help you work out all of the pauses. The fire was very enjoyable!
@dividedsky – Very nicely done! You have a very nice, legato feel that is perfect for the song. It seems like the only spot to work on is from 1:17 to 1:24. It seems like you slightly hesitate here and have a slight bit of trouble getting to the last chord of that section from the previous one. Loop this section at a slightly slower speed and work on playing the notes cleanly, and then work it back up to this speed. Your performance is wonderful as it is, this is just a slight detail. Great job!
@sylus9 – You are off to a great start, and it sounds like you understand how to swing, Now it’s just a matter of getting the rhythm and notes under your fingers in time. I noticed that in Theme 1, you have a tendency to pause between measure 9 and 10. The line ends there, but there is no extra pause between those measures. As you get more comfortable with the notes and chord shifts, you will get better at the timing, too. Keep up the great work!
@dottiectrain – Very nice job on this one! You have the notes down, and are super close on the rhythm! When you hit the first chord in each section, try holding it out twice as long before plucking the second note (try counting “one, two” ). It’s a small detail, but it will sound just a bit more like the song with each phrase having that one difference. You are doing an excellent job, keep it up!
@uku241 – You are doing great so far! It sounds like it’s just a matter of getting those chord shifts a bit smoother and learning the ending chords. Your right hand is doing a great job on the techniques!
@puppylovesuke – You have a very nice and relaxing feel on this song. Very nicely played all around! I’m glad you were able to meet the deadline by uploading the compressed version!
@sarrafina – Wow! You have an excellent tone, played very well, and kept the timing and feel very solid! There are one or two spots where a shift may cause the slightest hesitation, but this was a fantastic performance over all. Keep up the great work!
Unfortunately, we can’t give you an entry for the prize as you submitted past our deadline. Andrew tried to give everyone a friendly reminder on the 31st.effortless – You’re doing a great job on this one! You have the notes ringing clear, and you are getting through the piece smoothly. Now it’s time to develop the swing feel of the song: When two 8th notes are in a row on this song, the first one will be longer (about twice as long). This gives the song a looser feel rather than a mechanical one. Give the original a listen and see if you can hear the difference between that and your version. Keep up the great work!
mikeramsey2 – Very nicely done! The notes are sounding spot on! The next step is getting some of the passages to sound more legato (smooth and connected). One of the main things that will help this on the outro in particular is to get the hammer ons and pull offs in bars 57 and 59. If notes are connected with a slur, don’t pluck the second/third note. Instead, lift your left hand finger with enough force to make the next note sound. Once you get this technique down, that section will sound smooth. Then it’s just a matter of leaving the fingers down a bit longer on other sections to let notes ring out a bit more. You’re doing great, keep it up!
gstriph – You’re off to a great start with the notes! For the tempo and rhythm, I think you would benefit from playing this arrangement with a metronome at a slower speed. Right now you are hesitating on some spots that are harder for you to play, and you are speeding up on the easier spots. While it’s hard to keep a metronome going through the bridge of the song, I would practice the first section or two with one to see where you tend to pause the most. The notes sound great, and I recommend getting the timing down before changing sections up too much. Keep up the great work!
ldarrow – You are doing a great job with the bar chords! Everything sounds great on this, I just recommend playing slightly slower with a metronome so that you can work on keeping the tempo consistent throughout the song. It will help you to know which parts are giving you the most trouble, too. You’re doing great, and it sounds like you’re really doing well with bar chords now!
lintuu – Amazing job! You played so well, we shared your performance on our social media. Keep up the great work!
joelnal – You are off to a wonderful start! Now that you have the notes and chord shapes down, try playing along a touch slower with a metronome. There are a few spots where certain chords/techniques are causing you to hesitate, and playing these parts with something keeping you in time will show you which chord shapes to work extra on. You’re doing great so far, keep it up!
henri0 – Excellent job! Your rhythm and notes were both spot on! at 0:41 seconds in, it sounds like muting the A string is something you’re struggling with. I recommend slowing that section down and focusing on how you’re muting that string. It may be that you can find another way to mute it more effectively so that it doesn’t clash with the melody. You’re doing a fantastic job!
june2020 – You are doing great so far on the notes and chords! Now it’s time to work on the rhythm. Certain notes in the piece are being cut short in relation to the the other notes. To learn how long to hold each note, there is a great section in the Introduction to Reading Standard Notation course that can help here.
Once you learn how to read and work on rhythms, it will help you learn songs quicker as well. Keep up the great work!
lisadmh – The new version sounds great! My only suggestion rhythmically is to not pause too long before the pickup measures: bars 8, 16, and so forth. There isn’t a fermata before the slides, so make sure to come in on the up beat on these measures. It’s a slight difference, but it keeps the flow of the song consistent for those listening that like to bob their heads or dance. You’re doing a great job, and you seem more relaxed for sure!
nthibode – Wonderful playing on this! You picked a great tempo to really get into the feel of this song, your notes were very legato, and the song seemed to “breathe” dynamically. Very nice performance all around!
rafaela – You picked a great tempo for this, and you stayed very consistent throughout. In this style, it’s good to accent the subdivisions a bit more, especially in the section at 0:35. Don’t be afraid to hit the chord strums with a bit more force/emphasis. You’re doing a wonderful job, and it sounds like you’re ready to speed this one up at this point!
patricia81 – You’re doing a great job so far! Now that you have the notes down, it’s time to work on the rhythm a bit more. You are ready to add a metronome to your practicing. Keep up the great work!
brettboy – You have a very nice and relaxed feel on this that is perfect for the song! You’ve done a great job all around! I must ask, in measure 10 and where this melody repeats, did you purposely change the melody to make the 3rd fret on the A string on an up beat? If so, it’s a very nice syncopation. Keep it up, you always sound great!
In reply to: Choking
I am not good at computers, I play a fight concert ukulele. The technique is important, rock class 101 have a lot of course on how to hold Uku etc. I would practice technique a lot.
Here’s Everyone On Page 9 and 10
lbilkie – Hey Ilbilkie. Great video and good song choice! First off good job learning all the chord shapes and getting the song structure going. Your Uke tone sounds nice as well! Now 1 thing that can really bring this performance to the next level would be adding more of that swing feel into play for this song in particular.
As always it’ll come with a little practicing and playing but I think it’ll really make you shine on this song. Here’s a video we have breaking this down in depth for all of our rock class family. You’re coming along great, implement more swing and you’ll be bursting with style!
saiyara – Hey Saiyara great video! I’ll start off by saying I really enjoyed your strumming tone and passion in your performance! Very nice.
One thing we could do to add an extra layer of style to this performance would be to practice that “swing feel” for Moon River.
You could hear it coming out in your playing and we can really hone in on that. Here’s a video we added for you guys that really breaks down the method and practice for adding more of that swing. That being said you’re doing great and we enjoyed your video. Keep up the good work!
robinl – Robin wow! Great performance here. You did an outstanding job adding the swing feel to Blue Moon and your strumming was very consistent and pleasant. All around a really good submission.
jbmills07 – jbmills07 Hey brother you did a great job here! The cats in the video added some magic too. I see you’re putting in the work in the video practicing the tabs it’s coming a long nice. One spice to keep in mind with this dish is maintaining a solid swing feel. We have a video here we share with our community to hone in on that swing that’ll wrap this song together beautifully. That being said great work! This is coming along nice we’re glad to have you apart of the RC101 fam.
lynnzo – Hey Lynnzo, Nice submission! I know you said you were a little nervous and you still pushed through and managed to post a good first performance on this piece. Nice! One nugget of wisdom I would have for this performance is after you get as comfortable as you want with this piece watch our video on adding a swing feel in our playing. It’s very comprehensive and our community members like it because it breaks down the easiest way to put that swing feel under your fingers. You can find that here. Take some of those tips and see if you can hear that swing style come out in your playing on this piece. Other then that you had a good performance. Do keep up the good work!
patdrehu – Patdrehu wow! You chose a beautiful scene for your video! We love the island feel. That being said you did a really good job at volume and sound control on this piece. I can almost feel your connection to your Uke. Now a suggestion I would have would be to to focus in on the swing feel we can hear in Moon River. If you’d like to implement that we have a video here that goes in depth how to distinguish and deploy that sound into your playing! Do that and you’ll be top of the ranks in your performance! That being said Good video, keep it up Patdrehu!
jayton – Hey Jay! I enjoyed the performance! First thing is I feel like I can really hear the style and connection in your strumming. It sounds like you really put time into the feeling of your chords. It’s refreshing. I can also hear the swing coming through well in parts of your performance. Bravo! As long as we keep practicing that swing and brush up that feeling as we go you seem to be getting the piece down great my friend. If you are interested we have an in depth video on adding swing to your playing here. Keep playing this piece you did a great job on it. Good performance!
joelnal – Joelnal good work on Moon River! You got all the parts down well, few hiccups here and there and still overall very enjoyable performance. Common focus I would have with this piece is to work on keeping the swing consistent to bring out the feel in your playing. You seem to be getting it down and we also have a video here to help perfect that swung feeling. Overall good performance. Keep up the good work!
kpurdy – Kpurdy! For being 4 months into learning ukulele you are doing phenomenal. It’ll all come in practice and performances like this but you’re on the right track. One main thing I would work on now that’ll help you get the most out of your technique is to place the Uke closer to the center of your lap then on the side of your hip. I actually use to do the same thing and it just feels so much easier and relaxing having it in my lap and centered for performance. It’ll help you connect physically with your instrument more while playing and free up some space for that right wrist to breathe.
Here’s a video Andrew made earlier this year to help another member out. You can also check out these other lessons for extra help. Here is the first and second lesson I recommend reviewing.
Try those out and see if that helps you connect with your instrument. Other then that you’re well on your path. Can’t wait to see your progress and journey with us. Good submission!
bibilele – Wow this was a really really good performance! Even caught the park view! 🙂 You have really good timing and your playing sounded great. Great connection to your instrument. Now a few times it wavers in and out of the swing feel but for the most part it was a 100% killer performance! I’m sure from hearing your playing you’re familiar with a swing feel but just incase we made a video for the community on how to capture a swung feel that anyone can find here. You sound really good. More of that and keep it coming.
timolnz – One of our members who chose Moon Waltz and it sounds good! From what I can hear it sounds like you’ve got the picking and structure down and are just working on getting our timing perfect. A few more practices with a metronome on there should get you perfect. Other then that good job on your submission song sounds interesting in a higher octave!
gi_gi_ – Hey gi_gi_. Good submission and your uke sounds nice! It also sounds like you got the chords and melodies down here. A lot of people posting this were kind of in the middle of a straight feel and a swing feel. Luckily we have a video for the community to have easy access to a swing lesson! You can find that here. Watch this and apply a few of the pointers to get this song perfect. What you’re doing now sounds great and that swing should give you just the style boost you’re looking for. Great submission gi_gi_
Here is everyone still needing feedback on page 6:
gi_gi_ – You improved a lot between take 1 and take 2. You worked out a few hesitations and you played with a clean sound and steady tempo on take 2. Now you just have a little bit of work on the ending to have it flow smoothly as it slows gradually. Keep it up, you’re doing a wonderful job!
somasoma321 – Very nice job on this one! Your tempo was very steady, and all of the notes were very clear. The next steps from here are to speed up the tempo gradually to Andrew’s, then to experiment with your own dynamics: Try crescendos into each phrase and gradually decrease the volume towards the ends of the phrases to help the song breathe. Keep up the great work!
timolnz – You’re off to a great start, and the idea of adding a progression is fun. The rhythm of the song could use a bit of work to keep it in the same timing as the original. The notes at the ends of the phrases should be a bit shorter, and the timing in Melody B is fairly different in the original. You’re doing a great job, a little more work on the rhythm and you’ve got it.
june2020 – Great job on this. Memorizing definitely helped the flow of the song, now there are just a few tricky spots to work on. I recommend isolating these measures and practicing them slower, just looping one to four measures where it’s hardest. Whatever tempo you get these spots up to should be the tempo you use to play the whole song. Keep it up, you’re sounding very good on this one!
gstriph – You’re doing great on this one. You have the notes down, and now there’s just a bit to work on rhythmically: First: hammer-ons and pull-offs are hard to time, but the idea is to have those notes move at the same pace as the other ones in the melody. The tendency is to rush through those notes rather than giving them their full duration. Second: on Melody B, there’s not any extra time to switch between the chord shapes, so you may want to work on this at a slower tempo to get the shifts in time so that the first two measures of this section are evenly spaced 8th notes. You sound good on this one, keep up the great work!
joe150 – The notes are sounding very nice and clear! I think it would help to work on memorizing longer phrases at a time so that you aren’t having to hesitate at the end of each two measures to look at the sheet music. Thinking in longer phrases helps, then you’ll get to the point where you can look ahead while playing. Keep it up, you sound great on the notes!
xrisrari – You have a great sense of timing, and all of the notes are sounding cleanly! One small suggestion I have is to let the notes ring out more, especially on the part at measure 5. Right now, one of your hands is either muting the strings that aren’t being plucked, or your left hand may not be holding the notes down as you play the others. Other than letting all of these notes ring out longer, you are doing an excellent job! Congrats on your first challenge entry, you played this one very well!
terryfallon3 – You’re off to a great start, and you’re playing the notes well. The swing rhythm is kind of tricky to get a handle on, so I recommend using the on screen tab player at 50% or 75& to really grasp that concept and hear how it works with the composition. You’re doing a great job, and that swing rhythm will make things even stronger!
lbilkie – That was a very nice performance, especially knowing you had tendonitis! Your ritardando was very nice and gradual, and your playing was all around very clean and had a great flow/tempo. From the angle I was watching, your left wrist looked a bit more bent than is ideal, so try to watch that to hopefully avoid future injuries. You sound wonderful!
maryjanew – You’re off to a great start, and your form looks good, it’s just challenging to get those stretches on the baritone ukulele. I recommend going through this one at the tempo you are currently at and practice all of these chord shapes…I think you have the right idea, it’s just a matter of having the time to put in. Congrats on your new granddaughter!
coffeemug – I’m so sorry to hear about the tendonitis! You played this one great in spite of that, and I’m glad it’s feeling better. There are just a couple of chord shapes that seem to cause you to hesitate slightly in Melody B on this, but otherwise you’ve got this one down! Keep up the great work, and I hope your tendonitis days are gone forever so that you can enjoy playing!
Hi all,
My take for August Challenge, Day Dreaming. I think the most challenging part for me is playing Melody B is keeping at the right tempo. I also feel I was holding my ukulele in a slightly tilted angle so I can see the notes I am playing. Not cool posture and wanna improve on that too 😉
Cheers
Sheila
