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@alanaw – Very nicely played, great fingerpicking! The one thing I would suggest would be to practice with a metronome. That’ll help keep your timing steady throughout. Also, don’t forget to tune up before recording 😉
@ldarrow – Wonderfully played, Linda! The tone of your baritone is beautiful. It fits the vibe of this piece perfectly 🙂
@otzepeng – It would be embarrassing if I admitted how many takes it took for me to play Theme 3 😅. It’s the finger frenzy that your left hand has to do to get all those melody notes in, and as you said, the tempo! I thought you did really well on all 3 themes. You nailed the feels and vibes of each! Great playing overall Markus!
@planetfink – Great take Kathy and the bari sounds great too!
@kanique – I thought you aced it Dorota! It was so much fun to listen to! And great job on the recording and mix, sound quality was superb!@ryanuke – Robert, that piece will be on next month’s challenge, but it is not a choice for this month. Only the original etudes in our Fingerpicking Etude Series are choices for this month.
@mickan88 – I’ve got you down for 2 entries 🙂
@barbecueblack – Beautifully played, well done Lee! 👏
@mickan88 – Premium membership awards you double entries for the prize, whereas, basic (free) only awards one entry. All you have to do is add this text to your post: “I am a premium member”TY for the kind words, I’m glad you found us too 🙂
@lhamilton – Try using Garage Band to record the audio. Then take that audio and line it up to the video in iMovie. You’ll be able to get one video perfectly aligned to the audio, every other video will be “close” enough, but never perfect.
@johanna2509 – When I recorded the performance for this etude, I picked up interference with the uke pickup. That rarely happens, but it was bad enough that I had to clean the recording. I used free tools with Audacity. While it got rid of the noise, it stripped away some of the sonic quality of the recording.We now use RX by Izotope to clean tracks. It offers superior quality to Audacity, but it still comes at a cost. We try to not use it for performances, unless absolutely necessary. For example, in Chris’s new performance, there was a car horn beeping in the background for a few seconds. But it was only audible in the “bass only” backing track. So we removed it from that track and left it in the master. For the etude I linked earlier, it still would have been best to just re-record, even though we have better tools.
@nachtz – Wow, that was incredible! Have you played an instrument before? Your form and tone are excellent. Beautifully played J C 👏
@corey_mclean – That was an impressive performance Corey! You played it so clean for such a fast tempo! Great feel too, and I didn’t hear anything un-natural sounding after the ritardandos. Well done!
@lhamilton – Playing sounded great Linda, but it does sound like you in the red was ahead of you in the purple. Maybe check the alignment in the editor? Sounds like it is off by a little.
@jedart – Playing sounds great Jed! You nailed the vibe of the piece too. The only suggestion I have is to work on the transitions where you hesitated a little. Overall, very well played!
@lyndallk – Great phrasing and pacing Lyndall! The only suggestion I have is to watch out for note clarity with the index and middle plucks. Sometimes they blend into one a little too much. Try practicing at a slower tempo and listening out for that.
@jgillard – I thought you played it very cleanly! The only thing I can point out is there’s a few minor pauses in some of the transitions. And that’s me trying to nitpick, lol. That was really well played Jeremy, and great job on the tempo! It’s really impressive how clean you played it for how fast the tune is.
@ccwuke – Aced it! Great performance Chris! One thing I did notice though, it looked like you were pushing down with a lot of pressure on the slides on string 2. Try those, but push only enough to get the slide to ring clearly, and compare that to how much force you usually use. I suspect you might notice you are pushing down more than you need to.
@johanna2509 – Beautifully played Johanna! What do you use to record? Sometimes certain recording setups can amplify string noise, making it seem worst than it actually is.Glad to hear you enjoyed the theory side of the lesson. That was a fun one for Evan and I 🙂
@rickgrant2025 – Great playing, Rick! The one thing I’d suggest working on is lightening your right hand attack when fingerpicking and strumming. This is a concept I demo-d and explained in this video a few years back for another member who was learning this song. You can ignore the comments on the left hand in that video.So if we pull an example from your performance, watch how you come down with the strum at 36 seconds. It’s a pretty strong strum and that makes the chord sound loud, and a bit shrill. I’d describe Etude #4 as a “pretty song,” so using a lighter attack will produce a softer, sweeter tone. Let me know if you have any questions.
@marianne – Another stellar performance, Marianne! Just a stylistic thought – this piece might groove even more at a slightly slower tempo. Maybe give it a try and see how it feels?
@mickan88 – Wow, Michaela! What a beautiful first post! Excellent playing and feel. I look forward to hearing more from you!P.S. Don’t forget to add the “premium” tag for K giveaways 😉
@robinboyd – You nailed the vibe and feel of the piece, Robin! Excellent playing!
@leb397 – Sounds like you picked it right back up Louisa! Beautifully played 🙂
@akukes73 – You nailed the feel of the piece Ash! Really well played! The only thing I’d suggest is using 2 fingers for the 7th fret and 8th fret notes on string 2 in the opening 6 bars. That’ll smooth out those notes and make them sound more legato-y.Thanks for letting me know about the YT issue. I reported it to YouTube and Google. Hopefully they can sort out the issues.
@karenj – Beautifully played Karen! Well done!
@rw1950merritt – Beautifully played, Bob! An excellent first post! I look forward to hearing more from you.
@anyon1 – I agree with you, it sounds great at a slower pace! You played it wonderfully, great job on all the H/O, P/O, and slide techniques! The only one I’d suggest targeting in your practice is the 32nd to 16th note H/O, P/O in the opening bar. I’d like to hear that one with a little more clarity. It’s def a tricky one since it’s so fast! Try looping the last half of the bar with the metronome activated at 50% speed. That’ll be a great way to practice it.
@morrieuke1 – You nailed the chill vibe, Michael! The only thing I’d work on is cleaning up the fast runs in Theme 5 and getting them up to tempo. I remember having to work on those a lot! They were tough!And I appreciate the kind words! Means a lot!
@xerxes – Any baritone song can be played on low G. The only difference is that you’ll be playing in a different key 🙂
@leb397 – Louisa, you played that classical etude beautifully, but unfortunately, that piece is not a choice for this month. Only the original etudes in our Fingerpicking Etude Series are choices for this month.
@nachtz – Your video is private, can you change it to public?
@leb397 & @marianne – It seems to be a widespread issue. I’ve found multiple posts through different subreddits such as this one for the teaching site Dreaming Spanish. Lots of people in that post are experiencing the same issue. I’ll reach out to YouTube/Google to report the issue.
@The_Bumble_Bard – Beautifully played Rachael! And it sounds amazing as clawhammer style too 🙂
TY for the kind words, I appreciate it!
@kittycatlin – Perfect performance! Well done Cat! 👏
@leslieb – Really well played, Leslie! The only 2 things I’d work on is the last bar of the B melody – which, I think is the trickiest one in this piece – and smoothing out any little pause in transitions. Again, great playing this month! You rocked it!
@kickass – Excellent performance! I like your stylistic choice of pausing between transitions. And TY for the kind words!@marianne – Can you try clearing the browser’s cache and seeing if that resolves the issue? If not, I would try clearing the cookies too, but heads up, that will log you out of every site.
@lbilkie – Great to see you back, Lori! Your playing sounded beautiful! The only thing I’d suggest working on is smoothing out the transitions to minimize the gaps when switching between chords.
@mark1256 – I’d say you nailed it Mark! I also like the subtle changes in the H/O & P/O licks you made. Well done this month! 👏
@nat-uke – Perfect playing Natalie! Great timing and feel, well done!@dianna – Beautifully played, Dianna! The only thing I’d suggest working on is smoothing out the transitions to minimize the gaps when switching between chords.
@clempek – That flows better! I hear you rushing the first hit of the pattern. Make sure you hold it for a quarter note.
@brettboy – It’s crazy how different each sound! If I had to pick one, I’d say the first is my fav b/c the low, deep tone reminds me of a haunting sound, kinda like the version of Mad World in Donnie Darko. Great playing all around!@mepasha – Beautifully played, Peter! Great fingerpicking! TY for the kind words, I appreciate it!
@kirpuff – That was awesome Sara! Fantastic playing and your cat is adorable ❤️
@clempek – Clem, watch this video. You’ll hear me perform the same etude, but at a slower, more heartfelt pace than how I performed it in the original recording. I think it sounds better at that slower pace. So how does this all relate to your performance? Well, rhythmically, you played it correctly. So it’s not a timing issue. I would suggest changing the feel of the piece by copying what I did the second time around. Which is to let the piece breathe and flow more by slowing the pace/tempo. Give that a try!
@katazumiri – This was amazing Lena! Def gonna share your performance this week on our socials and newsletter 🙂