Participate in the August 2023 Member Challenge: WIN Kala Ukulele!

[Andrew]

Hi Rock Class 101 Community!

We are back with site member challenge #77! WOW, there has now been over 4,000+ members participating in our challenges! If you’ve sat on the sidelines, please join us for this month’s challenge! Challenges are a fun way to stay motivated and a great way to meet fellow ukulele players who are passionate about learning and becoming better players. 🙂

And I offer feedback on ALL submissions!

Please watch the video above and read instructions below carefully for details/instructions on this month’s challenge.

Pick 1 from the following 4 RC101 Lessons:

1) “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion * – A beautiful fingerstyle adaptation of the love theme from James Cameron’s 1997 film, Titanic.

* Taught in its entirety for FREE!

2) “Fields Of Gold” by Sting * – A ballad that perfectly paints a picture of everlasting love.

* Taught in its entirety for FREE!

3) “Cielito Lindo” – Learn to play a beautiful Mexican folk song twice! Once as a chord melody and again for vocal accompaniment.

Note: Low G ukulele is required for this arrangement. You can choose to submit a performance of only the chord melody or the entire song. If you choose to do the entire song, you have to sing in Spanish. If you’re doing only the chord melody, end on a C chord in bar 49 (voicing: 0003 or 0-0-12-15).

4) “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” – Learn a beautiful folk song that’s played entirely with the clawhammer technique.

Note: Performing to the backing track is required. Premium membership is required to download the backing tracks.

** If you need assistance with how to record yourself check out our FREE course on recording audio/video and/or private message me and I will be happy to help you out. **

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GOALS FOR MEMBER CHALLENGE:


1. Beginner Level: Be able to play one of the lessons as shown by Andrew smoothly and in time. Do not worry about trying to play fast; slow and steady wins the race.

Recommended Piece: “My Heart Will Go On” OR “Fields Of Gold”

2. Intermediate to Advanced Level: Be able to play the lesson as shown by Andrew smoothly, in time, and at or close to the original piece’s tempo.

Recommended Pieces: “Cielito Lindo” OR “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”

3. Participation Goal: 40 Rock Class 101 Member Participant Videos/MP3 posted.

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GROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:

1. Post your Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud links of you playing 1 of the 4 RC101 pieces anytime between Tuesday, August 1st until Thursday, August 31st, 11:59pm ET.

The upload feature on the site only supports photos. Members must host their own files. Creating an account is easy and free 🙂 Here are the links to create an account:

YouTube (For Video) – https://www.youtube.com/create_channel

SoundCloud (For Audio) – https://soundcloud.com/signin

2. Submit individually, as a reply, IN THIS POST.

3. Feel free to submit more than one video for the challenge, but additional videos will not count as extra entries into the raffle for the prize.

4. Have fun and don’t be intimidated by this challenge!!! Use this challenge to help you set goals and complete them by a deadline. You can also use this as an opportunity to chat with your fellow Rock Class 101 members and share tips or tricks on this challenge that you think are useful.

5. You must perform the entire piece to receive an entry into the prize raffle. Performance must be submitted by the deadline listed (in #1) above to gain an entry in the raffle, as well as, to receive feedback.

* Note: In my opinion, it is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. So if you are a beginner and can only play the first couple of measures. That is completely ok. If you play two more measures of the next challenge piece than you did the previous one, you are on track to getting better. This is what these challenges are about… you learning ukulele and getting better. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.

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COMMON FAQs:

1) The prize and the challenge is open to the entire world!

2) Premium membership is NOT required to participate, but will make participation easier as it gains you complete access to the full video lessons, tabs, and the on-screen tab viewer.

3) Basic membership (free) is required to submit a reply on this forum post. You can sign up for Basic Membership HERE.

4) To post YouTube video links (in which they appear embedded on the forum), simply copy and past the video URL in its own line. For example:

YouTube URL

5) If you live in the Continental U.S., we will ship the giveaway ukulele to you for FREE! If you live outside of the Continental U.S., there will be a shipping fee ranging between $40 USD to $80 USD. This fee will be collected by Uke Republic. You are also responsible for any custom fees or duties.

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Giveaway Rules:

There will be 1 winner, selected by random drawing on September 5th. To qualify to win, you must submit your audio and/or video links of your playing by the deadline listed above.

Grand Prize:

1) $120 Grand Prize: Kala KA-SLNG Mahogany Long Neck Soprano Ukulele




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THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR!

Uke Republic: https://www.ukerepublic.com/

Let’s crush this challenge!

[jbmills07]

I will be bowing out of the giveaway again this month.
I love the way this song sounds on the ukulele and how it was arranged! Another classic I just had to learn.
Oh and if you are wondering about the goofy smile at the end, sometimes people tell me I don’t smile enough in my videos. So there is reasoning behind it lol

@andrew Thank you for the feedback from the July challenge! I really struggled with that song! Hence why I posted so late in the month lol. But it was totally worth it.

• This reply was modified 9 months ago by jbmills07.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@jbmills07, very beautiful! Love that song. You captured the feeling well. And goofy smiles, accepted. What if you played the whole song making direct eye contact with the camera with an unwavering huge grin? That would be pretty creepy. 😂😅😂

[Andrew]

@jbmills07 – @The_Bumble_Bard is spot on, you nailed the feel! Amazing demonstration on finesse. An excellent start to our August Challenge 🙂

[dianna]

@jbmills07 – first, I think that was one of the fastest posts to a challenge I have seen…..you must love that song! Gorgeous – goofy smile and all – it had schmulz. The timbre was beautiful….is that the new Uke?

[deadbuggy]

I’m sitting out the challenges for a bit — this happened in the beginning of June when the Weeping Willow lesson came out and I couldn’t resist. My wrist doc says uke therapy is highly recommended!

[leb397]

@jbmills07 love it! That was a speedy post… let alone a great recording 👏😆 love that the post cover, shows your smile. You have that beautiful custom Uke coming so we expect more grinning 😄 Congrats again!

Congrats to @uke241 it was an amazing entry.

[annemarie]

Oh wow, deadbuggy!
That was fun!
Just curious, did you take up long boarding later in life like me?

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@deadbuggy, oh em gee, that was amazing! I’m a deadbuggy after watching that. Genius. 😂😅😂 Sorry about your wrist; that stinks, big time.

[nat-uke]

@jbmills07 👏👏 – played with lots of feeling! I’m going to try this one too. I’ve always wanted to learn this song and have thought it was a bit too tough for me, but I’m motivated to learn it now. Well done. My post will be most likely be at the very end of the month though – haha. Your uke sounds great ❤️

[nat-uke]

@deadbuggy yes, we gotta laugh sometimes – great lyrics adaptation to help you do just that 👏😁. Hope you heal more rapidly than you expect. ❤️

[leb397]

@deadbuggy ARGH! Awful you broke wrist. Your folksy blues rendition says it all😁 well done. Heal quickly. Louisa

[dianna]

Oh @deadbuggy so sorry to hear this, but Wow! Impressive clawhammer….and also quite impressed that you can sing about it…..”Weeping Wrist”….you’ve created a classic!…take-care and feel better soon.♥️ Dianna

• This reply was modified 8 months, 4 weeks ago by dianna.

[deadbuggy]

Thank you all for the kind words!

[Andrew]

@deadbuggy – Brilliant take, Sara! Sorry to hear about your wrist, wish you a speedy recovery 🙂

[Author]

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