[Andrew]

Welcome Kasia! Glad to have you here with us 🙂

You should join us for this month’s challenge. Challenges help keep folks motivated. I’d recommend picking one of the beginner pieces for this month.

[Andrew]

@marianne – Absolutely beautiful! Great playing Marianne 🙂

[Andrew]

@mysticrick & other folks that may encounter this issue – Starting in 2024, YouTube videos embedded on websites, including Rock Class 101, may show a message asking viewers to “Sign in to confirm you’re not a bot.” If you encounter this message, the only way to bypass it is to sign into your YouTube account through the same browser you’re using to access Rock Class 101.

To clarify, this prompt is asking you to log into your YouTube account, not your Rock Class 101 account. If you do not have a YouTube account, creating one is free. If you prefer not to create an account, try accessing Rock Class 101 via a different web browser, as the message may not appear there.

Rick, try staying logged into YouTube via the browser you use to access RC101. That will prevent the issue from happening.

[Andrew]

@ruiafonso70 – Jump into our reading course, that’s the best way to gain a thorough understanding of rhythm and timing. And you headphones setup looks great! That will def help 🙂

@terryfallon3 – Really nicely played Terry! Great work this month 🙂

[Andrew]

@ruiafonso70 – Fingerpicking sounds great Rui! Rhythmically, you switched it up quite a bit. If this wasn’t intentional, I’d recommend playing along with Matt in the tab player and counting the rhythms out-loud as you go along.

@shmu88 – Nailed it Sam! Great feel too!

@planetfink – Really nicely played Kathy! Your instrument has such a nice, deep tone too! The only thing I can suggest is fine tuning the A Melody. There’s a few spots where I’m not hearing each note as crystal clear as I’d like. Try slowing the tempo and listening out for note clarity.

[Andrew]

Thanks to everyone who tuned in! We’ll be adding tab graphics to the video, and the replay will be released on December 13th 🙂

[Andrew]

@ukefinlandgirl – Beautifully played! An excellent first post Tara! Hope to hear more from you 🙂

@hiouke – Absolutely lovely take, well done 👏

@willw18 – You nailed the haunting feel of the piece and the arpeggiated technique. Beautifully played, Will!

@suekulele – This might be the most adorable video we’ve ever had, I loved it! Great playing too, Sue!

[Andrew]

@marlongas – You kicked off our November challenge with not 1, but 3 amazing performances! Great playing all around Carlos! 👏

@deadbuggy – Beautifully played Sara! ❤️

@lucauka – BIG improvements on timing! Well done and great note clarity and fingerpicking too Luca!

@jbmills07 – Beautifully played Justin and love the reverb lushness too 🙂

@misterbones – That was awesome Michael! You aced it! I have a funny story on the whole tone scale, I once played a theater gig with two of my instructors from music college. It was a 13 piece band and one of my instructors was on lead guitar. He made a joke at rehearsal that he makes money teaching whole tone scale in class but playing pentatonic at gigs 😂

@darktoto – Beautifully played Thomas! I shared your performance in our newsletter this week 🙂

@annemarie – It sounds great on baritone Anne! You played it beautifully! Great job on all of the techniques in it! The only thing I would work on is smoothing out measure 8. That’s the hardest bar in the tune, IMO. Take it slow and try to keep the tempo steady.

[Andrew]

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED THIS MONTH! WE HAD 77 MEMBERS PARTICIPATE! YOU GUYS ROCK!

I was BLOWN AWAY by how amazing everyone did! Big round of applause to everyone who participated this month. 🙂

Hope to see y’all in our November Challenge!

Here is a list of everyone who earned an entry for the giveaway. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.

—-

simonalexander
simonalexander
otzepeng
otzepeng
The_Bumble_Bard
The_Bumble_Bard
willw18
willw18
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
deflygirl
shmu88
shmu88
marianne
marianne
lucauka
lucauka
clempek
clempek
kanique
kanique
ramiro
jgillard
jgillard
brettboy
brettboy
ruiafonso70
ruiafonso70
leb397
leb397
dianna
dianna
kittycatlin
kittycatlin
planetfink
planetfink
yukalele
yukalele
misterbones
misterbones
abster
abster
anyon1
anyon1
lhamilton
lhamilton
kickass
barbecueblack
barbecueblack
ccwuke
ccwuke
katazumiri
katazumiri
karenj
karenj
morrieuke1
morrieuke1
jasdel
jasdel
johanna2509
johanna2509
ldarrow
ldarrow
suekulele
suekulele
grannieannie
grannieannie
kelsey91
kelsey91
corey_mclean
corey_mclean
marlongas
marlongas
leslieb
leslieb
giveittomebaby
anikali
anikali
rgillof
rgillof
mepasha
mepasha
robinboyd
robinboyd
darktoto
lynnzo
lynnzo
jayton
jayton
gstriph
gstriph
hiouke
hiouke
janaq1
janaq1
1481632_m
akukes73
akukes73
jebergeron
jebergeron
mysticrick
mysticrick
shelle
shelle
b_ukes_101
richard_siegert
richard_siegert
frederic
frederic
k_ra11
k_ra11
Nico_uke
Nico_uke
hotshot
hotshot
mmoynihan
mmoynihan
bibilele
bibilele
joe150
joe150
ukulelee
ukulelee
olemartin
olemartin
rickgrant2025
rickgrant2025
mademoiselleannette
maryjanew
maryjanew
cimarronsailor
cimarronsailor
mkstewart67
mkstewart67
puppylovesuke
puppylovesuke
addilein
addilein
ukealori
ukealori
lyndallk
lyndallk
kirpuff
kirpuff
markmdive
markmdive

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 11.

@puppylovesuke – Bravo Daniel! You aced it! I really enjoyed listening to your performance 🙂

@addilein – Very well played, Astrid! From here, I’d focus on refining and smoothing it out. You already play it so well! Just a couple more practice sessions, and you’ll have it perfected!

@ukealori – Very nicely played Lori! The ghost notes sound great! Keep at it, it’s a tricky technique at first, but over time it becomes easier. So for this one, keep an ear out for consistency, that you hit it clean and clear each time.

@lyndallk – Nicely played Lyndall! Watch out for the opens in bar 13 and 15, those are quarter note hits.

@kirpuff – That was awesome Sara! Great playing!

@markmdive – Really well played, Mark! One thing to focus on is consistency. While this song can be played with a bit of rubato, we still want to keep the tempo relatively steady. Some sections flow smoothly, while others take a bit more time to get through. For example, in Theme 1, the single notes from bars 6 to 9 have a nice, even flow. But in bars 10 to 12, the chord walk-down starts smoothly and then slows down significantly, with the diminished lick at the end of the theme being much slower than the beginning. I’d suggest working on maintaining a consistent tempo throughout, and then going back to add rubato where it feels right.

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 10.

@Nico_uke – Perfect performance Nico! Bravo 👏

@hotshot – WOW! Your speed and note clarity is incredible! Feel was excellent too! Amazing performance!

@mmoynihan – Excellent performance, Matt! For the first chord, try not to barre the 7th fret, as that will push the 7th fret on string 2 down, giving this chord a major sound, which is too happy for a spooky tune! Instead, fret string 3 with the tip of your index finger and let the index curve down slightly to touch/mute string 2.

Another area to work on is measure 14. After bar 13, try not to lift all your fingers. Instead, just slide the fingers on strings 2 and 3 up a half step and move your index down to string 1, fret 1. This should help make that transition smoother.

@bibilele – I LOVED it! Great performances from all of you! 🙂

@joe150 – Way to go Joe! One of my fav performances from you! Great playing 👏

@ukulelee – Great fingerpicking Leone! Feel was spot on too! Really well done this month!

@olemartin – Fingerpicking sounds great OM! Only thing I’d work on is keeping it steady throughout.

@rickgrant2025 – Great playing, Rick! The one thing I’d suggest working on is lightening your right hand attack when fingerpicking. 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.

This was a great first post, hope to see more of your playing in another challenge!

@mademoiselleannette – Really well played Annette! Keep up the great work! 🙂

@maryjanew – That was awesome MJ! Strumming and chunking technique are perfect. Timing was great and you played it super clean! I think you have it memorized. I bet if you took the music away, you’d realize you didn’t need it! The only section I’d work on is measure 14. Loop 13 going into 14. That’s prob the trickiest part of this tune. Keep up the great work!

@cimarronsailor – Feel, fingerpicking, strumming were spot on Lynn! Great job nailing the playful feel. My only suggestion would be to memorize it, that way you can focus 100% on playing it.

@mkstewart67 – Beautifully played Melissa! You nailed the playful vibe! From here, I’d focus your practice on smoothing out the Chorus and fine-tuning the Verse. Really well done this month!

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 9.

@jayton – Playing was excellent Jay! There’s only one thing I’d recommend working on is which is making sure the swing feel stays intact for all eighth notes. It’s mostly the pull-offs to the open strings in the Verse, some of them sound a lil more straight than swung. Try to hold the first note a lil longer before pulling off to give it that 2/3, 1/3 swing time split.

@gstriph – Fingerpicking sounds great Jerry! From here, I’d work on getting the transitions smooth, in time, and increasing the tempo. Keep up the great work!

@hiouke – Excellent playing! Only thing I’d work on is increasing the tempo. Keep up the great work!

@janaq1 – Wow Jana! Feel, pacing, and note clarity – all incredible! Bravo, I’m very impressed 👏

@1481632_m – Excellent fingerpicking Megan! I hear a couple spots where you paused on the transitions, so that would be my only suggestion, which is to eliminate those. Try looping those sections, that’ll help get the muscle memory down to make the transitions smoothly 🙂

@akukes73 – Performance was great Ash! You played it with great feel! I think the swing feel is mostly there. What I would do is 2 things. First, I noticed you subbed the pull-offs in the Verse for picked notes. I wouldn’t do that. It looses a lil of the playful vibe by doing that, IMO. And for the swing feel, try playing along with Steven in the tab player. Try to match him as close to 100% as you can. Overall, you did awesome, keep up the great work!

@jebergeron – Bravo JP! That was a fantastic performance! I don’t have any critics, the only suggestion I can is make to keep refining it. Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working cause your playing sounds great!

And a tip for camera nerves, start recording your practice sessions. That’ll get you used to playing in front of the camera and it gives you the opportunity to review your playing 🙂

@mysticrick – This has to be my fav performance of yours Rick! You aced the feel and I love the effects. Such a fun performance to listen to, I really enjoyed it!

@shelle – Excellent fingerpicking Shelle! Chord changes sounded great, I only heard one minor pause. From here, I would work on increasing the tempo. Bravo this month, really well done!

@b_ukes_101 – Excellent performance Brandon! I love how it sounds on low G too, def adds a haunting element to it.

@richard_siegert – Fingerpicking sounds great Richard! From here, I’d work on keeping it steady throughout.

@frederic – That was an excellent take Frederic! You nailed the feel and playful vibes of the piece. And I really like the reverb. Very well played!

@k_ra11 – Awesome performance Kasha! You aced it! Great fingerpicking!

[Andrew]

Yes! Sorry for the delay, I’ve been swamped with busy work with the weekly lessons for this month and next. I plan to get back on it this wkd 🙂

[Andrew]

@ukefinlandgirl – No, that’s not required for free members 🙂

[Andrew]

My pleasure!

[Author]

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