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This has been designed and made in Australia, and it is perfect!
Finally a safe, stable uke rack which can hold three ukes completely safely.
I have ordered two… one for the lounge, and one for the dungeon (an early Christmas present).Hi Andrew,
One of my biggest problems every time is choosing (or transitioning) between left hand form 1 and 2. For example, in St. Anne’s Reel, for some reason the first 3 bars I’m feeling more comfortable playing with left hand form “1” (big U shape, as shown in your lesson on that subject) and then bars 4-5-6 I’m more comfortable playing with left hand form “2”. I don’t have too much trouble transitioning from form 1 to form 2, but when I get to the end of bar 6 and going up the neck again, i’m really struggling to transition from form 2 to form 1 without holding my ukulele with my last fingers of my right hand, or otherwise the neck of my uke “drops” and the flow of my playing stops and feels clumsy. I tried “fixing” this problem with staying in form 2 all the time but i’m struggling with that too when I go up the neck (for example for the high G chord 5-7-7-0). I hope I’m clear, but in the end the main problem in my playing is transitioning smoothly from left hand form 2 to form 1. Any tips?
Thanks!!
SamIn reply to: Welcome Our New Ukulele Instructor, Steven!
Hi Steven! Wow, thank you for this detailed answer.
I am relieved that I’m doing it right so far 🙂 I started learning Ode to Joy and I think it is way easier than the Etude. I thought breaking the circle of the triplet would mess with my brain 🙂
But it comes quite naturally and breaking the circle totally makes sense. This technique opens up a lot of cool possibilities.
I’m excited to learn Out in the North!
I tried to tackle it when it was part of a monthly challenge, but I wasn’t happy with the sound of my playing (of course I used other fingerings and not the triplet picking).
Tobias’ and your performance sound so magical and fluent, I hope I can achieve that too when I get there!Regarding the curled fingers: I guess it’s the same with holding a guitar pick.
Some people have their fingers curled, some spread them open and others are making more like a fist. Everything is correct though, just depends on what feels right.I just wanted to make sure those slight differences with my right hand don’t affect the speed or the sound in general.
Again, thank you so much for taking your time to write feedback 🙂 It helps so much.
I noticed you are using a Flight ukulele too in this course! They build great instruments, I’m happy with my choice 🙂
I still struggle with holding a small soprano ukulele, however, if you see Christopher, clearly has no problem making amazing music with his soprano 🙂
Just FYI – my string was a makeshift uku strap made from a shoelace and a command tape
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qiqfz8zrcjrx2lw/uku_strap.jpg?dl=0My goal is still eventually to be skillful enough to do without the strap
Let’s make progress together
Aloha, Grace
@katazumiri – Well done! Playing sounds great, at this point I’d working on boosting the tempo ever so slightly to help develop speed. Start gradual – 5 or 10 bpm and when comfortable, continue increasing it another 5 bpm.
But the big thing I want to point out is the way you’re holding the ukulele. It’s placed directly in front of you and angled almost vertically. This is not good proper holding form and puts your wrist in awkward positions, as well as, limits mobility/dexterity.
To work on this – I’ll paste a video I made for another member below, but I’d also recommend reviewing these 2 lessons: here is the first and second lesson.
In reply to: bluetooth page turner
I got a larger sheet and cut it to the height of the sheet stand so that I could clip it on securely. I taped the edges so that I don’t cut myself on the edges.
The remainder is in storage for when I break this one.
It is simple to attach and remove, just those two giant pram clips.I tend to sit, using a chair without arms as they get in the way and restrict the way I hold and use my ukulele (I am officially short).
I already had this video in the can and am glad to share it for the monthly challenge. The photo you’ll see is from 1967; I’m holding the uke and my sister is struggling with the guitar. Clearly, we wanted to start a band and the ukulele was my instrument of choice even back then. A quick trip to eBay and I was able to replace the TV Pal; a new set of strings and a half-step lower tuning made it instantly playable. Nicole…I’d like to commission you to do a recreation of that photograph!
pippin105 – Great work on this one! Your timing is very good, and you have the notes down! I would work on the harmonic at the end isolated for a bit, then add the measure before it to practice getting into the position for the harmonic so that you can hit it with accuracy almost all of the time. Then go back through the piece and you will have the confidence that you can hit it accurately.
rebeca – Wow, fantastic job! Your accuracy with the slides and the higher fretted notes is very impressive! You’ve basically got this one down, there are just a couple of spots where you are hesitating slightly…but only slightly! I would play through these sections a bit more so that they are super comfortable to play. You’re doing a wonderful job!
kirpuff – Great job on this! I think you did a great job of keeping the tempo under control! While you do speed up slightly on the last half, it feels very natural and if you hadn’t said anything, I might not have even noticed! If you want to keep it very consistent, just work with a metronome and you’ve got it. Your playing is great on this one, very nicely done!
gmflin8 – Grace, you sound great! Every post, every song recorded in history, are all “imperfect.” Perfectionism means nothing, because there’s always a deeper level you can critique things on…even on professional recordings! You’re doing a wonderful job with your timing and notes! A small recommendation: if you can, try to hold the ukulele in a way where your plucking hand wrist doesn’t bend at that much of an angle. Over time that much of a bend in the wrist can lead to discomfort/pain. Keep up the great playing!
jlbross – Nice work on this one! You even got the harmonics to ring out clearly! To add to what you’re doing, try to play the notes a bit smoother and more connected. To do this, keep your fretting hand down for the full durations of the notes and when you do shift to the next notes, don’t lift your hand off the strings as much. In addition to that, just make sure your right hand doesn’t stop the notes from ringing out early. You’re doing a great job this will just add a smoother flow.
quiyan – You’re doing a great job getting the transitions smoother between chords! They are sounding much more legato. As far as the harmonic at the end, it sounds like you got part of the chord to come out, but the highest pitched harmonic sounds like it was missing. Was the A string muted? Try to keep your left hand fingers curved so they don’t mute additional strings. You’re doing a wonderful job, keep it up!
taylor22jane – I love the duet! Since the piano is such a loud instrument, it might help to sit much closer to the phone with the ukulele for this duet. You did a great job on this one! It sounds really quiet around 1:15, so you may need to pluck a tiny bit harder on that section to help it project as well as the rest of the song. Keep up the great playing!
marianne – Great job, you’ve got this one down! As far as the harmonic at the end, you could get the E and the A string harmonics to ring out, but you’re right that this style of harmonic would work better with 2 more frets. Try to just get those harmonics out and just mute the other two strings if you would like. Also, the ukulele is overdriving the mic. This might be that you are sitting to close to the camera, but if you are going to sit that close, I recommend plucking lighter than you currently are and playing just a bit quieter. Very good job on this one!
macdog – That chord at the end was great! I like the sound of it! It seems like the only things to improve upon here is getting the first harmonic in tune, and working out a few hesitations in the section right after that harmonic. Try playing just a bit slower to give you extra time to find the harmonic without losing the pulse of the song. You’re doing great, keep it up
Hi @jlbross, thank you! My playing still doesn’t sound as smooth as I’d like to, but the lesson that Andrew suggested definitely helps! And I find practicing more on chord transition also helps, because given the same speed, if the chord transition takes less time, it should mean that I can leave my fingers on the strings for a longer duration.
Regarding the uke, I just got a Concert bundle from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015XD4YLY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_kQMdFb5N474TM). I bought it mostly for the overall price (considering the bag, tuner, extra set of strings, etc., and it was $10 cheaper when I bought it). But here’s my warning: there could be setup issues. How do I know? Well, after I received my bundle, it was missing the extra strings and the bag was very dirty, so I contacted the seller, and they offered me 2 more bundles that were returned to the warehouse to avoid me returning mine… Then I found that one of the 2 had slightly lower action than the original one, so it actually felt a bit more comfortable; but the other of the 2 had too low action so sometimes it buzzed on the fret… Of all the 3, the edge of the neck is scratchy as the metal fret bars pokes out a tiny bit, so I had to use sand paper to smooth it. Also note that the back of this uke is arched, intended to have fuller sound I guess, but it does feel a bit strange when holding it.
Hi Grace, here is a video to help you and here is the first and second lesson I recommend reviewing.
Here’s everyone on page 10:
lisamcc – Wow, that was fast! You’re doing a wonderful job! There were a few hesitations and a few spots where you sped up as well, but the notes were wonderful! I recommend slowing down a bit from that tempo and focusing on keeping a steady pulse now that you have the rest of it down. Keep up the great work!
kellyblackburn – You are off to a great start! The notes sound very clear, now it’s time to work on getting a smooth, steady rhythm and tempo through each section. There are a lot of shifts near the beginning that you are adding space between. Going just a tiny bit slower will help you to get these shifts in time. You are doing a great job on the solo, just a little bit more work on the rhythm throughout and you’ve got it! Excellent job! Thank you for your entry.
elealong12 – Way to keep the timing consistent on this one! It’s not an easy task. If you can get it down at this speed, you’ve done the hard work. You’re doing a wonderful job! My only suggestion before working on speed is to spend a little bit more time on the section right before the chorus and on the solo, and pluck just a tiny bit lighter while keeping the left hand relaxed as well. Keep up the great work!
andrewvh – You’re doing a great job! It sounds like you know the part fairly well, and it’s just a bit of focus on getting your fingers more comfortable with the part. What I notice aside from the ending is that on sections including the build up, you are playing half the speed that you are playing the rest of the song. The quarter notes fly by at the tempo of the rest of the song, and right now in measure 20 you are holding them out as if they were half notes. Keep working on it, you are getting close! Thank you for entering this challenge!
rockmyuke – Excellent job! Your timing and feel were great all the way through this one! It seems like there was only one spot that tripped you up on this take, but I imagine you can get the transition and that it was just this particular time through right at the 1:00 to 1:03 mark. You did wonderful on this, now it’s time to learn one of the other songs or get started on July’s challenge! Keep up the great playing!
holly1 – You are doing well thus far! As far as pulling the strings down: be careful not to do this too much, as it makes the notes sound out of tune slightly as you play them. If you catch it now, it won’t become a habit later. Aside from this, you are doing an awesome job! Just a bit of work to get the accuracy on certain sections and staying conscious of not bending the notes and you’ve got it! Thank you for joining the challenge!
nthibode – Hey, that’s an awesome shirt, where can I get one? In all seriousness, though: Your playing is excellent all the way through this one and your feel is great! There might be one or two challenging sections that you are slightly slowing down on, but there’s a lot going on and you’re getting all of those nuances! Superb playing on this!
marianne – I think you did a great job in spite of the limitations of the soprano! If you get a chance, try this out on a concert or a soprano ukulele. The slight bit of extra room might help you not only with the high notes, but also might give you enough space between the frets to help you get the higher fretted notes with more clarity. Wonderful playing, keep it up!
rickeymike – Your voice sounds great on this song! You’ve come a long way in the last several months! Now that you have the notes down, try playing this at a similar overall tempo or a bit slower with a metronome to help with some of the spots you’re pausing on. Before you do that, work a little bit more to get the rhythm on the build up as well. Keep it up, you’re off to a great start!
Here’s everyone on page 19. Stephen is working on page 17 and 18 and will post feedback soon 🙂
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aloooy – That was excellent! I think it was at a perfect level for you. A couple of things stood out to me. First, I’d double down on practicing Bar 23. It’s hard to keep the tempo steady when you have to do picking on the same string versus a linear movement (i.e. strings 3 to 1).
For Theme 2, I’d recommend you soften up the strum on beat 1. IMO, this section should have a really soft, delicate feel.
goody2shoes – Here’s my feedback for you and here’s the lesson I referenced.
katariin – Well done! I’m going to embed a video below that I made earlier this month for another member. It’s got some tips on how you can switch up your right hand attack to create different colors. So for your performance, this would apply for the A Melody as you played it entirely with the thumb, which gives you only 1 timbre.
stinyuke – Awesome job! So I noticed that you and @aloooy struggled on the same measure (23). That’s a really tough bar for keeping the timing steady while doing the triplet on 2 strings as opposed to a liner movement (i.e. strings 3 to 1). Try to switch to Picado for that spot. I think it’ll make it easier to play and keeps the tempo consistent.
Beautiful feel on Theme 2. The only thing I can suggest is sometimes it seems like you lift up prematurely. But, it’s very slight. See if you can hold on and prolong the chords for just that extra touch of sustain.
ukulelemaster3000 – Nice playing! And what a cool looking uke 🙂 So the big thing that I noticed is your left hand form. I’d recommend positioning your thumb slightly above the middle of the neck. This will increase your dexterity. Check out this lesson as it dives deep into developing proper left hand form.
karenj – Here is my feedback for you and here’s the lesson I referenced. 🙂
kellyblackburn – Here’s my feedback for you and here’s the video with tips on the rake technique 🙂
zerratheterra – Well done, Zenon! For the B Melody, there’s one eighth note in measure 10 that you are omitting which is messing up the timing. So I’d recommend going back and just double checking the tab to make sure you’re playing that section correct 🙂
planetfink – Great job on this song! You have a great feel, and played very well throughout. I recommend going back through and utilizing Tobias’s techniques and specific finger patterns. If this seems like way too much to do at the moment, go back to the beginning of Melody B and double check the rhythm of the first measure. Listen to the playback to make sure you aren’t rushing through the rhythm there. Very nice work on this one, and I enjoyed the ocean view!
uku_on – Very nice job on this one! Your playing is very consistent throughout, and your ukulele sounds wonderful recorded with those microphones! Now it’s time to either learn the harder version, or at least add some accents and dynamics to really feel the emotion that Tobias conveys in the original. You’re doing a wonderful job! Keep it up!
robinboyd -That scenery is very beautiful! I very much enjoy these outdoor recordings. You are doing an excellent job on playing this one the hard way; It seems like you’ve practiced this one quite a lot, and it shows! There’s only a spot or two where the melody note isn’t projecting as well as the other notes (mainly right at 0:30). This is a small detail to work on, and may only have affected you on this take specifically. Way to go! Keep up the great work!
lyndallk – Hey, that’s an awesome shirt…and some awesome ukulele playing! Excellent job on your technique, dynamics, and rhythm! Not much to add to what you’re already doing. Keep it up!
verity2003 – This is a great tempo for where you are at! I think your next goal at this tempo should be to play the notes more smoothly and connected (legato) rather than separated (legato). To do this, make sure to leave the left hand fingers down for the full duration of the notes, and make sure that the plucking hand doesn’t stop the notes from ringing out. You are off to a great start! Great work so far!
johanna2509 – You’re doing a great job! And don’t worry, most of us our guilty of having a “playing face.” You did a great job editing, I didn’t even notice at first! I recommend playing this one a bit slower for now to get through the whole piece in one take. What you are doing sounds very good!
eszti5mail – Great work on this! You have a great flow on this, there’s just a bit more work on a few sections: The rhythm at the start of Melody B is a bit different: make sure to hold the first note out a bit longer before the second note in that measure. The second note starts on the upbeat after beat two. Keep it up, you’re doing a very good job so far!
lisadmh – Wow, Lisa! I’m glad we solved your computer problem, you are locking in with the track very well! Great job on the solo! My only advice is to play just a tiny bit more laid back in certain spots on the main strum pattern: occasionally you are hitting one or two of the strums a hair early. Hitting them even slightly late will help to keep the laid back feel of the song. You’re doing a wonderful job!
Here’s everyone on page 16.
sgwarren – I don’t know what to say… Let me know if you’re interested in making performance videos for us. Total pro playing!!
kkaszuba – killer job for 6 months! Triplet strum sounds good and the technique looks fine. What I would do is slow the tempo down and work on keeping it steady. Work on 4 bar sections at a time. When you get comfortable with one section, do the next section, and then build it from there.
goody2shoes – that was awesome! The piece flows well and has a great feel overall. One thing I would experiment with is plucking the harmony chords a touch softer. That will help the melody pop and stand out more.
b_ukes_101 – Excellent!! Triplet strum sounds great! One thing I want you to do is to slow down and work on keeping your timing a bit steadier. Try this: Take a four bar section and loop it in the tab player. Slow it down to 65% speed. When you get comfortable with that, try the next four bars. Then put those eight bars together. After that try to increase the speed by 5 to 10%. Repeat this process for the rest of the tune.
And check out this lesson/article. It talks about where to place your right hand when fingerpicking. So in your video, I see you’re holding onto the end of the neck. That’s something that we don’t want to do, but it’s an easy fix 🙂
ukuleleloo – beautiful playing, Lucinda! The only thing I can suggest is to work on cleaning up any notes or chords that aren’t ringing out.
laurakarr12 – you did a wonderful job getting it to sustain, sounds very pretty! I’d double down your practice on the campanella runs and work towards gradually increasing the overall tempo.
philbateau – awesome first entry! Sounds great overall. I’d recommend playing with the tab player. You’ll have Matt’s playing as a guide and the backing track to help you stay locked into the groove. Both of which will help reinforce your timing.
timtamaus – so good!! You sound great, so keep doing what you’re doing – but, I want you to memorize it. So that’s my challenge for you 🙂
ivo_zag – Well done! I’d recommend slowing the tempo down so you can focus on getting the triplet strum consistent for each time. So if you listen back to the performance, you’ll hear that you nail the rhythm sometimes, but other times it sounds like swung 8th notes. Should be an easy fix, once you get more comfortable with performing the strum.
And great job on the fingerpicking section!
cimarronsailor – beautiful playing! Keep up the great work 🙂
In reply to: Ki Ora from New Zealand
Hi @arlena57
Welcome to RC101 from and EX-Aucklander, now devoted Aussie (sorry about that)!One day your dog will enjoy your playing 😀
I am sure my cat does now… when playing certain tunes eg. my arrangement of Brahm’s Lullaby, he will come and sit on my lap. Or…. is he trying to shut me up?!?!?!? ;DThere is SO much to learn here, and so much frustration and joy in achieving your own milestones.
Follow the learning paths to start off, try and practice daily, enjoy yourself and BE PATIENT.
Get a strap for your uke because it makes it so much easier to hold, aim to buy a second uke one day ‘cos “you’ve just gotta be able to play both high and low G tune because the arrangements are sooooo good”, and we want to do everything” :D, and prepare to contract UAS (ukulele acquirement syndrome – a terminal condition).And have fun, every day.
