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Well, things have slowed down a little and I can breath a bit……at least until the end of the month…. I love these free choice months…..it’s fun to see what others have chosen to work on, which I find inspiring….and it’s fun to create my own path. That said, I am going to be boring and simply continue practicing the piece that I worked on last month….following @Andrew’s advice. I didn’t have a lot of time to work on it last month, but at least I was able to memorize it so I can now focus on the nuances of the piece.
1. Execution: Listen to @Andrew playing “Freight Train” section by section, following his lead
2. Application: practicing daily section by section incorporating nuances of the piece
3. Evaluation: Record and post, comparing last month’s posting to this month’s…..hopefully I will see imporovement…..Also, if there is time, I will also work on other pieces that I have posted this year like “12th Street Rag”…….but that is probably being overly optimistic….
@robinboyd wow you played that beautifully!
1) Execution: I am going to work on Sound of Silence. Its always been one of my favorite songs and I have always wanted to be able to play it. So I want to test my skills and see if I can play it to a standard I am happy with. (not very likely lol).
2) Application: My main take away from this lesson is to keep learning new songs and practicing a little every day. Not sure if that makes sense or applies, but that’s the main reason for me doing this challenge 🙂
3) Evaluation: I may try and record myself early and do a before and after, but mostly I am going to be looking for improvements keeping the tempo with some of the tricky cord transitions
@the_bumble_bard I am also very much looking forward to seeing your performance and this mysterious instrument! I’m not going to lie I laughed at the thought of it being a Kazoo lol.
@leb397 Also looking forward to you tackling the claw hammer! can’t wait!
@nat-uke oh man, it sounds like your entry is going to be cool!@janaq1 I got the inspiration from Matt in his most recent lesson about playing like a pro. He talks about practising and playing in different surroundings and also allowing just one recording of yourself (as it would be when playing before an audience). I found it strangely freeing – @Andrew is so supportive of whatever we do, and he’s not demanding perfection. We demand that of ourselves. I hope you’ll give it a try!
So I’ve decided to work on a different instrument this month! 😊 A few years ago, I got a Kalimba for my birthday. I’ve played around a bit with it but not too much. I’m not sure why exactly, but the way the notes are laid out kinda messes with my brain haha. 😅 It makes memorizing tunes so difficult for me and I need to find a concept or a way of visualizing the notes in my mind. Like on uke, I memorize songs mostly by their chord shapes rather than just memorizing what frets and strings to play. Or on the piano, you can learn the right and left hand separately.
However, on the Kalimba, if you just wanna play the B Major scale (that’s how mine is tuned), the notes alternate between the left and right sides, and respectively left and right hand. So, basically, with this non-linear layout, both hands can play harmony and melody, if that makes sense. I find this very confusing. 😅 There’s got to be a better way to learn tunes than just memorizing numbers and relying on muscle memory. My guess is that I have to learn more about intervals.So here is my goal for this month:
Execution: I want to learn the beginner friendly song “You Are My Sunshine” and try to find a way of picturing the tune in my head.
Application: Practice daily and trying to be aware of the actual notes I’m playing. Additionally, research the internet on how to learn the Kalimba.
Evaluation: Share a video at the end of the month and report about how I’m getting on with memorizing.If it goes well, I might even learn another song too. 😊
Execution: will be finishing off RC101 pieces I started and then never got around to completing for one reason or another.
Application: practising 4x songs – one per week – all tv/film themes
Evaluation: record and upload by the end of the week
First choice: Frolic. Used to love Curb your Enthusiasm so went straight to learn this when Rc101 released their version – just never got round to recording/finalising it. So a little bit of it to re-learn and a few tech glitches later and here it is (well currently taking forever on the copyright check section uploading on youtube – regretting the way I have entitled it now!):
(hopefully this link will go live soon – the checks are taking forever today for some reason!)
Execution – I have been working my way through Rock Class 101’s Music Theory & Jamming Course. In the “In Conclusion” section of Module 2, Rhythm Playing, Unit 1 The CAGED Method, it is suggested to take an easy song with a 3 or 4 chord progression and apply the CAGFD Method. This is what I will try to do. No doubt this is a very simple thing for many of you, but it is a challenge for me. This is my first real exposure to music theory and the CAGFD Method and I have to study the lesson very closely to figure it out. So far, I have had many revelations.
Application – I settled on Don’t Worry, Be Happy from The Daily Ukulele, which uses only C, Dm and F, so this should be do-able. So, I will need to figure the higher necked chord shapes. In the performance video, I will play the first verse with the basic chord shapes first, and the second verse with the higher voiced chords. I plan to merely whistle the melody since, believe me, you don’t want to hear me sing. I will use a very simple strum for the chords.
Evaluation- The core of what I am doing is determining the higher voiced chords, but of course the performance in using the higher voiced chords is what will take more time and practice. I plan to practice this song with the basic shapes and the new left hand shapes, assessing my progress every few days, and increasing the number of practice sessions as needed so I don’t terribly embarrass myself in the performance video. I also will record myself every few days to monitor progress.Hi,
I’m making progress with my arrangement of the accompaniment for Una Furtiva Lagrima. It works well with the whistling — a bit of a duet in places. I’ve worked out the score using Notion on my Macbook and am now making tweaks as I learn to whistle and play it.
I’ve now got a tool that will let me hook my mic for whistling and the uke connection together into the Macbook where I plan to record using Garageband once I’m ready.
Linda
Heyho Rockclass,
I’m a little bit late this month. I just arrived back home after vacations on a beautiful greek island. We drove there through the Mountains and i decided to listen to “Third” from Portishead, an album i did not listening to for many years. And, surprise…there is a nice little UKE-tune on it called “Deep Water”. As i looked after it i recognized that there are many covers of it on YT but i was’nt able to find any Chord-Melody.
So here is my Challenge:Execution:
Learn the chords and/or progressions of “Deep Water” and build a Chord-Melody Solo. Therefore i got to find out which in which key it works best for me, write it down and of course learn to play it.Application: Finish step one and do not overwhelme myself with it 😂. Practising ….until i’m ready for:
Evaluation: Play and record it for you! (wish me luck …😏)
I’m really excited, as every month, to read/ listen/ and watch for your entries!
P.S. On Corfu i met one nice dude who made me a little Uke from Olivewood. Here’s a picture:
PXL_20250812_1029442692_copy_768x1020 @otzepeng What an amazing little uke from Corfu. It’s so cute. Your challenge this month sounds like so much fun. I started working on mine the first day then haven’t done a thing because of being so busy 🥴 I really have to get on it.
Looking forward to everyone’s submissions. Gonna be a great month.
@otzepeng I love the little Uke statue. Kind of the man to make it for you. Your drive through the mountains to get to Islands sounds enchanting and my favorite is listening to music in the car. Look forward to your entry!
I love how we all approach our entries. So fun reading. @lhamilton really looking forward to yours. 😗😗😗I’ll take the chance this month to explore something I otherwise don’t do enough: improvisation. So instead of doing what we usually do every month, pick a piece, learn to play all the parts, memorize everything, repeat the same thing a million times over again, I’ll do something completely different:
1) Execution: improvise all parts (bass, rhythm, lead) of a simple three chord progression. Come up with as many variations as possible within this very limited frame without sounding wrong.
2) Application: the three chord progression I’ve chosen is Am (four beats), C (2 beats) D (two beats), which is deceptively simple, but also happens to be the chord progression of one of my favorite Dire Straits songs, Six Blade Knife. So I’ll call this the Six Blade Knife jam. I’ll practice all parts separately with an iReal backing track, and then try to put it all together.
3) Evaluation: I’ll record first the bass part, then the rhythm part, then the lead part, and review each part until I’m happy with it and ready to continue to the next one. At the end, I hope to have something that sounds remotely like the Dire Straits song.@andrew Congratulations on the RC101 milestone! We’ve all benefited immensely from this amazing learning platform. Enjoy your well-earned break.
@robinboyd Beautifully played—hope you’re feeling better soon!
@henri0 Loved your performance. Well played!@malki2603 Your dotara-style playing sounds great—keep it up 👍
Late to the challenge this month.
Execution: Follow the RC101 course “How to Write a Song on Ukulele: A Beginner’s Guide to Chord Melody.”
Application: Attempt to compose a simple riff.
Evaluation: Play, listen and refine the riff on my concert ukulele and have fun.
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