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Awesome job Rickey! Did you just start playing in January?
I’ve got a few tips for you 🙂 First, great job memorizing the tune. You’ve established a great foundation. So one of the things that you want to work on is getting the piece to flow a little smoother. So this comes down to timing. A great way to approach learning and practicing is by breaking it into sections.
So for example the Riff is 4 bars in length and each bar contains the same rhythm: Eighth notes. Practice one bar at a time, when you can play it cleanly and perfectly in time, try the second bar. When you can do that cleanly and perfectly in time, try bars 1 through 2. When you can do that cleanly and perfectly in time, do bar 3 , then 4, then 3-4, then 1-4.
Continue throughout the rest of the piece with the same approach. Also, when you’re strumming the chords, you want to either mute the 4th string or target your strum to only hit strings 3 through 1. Scroll back in this forum post and check out the advice I left for another member about using the thumb to mute the 4th string. Overall you’re doing a great job, keep it up!
I’m going to lump Kay and James together. I think you guys did an excellent job! It sounds like with just a little bit more practice you’ll have it down perfectly 🙂 One thing I do want to point out Kay: If you ever mess up in a performance (in regards to the second to last note) keep going. In other words, don’t stop the performance and try to catch that note to correct it. I love the analogy of thinking of your performance as if it was with a band. Would the band stop and wait for you if you missed a note or a section? Nope, they would keep going 🙂
Great job Eliza! I do have one suggestion for you. Watch out for pulling the string down when playing the chords or single notes. This causes the note to go a little bit sharp. We always want to keep the string completely straight. Keep up the great work!
Hi Will, so this question is in regards to the interval lesson. The diagram you are looking at is simply showing you the distance between the 8 (counting the root, twice) notes of the major scale. I labeled them on alternate strings to help visually represent the distance on the staff (standard notation) and tablature.
C to D is not shown stacked, because they are on the same string; And the closest D would have been the 5th fret of string 1, which would have been an octave further. The distance would be the same if you played it all along the third string.
Further along in the course, you will learn multiple positions for playing the C major scale.
Hi Airam, I really like that Melody that you came up with, it’s beautiful 🙂 Now I do have some feedback on the classical piece, to me it’s hard to grasp a sense of the timing. It sounds like you are playing through the entire performance for the first time. So if I were you, I would work on this piece bar by bar and pay close attention to the timing. Check out this article on proper practice for some great tips in regards to learning songs.
And thanks so much for sharing your performances 🙂
I will definitely check it out Airam 🙂 I should be able to review them tomorrow, as I’m swamped right now trying to finish up tomorrow’s new lesson. I accidentally deleted all of my video editing work last night, so I’m super behind at the moment.
Welcome Airam! Glad you found us 🙂 Thanks for sharing your videos too, I’m looking forward to watching them!
Hey guys! I just wrapped up editing this video (see picture above – there’s a lot of great content in this one!).
Mike from Uke Republic made an appearance too, as we had quite a few questions related to the build qualities of the uke. I’m pushing back the release of this video to next Friday, August 4th. This is b/c I am releasing a very special lesson this Friday 🙂
Thanks again to everyone who participated, it was a blast to make!
Great job rillke! I do have one suggestion for you. When you are strumming, you want to target your strum to only hit strings 1, 2, and 3. I would also lighten up your strum a little bit, it will produce a sweeter tone. Scroll back in this forum post and check out the advice I left for another member about using the thumb to mute the 4th string. Keep up the good work! I love seeing members participate in back-to-back challenges 🙂
Hi airam2017, can you post that video in this forum: Showcase Your Playing. This post is only for audio and video performances of the two songs for this month’s challenge. Complete details and rules can be read on the first page of this post.
Welcome Eliza! Glad you found us 🙂 I’m excited to see your performance for this month’s challenge! And let me know if you need help on that other tune.
By the way, that’s a really creative way for making your music much more portable. Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Andrew
Great job Cory! Was that a little AC/DC at the end of the first tune? I think on the last strum (before switching back to fingerpicking) your finger got caught on the string, which is why it rang out. Unfortunately it caused the C string to ring out, which is a bad note for a song in the key of A. But, no biggie 🙂 A trick that I use a lot of times, is to simplify the rhythm of the last hit to make the transition easier. So for the last bar of that strumming section, you could play it all as quarter note hits. That’ll buy you more time to switch back to fingerpicking.
And awesome job on Aura Lee!
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Sounds good Ed! Thanks for participating. I mentioned earlier a great point for more advanced players in regards to this month’s challenge being beginner themed. Since that post is buried far back and we’re on page 5 now, I’ll go ahead and copy and paste it below for other members to reference:
I’ve received a few emails from more advanced members stating they were going to sit this month’s challenge out because it is beginner themed.
Now this brings up an interesting thought on my end. Yes, this month’s songs are easy, but the challenge for an intermediate and advanced player lies in how you perform the piece.
The hardest part of playing is: The feel, achieving clarity in every note, and timing. So, I would like to see everyone who’s an Intermediate to Advanced player participate in this month’s challenge with these three criteria as your goal.
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Great job Compass Rose! In the first half, your timing was great. In the second half, it was a little off and that’s because the second half is a little bit harder to play. I’d recommend to memorize the piece, this will allow you to put all of your attention on your performance, instead of your performance plus reading the sheet music. But overall, it sounds great! Keep up the good work 🙂
Hi Anna,
Great question! First, don’t forget to account for the A string as you move up the neck:
2220 (D), 4442 (E), 5553 (F), 7775 (G)
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In the description beneath the tab for that section it states:
Now look at the second chord: G Major. Again we can see that the third string has been removed and we are playing it as an open string. This introduces a C note. If we recall how a major chord is formed, we realize that C is not in G major.
G major: G (1) B (3) D (5)
C is the 4th of the chord. Since C is neither the 1st, 3rd, or 5th of the chord, it is considered an extension. Extensions add color to the chord and will be discussed in an upcoming unit.
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So, this chord is really an: Gadd11 but it was formed from the D shape:
7775 but subbed out the duplicate G (3rd string, fret 7 for a C note – open) and the duplicate B note (4th string, fret 7 for a G note – open).
This yielded us Gadd11: 0075
Notes: G (1) C (11) B (3) D (5)Extensions are discussed in this lesson (further along) in the course.
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Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions 🙂
Hi Anna, thanks for posting the video. So there’s a few things we need to work on. First, make sure you tune your ukulele before playing. When you are fretting a note (regardless of it being a single note or in a chord), you never want to pull the string down. The string should always remain perfectly straight. If you pull it down, it will cause the note to go sharp.
I would also recommend to lighten up your strum attack. Check out this lesson from our Beginner’s Course and Skip to 8:20 in the video lesson. Notice how when I strum down with my index finger, I have a very light touch. This produces a sweet and pleasing tone.
Give these suggestions a shot and let me know how it goes 🙂