Participate in the June 2017 Member Challenge – TV Themes Challenge ($400 Prize)

[kayleighb]

Hi! Total newbie here, and new to the uke too! I’m going to try this challenge and really make myself focus on a song rather than trying to learn specific chords. I must say already my fingers are hurting but hopefully muscle memory will kick in soon enough. Going to try Spongebob for the June challenge! Looking forward to hearing everyone’s takes at the end of the month. Kay x

[thecueballkid]

Here’s my attempt at the Spongebob theme.

[Andrew]

Excellent Daniel! I would only suggest to watch your timing as a few notes seemed to linger, which interrupted the flow. But other than that, great job! Thanks for sharing 🙂

[iris_peterson]

Hi! Here’s where I am so far with Spongebob. I’m still working on mastering the timing and transitions, but wanted to go ahead and throw my hat in. Hopefully I’ll be able to post a second attempt before the end of the challenge. Andrew, I also really hope to someday get to the level you are talking about when you say this piece can,”be easily learned in an hour.” 😳 For me, it is taking closer to dozens of hours, but I am enjoying the process. Thanks to you and Uke Republic for the challenge!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by iris_peterson.

[Andrew]

Great job Compass Rose! As you stated, you know exactly what to work on. I would only suggest to break it down and work on four bars at a time. This should shorten your learning curve 🙂

[lisadmh]

I’ll be off the grid for the next week and a half so this is good it’s going to get. Not perfect, and slow, but it feels fast to my newbie fingers.

I never would have chosen Sponge Bob, but it was fun! Thanks Andrew.

[Andrew]

Sounds great Lisa, thanks for sharing 🙂

[kayleighb]

Hi Andrew. Hope your therapy is going well!.

So I have a question. I’ve only been playing a couple of weeks – and know 3 chords, and can just about strum so this is proving to be a real challenge for me. I can now play all the way through albeit only at about 25% speed – hoping to get up to 50% for the challenge entry. My question is I really struggle with bar 6 – from moving down from the last open 2nd in bar 5 to the first chord of bar 6 – it’s like my brain can’t shift to that end of the fret board. That probably makes no sense!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Kay x

[Andrew]

Hi Kay,

Here is a short video with a few tips, let me know if you have any questions 🙂

[kayleighb]

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I’m a donut and labelled my bars wrong, It’s bar 7 where it moves down the fret board to 10th fret of the first string.

I am going through the more basic lessons too, I used to play the flute up to 8th grade (the highest grade here in the UK) and found that it helped to put fundamentals into practise with a tune I was very familiar with so am applying that to the uke too.

Kay x

[Andrew]

No worries, keep your eye on the 10th fret and move your pinky finger up until it meets the 10th fret. In other words, do not watch your left hand move up, instead keep your eye locked on the 10th fret and move your hand up until it meets your eye.

And that would definitely help, that’s awesome that you played for so long!

[cyberloh]

I have great difficulty in playing Bar 10 and Bar 11 in a smooth manner. I tend to be very slow in picking the “open third” with my thumb immediately after strumming in Bar 10. This is more so while strumming and playing the “second third” and “third second” in Bar 11. How to play these 2 Bars in a smooth manner? Are there any exercise that I can practice to speed up my pace? Thanks.

[Andrew]

Hi cyberloh, Can you post a video of you playing that section? I’ll be able to help you better if I can see what you’re doing.

[fedindark]

It was pretty difficult to play this song. But I keep practicing:)

[kkarson19]

Here’s my submission for Game of Thrones! It’s not perfect, those shifts and hammer-ons were tricky — but this piece was a fun challenge to learn!

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by kkarson19.

[Author]

Posts