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Hi Rock Class 101 Community!
I’m beyond humbled to share that over 5,000+ members have now participated in our challenges! If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, now’s the perfect time to jump in! This month’s challenge is a fun way to stay motivated and a great opportunity to connect with fellow ukulele players who are passionate about learning and growing as musicians.
Please watch the video above and read the instructions below carefully for all the details on this month’s challenge.
This month’s challenge is a departure from our typical challenges in which you choose a preselected piece to learn, practice, and post a performance of. This month you are in total control of what you wish to work on! Examples of things you could choose includes: a certain technique, an element of music theory, or a song. Below are 3 guidelines you must follow. In your first post, please list all 3 in complete detail.
1) Execution – Let us know what you’re gonna work on for the month of January and what your goal is.
2) Application – Tell us how you’ll be applying what you’re practicing to your playing. For example, if you are learning how to add a backbeat to your rhythm playing, you could apply this new technique by using it in a song, such as this one: 12 Bar Blues Strumming.
3) Evaluation – Analyze how you are doing. I suggest to evaluate yourself week by week. Throughout the month, feel free to post updates on how your practicing is coming along (optional).
You’re free to work on anything ukulele-related. It doesn’t have to be a Rock Class 101 lesson or performance piece.
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GROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:
1. You must create 2 posts. Post 1 lists the 3 steps in detail and must be submitted by Thursday, January 15th. Post 2 shows your results for the month. Depending on what you choose to work on, this could include audio and/or video files of performances. Post 2 must be submitted by Saturday, January 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
** 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. **
2. Submit individually, as a reply, IN THIS POST.
3. 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.
* Note: In my opinion, it is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.
Participation Goal: 35 Rock Class 101 Member Participant Videos/MP3 posted.
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HELPFUL TIPS FOR DECIDING WHAT TO CHOOSE TO WORK ON:
1) Check out Learning Paths. It’s a step-by-step guide which takes a look at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced player and answers the big questions; such as “Where do I start?” and “What do I work on?”.
2) See what other members worked on when we initially ran this challenge theme in September of 2017, January of 2018, January of 2019, January of 2024, January of 2025, and in August of 2025.
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COMMON FAQs:
1) 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 paste the video URL in its own line. For example:
YouTube URL
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Giveaway Rules:
There will be 1 winner, selected by random drawing on Thursday, February 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) 1 on 1 Private 60 Minute Zoom Lesson with Stephen Cox. We can work on whatever you wish!
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Notes for this Challenge:
We’ll be taking a break from leaving feedback after this month. If you’ve ever wanted to receive custom feedback on your playing, now’s the time! Join us for this month’s challenge!
Let’s crush this challenge!
Wishing you all a very very HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026 😁😇!!! In 2025 saw a lot of progress in my ukulele playing skills could overcome my fear and finish playing iron man !!! This year I want to progress and move to intermediate level of playing from beginner!!!
1)Execution: Will work on 3 finger fingerpicking approach. Currently level of playing beginner and I want to reach intermediate level of playing skills. I will devote 15 minutes eveyday to practise.
2)Application:Apply it to Clocks by coldplay
3)Evaluation: Every weekend I will update my progress
Happy new year to all!!!!
This year I want to progress on my ukulele playing skills as a beginner level player.
Goal is to play a song in flow.
1) Execution: Will work on fingerpicking and bar chords playing .
Current level of playing is just a new beginner with a lots of pauses in playing the song Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
I will devote 10 minutes practice everyday.2) Application: Apply it on the song Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
3) Evaluation: Will update my progress weekly once.
Hi,
Happy New Year everybody!
1. Execution: I’m going to work on clawhammer technique this month. I find this technique really gives me a feeling of joy. I regularly play a couple of clawhammer pieces but would like to learn to play more pieces from memory.
2. Application: Learn to play Richard Hefner’s arrangement of Under the Double Eagle at speed from memory. If I have time I’ll also learn Aaron Heim’s Soldier’s Joy from memory.
3. Evaluation: I’ll regularly work with the Amazing Slowdowner app to check speed and accuracy.
Linda
Hello – here’s to a happy 2026 all!
1. Execution: I’ve (very) recently picked up the recorder to learn and attended a half dozen group classes locally. I enjoyed it so much, that I just bought a tenor recorder (which needs a slightly different technique so I’ve had to go backwards and work on producing good sounds again). I was looking for a song that would be suitable for both ukulele and a recorder. I found “Kemp’s Jig” on RC101 that fits the vibe perfectly. What a jaunty little song! My goal is to learn Kemp’s Jig (arrangement on RC101) on both the low G uke AND the tenor recorder.
2. Application: I will learn Kemp’s Jig on both LowG and tenor recorder and aim for a fairly sprightly tempo. I will produce a video where I accompany my uke with the recorder. (also working on my video editing software skills). It’s a fairly straight-forward song, but learning it on two instruments and pace will be the challenge for me I think.
3. Evaluation: I intend to learn the arrangement on both instruments the first week of January, then spend the 2nd and 3rd weeks working on fluency and speed on both instruments. 4th week I’ll record and create the merged video.
Excited to see what everyone is going to be working on to get off to a good start in 2026.
Hi,
Happy New Year!
Execution: I will work on an arrangement by Matt Dahlberg. My goal is to practice this piece for at least 15 minutes every day. The arrangement includes both fingerpicking and strumming. My goals are to learn a new strumming pattern, improve fluidity in fingerpicking and chord changes, develop good rhythm, and, most importantly, have fun.
Application: House of the Rising Sun
Evaluation: I will provide a progress update once a week.
Happy New Year to everyone! My goal for January is to make my playing sound more delightful – I am an industrious beginner (I have been playing for four months) and I put a lot of time into making things technically accurate and rather less into making them lovely to listen to. So that’s my January goal. I’m going to work through more of the lessons (beginner course here and maybe classical) but I am also going to work on the tune “Great Fairy Fountain” with a tutorial here on RC101.
Application: I do play ukulele nearly every day and I will keep improving the experience as an intention. However I expect to work on this particular piece only roughly every other day (I split my time between high G and low G ukulele). Nevertheless, I have high hopes.
Evaluation: I’ll post a video by the end of the month and you can tell me whether it sounds delightful or not! This tune is in three parts, getting increasingly harder, so I may have to just do one or two of the parts.
@bohemiancoast – I’d not heard that song before and just pulled it up. That is a very pretty choice. Nice that it is 3 times with variation for note length. Enjoy!
Thank you Andrew. I’m looking forward to this challenge.
1. Execution: Working on the E chord while singing and playing rhythmically all at the same time 🙂
2. Application: I will work on learning “One day soon” by Ernie Cruz. The arrangement is of Aldrine Guerrero
3. Evaluation: A. Learn all the chords of the song, B. work on transitioning from the chords smoothly, C. Learn the intermediate strum and chuck of the arrangement (not the advanced one 🙂 D. Put it all together by 3rd week and practice the 3rd and 4th weeks until it feels good.@mystick A huge congrats on winning the Kanilea uke 🙂
Hi and Happy New Year, everyone!
I was looking forward to Andrew announcing this challenge, just like last year. And I got what I hoped for. 😀
1) Execution – I want to finally finish the Nest Level Strumming Techniques course, which I’ve started several times but always put off until next time. I feel that now is the time.
2) Application – Learn Matt’s song “Crossing Hemispheres,” where I will use all the techniques learned from the course.
3) Evaluation – At the end of January, I´ll post a video showing my progress on the song.
Happy New Year
Always loved the Andalusian Cadence. I believe Maryanne posted it once.
Practice the various picking patterns. Playing in key of Bm. The C#7 will be tricky
Post final by end of the month
Louisa
Yay, so excited for this challenge!! I also was hoping that this would be the topic this month. Free-for-aaaaaall! I still find that description really funny. 😂
(I wrote out this whole post and it disappeared when I went to post it, so I had to re-write the whole thing! I am sad now…)
I just was saying, that it’s sad that it seems like this is the last challenge in which Andrew is going to give feedback for a while, if I understood that correctly as a “note” at the end of the challenge post. It’s understandable if that is the case, but I was so sad to read that, as his encouragement and feedback has meant so much to me over the years, and no doubt to many others, in their ukulele journeys. But again, it’s understandable. Change, it’s the way of things (really dramatic).
It was so hard to pick what to work on, but the first thing that came to mind is this:
1. Execution: Practice music notation by writing down one of my ukulele arrangements that I figured out by ear.
2. Application: Write down my ukulele version of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique”: II. Adagio cantabile (A♭ major – I think? It has four flats, so). I learned this song on piano when I was a child, then figured it out by ear on ukulele. No idea how I did that or why it worked, but it did. At one point Matt helped me write down the notes with no time signature, measures, note values, or anything (when I was first learning how to write down tabs), but I want to create a full version in Guitar Pro for ukulele if I can, so then I have it for future reference if I forget the tune.
3. Evaluation: Share the finished tabs here for hopefully @Andrew to look at and let me know if it’s even remotely correct. 😂 Bonus: Create a video of me playing the tune with the tabs on screen. I already know the tune; it’s just the struggle of writing it down.
Super bonus: Layer an arrangement I did that’s the same tune as a recent RC101 tune over one of their arrangements of the same tune. What tune it is will be secret, but this may end up being a separate thing if I can’t complete it in this challenge. This is just if the first thing goes quickly. Again, very realistic for me… 😂
…
Loved reading through everyone’s goals for this month! It will be so fun to see how everyone does. Very excited that @lhamilton is doing a clawhammer tune, always love that! @nat-uke, also really excited to see your recorder + ukulele mashup! @gi_gi_ can’t wait to hear your tune, no doubt it will be so lovely, friend! 🙂 I think I know that tune. I think that’s one that Aldrine used to sing on their Aloha Friday Jam? So funny. Did you know that their podcast won that award they were obsessed with for the third year in a row? I found that really funny, even though it sadly no longer exists. That’s how good they are – they don’t even need to be doing the podcast to win, LOL. Anyway, really looking forward to this challenge!! 🥰
Love this challenge! Only problem is that I want to learn so many things, I initially thought I’d never decide. My Christmas gift, however, helped me to figure it out.
Execution
Learn preliminaries of U-bass.
I’ve had a Kala Journeyman U-bass for awhile but haven’t begun to play it. I got a Kala Solid Body for Christmas as well, so now’s the time to start!
Application
—-Learn bare-bone basics via Ukulele Wales on YouTube: holding, tuning, plucking, fretting.
—-Master Jaco Pastorius’ “Donna Lee” and perform it to a sold-out stadium.
—-Learn or get a start on “3 U-Bass Lines for 12 Bar Blues in G” on Rock Class 101.I don’t know if I’m ready for the theory part of “3 U-Bass Lines” or its multiple levels, so I may instead learn one of these pieces: Beatles “Come Together,” Khruangbin, “August 10,” Brandi Carlile, “The Story,” or CCW, “Fortunate Son.” Tabs are available on Rock Class as well as YouTube.
Evaluation
I’ll post a paragraph summary each week.
Heyho Rockclass and a happy new year!
It’s nice to read about of all your goals. For this month i decided to work further on hammer-ons, pull-offs & slides. I need this techniques for an tricky arrangement i’m working on. Therefore i
1. Go through different turorials and live-lessons about the techniques, build up a practicing routine/ warm-up with scales and licks.
2. I picked “If i only had a brain” to applicate the techniques ( @andrew : the search worked fine to figure out a tune) and practice it.
3. I’m able to play it smooth and record it for the forum.The greater goal for me is the ability to play an arrangement by Corey Fujimoto that i really love for a long time.
@The_Bumble_Bard : Soo ambitiuos 🤗. I arranged a chordmelody of my favourite christmas-song last month and also tryed to write the tabs for it down but registrated fast, that i’m to lazy for it, especially counting the right tempo, write everything in the correct bars and so on. For me it was kind of overwhelming. I hope you’ll do it until the february begins. 🤙🏼
@andrew : i was a bit confused about your note.
To receive professional feedback is an important feature of the whole site and for the whole community here. Do you know how long the break will last?Best wishes fly out to you all. I wish you for the new year much fun by playing our loved instrument.
Hi everyone and a Happy New Year!
This time my choice was easy.Ececution:
I want to extend my repertoire on the baritone ukulele so I want to learn anpther baritone song.Application:
I will choose a song from RockClass101 that can be played on the baritone and learn it (this decision will probably be a bit harder 😅).Evaluation:
I will post a video of me playing the song.
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