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I’M A PREMIUM MEMBER.
Well, time’s about up so I’m going to go ahead and submit my entry. This was a challenge for me, but I got through it… I was hoping to be able to increase the tempo before the end of the month. I did pretty good when practicing, but once that camera was pointed at me everything fell apart. Can’t wait for next month’s challenge! Thanks Andrew and Matt!
Here’s the last three on page 8 and everyone on page 9:
twizzler – You have a great sound and play very clearly! The next step is to break each section down and really memorize the rhythm and practice to a click. I would take 4 measures at a time and play along with a metronome at a slower tempo. You can also play along with the on screen tab player at 25-50% speed. If you have trouble reading the rhythms (some of them are hard in this song!) try looking through Andrew’s reading course to find the section on rhythm. With as clean of a playing style as you have, you’re more than halfway there! Thank you for your entry!
yellowrosecottag – I totally understand the phone-induced stage fright! It’s a very real thing, and sometimes I find it harder to do than playing in front of people! The only real way to get past it is to be super prepared, which takes everything you listed (metronome practice, more time, etc). You’re doing well enough for me to know where you are in the song (I could sing along with it), and it just takes a great deal of practice from there. When I work on songs like this, I break them down into small sections and really master one part at a time. Then at least I’ll have enough time to make those sections sound really nice! This is not bad for your fourth song! Most people are just strumming basic chords at that point, so way to challenge yourself! You’ll get there, just keep up the consistent practice!
johanna2509 – The intro and Melody A sound wonderful, almost perfect! Melody B is less catchy in comparison, so it’s a bit trickier to get that part stuck in your head. This makes it harder to rely on your memory for this section. I would recommend really breaking this section down and making sure you have the rhythm, and then work it up to speed. Even on Melody B, you played very cleanly, it’s just the rhythm/tempo at this point. Great work! Thank you for joining the challenge!
gstriph – You sound great! You are doing a wonderful job playing cleanly, and I can tell you’re super familiar with the song! The main thing to do now is spend a little time working on the rhythm and pacing: There are some whole notes that get held out for 4 beats in the song, and some half notes which get held for 2 beats. I noticed that on these notes especially you were moving quickly through to the next sections. The space in a song is just as important as the notes, which is a tricky concept for a lot of players. I would recommend playing this one to a metronome or to the slowed down on screen tab viewer. This will really help you see how long or short some of the notes actually are compared to the others. You’re off to a great start! Thank you for your submission!
kellyblackburn – That’s so cool that you’ve been on board since Here Comes the Sun! I still remember when Andrew first made that arrangement and decided to go full force with the Ukulele! When I’m 64 sounds great! You’ve got the notes down, and 95% of the rhythms! The part I hear that sounds a bit different than Matt’s version (although it might just be that you’re doing your own version) is on Melody B. The strumming measures and the last measure of that melody have a different rhythm, although what you are playing sounds great! If you want to make more like Matt’s version, I would break those rhythms down and listen to how he played those parts. Thanks for being on Rock Class 101 so long! We love seeing you still active on here!
brenna – I really enjoyed your take on this! You added some beautiful crescendos and a nice rubato feel that really translates deep emotion. Even though you have a brighter tone, this musicality you added really keeps the song sounding delicate. I also really liked your harmonics towards the end! Great work on your rogue version!
scampi123 – You’re doing a great job! especially on the middle section! On the beginning, I would look at the sheet music and really internalize the rhythm on there to get the timing a bit closer to the Beatles’ version of the song. You’re doing an excellent job, you are just anticipating parts slightly. You’re almost there, though! Keep it up! Thank you for taking part in the challenge!
lildevil – You sound wonderful! I think you are being a bit hard on yourself! Your timing is very strong, which you most definitely benefited from playing along with Andrew. It sounds like there are just a couple of spots where you hesitated slightly (probably remembering what comes next), but you played through these so well that none of it really had an effect on the vibe of the song. It’s hard not to let the mind wander (as you alluded to), but I find that this happens more and more as we get comfortable with the song. I really enjoyed your playing! Thanks for entering this Beatles challenge!
noemie – Phenomenal job! You nailed the rhythms that Matt did, and played very cleanly…all while keeping great form! I can definitely tell that your background in violin has helped tremendously! The only advice I can give is to stay as relaxed as possible, although you appear to be. I can tell you listened to Matt’s version a lot, as the sheet music has a few differences in rhythm from the way he played it, so excellent work on playing like him! Thank you for sharing your version!
hotmilktea – I’m so excited to hear another version of “Because” Thanks. Enjoyed it a lot.
And I’ve enjoyed listening to all the submissions.
Stephen,
Thanks for the kind words. I AM hard on myself. Just want so much to get a handle on playing this style of music cleanly etc. Plus, I think I wanted you guys to know that I know my shortcomings. After working on just a few of Andrew’s arrangements, I’m realizing how much each one helps inform the next – very encouraging. And I’m definitely making progress. But that A7sus4 in If I Fell… crammed fingers on tiny frets making it hard to avoid string buzz. would it be cheating to graduate to a tenor??P.S. How do I address a post/comment to people using a link like you all do?
Here’s everyone on page 10:
cyukug – Great work on the notes! For the rhythms, break the song down into short sections: 4 measures or less, and practice them with a metronome…making sure to really deeply understand and execute the rhythms. Part of Andrew’s reading course can help you if you don’t understand the rhythms. Working 15 minutes a day like this might help your practice be even more efficient. Thanks for entering the challenge, and you’re off to a great start!
gaberdude – I love the sound of your ukulele! Great playing and a very nice take on the song! In addition to the snaps, I hear a few other things that you are doing differently. There are a few rhythms that you are playing slightly differently, but they all work very well with the song. I would recommend going back and learning Matt’s way just to get some extra work reading rhythms, although your rhythms sound great with the song as they are. Your thumb only pops up every now and then, I can tell you’re getting better at that! Way to go! This sounds great, and I have no clue how you were able to stay focused with all that was going on in the background! Thanks for your entry!
zukulele – Super well-played! I’m very impressed, and you even got the vibe of the original Beatles version in there! Not too much else to say except that there are a few rhythms that are notated slightly different (even than what Matt played). If you want to, you can go back and try to play them the way they were written in the music just for an added challenge. Great job, and thank you for joining the challenge!
wongbrown – Great job! I like that you are working on keeping your hands relaxed, that will help a lot in the long run! I would recommend playing this song slower, but with a metronome as you practice. Some of the rhythms are twice the speed as you are trying to play them here, but by slowing the whole song down, you can get those parts comfortably. Have you tried playing along with the tab player at 25% or 50% speed? I think this would help you internalize those tricky rhythms! Keep up the awesome job! Thank you for your submission!
skilshaw – Great work on this one! The rhythms are a bit tricky, and I would recommend focusing on using the sheet music to get them down on this one, and break them down using the reading course. You played it very close, though! The super fast strumming in measure 28 is the other part that I would focus on working up to speed. You can get there by practicing this style of strumming at a medium speed and slowly working it up to the faster tempo. Thank you for taking part in this month’s challenge!
soraya06 – I love the way it sounds on the low G! You have an excellent feel and sense of the rhythm all of the way through this one as well! Your hand slipping (I believe 2 times…) is the only thing I noticed…the secret here is really to practice on camera until those nerves lessen! Then you can stay just the right amount of relaxed to get it right! The other option is to record several in a row and edit the video to the right take later…this way you can pretend it’s not on, and just take the best of 3 or 4 full play throughs. Either way, you sound great, and the low G actually doesn’t change the melody on this one, just adds a very cool low part! Thank you for sharing this!
joe150 – You are doing a great job reading through this. Once you got to the third take, you had a good flow! Now it’s time to memorize the notes so that you can go back and focus on the rhythms. You’re off to a great start, it just takes a lot of work to get it all down! When you get to that point with an arrangement, I would recommend looking at Andrew’s reading course to learn how to read these rhythms. Keep up the good work, and thank you for participating!
aquatopaz – Recording is tough! It’s very easy to let it mess with your head and cause overthinking/self-criticism. I feel like it’s easier to play in front of people, because you know you only get one chance, where as with recording you can be a perfectionist doing take after take…that being said, you’re doing well so far! I would take the time to really master each section, and play them even slower to give you time to think about what’s coming next. Then once you are comfortable, it’s time to tackle the rhythms behind each section. You will get there, just keep practicing! Thank you for entering the challenge!
@sprintingyogini – This Friday’s lesson will be one of June’s tunes 🙂
I’ll release June challenge on Sat, the 1st.
I’m guessing/betting it’s going to be Sweet Child O’ Mine on Friday? (Using clues on the site)
Ironically a bunch of YouTube channels I’m subscribed to put out various sources for free guitar VST effects for your DAW this week. (I swear YouTube is creepy like that sometimes for me, but YouTube kinda was pointing to it too.)
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My mind has been using ANY excuse not to record this month’s challenge song. I know i’m going to get lynched by Beatles fans when I post, so i’ve been procrastinating hardcore lol. I have to admit I think this month is the hardest monthly challenge i’ve personally experienced yet, but probably not why most would assume it’s difficult for me.
Ok, back to trying to get this done… Although cleaning up the back yard from the dogs sounds like a better plan. LOL!
It’s been a crazy month but I made it through with some level of completion. Not exactly happy with it. June is almost here and I’m already trying to figure out when I’ll be able to play/practice. If at all possible I’m taking the uke with me wherever I go this month.
Here is my PREMIUM MEMBER submission for May:
I’m kinda hoping for Sweet Child of Mine too, but it’s a level 4, gasp! And there are two other Coming Next songs up there. I seem to have fallen in love with Etude 17 in the last couple of days but none of the songs coming next are Etudes so ours doubtful we’ll get that one this month. I’ll keep plugging away on my own.
Becky, you’ve got this. We’re a friendly bunch. Even if you struggled with this one, for whatever reason, we’ll cheer you on. Let us see what you’ve got. 😉
Here’s everyone on page 11:
karenj – I think you did wonderfully on this one, in spite of your cat’s futile efforts to sabotage you! The rhythms are very close, and just require minimal tweaking. I would like to challenge you to play a bit more legato (smoothly). The biggest place to help this is to leave the G chord down for the whole first measure, lifting only the middle finger to get the open A string on beat 3. Then anywhere that this melodic idea happens (which is quite frequently in this song), strive for the same thing. the goal is to let the other notes of the chord ring out even when lifting that finger to keep the sound smooth and connected. Thank you for your entry!
tiff27 – Hi Tiff. You did a great job on this! I can tell you know the rhythms, it’s just hard to play all of it back to back. I think this one just takes a bit more time, and it becomes easier the more you memorize the piece so that you know what comes next. You can practice the transition areas that you hesitate on a bit by just playing the 2 measures around where you normally stop to look at the music. Another idea is to play it along with a metronome at a slower tempo just to practice not stopping. You sound great and relaxed for the most part. Keep up the great work! Thank you taking part in this challenge!
justin – For the most part, you’ve got it! There are just a couple of spots you hesitate a touch on. The one spot I would focus on a bit more on the rhythm is at measure 20. Right now you are treating the chord as a full beat before playing the single notes, but they are really all evenly spaced (no pause after strumming the chords, just a constant flurry of eighth notes). If you find this confusing, Andrew made a reading course you can reference to understand the rhythms easier. Once you get this spot and a few others up to a comfortable speed, you’ll sound even better! Thank you for entering the challenge!
holly1 – You did awesome on this! Those harmonics are tough…I think isolating the part right before that and just doing 2 measure at most with the harmonics until you hit them 90% of the time is key, then going back should be easier. That should do the trick! Everything else sounded great! Maybe go just a touch slower to nail every part, but it’s super close the way it is! Thank you for your submission!
cornishdpt – You are doing great on this! Melody A sounds great, and so does Melody B, there are just some slight things to tweak: on measure 27 and 28, this is basically an “island strum” rhythm, so just go over that rhythm a bit, and you’ll be on your way! Also, I think your fretting hand thumb is getting away from you as you move down the neck. Try to keep it close to behind your middle finger rather than letting it stick out so far sideways. This makes notes in the higher positions a tad bit easier to play cleanly. Keep up the good work, you sound great! Thanks for your entry!
hotmilktea – Wow! You sound wonderful on this! It’s not easy to sing and play something with so many rhythmic things going on in the voice and on the ukulele! There’s not anything I can critique on the ukulele part, so my only suggestion would be to practice where to breathe and how much to before the “sky is blue” line. Then you won’t run out of air 🙂 Seriously excellent work, and wonderful voice! Thank you for sharing this with us!
@hotmilktea – That was beautiful. Tiffany and I really need to get our act together and record this one (not for the challenge, but just because it’s an awesome song). It has been a little bit neglected this month.
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
but this is my 2nd contribution this month. I just wanted to share how I adapted
When I Am 64 to a low G ukulele. I know I played it a bit sloppy, not enough time to practice, but I wanted to share anyway for those with a low G string.
B.t.w. If you put a capo on the first fret you can play along with the Beatles!
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