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thank you @Andrew!
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This month I decided to try the advanced beginner option of Path of the Wind. I am accompanied by Verity who plays little-known instruments such as water dish and spoons in food dish. Sorry for not having the time to isolate and remove the background noise. I wanted to continue to practice slides and pull-offs so I’ve also been working on the Avatar piece. But it is nowhere near ready to share with the world.
As always, thank you to Andrew and Matt and the wonderful Rock Class 101 community for providing inspiration and motivation.
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This was a great challenge and I almost have it memorized! If I only had a couple of more days to work on this. I will be playing this in Bernadette’s open mic get together on Saturday, so I’m anxious to actually play this live, which I don’t do often. Another great arrangement by Matt.I am a premium member
Heyho 🙂
I really Like Studio ghibli Movies so i was very happy to See all those tutorials 😀See you 🙂
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Nov entry, gone 2 weeks this month so not performance ready but a decent start!
thank you!
@Andrew many thanks for the kind words and advice, always much appreciated!
Friendly Reminder – The deadline for receiving feedback and an entry into the giveaway is tonight at 11:59 PM ET (check your local time zone).
Here is my take on Always With Me. This was a big challenge! I knew I wanted to learn it from the first time I heard Steven play it. I love Studio Ghibli films and Spirited Away is one of my favorites. I wanted to try and get some better takes in tonight, but my fingers literally hurt so much from playing that I physically can’t play tonight lol. So I went with a take I got from last night and I added some outtakes with Ziggy at the end for all the Ziggy Stardust lovers out there lol. Everyone has done so well this month! I am blown away at how many people tackled this very difficult yet beautiful and rewarding song!
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I think the Airbender Medley is gorgeous. I work long hours at my new job, so practice was limited.
Made the recording on the last day finally! Thank you. Looking forward to next months challenge too!!
I did notice quality of strums make a difference in this piece. Good placement is crucial.@nelsonlin2021 – Bravo, Nelson! Each month, you continue to impress me with your progress. For this song, I would suggest to work on one section a day, at a slower tempo and focus on keeping the tempo steady and increasing sustain. Both of these already sound great, but I think there is room to improve upon. Also, I’d recommend playing through your mistakes instead of starting a phrase over. To practice this, try jumping in at a random bar in the song and playing from there to the end. Keep up the great work!
@sarahd – Beautifully played! My only tip is to work on sustaining the notes on the A string in bar 7 and 10. Keep finger pressure held down throughout the entire notes duration to increase legato and prevent a staccato sound.
@robinboyd – I disagree, Robin! It was beautifully played. And the fact that you can play it THAT well without proper practice time is a testament to your musicianship.
@annemarie – Beautifully played, Anne! From here, I’d put the majority of your practice time into the first half of Verse 2. For bar 41, try to keep the curve of your fingers intact. In other words, do not cave in at the joints. Well done overall, I enjoyed listening to your performance 🙂
@jayton – Steven did tell me he simplified it, he said it was too hard before lol. Cool that you noticed that! I thought you did really well, your performance was beautiful! From here, I’d put the majority of your practice time into the first half of Verse 2. But I’d also suggest practicing this piece at a slower tempo while monitoring tempo (keeping it steady throughout). Try this approach: work on one section a day. Bit size chucks help a lot for smoothing out harder tunes like this one.
@potter – I loved your performance! You nailed the peaceful and relaxing vibe of the tune, well done!
@june2020 – That’s awesome that you’re gonna perform it this weekend! A Melody sounds awesome, sustain and feel is spot on. So I’d spend the majority of practice time on memorizing and smoothing out Melody B. Good luck and if you get any footage from the event, please share it here 🙂
@lynnzo – Awesome playing Lynn! First tune sounds great! Second tune, try playing along with Matt in the tab player for bars 7 and 11. The slides sound a bit off from the notation. Try looping those bars and matching his playing to get it down. For the 3rd tune, try to keep the tempo a bit more steady. You fingerpicked out of the first chord very fast, but then slowed down a lot in the pull-off bar.
@richard_siegert – Really good job this month, Richard! I can hear your fingerpicking skills are improving 🙂I’d recommend practicing the repeat of Melody A, so measure 8 going back into 1. I’m hearing a bit of hesitation here. And that might be b/c of something I saw a lot when I taught 1 on 1 private lessons. I noticed folks would practice 1 section at a time, then stop. They never practiced going into the next section. So if that’s the case, keep that in mind for future tunes.
I’d also continue practicing the B Melody. Try playing along with Matt in the tab player, 4 bars at a time, at a slower speed, working towards gradually increasing it.
@lmdlinda – So sorry to hear that Linda, my condolences. Your performance for their family will be beautiful and heartfelt ❤️
@jbmills07 – That was a great take, Justin! Sometimes it’s good to sleep on these things and view them w/ fresh eyes and ears the next day. Beautifully played!
@kdeacon7 – Great job Kelly! I think you’ve got a great base established, from here I’d recommend playing along with Matt in the tab player to get the timing down. Try one melody at a time 🙂Hi folks,
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Here is my attempt at Always With Me, and as many have already commented, I need at least another month to feel comfortable with it.I found it so hard to play through without my brain just freezing at some point, even with having it memorized.
Thanks to Andrew, Steven and all for the great selection this month. I love Spirited Away, and this song. I hope to do it justice one day!
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By the seat of my pants… For this month’s member challenge, I started out working on Path of the Wind. While I loved it, (it’s from one of my favorite movies!), I felt I wanted to challenge myself more by learning Always With Me. Perhaps not my best move, as there are parts that still need improvement-especially measures 41 to 46. My hands are not quite large enough to make some of those stretches on my tenor in those measures. I likely should have tried it on one of my concert ukes, but I love how it sounded on this tenor. A little more time and I might have smoothed that section out. At any rate, it’s a beautiful arrangement (thank you Steven!) and I adore playing it. After I polish this, I’ll attack Merry Go-Round of Life! Good luck everyone! Lots of great entries this month!!!
@jbmills07, that was such an amazing performance! Really flawless to my ears. I love how you play it, too. It’s amazing to me to hear all the different interpretations of the same song, each with such unique feeling behind them. Yours brings out the “Jane Austen dance” vibe that makes me love Steven’s arrangements. 😅
Also, those bloopers were hilarious. Highlights: Shameless Ziggy booty, cat tail muting the uke strings, “ZIGGEH!” and desperately holding the uke away as she is aggressively trying to be the center of attention, lol. Watching that made me miss having a cat so much though.
Also, everyone has done an amazing job this month!! So much appreciation to Andrew and friends for all they do! Looking forward to the next challenge, too! 😊🎄💚❤️
@jody_hendrickson – Beautifully played, Jody! The one area I’d focus your practice on is the 1st half of Verse 2 – which I’ve noticed has been tricky for a lot of folks this month. That section alone might reflect the comments for needing extra time. It’s quite a finger frenzy! But overall, your performance was lovely. Great feel throughout!
P.S. Don’t forget the premium member tag 😉
@denisedistefano – I think you crushed this challenge! Some of your best playing to date! I’m impressed, Denise! Keep up the great work!
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