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So I posted Dream a Little Dream on Sunday and have been working on A Thousand Years these past two days with the goal of posting it before the deadline whatever my progress, because the incentive doesn’t work unless you actually post it, right. But it needs a lot of work, and I chickened out.
The good news: I’ve got it memorized.
Bad news/questions: Is there a more detailed lesson on the muting for effect/ease of transitioning between notes/chords? Would like to learn it for the effect, but so far, it’s easier to just play the notes. Maybe I’m trying too hard? Or just need more practice, but I’m not sure what or how to do it. Also, after watching “How to Hold Your Ukulele” I put my strap away. It works fine for first position and Dream a Little Dream, but going up and down the fretboard for A Thousand Years, I just couldn’t move efficiently and keep the uke anchored. Got the strap back out, which made all the difference. Is this a bad habit/crutch I need to get over?
There’s so much to work on beyond these two things. Hard to know how to prioritize. Thoughts?Joe150 – in YouTube, once you have a video uploaded, there will be a button under it called share. you click that and copy the link. Then come back here and paste that link into a new line in a post and your video will appear here.
For soundcloud it is similar. Once you upload your audio go to your name on the upper right and select ‘tracks’ If you click in the track you want and push the share button under it, you link it the same way as the YouTube video.
Hope that helps!
becky777 – do you use soundcloud? I am wondering what people use to record for soundcloud to get the correct format.
Lakeside – I’m not sure there is a correct format? I’ve uploaded .wav and .mp3 to Soundcloud. I think mp3 is a smaller file size. Both those files work inside Audicity and NCH if I need, or want, to play with the files more.
I’m just using the cheapest recording equipment I could find. (still learning how to use everything.) I’m currently playing with FL Studio 20’s (I think it’s 20 anyway?) trial version of their DAW.
Not sure if that answers your question.
Here’s everyone on Page 12:
surfnrz – Great playing! I enjoy your slight variations on the rhythm from Matt’s arrangement. You’ve got the song down, so now I would experiment with different right hand techniques. You play with a lot of attack on the beginning of each note, which still works well, but have you tried plucking lighter with the right hand or playing with the thumb like Matt to get a warmer softer touch? Even if you still play it finger style, try relaxing the right hand a bit and experiment with the volume of each note. I hope this gives you some ideas to expand your right hand techniques! Thanks for entering the challenge!
speedyfish – Excellent work on learning a difficult arrangement! You do a really great job of getting every note to sound clearly on those pull-offs! Your tone is also very good! With a song based so strongly in a repeating pattern, it’s time to practice what you’ve learned with a metronome to get all of the melodic parts in time. I would recommend practicing it slowly for accuracy in timing, and then work it up to the full tempo. I’m very impressed with your playing! Thanks for submitting on this challenge!
kirpuff – Wonderful job! You’re doing well on the timing and the notes and keeping the backbeat going! I think slowing the song down and getting the melody a bit smoother by eliminating space between the notes (holding each note for it’s full value) would add a lot of musicality. It’s impressive that you can play it that fast, but it may be more effective as a ballad at a slower tempo. Awesome job on getting the arrangement down! Thank you for your entry!
andracass – You are well on your way on this one! The notes are there, and your right hand feel is very relaxed. It sounds like you are still getting used to some of the transitions to certain chord shapes, and I think just going over the parts you hesitate on will clear the rest up! I noticed a wobbly sound as you were playing…is this from your camera, or is something loose on your ukulele? You might want to look into that if it’s the ukulele. It may just be a loose tuning peg or screw (if it’s not just the microphone you’re recording through). Thanks for taking part in this challenge!
johanna2509 – You have a very nice tone and feel on this one! There are a couple of spots where I think you’re still getting familiar with the chord shapes, but over all, it’s sounding great! I notice that on Melody B you are reaching your pinky out at an angle, almost flattening it sideways…I would recommend trying not to have it at quite as much of an angle, as that can create tension in the wrist over time. Also, at 0:19 in, the way your left hand is bent outward might be too much of a strain on the wrist. Try not to let the wrist be that bent if you can help it to prevent injuries over time. Wonderful playing! Thanks for entering this challenge!
alex086962 – Great work on this one! There were only a few spots you hesitated on, so practicing those an extra time or two might make those spots a little smoother. As far as the thumb strumming, I would try strumming lighter and relaxing that hand as much as possible. I think stretching both hands after playing will help keep them nimble, and warming up slowly before trying the harder chord shapes each day is a good way to go. I hope this helps with the finger stiffness a bit. Thanks for your entry, and good luck!
brettboy – That was a fun take on the arrangement! I enjoyed all the variations on strums and additions! My only suggestion is to try playing your variations in time with either the original recording or to a metronome with beat one marked differently than the others. Every now and then, your changes also changed where beat one was, and practicing this way would help you to know how to squeeze in those melodies and additions while keeping the groove throughout. On another note, I love how relaxed you stay throughout the performance, it was very fluid! Thank you for sharing your version, it was very cool!
edward – There’s something about that little red button that always makes my heart race! Recording puts a lot of pressure on many of us, so I totally understand! You are still playing well in spite of this, which is not an easy task! I recommend playing Melody B with a metronome a bit more to make sure you have the timing correct: the Eb chord is held out for 2 full beats before the next melody note. Also, on the last chord, try not to strum through the A string, just play the G, C, and E strings to help it sound more final. You are doing a great job!
tiff27 – You sound great! I think that how low you are holding the ukulele might be making it a bit harder to stabilize the instrument, notice how Matt places his. This may not work for everyone, but I would recommend trying it. I feel like the next step with where you are is to add a metronome to your playing. I would recommend starting at 70 bpm or a little bit below to start out, and then gradually speed it up to full speed. Keep up the great work! Thank you for entering the challenge!
juwong – Great job on this! Your playing is sounding good! Your Ukulele might be slightly out of tune, but you are playing well! I think adding a metronome to get some of the changes in time might be the next step, and then just trying to leave as little space between notes to make the song even smoother. Also, it looks like you are holding the ukulele up while you are playing, which might be adding a little tension to both hands. try to make it a goal to stay as relaxed as possible as you play. You’re doing great! Thank you for your entry.
justin – I like that you are doing this on a low G ukulele, it sounds pretty cool! It changes the vibe in a cool way, although some of the melody notes are an octave too low. The rhythm in some spots is a bit different than you’re playing it, although what you’re doing sounds fine. At the very beginning of the piece, the first chord is two full beats long before the 2nd note is played. I would look at Andrew’s reading course to work on reading note rhythms if you aren’t very familiar with this. Great playing! Thanks for taking part in the challenge!
becky7777 – soundcloud tells you the formats (including the ones you mentioned). But I don’t know how to record something in those formats. What app or software do you use?
@lakeside339 , becky777 – I used an iPhone 4S with an app called Voice Record. This was my first recording and upload, and between the phone, app, and my playing, it wasn’t great.
It was suggested that going forward, folks post what brand, size, etc. uke they’re playing. I would like to further suggest it might be helpful to know what devices, apps, etc. folks are using.I second the devices, apps, etc! I tried voice memos and music memos on both my ipad and iphone – sounded awful! (I ended up recording a black video but you can’t post just the sound to soundcloud – wrong format. So it went to youtube and then here.
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