Participate in the May 2020 Member Challenge – WIN a Kanile’a Tenor Ukulele!

[puppylovesuke]

I am a premium member

I worked so long all month on this one for some reason it was a challenge and then I couldn’t get to upload with music. Couldn’t get to another source due to what’s going on.

I did what I could in my car and it’s a bad take but who cares, what matters is justice for those long oppressed and I hope it finally comes around the world. Let’s keep loving each other through music, grateful for this positive community we have here!

[clempek]

woah you are all so good !!
for a beginer like me it’s a great motivator but it’s also indimitating ^^’
I don’t have the level for the “monthly member challenge”, I only can play the beginers songs but it’s a pleasure to watch yours performances

Bravo à tous !

[lisamcc]

Thanks Stephen – I’m always really chilled until I turn on a camera….. then I just bolt for the finish line. Hopefully it will get easier! It’s a tricky technique to master. Thanks for your feedback.

[goody2shoes]

Hi @Andrew ! Thanks for the feedback on my Chucking! I will certainly work on that for the next one!!!

J

[emiliano]

@maryjanew Woah just checked your video, I bet you had tons of fun with this piece, I want to try it now, maybe will work on it on weekends. Tho next month challenge is here think I will go for Billie Jean song since I lack a low g string atm hahaha.

[karenj]

Thanks Andrew for your thoughtful feedback. It is always helpful and I like learning from feedback to others too. I seemed to struggled with recording brain freeze with this song more than usual and thus my hours of memorizing and breaking things down seemed to evaporate. But I do indeed think it will be helpful to repeat those difficult sections over and over so muscle memory will kick in when the brain (and fingers) go haywire. Thanks again for such a wonderful site. And although it lessens my chances to win that wonderful ukulele, I want to congratulations you all on your successful growth.

[Stephen]

Here’s everyone on page 20:

ukukelley1 – You are doing a great job! There are only a few spots I would recommend isolating and playing to work out hesitations: At the very ends of the phrases in Melody A, the transition going into measure 9, and a few spots in Melody B that you are able to play sometimes but not every time. You’re playing great, keep it up!

asiakaiser – Wonderful performance! You have the notes and the rhythm down, now try adding some dynamics (gradually building volume going into phrases and getting softer towards the ends) to add a bit more emotion to the piece. From there, your ready to try his more challenging right hand technique! Great job on this one!

rustypal – Great job on a challenging song! You played this very well! The notes and rhythms are good, with just a little work on consistency of plucking technique in the section at 0:33 into the song you’ll be set! Nice playing on this one!

nitsur – Well done! You’re playing all the notes, and seem to understand the rhythms. The next step is to work on keeping a consistent tempo throughout the whole song: there are some spots where you are pausing for too short or too long at the ends of sections. There are also a few spots in Melody B where you are rushing slightly through fingerpicked parts. Playing with a metronome will help these parts, and then keeping time all the way throughout the piece by tapping your toe or bobbing your head might help you to stay in time without the metronome. Either way, you’re doing a wonderful job!

hotshot – Excellent performance! All around your timing, technique, and feel were great! Keep up the awesome playing!

ukuleleloo – You’re off to a great start! With a little more work on the middle of the song, you will get there! While practicing, try keeping your left wrist a bit closer to straight; the more of angle it’s at can cause your wrist to get sore quicker during longer practice sessions. Keep going, you’re doing great!

debb1985 – You’re doing a great job on this! Once you go back and work on the barre chords you have the rest of the song very nicely! Try slight variations on how you are barring with your index finger, noting what works. Sometimes a slight adjustment on the angle of your hand can make the chord much easier. Then it’s a matter of getting to each chord that way consistently. Keep up the great work!

iyers408 – It’s great that you’re practicing this at a slower speed, and for the most part you are staying fairly consistent with the tempo and the notes. It seems like just a little extra work at 1:28 and towards the ending (the tag), and you’ll be ready to speed the tempo up soon! You’re off to a great start!

cloud_cactus – You’re doing a great job so far! I would recommend playing the song a bit slower to give yourself a bit of extra time to get to some of the trickier chords and notes in tempo. It’s all about being able to think about what comes next with enough time for your hands to be ready. Keep it up, you’re doing great!

cimarronsailor – Awesome job! I like that you slowed the track and nailed the rhythm! You’re ready to speed the track up, you sound great!

ronnieg – Very well executed and played! I like that you breathed with the music. This is an excellent way to get your whole being to play the phrases in a musical manner like a horn player, while also keeping your breathing regular. I think you are ready to work on the more advanced version of the song. Wonderful work on this!

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 21 and 22.

gardn_gnome – I can hear improvement in your playing!! That puts a smile on my face 🙂 As you continue to practice, focus on mastering 4 bars at a time. Work mainly on keeping it steady. After that, I want you to think about accenting so we can start to create a little bit more color in your playing. Try this: Hit beat 1 and 3 a little harder than the other beats. That will create contour.

timolnz – Well done! Theme 1 sounds great! What I recommend working on is increasing the sustain of the chords as you play the triplets. Basically, you want everything to ring out into each other.

The trick with this is to keep finger pressure applied for the entire note duration; which in this theme, the bass notes are actually quarter notes.

The other trick is to make sure you have proper form, which is something I talked about in this video I made yesterday for another member as it relates to Theme 2.

joannetala – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

emiliano – That was awesome! Killer job on Theme 2, that’s very impressive! The only thing I’d say for this section is to keep working on increasing the sustain.

The only other thing I’d suggest working on is to slow down the tempo in Theme 1 to get the triplets a little bit cleaner. But excellent job overall! Keep up the good work 🙂

kirpuff – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

andyrose – Awesome job, Andy! Watch the video I left above for @joannetala. That’s actually the same advice I’d offer you 🙂

maryjanew – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

kanae926 – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

@puppylovesuke – Unfortunately, you submitted past our deadline. I tried to give everyone a friendly reminder yesterday. But there’s still one more month for the Spring Challenge. Hope you join us for June!

[Andrew]

Wow! 102 members joined us for this month’s challenge! It has truly been a pleasure for Stephen and I to watch everyone’s performances and offer our humble feedback. BIG thanks to each of you who participated and bravo on a job well done!

Our June Challenge is LIVE and its theme is: Classic Songs! I hope each of you joins us again.

Below, I will post a list of members who participated in the May challenge for your second chance to win the Kanile’a Ukulele. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.

—-

brettboy
brettboy
nthibode
nthibode
shmu88
shmu88
schaap123
schaap123
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
rebeca
yooki-h
yooki-h
willymac
willymac
surfnrz
surfnrz
cncamacho
cncamacho
tim0721
tim0721
funtime2018
funtime2018
andrewvh
andrewvh
alisefrenchyuky
alisefrenchyuky
morrieuke1
morrieuke1
taylor22jane
taylor22jane
janett75
janett75
mark1256
mark1256
johnnyrotten
johnnyrotten
joe150
joe150
sgwarren
sgwarren
stianukulele
stianukulele
planetfink
planetfink
uku_on
uku_on
robinboyd
robinboyd
lyndallk
lyndallk
verity2003
verity2003
johanna2509
johanna2509
eszti5mail
eszti5mail
lisadmh
lisadmh
oldan_
oldan_
barbecueblack
barbecueblack
rickeymike
rickeymike
marianne
jedart
ukulelee
ukulelee
dryossi
dryossi
gstriph
gstriph
slr4chums
slr4chums
turkgoose
turkgoose
kkaszuba
kkaszuba
jonathan_gabel
jonathan_gabel
brightwing
rockmyuke
rockmyuke
wongbrown
wongbrown
tric_o_tronic
tric_o_tronic
sgorsuch
sgorsuch
dennisdickens
dennisdickens
nproost
nproost
sticks366
sticks366
givingtree89
givingtree89
elealong12
smudge
smudge
lhamilton
lhamilton
miztaken
miztaken
aloooy
aloooy
goody2shoes
goody2shoes
katariin
katariin
stinyuke
stinyuke
ukulelemaster3000
karenj
karenj
kellyblackburn
kellyblackburn
zerratheterra
zerratheterra
riley_ukulele
riley_ukulele
santai
santai
mikeramsey2
coffeemug
coffeemug
humerosa
kaidunc
kaidunc
simonalexander
simonalexander
lisotta
lisotta
holly1
holly1
amandali
amandali
marygrace
marygrace
mljordan3
mljordan3
b_ukes_101
b_ukes_101
ccwuke
ccwuke
bzediver
bzediver
anirbaf
anirbaf
audreyrozowkywiatlucie
audreyrozowkywiatlucie
lisamcc
lisamcc
mac1984
mac1984
surrealflea
surrealflea
gardn_gnome
gardn_gnome
timolnz
timolnz
joannetala
joannetala
emiliano
emiliano
kirpuff
kirpuff
andyrose
andyrose
maryjanew
maryjanew
kanae926
kanae926
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
asiakaiser
asiakaiser
rustypal
rustypal
nitsur
nitsur
hotshot
hotshot
ukuleleloo
ukuleleloo
debb1985
debb1985
iyers408
iyers408
cloud_cactus
cimarronsailor
cimarronsailor
ronnieg
ronnieg

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by Andrew. Reason: Fixed List

[nthibode]

Hi Andrew! My name didn’t make it on the list (Premium Member) and brettboy appears for both songs he submitted (sorry Brett!).

[maryjanew]

@andrew -Thanks for the feedback and tips for helping me. I have a very limited range with my pinky and it is NOT independent from the ring finger! But believe it or not, it is better than it used to be so I will keep working on it.
And I noticed the bending of the strings when I watched myself back! crazy. I don’t know why my fingers get so jittery under pressure! I will do the exercises for both of those issues.

[zerratheterra]

@andrew You’re right. I went back and checked the tabs, and listened closer to some of the other entries, and I found it. Started playing with the added note, and got rid of the slide. Much more “in time” now. A shame it’s too late to repost. On to June!

[Andrew]

@maryjanew & @zerratheterra – Thanks guys!

@nthibode – Updated!

[emiliano]

@Andrew Ya thank you very much for the advice I tend to get carry away with speed, will sit down and take things slowly, also we still in quarentine over here so after we can go out will try to get a proper low g cord for my uke, so will be posting and update of my practice in the proper section in the future, have a nice day!

[lhamilton]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the feedback on Into the North. I’ll keep playing with it. Any feedback on the Malagueña? (I know it’s slow and could use more variation and fewer pauses tho 🙂 ). One good thing was that it took fewer recordings to get a version that was at least submittable.

Linda

[Author]

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