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Here’s my submission of Harvest Moon. Need more focus on softening my attack on the strings. Measures 29 and 30 have me stumbling. Oh well, here’s my best recording of the song. All in all it was a fun song to learn and play.
@surrealflea: that was a nice playing / recording despite your injury!
I noticed that your uke is a Cynthia Lin creation. I have the same. Just wondering if you changed out the strings ‘cause it has a deeper tone than mine.
Thanks, Marion@funtime2018: Thanks, Marion! For my Cynthia Lin, I did change the strings recently, but just to a brand new set of Worth Browns. I think the new strings improved the tone a bit. Maybe a fresh set of strings will help?
Hi Andrew,
here comes a second try for Rainbow Connection.
It is still not totally fluent, as you can here I am still a beginner. I watched the training videos you recommended and tried hard to work on the sustain/ringing of notes.Andrea
I must admit, I like this ukulele arrangement more than the original song. ^^;
What I found particularly challenging this time is that the parts are all so similar yet slightly different… This stressed me out. So i decided to just “go with the flow” and probably don’t stick to every note of the actual arrangement.Where I feel improvement this time: When stumbling, I sometimes managed to stay in the metrum and just went on instead of correcting myself – yep, sometimes.
So here’s my go:
Here is my submission for wonderful tonight. Sorry my face looks so blah in this video…I was having a lot of trouble memorizing so I just decided to put the music on a stand in front of me. I didn’t have as much time to practice this month especially because I am trying to learn some Christmas songs. Thanks for the awesome lessons Andrew and team!
Oh also sorry the video is blurry…couldn’t get the camera to focus on me instead of Norah Jones in the background hehe.
@ukandrea – BIG improvement on both aspects! Great job, Andrea!
morrieuke1 – You are doing a great job on this one! It seems like a tiny bit of work on getting the pull off in measure 26 to be just a touch louder and to get the whole verse 2 just a bit more legato, and that’s all that’s left to work on. Very well done!
wongbrown – Great job on this one, you have a nice flow through most of the piece. At the 2nd verse, there are a few measures like measure 26 that you can work on playing smoothly through, then go back and play that whole section (verse 2) with a slightly more consistent tempo. Try playing that section with a metronome smoothly to keep the flow of the song consistent first, then go back through it with a slightly more rubato feel. Keep up the great work!
andrewvh – Nicely done! My main suggestion on this would be to work through verse 2 at a slower tempo with the goal of playing that section much more legato (smooth with less space between notes). Doing this at lower speeds will allow you to hear wear you tend to cut the notes short. Measure 26 is one area that’s tricky for many. Spend extra time on that measure and then try playing the whole song just a bit slower than where you currently are. You’re doing a wonderful job! Keep it up!
surrealflea – I’m so glad that you are able to play again! I’m glad your finger is healing. You’re playing is very nice on this one, and the only thing I would work on is keeping a steady tempo as you go through. It’s easy to rush through certain passages and notes that are held out longer, so keep a steady count as you play at first. Try going through with a metronome to get the timing down, and then play it more rubato after really feeling confident on what the rhythms are. Keep up the great work, and keep healing!
lhamilton – Very nice job on this one! The pausing sounds very intentional, so it works for the most part and almost adds a nice effect to the song. However, if you intend to not pause, try playing the whole piece a bit slower to keep the tempo/feel consistent. You are doing a great job!
rickeymike – You did a very good job playing and singing on this one. I’m not sure about the mic, but it’s very possible that it tries to compress the sound and keep it at a uniform volume. On the intro of the song, I think you played a very cool rhythm, and you managed to change it into 4/4, but the original keeps a waltz feel even through the intro. Try playing along with Matt and the slowed down tab player, and practice counting through this as well. You’re playing very well keep it up!
joe150 – You get a very good sound out of each note, and your tone is very nice on this one. You have the notes down, so now it’s time to work through the rhythm. I would start with just the intro. Practice counting through this one slowly, then try playing along with Matt on the tab player at 50% speed. Then try the same thing with the next section. You’re off to a great start, keep it up!
funtime2018 – You’re doing a great job on this. There are a few places to work on the rhythm: in measure 6, there’s less time between the last note of meaure 6 moving to measure 7. This rhythm happens several times throughout the piece, so if you get the first of these, it should carry over to the other ones. Try listening to that transition with the tab player to hear how it sounds. You’re off to a great start!
ukuleleloo – Very nicely played! You have a great sound and your technique is great. It sounds like there were just a few slight hesitations towards the beginning, so play through those parts to get a bit more familiar with those chord transitions. Over all, you have this piece down. Keep up the great work!
santai – You really have the feel of this arrangement down! You managed to keep a really consistent flow through most of the song. You sounded slightly less hesitant/confident in a few spots, but over all you kept that feel throughout. I recommend isolating the sections where you sound less confident and work through them until they become second nature. Wonderful feel, try keeping that feel going with that confidence even if you miss a note or two, you can almost dance to this!
b_ukes_101 – You are off to a great start! You have the notes under your fingers in most spots, so now it’s time to work on keeping an even pulse while you play. Practice playing this one to a metronome at a slower speed than you are playing here. This will help you work through hesitations and get the overall flow of the song. Then you can go back and give the piece a more rubato feel now that you are more familiar with the rhythms. Keep it up, you’re doing great!
mac1984 – I think the crickets add a lot to the song. Great playing on this one! You have a very good sense of feel and timing, and the notes are all very clear! I think playing the song just a touch slower and working a bit more on 1:12 to 1:30, and you’ve got it. Try isolating that section. Also, it looks like your action is fairly high on this ukulele, it might be making that section a bit trickier as well. Awesome job on this one!
Thank you for the feedback. The action on my uke is high. Eventually I will do something about that!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Andrew! I was only uncomfortable with a couple of my pauses toward the very end of the piece as I wondered quite where I was in the piece and they’re already disappearing :). I really enjoyed the arrangement.
Linda
More like “Blunderful Tonight”…
🙂
Oh well, it’s a beautiful arrangement and I enjoyed playing it (and need to get memorized again) Thanks AJ and Andrew!
I know I am past the deadline to be included in the contest but I hope I can still get feedback 🙂
Wowza. This song. Rainbow Connection is a lovely piece, really fun to learn and it taught me a lot. It also really shows off the weaknesses of my novice playing, so I’m interested to hear critiques/observations. I didn’t realize just how much I tend to pluck/attack the strings until I watched the video haha.
Thanks for another great tutorial.
I also really enjoyed watching everyone’s submissions – great job everyone!
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