[Andrew]

rebeca – Well done! Your performance was great! The only suggestion I have is to think a little bit about how we can add some finesse to your phrasing. For example, some notes or chords could be played a little bit softer or louder than others – and this also helps to add to the dynamics of a piece. Check out this lesson for some ideas on how to expand on this concept.

gmflin8 – Here’s my feedback for you and here are the barre chord lessons I recommend reviewing: Lesson 1, Lesson 2, Lesson 3.

annefgodfrey – Well done, Anne and awesome to see you back! I thought you did an excellent job, the only suggestion I have is to focus your practice on one section at a time. So Melody B breaks down into two 8 bar sections. Master one section before moving onto the next. And Melody C breaks down into 3 sections: 4 bars, 4 bars, and 6 bars.

aloooy – It’s awesome to hear you experimenting with subtleties! One thing you didn’t mention that you did quite a bit of was vibrato – which is perfect for this tune too. Keep working on the little things, they make a huge difference in the overall scope of developing your own unique sound.

planetfink – I’m glad you’re a fan now, because you play it beautifully Kathy 🙂

[Andrew]

Wow, that’s amazing Jerry! And the palmtree looks soooo cool! Can’t wait to hear it 🙂

[Andrew]

@qiuyan – You are correct, he played it as quarters in the performance. I updated SS to reflect this. Good catch!

[Andrew]

Andy, check out module 2 (rhythm) and 3 (lead) in our Theory and Jamming Course. It covers a lot of the concepts you are asking about 🙂

[Andrew]

Thanks for inspiring this week’s lesson, Bob! Hope you dig it 🙂

[Andrew]

@shmu88 – the winner was announced in the last post on page 12 🙂

[Andrew]

I’d say you’re off to an amazing start, Melissa! I was super impressed by your performance in last month’s challenge! I look forward to watching your progress 🙂

[Andrew]

Can you upload it to YouTube and share the link here?

[Andrew]

Hi Julie, can you share a video of you playing. We’ll be better able to help if we can see/hear what’s happening 🙂

[Andrew]

@cncamacho – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

[Andrew]

@qiuyan – My pleasure and thank you for pointing that out. It’s tough when there’s 3 of us leaving feedback to remember who’s posted more than once per month. In the future, can you write a note stating this is my second entry. That will help us out greatly 🙂

[Andrew]

@mark1256 – Well done, Mark! I love that you’ve got a click going. But, I’m not hearing you locked in a lot of the time. Therefore, I’d recommend two things:

1) Play along with the tab player in synthetic mode, with the metronome activated. Slow it down to any speed you wish, but work on playing 1 section at a time. The playback will act as a guide to help keep you locked into the groove/click.

2) Make sure you understand the rhythms that you are playing. I’m a big fan of counting rhythms while I play, because it helps get the rhythms engrained. Jump into our Reading Course – learning to read standard notation is the the best way to truly understand how rhythm and timing connect.

[Andrew]

Wow, we had 78 members participate this month! We absolutely crushed our participation goal, but most importantly, everyone did an awesome job and should feel super proud of their work this month!

So without further ado, the winner of our July Challenge is…

Congrats! We look forward to finding out which uke you pick from https://www.ukerepublic.com/. 🙂

Our August Challenge is LIVE: https://rockclass101.com/august-2020-challenge. We’ve got a BRAND NEW Theme for this month and we’re giving away a BRAND NEW Prize! Hope to see everyone in the new challenge!

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Here’s everyone on page 12.

@lildevil – It’s a shame that the mic records at such low quality, because your playing is quite lovely. That was an excellent performance, keep up the great work!

@cncamacho – I think you’re off to a great start with a good base established! At this point, I’d recommend focusing on 4 bar phrases at a time. Work on getting the timing steady with one phrase before tackling and connecting the next. Work through the song this way, and later you can focus on gradually increasing the tempo. Keep up the great work!

@santai – I thought you did an excellent job, Marvin! Try using form 2 for C to G7. The index finger should prevent any slippage of the neck.

After listening through your performance, there’s only a couple things I’d suggest because overall, the rhythm and note/chord clarity is excellent. So I’d focus on the areas where there were little pauses going from one part to the next.

And take one section (at a time) and boost the tempo a little; I think you’re ready for that and it will be a good challenge for you. 🙂

@baileysr – Well done! So I wouldn’t call the overall sound “flat”, its more-so overly expressive, which happens when you pluck/strum too hard.

Therefore, I’d suggest to lighten up your right hand picking attack. Lighter picking and strumming will produce a softer, sweeter tone. Check out this video that I made awhile back for another member that expanded on this concept.

@isabelm – Well done, bravo! My goal for you would be to get it fully memorized. Keep up the great work! 🙂

@artsytricia – So much fun to watch you guys play together! Keep playing with Isabel, she’s doing amazing, she’ll be able to help you too 🙂

@verity2003 – Well done! Moving forward, I’d increase the tempo by 5 or 10 BPM. That would be a good challenge for you 🙂

@qiuyan – Excellent playing! I don’t think it’s beyond your level, I think it’s the opposite – a perfect challenge for you. It sounded awesome! The only thing I want to point out is to watch out for bending at the first joint:

For ex: the index at 16 seconds or the middle at 33 seconds. Keeping the fingers bent at the first joint increases dexterity and, 9 times out of 10, is vital for proper playing form.

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Unfortunately, both of you submitted past our deadline (11:59 pm EST). So I cannot give an entry for the giveaway. But I am happy to offer feedback 🙂

@tux4tgvf5 – Love the T-shirt and American theme, Tom! Your performance was perfect, next time I’ll just get you to do the performance for me LOL. And a cute ending, I enjoyed that too!

@goody2shoes – Well done, Joel! I think you have a great base established, but there are some questionable fingerings that you chose for some of the chords. So I’d recommend going back through the video to tutorial as it offers the best fingering recommendations to make this piece as easy to play as possible.

[Andrew]

@deadbuggy – beautifully played and what a heartwarming picture. Glad you found the uke on eBay, that’s really cool. I let Nicky know about the commission, she’ll reach out to you. I’d love to see it when it’s done 🙂

@smokealot – lovely interpretation, Ulli. Very well played!

@rickkhan – Here is my feedback for you 🙂

@dennisdickens – Well done, Dennis! Your playing sounds great, but the big thing with this tune – and what really makes it “shine” – is the slow tempo that accentuates the sustain, creating this beautiful flowing sound from one note or chord to the next.

Listen back to Matt’s performance and play along with him. Try to match that tempo and focus on the sustain. That’s the icing on the cake, b/c your playing is already great – so we just want to match that feel.

[Andrew]

Welcome, Paul! Glad you found us 🙂

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