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Here is everyone on page 14, 15, and any submissions beyond that. Stephen will post page 10 soon and that should complete feedback for the month! 🙂
ellbo99 – Excellent playing, Dave! Great tone on… is that a sopranissimo? Since we had a lot of entries this month, I’m starting to see a pattern in things that folks should work on. I’m going to copy and paste it below:
1) it looks like you were reading the music. Try to memorize the piece, this way you can focus on how you are playing it – which was the topic of this lesson.
2) in a previous feedback post (page 17), I left a video titled “thumb attack”. Check that video out, it talks about subtle and strong ways to strum. Changing the attack creates dynamics, which simply means changes in volume. This helps to create more emotion in our playing.As your comment alluded that you ran short on time, #1 makes sense to do. But #2 is the big one here, think of ways that you can mix dynamics in to bring out more emotion. Because like I said, you’ve got a great tone, so think of how you want to express it.
suzums – Wow, really really fantastic! And dang, great tone plugged in! This was really really good (I said it twice now, lol) – so there’s not anything major to work on, so I’m going to nit-pick:
1) 13 seconds – work on cleaning up the hammer on, pull off
2) 34 seconds – don’t rush the slide
3) 55 seconds – this is the last chord of the song, try a slower strum. It will sound more drawn out and feel more like an ending.
carmen-s – Great job, Carmen! I’d recommend the same advice I left above (#1) for ellbo99, as well as: For your right hand, I’d recommend to scoot your hand back a bit. Check out this lesson for our placement recommendations. And I think I touched in a previous video left for a member, showing to hold the body more-so underneath the sound hole for thumb approach.
jlbross – Great job! I’d recommend the same advice I left above (#1) for ellbo99. In addition to that, take a look at where you place the music. Where it is, requires you to look down and sit in a less-than-ideal playing posture. I’d recommend investing in a music stand, which will allow you to sit properly and not strain your neck 🙂
sudave – Great job! I’d recommend the same advice I left in the post about for, trentmellington.
kanae926 – Another awesome performance from you! You are knocking these out of the park! I thought the sustain was great, and I’m glad to read you were focusing on timing and dynamics. What I’d work most on is the latter; I want to hear more emphasis in your performance – louder louds, and softer lows. But overall, I’m proud of you, keep up the good work!
joannetala – Well done! I can definitely tell that you focused on dynamics, but do be careful not to go too strong; i.e. where notes pop, which we can hear at 1:06. What I suggest to continue working on is timing. Take 8 bars at a time and focus on getting it nice and smooth. Keep up the great work and thanks for donating!
uku_on – Dude, congrats! I hope your wedding was awesome 🙂 and you did Super well on this! It’s clear to me that you know how to practice, because everything looks and sounds great. So what I would do is focus on some of the tricky areas, like the phrase that begins around 40 seconds to 48. And of course the ending, as you stated that was the part that you didn’t get a chance to get to. But really great, this was a toughie!
jenaenlaxson – Great playing, Jenae! And I’m sorry to hear about the flare up, I know how taxing LD can be on the body. I thought you did really well, great tone and nice work on sustaining the notes. So my recommendation for you is the same advice I left in the post above for, trentmellington. But, I want you to tackle bigger sections at a time: 4 or 8 bars. Keep up the great work!
mycb3tm3n – Way to go, Myc, that was awesome! I want you to check out the advice I left in the post above for, “hondamom”. Specifically, #2. One thing that stood out to me is that you have a strong strum attack with your thumb. Try to mix it up a little bit by using a lighter attack; this will produce a sweeter and softer tone. Other than that, go back and target your practice to focus on some of the tricky phrases, such as 33 seconds to 41. You can use the advice I left above for, trentmellington, to get the most out of your practice time. Keep up the great work!
yukalele – Well done! I left some advice yesterday (on page 18) for another member, “gstriph”. Check out the first point, that advice will be really helpful for you. And also, the advice I left above for, jlbross, about using a music stand 🙂
The other thing I want to point out, is to scoot your left hand thumb down a little bit, so it is slightly above the middle of the neck. Check out form 2 for a better look at this.
Here is everyone on page 12 and page 13.
hondamom – Well done, and I hear you on how things can get busy especially during the holidays. So this was some advice I left for a couple other members, but I thought it would be great for you too:
1) it looks like you were reading the music. Try to memorize the piece, this way you can focus on how you are playing it – which was the topic of this lesson.
2) in a previous feedback post (page 17), I left a video titled “thumb attack”. Check that video out, it talks about subtle and strong ways to strum. Changing the attack creates dynamics, which simply means changes in volume. This helps to create more emotion in our playing.stevenflautner – Great job! So the big thing that stood out to me – and I’m not 100% sure because of the angle being so close, but it looks like your right hand, when picking, is extended outward too much. And I went back to look at your video on Bad Moon Rising, and it looks similar. This was actually a big tip that I left for another member (on page 18), “annefgodfrey”. Watch the video I left for her and see if it applies to you, I think it does. If so, you want to curl your hand inwards more to increase fingerpicking dexter and comfort. Check out this lesson to see how this looks.
Other than that, I would suggest to keep working a little bit on the timing and smoothing it out overall.
ukeland – Great job on the sustain, very lovely! Do go back and double-check as I heard a few incorrect notes; other than that, one area you can focus on is cleaning up some of the buzz notes. I left some advice on that for another member, “gstriph”, on page 18 and 19, so definitely check that out.
russellbarnett – Glad you joined us this month! Playing sounds great! I would recommend the same advice I left about for, “Hondamom”.
hotmilktea – Awesome job! I’m always impressed with your phrasing, it comes so natural to you. So I’d keep working on dynamics, which I DID hear in your performance. Pull some ideas from the video I left on page 17 titled “thumb attack”. It talks about subtle and strong ways to strum. Like I said, you’ve already got some of this going, but I would try to make it a little bit more prominent. Keep up the great work!
llmairalmiquel – Well done, that one was a toughie! So the first thing I want to suggest is an echo of feedback I left above:
1) it looks like you were reading the music. Try to memorize the piece, this way you can focus on how you are playing it – which was the topic of this lesson.
One thing I’d like you to focus on is watching out for how close to the fret you are. So throughout the performance, in a few spots, you are almost on top of the metal fret, this is especially noticeable on the last chord at 47 seconds. When we are on top of the fret bar, and not in the fret, the notes do not ring true. So you want to be as close to the fret bar as possible without actually being on it.
One other area to watch out for is bending at the first joint, which happened at 26 seconds with your ring finger. 9/10 we want to keep the joint curved, allowing us to fret on the fingertip.
But overall, you did extremely well. So focus on your form and keep up the great work!
trentmellington – Great job! So you can see in the feedback above, that I pointed out a few times the importance of memorizing. This allows you to focus on how you are playing the music. Furthermore, this is how I would approach learning: In our practice guide, I suggest to tackle sections at a time, then loop, then review. So take two bars at a time, master those (focusing on timing and clarity of the notes), then take the next 2 bars and do the same. Then piece it together, so bars 1-4. Apply this concept throughout the rest of the song. Breaking it into sections is the best way to learn.
It’s hard to do unless you mic both and mix it after the fact. Or you can try to plug-in through an amp, that would boost volume 🙂
Here is everyone on page 11. Stephen will post page 10 soon.
toastedbrains – I thought it was a great entry, beautiful playing and great work on the sustain! It sounds like your uke was a little (tiny bit) out of tune; so do be sure to double-check tuning before recording.
spencer_davisss – Well done! Awesome to hear you had fun learning it 🙂 I left some advice yesterday (on page 18) for another member, “gstriph”. Check out the first and second points, that advice will be really helpful for you. And the other thing I want to point out, is to scoot your left hand thumb down a little bit, so it is slightly above the middle of the neck. Check out form 2 for a better look at this.
suzie1 – Well done! Great job on form with both hands! It sounds like your uke was a little (tiny bit) out of tune; so do be sure to double-check tuning before recording.
robinboyd – Awesome to hear you sing, Robin! Sorry to hear you were feeling under the weather. So to be honest, it was a bit difficult to hear the ukulele as your voice was dominant in the sound. But from what I could hear, it sounded very clean. It looks like the walk up at the end of the course over, “in excelsis Deo”, is an area you may want to revisit with your practicing. And the only other thing that stuck out to me was that it looks like your wrist was curved downward too much. I’d recommend straightening it out as you can see here.
akshxd – Dude! Major props 🙂 That was awesome and your determination to participate is so appreciated. I hope your hand heals up soon!
chenlihsue – Well done! I left some feedback (on page 18) for another member, “curlyuke”, check out that advice as it will be very beneficial for you. The only other thing I would suggest is to break it down into little sections and follow the steps in our practice guide. This way you can focus on timing (love that I heard a metronome) and note clarity. Keep up the great work!
awiealissa – Amazing! Here is a video with my thoughts for you.
cyberloh – Great job, definitely not a lot of terrible mistakes. What I would focus on is not depressing the strings when fretting chords. So for example, on the G chord (0775), you are tugging down on the strings, this will make the chord sound sharp. The other area I would work on is form for the barre chords. I left “timstacks” (on page 18) some helpful links to some extra lessons for tackling proper form; check those out as they will be helpful for you too.
@gstriph – Just an assumption, but looks like I got it wrong. Buzzing can also be from not applying enough pressure to a note or it could be from an instrument that needs a setup. Try and play on another Uke to see if it the issue is from the latter.
He rocks and he’s gotten a lot of media attention recently which is so awesome for him and the uke community 🙂
@incywincy – Oh, that’s a tough one to answer. It’s really up to you. Last year I focused a lot on improving my timing – which is an area I’ve always struggled with. But sometimes it sounds nice to cut loose and play by feel – which is something my friend Dan does extremely well. Here’s a tune that I transposed from his arrangement. But if you listen to it, the intro is rubato and when he kicks into it, he gradually builds speed. I love his interpretation.
Robert, you can also switch it to “synthetic” mode and activate the metronome. This way it will playback the music alongside the click, which acts as a guide. 🙂
There’s a guide on how to do this half-way on this page.
Here is everyone on Page 9.
casadot349 – great job, you’ve got some speed! Here’s the thing with playing quickly, we want to make sure that even though we have the dexterity to play fast; that we try to keep the tempo steady. Try and play along with a metronome or the on-screen tab viewer. Take a section at a time and follow the advice in our practice guide.
The big thing that I want to point out in your video is your form. First, the way that you are holding the ukulele is incorrect. Check out our guide for proper holding posture in these two lessons:
1) proper left hand form
2) how to hold the Uke (from our Beginners Course)For your right hand, I’d recommend to scoot your hand back a bit. Check out this lesson for our placement recommendations.
marni11 – very beautiful playing! Great timing and excellent form. The only suggestion I have is to scoot your left hand thumb a little bit down the neck, so that it is slightly above the middle, instead of hanging over. Check out form 2 for a better look at this.
strizaldo – bravo, well done! The only suggestion I have is the same as I left for Marni above. Keep up the great work!
benjamin – you are doing so much better with timing, I am proud of you! For the next challenge, I want you to choose an easier song. You have a habit of choosing the most difficult ones, which is totally fine; but for the next one, I want you to pick an easier one and continue focusing on timing, but also focus on clarity of the notes. In other words, getting each note and chord to ring crystal clear. Keep up the great work!
incywincy – here is a video with some tips for you.
springer1 – cool idea to start with that intro 🙂 I think you’re doing an excellent job, I can definitely tell that you’ve put a ton of work into it, as well as your playing in general. Form, tone, and feel are awesome. Keep up the great work!
lynettejd – Very nice! Sustain sounds lovely. The only suggestion I have is to revisit that section you stumbled a little on. Keep up the great work!
lisamcc – I loved it! Vocals, brisk tempo WITH clean playing and great timing! Wow – especially since it was barre chord heavy. And to top it off, that sweater 🙂 I must hear you sing more!
gstriph – Well done, Jerry! So couple things I noticed:
1) it looks like you were reading the music. Try to memorize the piece, this way you can focus on how you are playing it – which was the topic of this lesson.
2) in a previous feedback post (page 17), I left a video titled “thumb attack”. Check that video out, it talks about subtle and strong ways to strum. Changing the attack creates dynamics, which simply means changes in volume. This helps to create more emotion in our playing.
3) last little thing, I heard a few notes buzz. This usually happens if we lift up prematurely. So keep an eye out for that.But overall really good job this month, keep up the excellent work! And thank you for your donation, you rock!
wongbrown – Beautiful playing and great tone! I definitely wouldn’t agree that it needs lots of improvement. I thought it was one of the best ones I’ve heard from you! Your form is looking great too, I believe we’ve talked about that in the past. The only thing that stood out to me was the little pause in the middle, no big deal. Keep rocking, it sounds like you’ve been practicing, Sheila 🙂
felixpitterling – Dude, congrats again on winning! I should be swinging by UR to drop off the Kanile’a for Mike to ship this coming week. I meant to do it last week, but things got a little crazy trying to get the Reading Course ready for a release on Friday.
So onto your performance, awesome job! The one big thing I would work on is timing. Break it down section by section, use a metronome or play along to the on-screen tab viewer, and follow the steps in our practice guide. Tackling chunks at a time is the most efficient way to improve timing, as well as, learning songs quickly.
timstacks – Tim, that was awesome! I can definitely tell that you put a lot of work into it. I’m going to shoot a little video for you with one tip, but here is a copy and paste of feedback I left the other day for extra help on barre chords:There are generally two reasons that a barre chord does not ring out properly:
1) finger strength – not enough is applied.
2) form – incorrectly applied.We dive into both of these areas (in complete detail) in our Beginners Course lesson on Barre Chords. Review that lesson and see if you can apply these tips to help clean up the chords.
@mheiden – The first thing you mentioned is sight reading – which is just as we would read a book. Pick it up and read, or for music, open it up and play immediately. This takes diligence to achieve.
I would suggest to study 1 bar at a time. Get the notes down, i.e. what note it is, where it is on the neck, & what rhythm it is. Practice that bar and then move onto the next. Then follow the steps in our practice guide to piece it together. Over time, you will be able to move faster, as it starts to become intuitive.
Aww, you should have entered! We give feedback for everyone who enters the challenges 🙂 I hope you join our challenge this month and welcome to the community!
NM – clearly didn’t see it. Can you try using Chrome. I’ve noticed folks have issues using Firefox and IE. Anyone reading this, please do not use IE anymore as it has been discontinued. I don’t know why Firefox causes issues sometimes 🙁
Hi Andy, that looks like this lesson, correct?
That error should only show up if the video settings are incorrect, which would be an error on my part. But, I double checked and everything is set correctly to display on our domain. Can you clear the browser’s cache and reload the page. Let me know if it works. If it still doesn’t, I will need to reach out to Vimeo support as something is wrong on their end.