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jakeypoo, you did so well, I loved it! You’ve got a really great feel on the instrument and I see how much you practice on Instagram, it really pays off! One thing I want to point out that you did really well on is the timing and Rhythm work. This song can be a toughie with so much going on, so major props there.
I sent you a video with feedback on fixing a couple things with your left hand form. How is that going? 2 additional areas I want to point out:
1) try to bring your thumb down a little bit, more so towards slightly above the middle of the neck. Check out this lesson for suggestion on placement.
2) The Am chord at 2:20, notice how your pinky finger is quite crooked, try and get it a little bit more straight and on the fingertip. Also sometimes, like at 3:25, on the D chord, your first joints (on multiple fingers) is curved inwards. Try to keep them curved outwards.
rickkhan, I thought you did really well and I love seeing you vibe to the music – it’s clear to see you can feel it! 🙂
So there’s really only one big thing we need to touch on, which is that your performance had a swung feel to it. This is a composition that should be played straight.
Now as I said already, you have a great feel to your playing, but your focus moving forward should be on correcting the feel. I’d encourage you to play along with the on-screen tab viewer, and focus on one theme at a time. Notice the difference in feels.
If you have time, I’d love to hear a re-submission. Even if it’s only one theme. Let me know if you have any questions.
brenna, such a wonderful performance! I actually shared this in our email newsletter the other week 🙂
I really love the tone your nails provide; sharp, crisp, very beautiful! You have a really great feel in your playing. I only have one suggestion: You played the “B” melody at a slower tempo, which is totally cool – I like the contrast in tempos. Try to smooth the ritardando in the two bars preceding melody B. And the same for increasing the tempo in the two bars before returning to Melody A. This will help to make the tempo change sound a little smoother.
poopsies, awesome job and wow, you’ve got some speed! Unfortunately, the video was black – all we have is the audio.
Again, major props on the speed and your timing was excellent! Now this is my opinion, because how you perform is always up to you, but I would suggest to slow the tempo down a notch, as I feel it would give the music more room to breathe. But overall, great job and keep up work the great work!
hafeez3115, bravo! I am continually impressed by your performances, truly fantastic job! The only thing I want to point out, and I think I’ve mentioned it before to you, is thumb placement of the left hand. Try and bring it down a little bit so it’s not hanging over the edge of the neck. Check out this lesson for suggestion on placement.
kmelton, that was an awesome performance Kevin. It’s been fun watching your performances over the last half year, I can hear a lot of improvement! It’s super awesome! Your dedication is paying off 🙂
So I noticed you were sitting in a classical guitar position. If you watch the video back, notice how this position doesn’t allow you to stabilize the uke as well as the position we recommend to sit with, which uses your right forearm to help keep the uke stable. You’ll notice in your video that it has a bit of a micro movement, kind of like it bobs up and down slightly as you play. I think it would be easier for you to perform if you try our recommended holding position. Let me know your thoughts.
planetfink, so good! I’m glad you joined us this month and I’ll be featuring your performance in our newsletter email tomorrow 🙂
Friendly reminder, you forgot to write “I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER”. For anyone else that is reading this, if you are a premium member, don’t forget to add that to your performance so you get two entries into the giveaway.
You have a great feel on the instrument, I really enjoyed your performance! A couple things I want to point out:
1) try to bring your left hand thumb down a notch. Check out this lesson for suggestion on placement.
2) watch through your performance and take note of your right hand picking. Sometimes you’ve got picado going, which is awesome! But sometimes you revert back to using just the index finger. Try and be cognitive as you play throughout it and focus on using picado.
3) as you continue to practice, play along with the on-screen tab viewer. This will help you tighten up some of the timing and fix a few incorrect rhythms (nothing super bad!).
But again, really great job!
Thank you Andrew!!!
I really love your arrangements. Maestro!
I will try to do what you say.
Uke power!!!Gianluca Brenna
Thanks Andrew! Sorry, I don’t really know what’s wrong with my phone and Youtube, but it can be a pain sometimes and it blacks out when I take videos, I have no idea why. I will try to slow down in the future, and thanks for your feedback!
Thank you Andrew for your kind words. I know I didn’t get the timing right, particularly measure 6. I had it on loop and counted it out loud, but still the hesitation still shows up when I’m nervous. I’m slowing it down to work on the things you suggested. Thanks again.
Good call Andrew! It never occurred to me, but I knew something didn’t feel right. If I hadn’t of edited the video, you would have seen me wiggling in my chair for a solid 15 seconds as I tried to get comfortable!
Working on Moon now, though with my travel schedule it’s been slow goings. Will post whether or not I make it by the end of the month.
Thanks as always.
Hi, Andrew,
I am struggling to learn ‘Moon’. I really doubt that I will be able to memorise the piece within the next 2 weeks. I am good with pieces that have a strong melody, but this piece just does not seem to have something that I can readily hear accurately in my mind. There are also some small, confusing variations in this piece. I plan to post by the end of the month for the experience only, so I suppose that it is not critical that I memorise the whole thing and not rely on the tabs to keep me on track. I think us older folks struggle more with memorising things. Do you have any suggestions that would help us to memorise this piece?
Do you have any suggestions or little tricks that would help us to cleanly play the chord in bar 3 of theme 3? It seems that my second finger seems slightly too long and my finger nail wants to curl under the string. I find it very difficult to put enough pressure on string #4 to get its note to ring cleanly without any buzzing. My pinkie also wants to collapse which is not good form.
Thanks for your recommendations.
Regards,
Vida
OOOPS! I did not number the strings correctly in my last post. It is the pressure on string #1 with the second finger that is difficult.
Vida
Hey Vida, check out this recent forum post in which members wrote their tips for memorizing: https://rockclass101.com/forums/topic/tips-on-remembering-the-songs/. I don’t have any suggestions, as this is one of the RARE areas in music that I don’t have to try at. It just “clicks” for me.
That chord is all about proper form, make sure you are sticking to a T with the barre chord form in front and behind the neck: https://rockclass101.com/proper-left-hand-ukulele-form/.
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Hallo guys
I tried again with the gitanita. I tried to be more fluid in the tempo changes..
After thausand times I repeat it, I like it more than the first time…Ciao!!!!
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November Regular Challenge Entry
I figured out two little things from the original guitar composition to make up for not doing the harmonic tap. He got fancy near the end of the song…. and learned them before reading we didn’t NEED to add the tapped harmonic if we just couldn’t get it to go off. I kept messing up and restarting the recording I was sooo frustrated I just went on to the end. No effects were added. This is straight DiamondHead soprano ukulele using a cheap Axl suction cup piezo pickup to plug directly into my laptop to record.
Sorry again for the glaring mistakes. I did try to get more dynamics this song using a stronger and shorter second strum. I can’t use my thumb at this time either. I failed a lot with picado and raciado too.
Hey Vida,
I’ve been struggling with a number of the same things as you but I’m probably a bit further along, so I’ll see if I can help, too.
1. Re memorising, that section you are on is really really hard for me to memorise too. If it helps, the rest of the piece is easier, but the rhythms in that section are all over the place and there is no distinct tune, right? The only suggestion I have is to not get too hung up about playing the rhythms exactly right. I find that if I play the right chords and stay in 6/8 time, then it all kind of works out in the end.
2. Re the chord, you are talking about the 4675 Bm chord, not the barre chord, right? I just tried to recreate the effect that you were talking about, and I think you need to relax your wrist. I’m going to guess that your wrist is curved at the moment. If you relax it, it will straighten out and you won’t get such an extreme angle on your fretting finger (not to mention, your wrist won’t hurt as much). What do you think, Andrew?
I’m using this as kind of a visualisation exerise, which helps me deconstruct people’s form when teaching martial arts. I’m not claiming to be any sort of a musical expert but effective and pain-free body positioning is right up my alley.
Vida, please watch this video as a follow up to our email. This will hopefully help you guys with the Bm chord in Theme 3, Bar 3.
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