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[henri0]

I AM A PREMIER MEMBER

Bit of a busy month this May and really wanted to focus in on Matt’s Black Hole Sun arrangement, so picked the one I could memorise the quickest from this list! It is a great deal of fun to play, but would like to return to Contemplations when I have more time and the Star Wars theme, if I ever get hold of a U bass!

[ldarrow]

Could not pass up a song as fun as ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’. Though I had a blast learning this, per my typical self, could not record without mistakes.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Here’s my take on Marianne’s brilliant piece, “Contemplations”:

I did manage to learn this one in a few days, though parts of it were certainly very challenging – especially those huge leaps, some of the chord changes, and also just the length of it (so hard to play that long without messing up, lol!). It’s still not 100% perfect, but I think I did okay with it in that amount of time. That said, I did learn the section with the tremolo for an earlier challenge this year because that was the technique I was focusing on for that month (tremolo). So Marianne’s piece was one song I used to practice that technique. 😊 I learned the rest of the song for this challenge. I somewhat “YouTube-ified” this video because I posted it publicly on my wee lil’ YouTube channel. 😂

(However, no idea why, the film quality of my webcam suddenly tanked. It could be because the lighting wasn’t good. Oh well, lol!)

This is such an incredible piece of music, thanks so much to Marianne for creating it and sharing it and to Steven for teaching it (though – admittedly – I watched the lesson when it came out and not again as I learned it this time, so that might’ve been a mistake, and might show in my awkward fingering in places). 😂😂 I hope I somewhat did it justice, especially with the feeling behind it, though like I said it still isn’t perfect by any means.

Thanks to @Andrew and crew for everything you do! And lovely work by everyone this month!! 😍

[leb397]

@the_bumble_bard i loved it. You really for the flow of the picking pattern down. Very nice. And the kitty bonus was sweet. Glad she’s doing well, at least to complain for your attention 😊🦝👍👏

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, thank you so much, Louisa!! 🥰 I will keep working on it because part of the issue was that I kept forgetting what came next. For some reason kept switching the 0333 and 0353. 😅 But thank you so much! Thank the Lord, she is still doing okay. The meds seem to be helping her breathing but I take it hour by hour. It’s extremely emotional for me because I love her a lot. But yes, she can’t play as much now, only gently play, but she still loves attention and cuddles. I’m crying. 😂😻😭 Anyway, thank you, friend, I really appreciate your support with that! 🥰😊

I forgot to say, you used a raccoon emoji, she is a little raccoon!! 😻😂🦝🐱

Edit: I’ve already edited this twice, I’m being extra spastic. 😂 But another funny thing that made Marianne’s piece challenging was that parts of it went SUPER high up the fretboard! I always play my googly-eyed soprano uke so anything above the 12th fret doesn’t exist to me. So that was very tricky to navigate. Also that meant I had to play my concert uke that has a higher action and I’m less comfortable with it. Extremely challenging on multiple levels but well worth the effort for the incredible beauty of the song! 😊

• This reply was modified 8 months ago by The_Bumble_Bard.
• This reply was modified 8 months ago by The_Bumble_Bard.

[grannieannie]

I am a premium member.

I chose Dock of the Bay as well – fun to learn and to play. Can I blame the goofy Doodle, who was listening behind me (unbeknownst to me until I started moving around), for my losing focus and messing up on the easier “whistling” section at the end? No, that was my own lapse, but since I didn’t really want to record the whole thing again so it would have a smooth ending, here it is.

So many great entries this month, as usual.

[grannieannie]

@katazumiri: I wasn’t aware of the back story to Dock of the Bay, although I’ve heard that song described as one of the best of all time.

@The_Bumble_Bard: Well done, learning that whole piece! So nice to see your kitty joining you and loving the attention. She’s well loved, that’s for sure.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@grannieannie, thank you so much!! It was a lot of musical information to pack into my brain, but such a beautiful piece! 🥰 Yes, she is a little cuddle fiend so anything that interferes with that (like me playing ukulele), makes her squawk in protest. 😅 I do love her a lot. She is so precious and sweet. You had such a lovely performance with SOTDOTB! That one seems really tricky. Loved seeing your little friend, too! 🥰

[rw1950merritt]

I am a premium member.

Here’s my take of Etude 37.
The challenge was to get it up to the written speed. Not quite but I made it to 110.

[clempek]

I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
hey,
It’s my participation with Dock of the Bay.
I Didn’t have much time to work on it (my daughters were sick) so I’m not comfortable because I have to think about the next bars while playing…

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Hey @Andrew, forgot to say…

I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER

… Once again.

Maybe I can remember in June, so far I’m dropping the ball. 😂

[karenj]

I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER

Here’s my take on the Star Wars Theme. It was so much fun to learn a song for the U-Bass. Bring on more! I am pretty new to U-Bass and struggled with those fat rubber strings and getting a good feel for the frets, not to mention the overall increase in the size of the uke. And looking back at my videos, I notice how much I need to work on not stretching the strings when fretting. It’s still rather rough, but it’s my best overall take. I’ll keep working on it and hope to learn Dock of the Bay too. There are so many lovely submissions so far and I look forward to more.

Happy Summer and Happy Memorial Day to those in the USA. And thank you to all who have served in any way.

Take care,
Karen

[Andrew]

@lhamilton – That was awesome Linda and I loved the ending!

@henri0 – Great groove and feel Rhian! Excellent performance 👏

@ldarrow – You played it beautifully, Linda! The only spot I’d focus on is the chromatic barre chord walk-down. Try practicing it at a slower tempo while keeping an eye on your right hand. If you keep your right hand perfectly in sync with the steady down/up eighth-note strumming in that phrase, it’ll sound seamless!

@The_Bumble_Bard – I think it’s safe to say you’ve got that technique down! It sounds great! I was also impressed with was how well you captured the hauntingly beautiful feel of the piece. A truly lovely performance, Rachael. Bravo! 👏

@grannieannie – Lovely playing, Annie! My only suggestion would be the same tip I left above for @ldarrow.

@rw1950merritt – Performance sounded great Bob! I actually think you’re playing it a little faster than Matt. Matt’s playing it around 103. Which brings up a good point, I forget to update the tempo in SoundSlice to actually match the performance’s speed. My apologies! But what’s most important is that you’re played it steady and with a great feel 🙂

@clempek – Sorry to hear about your kids, hope they are feeling better! As for your performance, I thought you played it well! Your regular comfort level should come with a little more practice, but honestly, it doesn’t sound like it will take much work to get there.

@karenj – That was awesome, Karen! From here, I’d focus mostly on getting Melody B to flow as nicely as you’ve got Melody A. Hope to hear more of your bass playing soon! 🙂

[ldarrow]

@andrew,thank you for the tip, I just want to make sure I understand. I felt like the walk down was ‘jerky’ and not smooth. When I played on the soprano sized uke it did not feel like that. I almost chose to do it on the smaller uke for that reason. I was thinking I could not make it smooth on the larger uke because maybe I was holing too tightly, making it more difficult for that length of movement. But, I think what you are saying is that it is more because the timing between the strum and the walk down are a bit out of sync with one another. Timing issue. Let the strumming hand be the guide for the tempo rather than the left hand? Am I understanding?

[Andrew]

@ldarrow – I think it wasn’t smooth because your right hand got out of sync. If you can maintain the steady 8th note down and up strumming, that should fix the issue. Does that make sense?

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