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Hannah, that was amazing! I’m going to share this on our Facebook page today 🙂 I can’t believe you’ve only played 2 months, have you played another instrument like guitar before?
Let’s knock out some of these questions. Usually if someone struggles with strumming and having a “natural” feel, it’s because they are very tense or tight in their strumming arm/wrist. None of this applies to you. So I think it comes down to time. What does that mean? The longer that you play and the more music that you listen to, the more you develop your ear and a sense of playing with feeling. So what I would do if I was you, is really hone in and listen to the feel that I perform this song with and try to match it. You can use the same approach with whoever your favorite players are and whatever songs or pieces you are learning. Check out this lesson, which is all about this approach. But the thing is, for 2 months of playing you are doing so so well! You’ll get there in time.
One other thing, sometimes I notice your finger curve in at the first joint. Make sure that it stays curved and on the fingertip.
As for Question 2, Here is a great article on properly holding the ukulele from our Beginner’s Course.
jaan_beriso, well done! Was there a rooster in the background or am I just hearing things, lol! I think you did extremely well on the second Melody, which is the strumming chords section. Timing and transitions sounds great there. What I would work on if I was you is getting the timing a little bit smoother for the first and third Melody. The best way to do that is to follow the suggestions from our practice guide, which includes working on a couple bars at a time, looping them and mastering that before tackling the entire piece. I enjoyed listening to your performance, keep up the great work!
gahanby, great feel in your playing! I think you nailed the swung, laid-back vibe 🙂 a couple bars could use a little touching up, but based off what I heard I know you know how to approach practicing that. Do watch out for the triplet strum section, as I did not hear 8th note triplet rhythm. Check out this lesson for help on that.
hafeez, Big Improvement! It’s awesome to see you incorporate the feedback in this tune and in the other one, and wow you really are getting it down! All the hard work you put into it is paying off 🙂
I’ll be answering 25 out of the 175 questions that came in. Look for the video and the winner to be announced (in the video) at some point in May 🙂
Sheila, thanks for the kind words! I thought you did very well! I’ve got a few suggestions for you. Your fingerpicking form looks great, but watch out for one thing; if you watch the beginning of your video and then skip towards the end, notice how much your right hand moved up and you began fingerpicking over the neck instead of the sound hole. You’ll get a better tone and less chance of nails hitting the neck causing unwanted sounds over the sound hole.
For the walk down melody, those chords are quite tricky. I’d encourage you to rewatch the lesson and relearn that section using the fingerings I suggest. It will make it much easier to play. Other than that, keep working on timing by looping 2 or 4 bars at a time and mastering that before tackling the entire piece.
lalo_eer, awesome! Love it 🙂 great clarity on the notes in your playing and your timing sounds great too. Here’s my suggestion, I really like the feel that you played the intro and solo with; it’s a sustained, ringing-out feel. On the contrast, you played the bulk of the song with a staccato feel. I think it would sound better if you matched the previous sustained feel to that section. Give that a shot and let me know what you think.
cheick, yes, this lesson works perfectly for low G as it mostly focuses on strings 1, 2, and 3. I think you nailed the First theme. This lesson is all about right hand control and you’ve got total Control in this first part; great fingerpicking form/stability in your right hand.
I see what you’re saying about the other section. The thing that’s hard about that is the complex, syncopated 16th note rhythms. You can tackle that section bar by bar and approach it by counting the rhythms and/or playing it by ear. Use the on-screen tab viewer and take one bar at a time, slow it down and loop it. Master One bar at a time before trying the next, then piece two bars together at a time. That’s going to be the best way to get these tricky bars down.
machie, that Latin music blasting made me jump in my chair lol! You did so well on this, awesome timing and feel! Really great job!
hafeez, with that F chord, your index finger is barred across all four strings. When you transition to the 3 to 5 slide, your index finger is barred across strings 1 and 2. The trick is to move that finger vertically down to cover less strings. And wow, much better on the second video! Big improvement in clarity, precision, and timing! Keep up the great work!
Maria, thank you for the kind words! And wow, you are doing extremely well! Left hand and right hand picking form are excellent. It looks like the only section that was challenging, is the section everyone (including me) struggles with: Bars 65 through 68. I’d recommend to stick to the fingering I suggest in the lesson video, it will make it a little bit easier to play. You could also remove the fourth string from that entire section and that will make the chords much easier to play, it would also give you more leeway to alter the fingerings. If I was you, I would work on memorizing this piece and start increasing the tempo slightly to challenge yourself and to build speed.
pup123, I thought you did very well! The thing with this arrangement is that it can be played loosely, something we refer to as rubato. In a nutshell, this means that you are not performing a piece that adheres strictly to a metered tempo. This leads to a performance that tends to be more lyrical in nature. I’ll put a video link below from Matt Dahlberg that talks a little bit more about this concept. But what I would work on for you (keeping this idea in mind) is that, sometimes it seems like you hesitate before going to the next section. So even though we’re not tied to a precise beat, we want it to flow naturally. Try and keep the words in mind as you play and think of it as a call and response. For example, bar 3 is the call, bar 4 is the response.
malagosia, great job! One suggestion: the licks between the snaps are eighth note triplets, but you played them as eighth notes. So I’d go back and work on playing the correct rhythm for those parts. Check out this lesson which explains the Rhythm behind eighth note triplets. I’d also keep working on that swung eighth note feel, it sounds like you’re almost there, but check out this lesson to help reinforce the difference between straight and swung 8th notes.
Vida, well played! The A melody has such a lovely laid-back feel to it, absolutely beautiful. Here’s what I would work on if I was you, the B melody sounds a little more tense to my ear, so I would slow it down and work on matching that laid back feel for the second melody. By the way, I’m really impressed with you! I can hear a lot of improvement in your playing since you posted your first video. Keep up the great work!
Great job Rachel! Glad to hear you had fun and hey, you should participate in more of our monthly challenges 🙂 I think you did really well overall and I’ve got a few tips for you. Your finger picking looks great. When you are strumming, try to loosen up the wrist a little bit, it looks like you were a little tight.
With the partial Barre chords, we need to fix your form. Check out this lesson from our beginner’s course. We cover the same shape in that lesson. Also check out, the lesson that covers proper right hand form. A few things to adjust are your thumb position, currently it’s too low. The curve of your index finger is a little too angled. And the other fingers (3 and 4) are sticking out too much. You want to keep them closer together so you can be ready to use them for the next playing section.
Check out those lessons and let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help 🙂
1) No Freebird! Joking, good idea I’ll keep it in mind for a future lesson.
2) Roland is a great brand. I own a Fishman Loudbox mini. It’s an awesome acoustic amp that I’ve gigged with many times. Another member just bought it off my recommendation and wrote me back saying he loved it 🙂
What’s browser and device are you using? Can you try with a different browser and let me know if it works, I recommend Google Chrome.
awesomestrings, fantastic job on the first tune! Perfect performance! And big improvement on the second one, the feel is much better! Watch out when you get to the second melody in that song as you sped up quite a bit. I’d suggest to practice with a metronome or with the on-screen tab and be cognitive of your timing. For the last song, I’d encourage you to go back and relearn the piece using the fingerings I suggest for the chords. The way you played it is making it much more difficult than it has to be. But, great job overall and I love your enthusiasm!
hafeez3115, thanks for the kind words and wow very good job for your first fingerstyle song! Here is a short video with a few tips for you. And here is the link to the lesson on proper right hand form.
Daðason, fantastic job! I shared this on our Facebook page 🙂 here is a short video with a few tips for you.
Tessa, I would take it easy on that finger for the time being. Here is an easier way to play that phrase:
Thanks guys for all the kind words, means a lot! And it’s super awesome to see so many videos in already 🙂
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awesomestrings – let’s save those questions for our next lightning round 🙂 But please feel free to post a performance video, I’d be happy to offer feedback.
wabbit – great idea, I will keep that in mind for a future video!
Lisa – is that a new uke? It sounds really buzzy, which I can’t recall hearing anything along those lines in any of your videos. In the past we talked about playing with a swung feel. If I were you, that’s where my focus would be. I think the best way to do that is to play along with my recording and slow it down to whatever speed you need and try to match that feel. You’ve got a really great base established and now your focus should be on cleaning it up and nailing that feel.
lalo_eer – wow, amazing to see someone tackle this! I think it’s the hardest one on the site. First off, make sure you tune before you record 🙂 I watched your performance three times and I think overall, you have great form in both hands and great timing. There are two sections in particular that I think you should narrow in and practice more.
The walk down at 45 seconds in, take a look at how you are pulling that third string down. We always want to try to keep that string even, because if you pull it down, you will pull that note Sharp.
The other section I would work on begins at one minute. It is the diminished lick that walks down. Take that lick and put it to a metronome and practice it as 16th notes. Start slow and gradually build it up to speed.
Overall I’m really impressed and I love to see when you guys memorize pieces. Keep up the great work!
machie – let’s start with our first song. It looks like you are hunched over a little too much, check out this lesson and this one for tips on how to hold the ukulele. I really enjoy watching your progress videos, and you made great progress quickly on this one! Timing sounds great. When you’re strumming, I can hear your nail hit the neck. I’d recommend to strum lower, over the sound hole. Check out this lesson to see where we recommend your strumming hand to be.
For the vibrato lesson, try the single note vibrato with a little more subtle up and down movement. A cool idea would be to try this with the first song (our first song).
So for that barre chord in exercise 5, I can see what you are talking about as your index appears bent. I see that you are forming that chord with your ring finger where your middle finger should be, because it looks like you are using the middle finger to push the index down for Extra Strength. This is actually a bad habit, we want to build finger strength in the index so it doesn’t need a “crutch”. Take that barre chord and move it up the neck, it will be easier to practice higher up because there is less pressure.
Check out this lesson to make sure you have proper form and practice playing one note at a time to see if each note is ringing clearly. If it isn’t, it’s due to one of two reasons: You are not pushing hard enough or you need to adjust the curve of your finger (in this case the middle finger) because it is curving down and touching the second string, essentially muting it.