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@The_Bumble_Bard Thanks so much! I appreciate the feedback!
@katazumiri Great job! I love the bass in the background!Everyone did such an amazing job this month, really incredible playing by all! 😊
@lhamilton, I really loved the emotion behind your take of Toccata and Fugue. So, so beautiful. And @morrieuke1 also an amazing take of that with crazy speed and accuracy! @katazumiri, I loved your take of Blue Moon. I actually really like it a bit slower like that and with the bass. Really beautiful! @johanna2509, that was so cool with the Werewolf song! Lol. You played it perfectly. Everyone’s entries were so amazing this month! 😊Ha, okay. I knew I’d only get through Theme 1 of Toccata and Fugue by the time I finally got to play through it, but I was pretty pleased with how far I got with really only two days of solid practice. I’m starting to think I actually work better under pressure like that, with less time. 😂 I did listen to the lesson multiple times and practiced little bits of it, but only played through all of Theme 1 for the first time yesterday. So, considering that, I’m pretty happy with it, LOL, but there are still many bumbles throughout. I will keep working on this because it was indeed more possible than it seems (thanks to the inspiration of others here) and so satisfying once you get it! @misterbones, I found out the hard way what you meant about Measure 13, I think? LOL. Good times.
Not to exaggerate too much, but this quote sums up my feelings about @Andrew ‘s arrangement:
Astounding! It was actually, it was beyond belief. These were first and only drafts of music, but they showed no corrections of any kind. Not one. He had simply written down music already finished in his head! Page after page of it as if he were just taking dictation. And music, finished as no music is ever finished. Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase and the structure would fall. It was clear to me that sound I had heard in the Archbishop’s palace had been no accident. I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink-strokes at an absolute beauty.
😂😂
Oh, and I have a lot of trouble accidentally inverting chord shapes, which is why it took me so long to figure out what direction the first staircase shape went in that run down the fretboard.
Okay, here ’tis:
Thank you for these amazing challenges each month! 😊
Thanks @The_Bumble_Bard !
Linda
Again, what an impressive display of talent in this group! I so admire the skill of everyone who submitted Tocatta and Fugue . . . maybe one day I’ll reach that level. A special shout-out to @abster – your fingers knew just what to do even as you looked around for possible distractions! You are amazing.
@brettboy: You are an absolute riot, with your selection of crazy videos. (I had to watch your cat very carefully in your first submission – it sat so quietly through your playing, I wondered if it was part of your decor.)So here’s my humble entry, complete with little corrections where I should have just plowed through – I didn’t realize I was doing that until I played it back.
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Way to go @grannieannie 👏👏 I felt the same struggle in my walking dead.
@the_bumble_bard I’m impressed you performed that with just few days of practice. Very nice. Two entries this month 👏😁
I’m amazed with those that really nailed Tocatta Fugue @abster @lhamilton @morrieuke1 @misterbones and Brett of course. Such emotion and talent. I love showing my family your entries and how great the ukulele can sound. Blue moon is beautiful too.
I know others have commented but Rock Class is a special place. Thanks @andrew for creating this musical community to grow.@leb397, couldn’t agree more with what you said, Rock Class 101 is a very special group of people indeed. I truly don’t think I would’ve grown as much as I have and been able to unlock what I can do now creatively without the people and music from here. So inspiring and exciting to see what everyone can do here, and such amazing lessons. 😊💕
Haha thank you, friend! 😂 I am pretty shocked that I was able to at least memorize the first theme so quickly, but it needs a ton of ironing out to get it as seamless as the other performances here, and also achieve the expressive sound I hope to reach. But with that take (of many) I liked that it was the most expressive, even though there are many mistakes. 😊
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This is my entry for this month! I thought this was the perfect fun Halloween song. I know could use a few more days practice but I wanted to make sure I recorded to enter the challenge. I seem to always challenge myself to memorize it and I played it on my tenor even though I often practice on my concert. Anyways have a great Halloween everyone and thanks for the lessons 🎃✌🏻Hi Rockclass,
here’s my attempt at the “Halloween theme”.
(…maybe I managed to capture a little of the spirit of Halloween… 👻)
What fantastic contributions this month from all of you. I’m seriously impressed by all the great recordings of the “Toccata and Fugue”. Really, really impressive.
I’ll definitely give it a go.Happy Halloween!
(this one does not count for entry)
Here’s everyone on page 6.
@abster – Amazing playing Abster! One tip, if you pause your video at 42 seconds, take note of the C string. You’ll see it’s pulled down quite a bit. This causes the note to go sharp. Try to keep the string as parallel as possible. Also, don’t forget to check your tuning before recoding 😉
@anyon1 – Timing and feel were spot on! Very well played Adriana!
@lhamilton – Wow Linda, every section was extremely well played. Very impressive!
@kickass – An excellent first post! I really like the fingerpicking change you made to it, sounds great combined with the strumming! Well done this month and hope to see you again in next month’s challenge 🙂
@barbecueblack – Very well played! A few of the chords in the Verse sounded like they were cut short, so that’s the only section I’d target in your practice, focusing on getting them to sustain fully.
@ccwuke – I thought you did a great job Chris! Timing was very good, which is super important with this song. Only thing I’d do is to practice at a slower tempo, bringing it back up to the current tempo, while focusing on note/chord clarity.
@katazumiri – Love the bass play along Lena! It was a beautiful duet, great playing on both instruments 🙂
@karenj – Playing sounded great Karen, excellent fingerpicking! For the nerves, try recording your practice sessions. That’ll get you use to playing in front of a camera. Or you can try playing a few easier songs in front of the camera on the day of the performance before playing the actual performance tune. That’s a trick I used at gigs. I’d start with a few easy songs until the nerves went away.
@morrieuke1 – That was awesome Michael! Great playing all around! I really liked your interpretation of the piece. It had more drive compared to my rubato/fermata-y take. To my ear, that gave it more of a scary element, as if Michael Myers is after you lol. Really well done this month!
@jasdel – Fantastic performance, Jasdel! You effortlessly switched between fingerpicking and strumming, and your feel and timing were spot on. I don’t think this piece is beyond your skill level at all. I think you rocked it!
@johanna2509 – Perfect performance, great strumming Johanna!
@ldarrow – Very well played Linda, your strumming and chunks sounded great! 1 minor suggestion: The opening vamp, try to play that at the same tempo as the rest of the tune. Keep up the great work!@suekulele – Great job on the timing, rhythm, and note/chord clarity Sue! Very well played!
@The_Bumble_Bard – Is that a quote from the movie Amadeus? Sounds really familiar! Playing wise, you are doing awesome! Keep at it!!
@grannieannie – Fingerpicking sounded great Ann! There’s really only one spot I’d target your practice at, which is that bar of 2/4, where it walks down from one chord to the next. Try looping that section and focus on keeping the tempo steady there.
@kelsey91 – Really well played Kelsey! You aced Melody A, very good job on note clarity and timing! I hear a few minor pauses in Melody B, so that’s what I would target your practice on. And honestly, it sounds like you could smooth that out with a couple more days of practice, you’re very close already! Very impressive fingerstyle work this month! Keep up the great work!
@otzepeng – Loved it!@Andrew, haha!!! Yes, the quote was from Amadeus. 😅 I couldn’t find the exact clip of that quote, but this one has a similar vibe: https://youtu.be/PGSzeHKgHfI?si=jshz8hAj67fhLNk0
I love that movie so much. I need to watch it now. That’s the most dramatic way you can say you like someone’s music ever. 😂
Oh and thank you so much, I will keep going with it! 😊
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Seems like a very nice group of folks here and a lot of talented musicians!
I had a lot of fun learning Spooky Scary Skeletons for this challenge; it has become a bit of a theme song in my home:)
Looking forward to the next month’s challenge!
Corey
@Andrew, thank you for your kind feedback. I want to echo the sentiment that several people have shared…this site and community you have created is such an inspiring and encouraging place to learn, and very much appreciated. I can’t wait for the next list of songs to come out! 🙂
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