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Andrew!!! I mean, I caught onto what you were up to with your teaching methods pretty quickly since I found you. It made me look into furthering my rasguedo ability (Seriously thank you for introducing and “forcing” rasguedo on me- though my family members must hate you secretly LOL!!) and made me want to start practicing golpe because it’s amazing…. but reading sheet music…. I can’t even wrap my head around the circle of 5ths or I- V – VII chord progression (That’s probably not a thing, but an example of what I go “wha??” to lol.)
I’m only lightheartedly complaining btw! 🙂 (since it’s hard to know just from text.) I did get kicked out of jr high orchestra though once the teacher caught on I was playing by watching her rather than reading the music so it’s not got a good memory connected to it. Sigh… I wasn’t bad either but since I couldn’t do it I got the boot.
I can’t wait for the new course! I feel great about my progress this year learning the Uke….and have gravitated to chord melody/fingerstyle playing. It takes me quite awhile to memorize the pieces. It will help so much to actually be able to read the music to learn it–especially pieces we already learned but may not play regularly.
WE DID IT! WE RAISED $1,841.47 for The Ukulele Kids Club! Thanks to everyone who participated (over 85 members!) and donated in our December Challenge.
Together, WE GAVE the gift of music to children in need.
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We’re going to start leaving feedback for everyone today. With so many posts, we’ll be leaving feedback for just your first performance, if you posted more than once.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope to see you in our January challenge: https://rockclass101.com/january-2019-challenge
Here is everyone on page 2:
jakeypoo – beautiful performance! Great timing and laid-back feel. The only critique I have is that sometimes a few notes went sharp in some of the chords (for ex. 40 seconds in). It’s hard to see from the angle, but it’s pretty safe to say that it’s due to pulling strings down when fretting chords. Try to keep the strings parallel at all times to avoid this.
rickkhan – well done, rick! Your feel sounds great on this tune. As you’ve already pointed out, timing is the main area that you want to focus on. Take a four bar phrase and play along with a metronome or the tab player, but don’t move on until you have it perfect. Then tackle the next phrase, then piece them together. Also, try to move your thumb down, more-so towards slightly above the middle of the neck.
deadbuggy – very creative and I love the swing feel 🙂 Maybe this year I’ll take a swing at arranging, “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”. I’ve always loved that tune!
mheiden – well done with the sustain! I have one suggestion for you on strum attack:
laurasil – fantastic performance! I have no critiques, you knocked that one out of the park 🙂
ukuleleluke – here is a short video with some feedback for you.
Here is everyone on page 3.
hafeez3115 – great job! So you mentioned working towards cleaning it up a bit, which is great as you’ve recognized what your practice should be focused on. Specifically, I would target barre chords. There are generally two reasons that a barre chord does not ring out properly:
1) finger strength – not enough is applied.
2) form – incorrectly applied.We dive into both of these areas (in complete detail) in our Beginners Course lesson on Barre Chords. Review that lesson and see if you can apply these tips to help clean up the chords.
planetfink – I loved your performance! Your passion comes through on the instrument and your voice 🙂 One helpful tip, for the D barre chord, try to keep your index finger straight when barring. It will provide leverage, making the melody notes you play out of the chord easier to do. Check out that lesson I linked above for, Hafeez, if you want to check out our tips for barre chords. Keep up the great work!
leahwoosley – well done, Leah! My 1 tip for you is to focus more on sustain. In my previous feedback post, I made a video for another member detailing a big tip for working on this.
edward – great playing, Edward! Your playing produces a lovely tone. So what I would focus on in your practicing, is timing. Take 4 bars at a time and play along with the metronome or the tab viewer. Master that, then take the next four bars and piece it together. Apply this concept throughout the entire song. It’s a great way to target and develop timing.
timolnz – I agree, it was trickier than it appeared, but I thought you did a good job. One thing that I would suggest, is to think about the way that you performed it – which was the topic of this lesson. In my opinion, this is a song that has a soft attack, paired to a relaxed feel. So when I listened to your performance, I’m hearing a strong attack with a brisk tempo. Interpretation of the music is always up to the performer, but these are my thoughts and a reflection of how I would approach it.
Here is everyone on page 4.
ukukelley1 – I feel you on what you wrote, we all are our worst critic. But you know what, the more you keep trying to get another take and another one, the less passion and feel comes through in the music. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Now if you’re having trouble getting a good take BECAUSE you didn’t practice enough, that’s another story.
But, clearly you did practice and it was an absolutely beautiful take! Excellent tone and feel. The only suggestion I have is to re-visit the areas that you paused a little. But truly great job!
cncamacho – nice playing and it sounds great on low G. Do go back and double check as I heard a couple of chords that sounded incorrect.
lyndallk – you know I’m a big fan of your playing. 🙂 I really dug the tempo boost the second time through, great idea! My only suggestion is to work on cleaning up some of the tricky barre chords. Check out the advice I left for Hafeez in my previous post for tips on this.
ukeninja – first off, that Kanile’a sounds so good! The warmth of the tone is just, wow! Secondly, this is some of your best playing I’ve heard. 🙂 Great job on the timing.
What I would focus on most is the transition section from the A Melody to the B. That was the hardest part for me and it literally took me hours of practice. I’d also continue working on the B melody, but the main focus should be the transition. Keep up the great work, Eric!
Here’s everyone on page 5:
mikeramsey2 – Great Job on this one! You have the notes and the rhythm down great, there’s just a few spots where you are hesitating slightly. Play through those spots a few times more, then try playing the whole song with a metronome to check that you are staying in time. Thank you for taking part in the challenge!
brenna – Merry Christmas! I enjoyed the 3 kings in front of you! Awesome right hand technique on this one! There are just a few chord shapes on the left hand to practice transitioning into and out of smoothly, and you will sound flawless! The only other work to add to that is practicing the hammer-ons and pull-offs a bit more for more clarity. Sometimes lower action (string height) on the Ukulele can help with this as well. Great work, Thank you for entering the challenge!
sprinting yogini – Wonderful job! On Melody B, measure 10 is a bit tricky because of the Em shape. I would recommend practicing just Melody B slowly with a metronome to force you to get to the Em on time. Other than that, you’ve got it! Thank you for being part of this challenge!
peropata – Your timing is great, and you really seem to know the rhythm and all of the notes! There were two slight things: One chord that was slightly off on the 2nd half of the repeat of Melody A…but you got it correct the first time, so this seems to just be a performance-specific mistake that you most likely wouldn’t miss again. Then at measure 16, you are holding out the second beat slightly too long, although this really just creates a dramatic effect. If you want to play it perfectly in time, I would recommend playing the measures around that one (14-17) with a metronome to perfect the timing. Great work on this!
Here are the first few on page 6:
kmelton – That’s very cool that you added the other melody notes on the third melody! My only suggestion would be to change the chord at 0:42 seconds to a single note B (2nd fret on the A string), but the rest of the melody sounds correct! Great idea to innovate on the arrangement!
zukulele – Noel sounds great! Your timing is virtually flawless, and I love that you sustain the melody notes all the way through! My only suggestion is to add your own dynamics to spice things up a bit: volume swells and accenting certain notes where the melody builds up to a high note would add a nice touch. You’ve definitely spent a lot of time on this, and it really shows! Great job!!!
becky7777 – Wonderful playing! I hear what you are saying about the gain…it really seems to be more of an eq issue than just gain. It sounds like only the A string is overpowering, so lowering the high frequencies might help. Your playing was great, though—timing, sustain, and rhythm were all strong! Another recording option might be to upgrade the microphone you are using. I hope this helps! Thank you for your entry!
andracass – You played this one great! the rhythm and notes all sound spot on! Try sustaining the melody notes on the A string a little longer before letting them up to help phrase more like a singer, and you will be on your way! Thank you for donating and being part of this challenge!
Here is the remainder of folks on Page 6.
karenj – Oh, that is a really cool uke! And it sounds quite lovely. 🙂 I thought you did really well and what’s exciting, is that quite a few of you guys have pinpointed exactly where you should focus your practice. For those that are reading this comment, it is on smoothing it out – i.e. Tempo flow. The best way to work on this is to follow the steps in the practice guide we laid out. Break it into chunks and focus on playing with a steady flow. This is the BEST way to improve – Tackling the entire piece all together is not an efficient way to achieve it.
nggnmm – you really stepped up to the plate this month, Qian. And that’s why I had to feature you in one of the weekly emails in December. It’s so inspiring to see that hard work really does payoff. Keep up the great work!
benita – first impression, excellent feel. I love how you interpreted the music with such a lively and playful manner; Absolutely brilliant. In regards to your comment, I think with just a smidget more practice, you’ll have it where you want – but you’re very close. Watch out for things like bending at the first joint, for example your ring finger at 26 seconds. This happened quite often on chords and individual notes. A good rule of thumb is to keep the joint curved – allowing fretting on the fingertip to be done with ease. One last tip, for the ritardando at the end, try to gradually slow down; it will help it sound more natural.
ebideb – very well done and thank you for the compliment! You have a beautiful tone to your playing. One thing, it looks like you were reading, try to memorize the piece. It’s good practice and it allows you to focus solely on how you are performing it. Right hand form looks great. For your left hand, it looks like you stayed in form 2 for most of it; but sometimes, it looks like you were hugging the neck. It’s hard to tell from the angle, but if you did that – try to keep in form 2. It’s the best for this song, except for the Am chord which should be played with form 1.
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