[Andrew]

@johanna2509 and @melanieh – Both of you played it so beautifully. Well done! 🙂

[Andrew]

Overall, we had 28 members participate in this month’s challenge! I’ve got to give each and every one of you a big round of applause! Everyone played so well and it was a complete joy to watch each performance. 🙂

So without further ado, the winner of the Watermelon Ukulele is:

Our October Challenge is LIVE and it’s your first chance to WIN a $2,100 Kanile’a Ukulele! Hope to see each and every one of you in the October Challenge: https://rockclass101.com/october-2021-challenge

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Here’s the feedback for the rest of the folks I hadn’t gotten to 🙂

@misterbones – Playing sounds great, Michael! I’d work on timing, keeping it more consistent.

@joe150 – Excellent playing, Joe! You’re gaining a lot of confidence and clarity in your playing. That’s so awesome to hear!

What I’d work on is taking 4 bars at a time and getting the timing/tempo perfect. Then do the same for the next 4 bars. Then put the 8 together.

Also, try to memorize it. That way you can focus 100% on the above.

@concan – Great job! So you’re playing the easier parts at a quick tempo, and then the more challenging parts at a slower tempo. I’d recommend playing the entire song at that slower tempo and working gradually to boost it as a whole.

You can also target the trickier sections by doing the tips I left above for Joe’s feedback.

@sarahd – Technique looks and sounds great, Sarah! Amazing progress for one month. Keep up the great work!

@coffeemug – Great feel overall! Keep working on that ending, it’s a toughie! But I’d also recommend working on some of the chord hits. If you listen to the second half of Melody B, you can hear that they’re not as distinct as they can be. Maybe slow that section down as it’s hard to hit them in between all the hammer-on licks.

@andrewvh – Great job, Andrew! I think your form looks fine, but I’m struggling to hear the G string note(s). Make sure your palm isn’t resting on the strings to mute it. Also, I think the advanced version is a little tough for where you’re at. I’d recommend going back to the easier version and focus on getting crisp, clear attacks for all of the hits at a slow/medium tempo.

@mademoiselleannette – Bravo! I think this is the most challenging piece you’ve taken on, and I thought you did a wonderful job! As you move forward, I’d recommend memorizing it and practicing small sections at a time. That’s always the best approach anytime we tackle difficult pieces.

@brettboy – I can’t help but smile when you killed that tough lick in the middle of the song! Your performances are always so much fun to watch, Brett!

@marianne – Your performance was smoking! I loved it! Awesome to see you guys challenging yourself and kicking butt with these tough pieces.

@kelsey91 – I think this is the best performance I’ve seen from you, Kelsey! And it’s even more impressive that you did it in two days! Keep up the great work 🙂

@tux4tgvf5 – Playing sounds great, Tom! The only thing I want you to do is to watch the the tempo. Try to keep it a little bit more steady throughout.

[Andrew]

Welcome @staylow_keepbrave! Makala’s are awesome! I actually started the site with one! You can hear it on quite a few songs, including this one 🙂

Thank you so much for the kind words. I’ll send you an email and we can figure out the sign up issue.

[Andrew]

You want to follow only the tab. The chords and notation are written for baritone tuning, so they will be incorrect for low G.

[Andrew]

@kpurdy – You can play baritone arrangements on low G without needing to adapt (transpose) anything. The only difference is that you’ll be playing in a different key.

You can also follow along with the lesson if you need help in any section 🙂

[Andrew]

That’s a great suggestion, but unfortunately it’s not possible at the moment. They are working on a new version – which should have been out months ago – but supposedly it will have even more features than it currently does 🙂

[Andrew]

@hollus – Sorry! I forgot to make it free last night. Please try now 🙂

[Andrew]

Jerry, you can just read the tab 🙂

You can also follow along with the lesson if you need help in any section.

[Andrew]

Sections in both of those songs will sound off with a low G. I’d recommend playing one of the other 2 songs. “Moondance” is for low G and “Moon Waltz” sounds great on low G too 🙂

[Andrew]

@biancak – I’d say you’ve got it down! Sounds great 🙂

[Andrew]

@santai – well done! Technique sounds great 🙂

@june2020 – great job! As you continue practicing, try to keep the tempo consistent throughout the entire piece. And, you can always target the tougher spots by looping bar(s) – like the transition to the melody notes up the neck.

But it was really good overall, and your playing was super clean!

@saiyara – excellent playing! Double check the rhythm in bars 23 and 24. Other than that, keep up the great work!

@leslieb – well done, Leslie! As you continue practicing, I’d break the song into 4 bar sections. Focus on timing – keeping it steady. Don’t worry about speed/playing fast. When you can play those four bars with perfect timing, tackle the next four, and then put those eight together. Build the song this way.

For the double stop walk down at the start of theme 2 (bar 17), I’d recommend using your ring and index to fret it. That should make it easier to play.

Last tip: Pause your performance at 8 second. Notice how your index finger is curved at the first joint, but your middle isn’t. We always want to keep a nice curve when fretting, so you want to adjust the middle to look like the index.

@qiuyan – you did so well! Amazing job for your first time playing with a backing track 🙂

[Andrew]

@ukandrea – Bravo! Well played, Andrea! I sent it to Stephen, he’ll love it 🙂

[Andrew]

My pleasure!

[Andrew]

@karenj – Beautifully played, Karen! And those variations were tastefully done. Great job!

@gi_gi_ – Excellent job! I’d like you to work on playing this song at the same speed that you did during the last half of the performance. But, do the entire song at that tempo. Even though you can play the first half much faster and in-time, it’s better to keep a consistent tempo throughout.

[Andrew]

@lhamilton – Bravo, Linda! This is one of your best performances I’ve seen! Only thing I’d say is, try to relax your right hand b/c it looks a little tense while you’re playing. But again, well done! Keep up the great work 🙂

[Author]

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