Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
joannetala – Great playing! So last month, we talked about working on counting rhythms. I recommended to check out the reading course, which will help greatly with strengthen timing, as your focus will be on understanding rhythmic durations.
So for ex, one area I hear you struggle with this month (and last) is holding half notes out for 2 beats, which happens in bars 25 & 26. Try counting as you play, using a metronome, or the on-screen tab viewer, those will def help. But the course will give you a better understanding of rhythms so that you have a foundation in place.
So that’s what my focus for you would be on. Your playing is quite lovely, just need to target rhythms/timing.
Honestly, this was kind of a weird arr. with bars of 2, 3, 4. This was the first one I wrote for uke and did it for fun, never cross-checked it against the original recording. So I basically just played whatever felt good to me.
1) Sounds like I rushed. Timing’s always been harder for me and I’ve worked on it a lot. Which is good, b/c there’s a huge diff between old lessons like this vs. new ones.
2) Ditto.
Synthetic notation is correct rhythm for melody. Bridge is pretty much unique to this arr. Except for the first bar melody. Although record plays a Dm, not an F.
planetfink – Awesome performance and I love the Uke! What a cool gift 🙂 If I have to be really nitpicky, the only thing that stood out to me was one bar (starting at 53 seconds in) in the B Melody; it had a bit of a delay before starting. But, this is really an example of me over-analyzing. If only you knew how bad I over-analyze do my own performances, LOL.
robinboyd – Well done! Here is my feedback for you. 🙂
deadbuggy – Here are my thoughts 🙂
cncamacho – You are doing awesome! Notes and chords ring with great clarity and nice tone. I want you to try this: Take a four or eight bar section, and boost the speed (from where you are currently at) by 5 or 10%. And when that becomes comfortable, try another 5 or 10%. Then repeat with the next 4 or 8 bars. This way you can work on increasing speed in sections, instead of being overwhelmed by trying to do the entire piece all together.
Here’s a short video with help on one of the rhythms that I heard you play incorrectly.
brenna – Such a beautiful rendition, I loved everything about it! Your interpretation has such a great rhythmic feel to it 🙂
sprintingyogini – Well done! Here is 1 tip for you. Sorry for the ending. I need to go to bed, LOL.
lildevil – Sounds beautiful! But I will have to agree with you, that quite a bit of it is more suited as accompaniment. Unfortunately, this deviates a little too much to be accepted as an entry into the challenge. Which doesn’t matter as I see that you will be submitting one of the other arrs., which I look forward to listening to 🙂
Thanks for all the kind words guys! We really appreciate how much work everyone puts into their playing. It’s an honor for us to get to listen to!
It’s always best to continually practice songs. It not only helps you retain them in memory, but importantly, it helps you keep them at a performance ready level.
For your second question, when your career is performing, your repertoire consists of standards, aka the most popular requests. Knowing a lot of tunes means a better tip PLUS you make folks happy when you perform their request 🙂
@iyers408 – yikes, I forgot to add everyone on page 14! I’ll update the post above. To answer your question, split your practice in thirds. For example:
1) technique – for ex: hammer-ons & Pull-offs. here is 1 lesson and another to reference.
2) reading course
3) May Challenge tune
@gstriph – snippet is sounding good! Glad the feedback helped 🙂Wow! 99 members joined us for this month’s challenge, with a few more posting an additional performance on a second tune! Stephen and I are BLOWN AWAY by how amazing everyone did! Big round of applause to everyone who participated this month 🙂
Our May Challenge is LIVE and it’s theme is songs from, The Beatles! We have quite a few entries in already! I hope each of you join us again.
Below, I will post a list of members who participated in the April challenge for your first chance to win the Kanile’a Ukulele. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.
—-
Extra ENTRY: kanae926 (Guess Fav VH Song)
rickkhan
rickkhan
alex2531255
laurasil
laurakarr12
brenna
brenna soraya06
soraya06
en_joy
en_joy
gstriph
gstriph
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
robinboyd
robinboyd
marni11
marni11
planetfink
planetfink
carmeloukes
carmeloukes
lisadmh
lisadmh
cncamacho
tessa84
tessa84
kanae926
kanae926
coffeemug
coffeemug
cyukug
cyukug
uku_mom
morrieuke1
morrieuke1
noemie
citznmag
stinyuke
stinyuke
jgallego
jgallego
stianukulele
stianukulele
bzediver
bzediver
betsy_manning
betsy_manning
Gaby
Gaby
timolnz
timolnz
kellyblackburn
kellyblackburn
holly1
holly1
joannetala
joannetala
sprintingyogini
sprintingyogini
marion2017
marion2017
surfnrz
surfnrz
speedyfish
kirpuff
kirpuff
andracass
andracass
johanna2509
alex086962
brettboy
brettboy
edward
edward
tiff27
juwong
justin
justin
nthibode
nthibode
kmelton
kmelton
jinajupiter
jinajupiter
richo_uke
richo_uke
abaluyot
abaluyot
kumakuma
lildevil
lildevil
smudge
smudge
mheiden
mheiden
casadot349
casadot349
santai
santai
karenj
karenj
erino7
erino7
sratica
sratica
hotmilktea
hotmilktea
wongbrown
wongbrown
esimmerman
esimmerman
cyberloh
cyberloh
joe150
llmairalmiquel
llmairalmiquel
akshxd
akshxd
odysseus
odysseus
fiat-lux
fiat-lux
lisamcc
lisamcc
john21403
john21403
lyndallk
lyndallk
rufio0
rufio0
chirimoya
jlbross
jlbross
rickeymike
rickeymike
stevenflautner
stevenflautner
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
zukulele
zukulele
rpina61
rpina61
gardn_gnome
gardn_gnome
borjez
borjez
nitsur
nitsur
malachi
malachi
k_ra11
k_ra11
r1ggler
r1ggler
becky7777
becky7777
lakeside339
lakeside339
tommyn
tommyn
lizbun
yellowrosecottag
yellowrosecottag
ambre_uke92
ambre_uke92
iyers408
iyers408
mfaske
mfaske
skilshaw
skilshaw
evevev
evevev
gaevdl
gaevdl
aquatopaz
aquatopazHere is everyone on page 17 and 18.
—-
ukukelley1 – Beautiful playing, Sheryl! So you’ve got a really great base established, in that you are very familiar with the entire piece; but I would go back and target your practice to focus on 1 section at a time. I’d recommend that the sections be 8 bars in length. For example, that could be the entire first verse.
Your goal would be to get the timing to flow steady. That should be your main focus, because everything else is checked off: great pace, great tone, great form.
zukulele – Hey Zion, that’s actually a really impressive take. Sometimes folks ask me, “you must be able to perform for hours with all the arrangements you’ve done”… And the truth is, no! It takes continual practice to keep tunes in your performance repertoire. So major props for playing it as you did, and like you said, a little more practice will get you a cleaner take.
rpina61 – Way to go! Here’s a video with my feedback for you 🙂
gardn_gnome – Great playing! Here’s my feedback for you. 🙂
borjez – Excellent feel! Your use of rubato has a very natural feel. I have nothing constructive to offer, that was simply wonderful 🙂
nitsur – Wonderful take! The only thing I can suggest is to continue working on the timing so that it flows a little bit more consistent. Overall you did a great job, keep up the good work!
malachi – Excellent job! I made a video for you talking about form, and here is the lesson that I referenced.
k_ra11 – Wow! That was fantastic, and I think this is the perfect level for you to be working on. Biggest thing with this tune was the slow, soft pace – which you nailed, and it’s super important as it’s a ballad. The only critique I have is: A couple times you messed up a little section and then restarted. Always play through your mistakes. Pretend like you’re performing with the band, if you mess up, they don’t stop, they keep going.
Other than that, keep up the great work! You are rockin’!
r1ggler – Lovely take! Here’s a couple tips for you.
becky7777 – Love the rhythmic feel you played with! Really makes the piece pop 🙂 I don’t have any critiques for you, I’m really impressed with your playing month after month. Keep up the great work!
lakeside339 – Great job! You have a great base established, in that you are very familiar with the entire tune; but what I’d focus on is working on one section at a time. So take 4 or 8 bars and focus on keeping the tempo steady. Master those bars before moving on. This will help you to get the piece to flow smoothly. Check out the three steps for proper practice from our practicing guide which dives into this learning approach in more detail.
tommyn – Well done! Sounds like the chorus and bridge needs a little bit more practice. I’d also encourage you to memorize it, as there are a lot of benefits in doing so. Check out this article to find out why. But overall, keep up the great work!
lizbun – Great timing, great feel, and love the ending! Well done, that was a lovely performance 🙂
Here’s everyone on page 15.
—-
nthibode – that was amazing! Here’s and idea for you on a new way to practice. And sorry that I rambled on a bit, LOL. Here’s the program I mentioned: Transcribe.
Here’s the download link for Windows.
Here’s the download link for Mac.kmelton – way to go, Kevin! So check out this video that I made for another member. It was all about adding lyrical flow to your performance. Although I highlight a different song in it, the same concept can be applied to this tune.
Think of how the song is overall; it’s a slow, sincere ballad. So you want your notes and chords to reflect this feel. So when I listen back to your performance, I hear a lot of “on the beat” type of playing. Check out the video, and try to bring more of the 2 points above into your playing.
esimmerman – Great job! So I left some advice yesterday for, sprintingyogini, in this post. Check out the video in that post, it talks about using a lighter attack (in this case, this is in reference to your thumb) to produce a softer, sweeter tone.
One thing about your form that I noticed, and it is a little hard to see in the video because of the lighting, but I think you are using the middle finger to push your index finger down when barring. For ex, the Eb at 1:23. If this is happening, try not to do this. Using another finger to give us more strength is a crutch.
Another thing with form. Check out 29 seconds. Here you can see your thumb sticking out high above the neck. And then at 35 seconds, it actually comes off, as you play the 7th fret. So for the latter, you never want to lift up, always remain in contact with the neck. And for the former, I’d recommend to use Form 1.
lyndallk – Beautiful playing! Here is a video with my tip for you.
rufio0 – Well done! So I’d recommend counting the rhythms as you play. Sometimes I heard incorrect rhythms, for example the G in bar 1 should be a half note, not an 8th note. Check out our reading course, it will help greatly with this. 🙂
chirimoya – LOL, love the smile at the end! So I think you are rocking for 4 months! Amazing progress 🙂 But, let’s talk about a few things. First off, that instrument, if you have the means, please replace it. It sounds like it has a lot of intonation issues. This means that notes played throughout the neck are not in tune. This usually happens with cheaper instruments that are not built well. Check out Islander ukes, they are built well and are affordable and do not have these issues. Mike from Uke Republic can help you choose a great uke.
As far as your playing, it’s awesome! Take a look at the advice I left above for, esimmerman. I left some tips for using a lighter attack (in this case, your thumb) to produce a softer, sweeter tone.
jlbross – Well done, Jennifer! That was some of your best playing that I’ve heard 🙂 So check out this video that I made yesterday for, kellyblackburn. It’s got a really cool idea in it to give introduce subtle dynamics into your playing. I think it’s an idea that you would have a lot of fun incorporating into your practice as you work on pieces.
rickeymike – Way to go, Rickey! So the biggest props I have to give you is on timing. You are really starting to understand the rhythms. That’s huge!
So one quick performance tip, at 15 seconds you hit the A string instead of the E string. But then, you went backwards in time, and hit the E string (correct note). So when I say backwards in time, think of your performance as if you were playing with a band. Assuming they keep the tempo steady, they would have left you behind. So always play through your mistakes, don’t go back and try to fix them in performance mode.
Vocals were dead on with the melody and harmony! Looks like the lessons with Stephen really paid off 🙂 keep up the great work!
stevenflautner – Well done! So this can be a really tricky tune, because of the rhythms. Sometimes we may want to rush sections, especially ones with complex rhythms, such as the mix of 16th and 8th notes that occur at 52 seconds in your performance. Check out the advice I left above for, nthibode. She did this same tune, and I gave her one creative way to practice alongside the actual recording to help reinforce timing.
Here is everyone on page 10 and page 11.
—-
kellyblackburn – Awesome! I shot a video for you with a really interesting concept that you can use to subtly make your playing Pop just that much more. But seriously, major props on this one!
timolnz – I like the changes that you threw in there to make it more rhythmic! So you are on the right path, but any time we make changes like this, you want to make sure that you’re not adding any extra beats to the bars and that the melody falls on the correct beat(s).
I’d encourage you to take a Skype lesson with Stephen; he can help you tidy up the piece, so that that it hits the points above.
Gaby – great job! So I’d actually recommend to slow the tempo down a little bit and work on one section at a time. This will also help you develop a smoother tempo flow.
I’d also focus on cleaning up some of your playing. In other words, we want to remove some of the buzz that we’re hearing in the notes and chords. And the best way to do this is to make sure that you are fretting with enough pressure for the note to ring clear (and with correct form for barre chords). Don’t worry too much about tempo, slow and steady always wins the race.
soraya06 – Beautiful playing! Don’t worry too much about the nerves, I actually got nervous at the end of that songs performance and sped up too much. So I cut the ending and faded it out before the rushed part. Playing in front of a camera is weird, I get way more nervous doing that then I do in front of an actual crowd… Go figure?
holly1 – Great job! So I shot a video, and the idea behind my feedback for you is to help your flow of timing be a little bit more steady. But I kind of went off on a tangent, talking about how the first step to understand playing with rubato (ignoring the metronome – which is how Matt performed it) is to actually play with the metronome.
joannetala – Well done! So I’d recommend counting the rhythms as you play. Sometimes I heard incorrect rhythms, for example the Eb at 41 seconds should be a half note, not an 8th note. Check out our reading course, it will help greatly with this. 🙂
sprintingyogini – Awesome job! I’m totally jealous of the weather that you have, it’s so hot in Atlanta already! So last month, I made this video for another member about lightening their attack, which produces a softer, sweeter tone. Give it a shot and I think you will like what you hear. 🙂 Keep up the great work!
marion2017 – Playing sounds great and it sounds like you put a little bit of reverb on the track, I dig it! So I’d actually recommend watching the video I left above for, holly1. That advice will be very helpful for you too.
Really comes down to personal preference. Try both, and as you continue playing you’ll see advantages for using one over the other.
