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Thanks @Andrew! 🙂
@gi_gi_ gorgeous voice and a lovely take @leb397
@the_bumble_bard thank you and lovely intro as I said. Agree with Andrew that you made it work with the high G
@nat-uke very precise/clean rasqueado!@Andrew, thank you so much! It means a lot that you like that. 😊 I know I was kind of all over the place playing different songs, but that actually kind of worked with keeping the practice interesting. I’m really glad you thought the high G version worked! 😁
And thank you @marianne, I look forward to learning the rest of your lovely tune! 😊
@lhamilton, that’s really cool! I look forward to hearing you play that more in upcoming tunes, too. 😊 I think I know what you mean by the strings are tuned in fourths, if that means each string is a fourth higher or lower than the next?
@nelsonlin2021, that was magical! I think harmonics can sound really lovely. They are fun. 😊
@Kasia, very lovely playthrough of that one!! 😊 I also see your metronome friend in the background! 😂👀
@maryjanew, lovely singing and playing, I really love that song! Good luck finishing up the missing parts!! 😊
@nat-uke that sounded really amazing!! The sweep strum and the fingerpicking were perfect! 😊
@leb397, thank you so much, friend!! It may take much longer to get it even faster, but I do feel at least a bit more comfortable with it now, so that’s something! 😂 Thank you again! 🥰
@gi_gi_ thank you so much, friend!!! That really means a lot that you say that. 😊🥰 Ha, I’m trying to record more things with talking on camera (due to how nervous it still makes me) and it seemed to fit in this case. 😂 You’re fun and talented!! (I wanted to write that in all caps but held back.) 😂😅 Have a lovely trip! 😊(I started replying to one person, but then wanted to reply to everyone again. 😅😳)
@Andrew Thanks a lot! 🥰
@The_Bumble_Bard My metronome friend says thank you 😀Hi @The_Bumble_Bard — yes, the U-Bass is tuned EADG from lowest to highest — the opposite actually of a violin or mandolin which is GDAE. That means that at the 3rd fret you get GCFBb which is a good set of bass notes for a lot of songs.
Linda
@maryjanew – Sounding great MJ!
@nat-uke – Really nicely played w/ great feel Natalie! Your rasgueado technique sounds great! And amazing job on the keeping the tempo steady throughout!Well, I have run out of time again…..and it is now time to post, though there is plenty of room for improvement. I worked thru the “Strumming Techniques: Beyond the Island Strum Course,”. Great Course taught by Christopher teaching vintage strums in the George Formby style. I highly recommend it! I realize that this style of playing is a deep rabbit hole and I am just scratching the surface. One month is not long enough!
I give myself a little bit of credit, because I have attempted this style in the past (not thru this course) and found it impossible. This Course’s step-by-step approach has helped me get over that “impossible” hump…….so I am grateful for that!
One of my biggest issues is moving from one chord position to another (quite obvious in the split stroke section). I can see and hear how light and airy Christopher’s playing is……I was not able to accomplish that, nor the speed…….it is something I aspire to…….
Thanks-Rock Class 101 and especially Christopher Davis-Shannon for a great course.While I am here this morning, I also wanted to say that I love this month’s challenge…..it is so inspiring to see the talent and different directions my other uke friends go with our humble little Uke……..the versatility of the instrument and the players is so much fun. I found myself with so many impressive submissions, saying…..”oooooh, I want to try that too,”…….from Ragas (who knew you could Uke those!) to the Bossa Nova, Tremelo to the Parrot-Head Blues……and the singing…….just Wow!
@misterbones that was gorgeous……you make it sound as if the Uke was meant for the Raga, thanks for sharing a whole new Ukulele possibility with us.
@abster I always love listening to your submissions and thinking we have a future Jake S or Taimane in our midst……….stay with it, you are very talented!
@The_Bumble_Bard – It sounds like you have the tremelo down…..not easy!….but so beautiful…. A whole other technique that takes Uke playing out of my comfort zone and makes it sound ethereal.
@Marianne first congratulations…. “Contemplations” is a meditative beauty…..and your Bossa Nova was just fun and jazzy.
@jbmills07 I love the song, “Just Breathe,”…….it makes me cry…..I look forward to hearing you sing it…..Your friend Regina is in my heart and prayers.
@gi_gi_ Love your singing…..but to play (not just chords) and sing is so difficult…..kudos to you!
@katazumiri Great tune….love your submissions……impressive one-woman band!
@Brettboy Just Cool! Cool! Cool! As always.
@leb397 Great job……love the way it flows…..you make it look easy……And to everyone else…….I’ve run out of time……..I’m so impressed😁
My goal for the month was to complete the Classical Technique and Style course. It was a busy month for me, but I kept plugging along with my daily practice and was able to complete the course, including learning Adelita. I am still working on getting the pull-offs to ring out, especially with some of the tricky fingering. The song is not nearly polished enough for me to be happy with any recording I could submit. So I am going to embrace my partial success and let go of the goal of full participation in the challenge nor entry into the prizes. Thank you for a challenging but fun course. Best wishes to all.
@dianna – It sounds awesome on that instrument! I loved it Dianna! I do have a few suggestions for you. The quarter note triplets, you’re playing them with a swing feel. Those need to have a straight feel. For the split stroke, work on that technique at a slower tempo with a focus on keeping it steady and getting the 4th string and 1st string single notes to ring as clear as possible.
For the last technique, the pluck strum, try to keep your right hand as close to the body of the uke as you can. Try bending the index finger in, to pluck the A string notes. You may wanna re-review the mechanics lesson and exercise to see the form that Chris recommends for this technique.
Overall, I thought you did a great job! You really nailed the feel and vibe of the piece!
Hi everyone, I’m not sure if I still qualify since I didn’t post any progress, but either way I wanted to share my new composition “Kitty Run” for ukulele. Inspired by the 3 kittens our family recently adopted. This is my 3rd composition, the first two I wrote for previous challenges. I hope you enjoy, and it looks like nice progress everyone is making towards their goals-congrats all!
As usual, I’m not really happy with the month end product. Goal was to play Hon A Ka Wai fairly well by month’s end. Not sure I accomplished that. Will keep practicing. I enjoyed the many great performances this month by Rock Class 101 members.
So many great submissions this month, and all of them so different! @dianna mentioned everyone I wanted to comment on, so I won’t say it all over again, but I’m so impressed with the talent in this group and with everyone’s fearless sharing of where you are with the uke just now.
I wanted to work on vibrato this month, to the point where it happens naturally, and decided to play “the meatball song” from Lady and the Tramp: Bella Notte. So first I had to pick out the melody in a key that would allow me to hold a number of long notes, then I had to pick out the chords for the melody and get them down on paper so I could remember them. That took longer than I’d expected, and only then did I realize this song has different chords for each of its phrases, and the chords in the key I’d picked involve ridiculous chords and crazy chord changes. By that time it seemed too late to transpose everything to a different key – and who knew if different chord changes wouldn’t be just as difficult – so I plowed on through. Only at the end of this process did I listen to the song from the 1955 movie, and found that it was played (on an accordion) in the same key I had picked, at least for the first rendition.
So anyway, this is the best I can do for now. Thanks, Andrew, for an interesting challenge.
My challenge for this month was to learn Canon in D at a decent speed, memorise it, revisit aspects of the classical ukulele course, think about phrasing and dynamics.
Memorisation: I memorised melodies 1-6 and nearly all of 7 & 8. So while not perfect it is progress.
Classical style: I tried to incorporate alternate finger picking of the strings to aid in speed and sound, this worked at a slow tempo but as I sped up in some parts my fingers lost the plot. I didn’t have time to think much about phrasing and dynamics.
Tempo: The tab player was great to help me increase speed (I think I got to about 80% in melodies 1-5) in the last week though I stopped using it to try and focus more on the memorisation. The last sections with 16th notes aren’t up to speed but I felt it still flowed.
Conclusion: The piece is very difficult (well for me) so a month was not enough time but it is a work in progress and will be for sometime. Overall I feel happy that at least I made a start on a piece I have aspired to learn for sometime and was able to manage to get it to a level I felt happy posting.
PS I took the liberty of adding a few introductory bars..
@Andrew thank-you for the critique! I do want to get this style down, and know it will take some time, so will continue practicing. I see 12th Street Rag as an option for next month (Yeah!)….I will be able to take mm rhythmic strum practice into the February challenge……looking forward to that.
@Morrieuke1 Sweet composition…..love how our animals can inspire us (3 kittens – you’ve got your hands full!)…..I can hear their playful energy in your tune.
@grannieannie You actually created your own arrangement….I’m impressed!
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