[Andrew]

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED THIS MONTH! WE HAD 70 ENTRIES! YOU GUYS ROCK!

Hope to see everyone in our December Challenge December is your LAST CHANCE to win the Kanile’a!

I’ll be announcing the winner of the skype lesson with Taimane (plus signed uke and cd) in a special end of year video this Friday!

Here is a list of everyone who participated. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.

—-

TAIMANE ENTRIES

Count: 15

deadbuggy
jakeypoo
rickkhan
robinboyd
brettboy
russellbarnett
lyndallk
annefgodfrey
ukukelley1
kmelton
hondamom
benjamin
planetfink
suzums
sudave

—-

KANILE’A ENTRIES

EXTRA ENTRIES

carmen-s (Instagram Bonus)

Count: 70

deadbuggy
deadbuggy
jakeypoo
rickkhan
rickkhan
brenna
brenna
poopsies
hafeez3115
hafeez3115
kmelton
kmelton
planetfink
planetfink
robinboyd
robinboyd
becky7777
brettboy
brettboy
lisadmh
lisadmh
sprintingyogini
sprintingyogini
edward
edward
nggnmm
hotmilktea
hotmilktea
russellbarnett
russellbarnett
coffeemug
coffeemug
timolnz
timolnz
gstriph
gstriph
rpina61
rpina61
uku_on
uku_on
mheiden
mheiden
zukulele
zukulele
stinyuke
stinyuke
casadot349
kanae926
kanae926
andracass
andracass
dreadhead
dreadhead
kellyblackburn
kellyblackburn
incywincy
incywincy
felixpitterling
felixpitterling
annefgodfrey
annefgodfrey
lyndallk
lyndallk
rickeymike
rickeymike
laurasil
laurasil
hzhuodie
springer1
springer1
jacoob_slezak
jacoob_slezak
ryzeonly
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
der-binni
der-binni
benita
curlyuke
curlyuke
hondamom
hondamom
karenj
karenj
marni11
marni11
ultramom
ultramom
timstacks
timstacks
peropata
peropata
benjamin
benjamin
shortman
shortman
josephus
akshxd
akshxd
planetfink
planetfink
arbuscula
arbuscula
pauvaliente
flora-
gtrdude6
gtrdude6
yukalele
yukalele
sudave
sudave
lisamcc
lisamcc
ukuleleloo
ukuleleloo
suzums
suzums
cyberloh
cyberloh
suzie1
cconuku
cconuku
joannetala
joannetala
mayaqatsi
mayaqatsi
cmab81
cmab81

[Andrew]

Here is everyone on page 17:

gtrdude6, here is a video with some tips and here are the two lessons I referenced:

1) https://rockclass101.com/swung-vs-straight-rhythm/

2) https://rockclass101.com/proper-left-hand-ukulele-form/

yukalele, here is a video with some tips:

sudave, nice job! I’d like you to focus on your timing when you’re practicing. Take a four bar phrase and play along with the on-screen tab viewer. When you can lock in with me, or the computer playback in “synthetic” mode, move on to the next four bars. Then piece the eight bars together. Continue on with this approach for the remainder of the tune. This acts as a guide to help reinforce keeping the tempo steady.

Okay so I just got to your version of “Moon”. Your timing on this was much better than the other tune. And big props for getting both tunes down this month. So you already know that you need to keep working on this one. Couple things that stick out: Focus on getting proper form and finger strength for some of the chords that buzz. And try to tackle one section at a time; similar to the advice above.

When you working on that one section, think about the dynamics that we talked about in the lesson video and how you can incorporate them into your playing. But overall, very good job. To me it sounds like you worked on this one a lot more than the other.

lisamcc, ohh I like the twiddles and your smile at the end. 🙂 Excellent execution on the Rasgueado, honestly sounds better than mine! My only critique is to watch your tempo a little bit more, see if you can keep it flowing a bit more steady. But super good job this month!

ukuleleloo, great job! Here is one tip for you:

suzums, bravo! You play beautifully. 🙂 Great feel, great tone, and great picking/fretting form. That’s three Greats in a row, lol! You also showed tasteful use of dynamics, but I would say don’t be afraid to go harder when the song builds – strumming and picking with more force will help to emphasize those sections. Keep up the great work!

cyberloh, awesome job this month! I can hear you’ve been practicing. Timing sounds really good. In the B Melody, you play a D minor, should be an F chord. So you want to swap that out. I left a video above for ukuleleloo, it was on hammer on and pull off tips. Check it out I think it will be useful for you too. But again, really great performance this month 🙂

suzie1, okay big lesson here, always play through your mistakes. If you miss a note, keep going. If you play a wrong chord, don’t stop and backtrack and play the right chord, keep going. Always pretend you are playing with a band, they will not wait for you if you mess up, they will keep going.

For what you did play, I thought you did well. I would go back and review some of the rhythms and watch your timing. Also, don’t be afraid to try the picado technique, it’s super useful!

cconuku, nice job! So it looks like you were reading off the music, correct? If so, I’d encourage you to work on memorizing it. But focus on one section at a time, for example an 8 bar section. When tackling the eight bar section, follow the advice (first paragraph) I left for sudave above. Memorizing allows you to focus on how you are playing it (which we talked about in this lesson: https://rockclass101.com/copying-good-thing/) but also the mechanics behind your left and right hand.

Sometimes I noticed you hug the neck, sometimes you didn’t. Check out the video I left for gtrdude6 and yukalele (I think I touched most about not hugging the neck in the first video). And, don’t be afraid to try the picado technique, it’s super useful!

joannetala, that was really good! It’s definitely a toughie for a beginner and I’m really proud of how well you did. ESPECIALLY, that you used picado. That technique was a big takeaway of this lesson. So what I would do is focus on the same advice (first paragraph) I left for sudave above. Breaking songs into sections is a great way to master them easier and quicker. Keep up the great work!

mayaqatsi, here is a video with some tips for you:

cmab81, great job, Kashif! I want you to watch the first video that I left on this post for gtrdude6. It talks about a few points but I want you to listen to these 2: not hugging the neck and lightening up your attack. So with the latter, you have a really nice tone when fingerpicking, but if you were to lighten up the strum attack, I think it would blend better with the prettiness of the fingerpicking. And the video right above your feedback, that would be a good one for you to check out for tips on rasgueado technique. Keep up the great work, you are sounding awesome 🙂

[Andrew]

benjamin, amazing job! Last month, I gave you a challenge that revolved around developing your timing; specifically, getting the music to flow evenly. And boy oh boy, it really sounds like you focused on this area and it totally blew me away! Very well done this month 🙂

P.S. I’d still love to see you submit a video of the custom challenge song I chose for you.

[Andrew]

That’s a good way to practice, Becky! If anyone is new to subdividing the beat, check out this video where I touched on it as it relates to triplets:

[Andrew]

Sounds like Jake’s is a whole step up.

[Andrew]

Well done! Timing and note clarity sounds great on the first half. When it picks up, try and relax your right arm/writs more, should make it easier to play. Keep up the great work!

[Andrew]

You’re gonna love the reading course I’m writing Laura. It’s all about developing rhythm and timing with help via the friendly metronome 🙂

[Andrew]

Your hard work shows 🙂 Keep it up, Kevin!

I look forward to your next one, Benita!

[Andrew]

Here is feedback for the last post on page 14 and all on 15:

andracass, MT, take 2 has a much better flow – especially in the B melody. I see both takes are 4 days apart, what was your practice schedule like?

I’d like you to turn your focus when practicing to spending one day at a time on a four or eight bar phrase. Focusing on one section at a time will help you get things down better, like muscle memory and timing.

der-binni, very nice playing! Couple things to watch out for:

1) thumb placement – try and bring it down a notch, so that it sits slightly about the middle of the neck. Check out form 1 from this article to visually see this.

2) picado – give this technique a shot. It’s great for developing speed and dexterity in the right hand.

3) tapped harmonic – try a lighter, quicker hit. Check back earlier in this forum, as I believe I made a video for another member or two talking in more detail about this.

kmelton, wow, great job! Picking form looks great, I can hear and see the dexterity of your right hand is developing nicely.

So it’s pretty clear to hear that you know when to execute dynamics – which is what this lesson was all about. So very good job in that regard.

What you’ll want to work on is smoothing it out and the overall flow. By smoothing out, I want you to pay really close attention to the tempo. As it is right now, some sections are faster and others are slower. So try to pick a universal tempo as you continue to work throughout the piece. Also review the ending.

P.S. January will be full of low G lessons 🙂

benita, you are too hard on yourself, which is good – it shows that you care. But seriously, that was brilliant! I’ve got to share this on one of our social medias at some point this coming week. Very well done 🙂

[Andrew]

Great lead playing, Brett! Very melodic.

[Andrew]

That sounds really cool, Brett! Def share a video 🙂

We’ll be leaving feedback for everyone we haven’t over the next week and will announce the winner of the Taimane lesson and uke in a special end of year video which will come out next Friday! Thanks for baring with us.

[Andrew]

I will ask her and get back to you, Robin.

[Andrew]

LOL that sounds nice! Glad you found us 🙂 Rock on!

[Andrew]

Welcome Becky! Awesome to hear you are enjoying playing 🙂 If you ever need help, don’t hesitate to ask!

[Andrew]

No worries, all donations can be made directly on their site. For US: https://theukc.org/donations/. For other countries, please scroll down to the footer of their site for donation links. 🙂

[Author]

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