Participate in the February 2018 Member Challenge – Blues Themed!

[jesusgaxiola]

Ok here I go, I’m one of those that have been watching from the sidelines for a while finally I decided to participate. I’m still on the beginners side do I choose green tea. With the available time this is my best shot. I guess my biggest challenge has been the timing which looks like I’m going faster for some reason, anyway I’ll keep practicing.

[andracass]

My entry

[lisamcc]

My best effort at present – lots of mistakes. I’ve been playing it OK for weeks now, but I just seem to tense up when I’ve got a rolling camera! It’s hard to do all those slides when tense!!! I find the hammering on and sliding at the top of the neck really tricky, but I think I’m getting there. Fun challenge, thanks Andrew.

[ukukelley1]

Lisa – I thought that was just great! You play with verve and musicality! Sounds like music, not something mechanical (which is something I’m really working on when learning these new pieces). I really enjoyed listening — thanks! 🙂
Sheryl

[Stephen]

Hey Karenj, Great job on Green Tea! The shifts are the hardest part, but you’ve got it! The only thing I would add to what you are already doing is to play slowly with a metronome and speed it up to the full tempo. This way you will get every shift in time consistently! Thank you for joining the challenge, and I hope you enjoyed learning my song 🙂

[Stephen]

Jesus G, you sound awesome! The strumming part is very consistent! With the melody, I would recommend slowing the speed down. This will give you time to get the shifts consistent and get every strum in after each chord change. It will also help the song have a more relaxed vibe overall. Great playing, though…I would consider you an intermediate player rather than beginner! I hope you had fun learning my song!

[lisamcc]

Thank you so much Sheryl for taking the time to write such a nice comment. I really appreciate it and feel very encouraged. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve really got to handle the nerves better, I just tense up when I switch the computer on… my ‘sliding finger’ ends up with massive indentations! 😉

[carmen-s]

Thank you Andrew yes, that last lick it’s quite tricky with the timing, I’m going to see if I can improve it with your tips

[Andrew]

Glad it was helpful Carmen!

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Hi Sheryl! Bravo! Love it, I can hear you’ve been practicing 🙂 I thought your timing was great, as well as your tone. Yes, some of the rhythms are quite tricky, so do watch the videos above as I’ve highlighted the tricky lick rhythms to help others out as well.

I did notice that your uke looks a little high on that strap, causing your wrist to curve downward a bit awkwardly. Maybe try to lower it a little bit and see if it feels okay in your wrist. Oh and one other thing, try to memorize the piece, so you can put all of your focus into the performance. But truly great job overall, I enjoyed watching your performance!

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Hey MT! Great job! Strumming rhythm is spot-on. What I would work on though is getting the piece to flow smoother. So go back and try to tackle 4 bars at a time and use the tab player in “synthetic” mode with the metronome on to help keep you steady. In the video feedback above, I went over the rhythms for some of those tricky licks, so definitely check that out and try to count it out as you play. Keep rocking!

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Woah! Look at Lisa go! Love it, love it, love it! Going to share this one on our facebook page 🙂 keep up the good work, you’re kicking butt and taking names! (haha, couldn’t help myself)

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curlyuke – great job and that’s a very pretty sounding ukulele! Couple tips for you, first off I would encourage you to adjust your seating position and the way that you hold the ukulele. Check out this guide and this guide for a detailed look at holding the ukulele properly. Furthermore, make sure that you practice in chairs that allow you to sit up properly, this will also be vital for correct posture. Although, I’m guessing you just sat there for recording the video 🙂

And be sure to check out our Beginners Course for lessons on strumming to help break you away from using only 1 finger. Great job overall, keep up the good work!

[abaluyot]

Lisa – that was awesome! I am working on that one next.

[abaluyot]

Thanks for the great feedback, Andrew. I will definitely revisit those areas you mentioned.

[tonydismukes]

Here’s my entry. I didn’t manage to get the Blues Shuffle down in time, so I’m posting my take on Uke Blues. Not as polished as I had hoped for, but it was still a good exercise.

[nobukofogarty]

Hi, This is my first challenge submission. I don’t like moving fret to fret but decided to use this opportunity to practice that. It was also a challenge for me to record myself playing. I was so nervous and had to record over and over! My performance is not perfect, but I enjoyed the process and got better at playing. Thank you for the challenge. I will try again next month.

Please see the link

[jesusgaxiola]

Stephen
thanks for your feedback, your comments are very encouraging. I really enjoy playing your song definitely I will try to participate in challenge more often.

Cheers

[benjamin]

This is my submission:-

[Author]

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