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@willw18 – Very nicely played, Will! I have a couple suggestions for you. First, try to pluck a little lighter. That will give your notes a softer, sweeter tone. Which is perfect for this tune. Here’s a video I made for another member a few years back which covers this concept in more detail:
The second area I’d recommend working on is timing. Overall, you did really well! But I think we can get the performance to be a little bit more consistent in the tempo. Try playing along with a metronome or with me in the on-screen tab viewer.
@rebeca – Very beautifully played, Rebeca! And I’m glad to hear you are healed up 🙂My feedback is more of an opinion than a critique. Personally, I think this song sounds best with a steady tempo as opposed to a rubato approach. But, as I always say, how you interpret and perform a piece is always up to you, the performer.
@malku2603 – Technique looks great! Try to work on consistency, meaning that you make the melody note pop every time you do it. For example, the one you hit at 18/19 seconds in the video was perfect! Try to get each time to sound like that one and you’ll be rockin’ & rollin’! 🙂
We surpassed our participation goal with 39 members participating this month! The amount of creativity and originality in everyone’s posts made this month’s challenge one for the books! 🙂
With a little help from ChatGPT, the winners of this month’s challenge are ** drumroll **
Our February Challenge is LIVE: https://rockclass101.com/february-2024-challenge
For February, you can choose ANY song from our Ukulele Songs Series! This month’s winner will also get to choose ANY ukulele from Uke Republic valued at $250 or under as their prize! Hope to see everyone in the challenge!
@jedart – I don’t like fretting the chord that way. If I was playing it, I’d omit string 4 for the verses and play X210. The 2 on G is an A, which is the same note as the open A – so you’re not really missing anything by not playing it. You’d just have to target your down strums to strike strings 3 to 1 and the opposite for up strums. For the chorus, it should be no problem to fret 2210 the traditional way.
@muzikmama, @malku2603, @mark1256 – No worries, I updated the list 🙂
Here’s everyone who received an entry. Please let me know if I left you off the list. I’ll pick both winners on Sunday 🙂
The_Bumble_Bard
abster
mysticrick
wannabgood
jedart
marianne
jamieo
ukandrea
lhamilton
gi_gi_
lyndallk
ccwuke
misterbones
leb397
anyon1
leslieb
sarrafina
bibilele
brettboy
morrieuke1
nelsonlin2021
joe150
janaq1
nat-uke
rgillof
firebladetim
richo_uke
henri0
maryjanew
kelsey91
jody_hendrickson
akukes73
denisedistefano
dividedsky
diannaHere’s everyone on page 14.
@nat-uke – Wow, Natalie! Awesome job learning the technique! It’s a completely unique style of playing and you aced it! Lovely sound on the banjolele 🙂
@rgillof – Tremolo technique looks and sounds great, Richard! From here, I’d work on keeping the tempo steady when you transition back and forth from tremolo to the single note section. Try playing along with the backing track to work on that.
@firebladetim – That was awesome Tim! I was really impressed with how relaxed and natural-sounding your rhythm playing is. Tempo sounded good to me, keep working on increasing it gradually. As for switching between the feels, you did it correctly. The song switches from swung to straight in the D section. Maybe put a little more swing coming back into the E section. But honestly, just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working!
@richo_uke – Your playing always has a great feel to it Rici. For our February challenge, you get to choose any song from our ukulele songs series. Why not continue with this one? You’ve got a great base established and the extra month buys you time to fine tune it 🙂P.S. Nice job on playing all 4 techniques with proper technique!
@mark1256 – It’s such a beautiful tune, Mark! And you played it very well. I did go back and listen to the capo version too. Is there any specific reason why you wanted to avoid using the capo? If it was up to me, I’d continue with the capo version just to avoid having to barre as much. Plus, I love the sound of open strings. The more the better lol.Here’s everyone on page 15.
@henri0 – Amazing performance, Rhian! This song is def one of my favorites I’ve done for RC101 and you did it justice! Beautifully played 👏
@maryjanew – You’re gonna ace it at the event MJ. You’re already playing it so well! I was very impressed with your B Melody. That’s really what’s challenging with this piece and you knocked it outta the park! If you can, play the tune every day until the event and you’ll be fine. Def share a video if someone records it, would love to watch it!
@kelsey91 – Way to go, Kelsey! Your technique looks great, and the harmonics rang beautifully. My only advice would be to keep practicing them every day until it becomes muscle memory, where you don’t have to think or try, and they ring clear each and every time. Add this technique to your warmup routine and you’ll be there before you know it 🙂
@jody_hendrickson – Wow, that’s a big jump in tempo in a short period of time, all while keeping the feel intact. Very impressive, Jody! Keep up the great work!
@akukes73 – Sorry to hear about your shoulder, Ash. Hope you are on the mend! I thought your new goal for campanella is a really cool one to work on. That style of playing is all about creating a beautiful sustain from one note to the next and I can hear just that in the etude and piece. For the Sor tune, my only suggestion would be to work on timing/tempo. Try practicing at a slower tempo and gradually work up to the tempo in the performance you shared.
@denisedistefano – Great fingerpicking Denise and well done on keeping the tempo steady!
@dividedsky – They are sounding and looking WAY better Jane! Very nice improvement and a lovely performance 🙂
@dianna – I remember your performance of this tune from last year, but I did go back to listen to it and see what I had written to you. The big difference I hear in the new take is that it flows WAY better! You’ve really got it sounding lovely now. Well done!Here’s everyone on page 13.
@joe150 – Wow, Joe! Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it! I sent the video to Stephen so he can watch it too.Moonlight Sonata was one of the most challenging tunes I’ve ever played, but so worth the effort! You’ve got a great start, keep working on it, and get that button installed. I wanna hear it on the Kanile’a 🙂
@malku2603 – You aced the A Melody, Akansha! Keep up the excellent work and you’ll have the B Melody down in no time!
@wannabgood – Sorry to hear about the setback, Michael. But I gotta say again, that you’ve got the feel and groove down for this genre. This is a challenging tune to play from a fingerstyle perspective, but getting the groove and feel right, is equally as challenging. Bravo!
@lhamilton – This one flows very nicely Linda! And I really like the reverb on this tune. Adds to the mystique of the piece 🙂
@janaq1 – That was awesome Jana! I remember filming this performance. I did a lot of takes LOL. And I remember listening back in my car, to some of the takes, realizing I needed to record to a click, which is what I ended up doing for the final performance. The fact that you kept it as steady as you did on your own is very impressive! Because that certainly kicked my butt 😂In the pre-chorus, see if you can tighten up the rhythm there. Mostly that 16th note lick. Amazing job on that chorus that vamps on the open G. That was the hardest part to play imo, you aced it!
@mysticrick – Sorry to hear about the cramping issue, I’ve been knocked out before with repetitive strain or nerve issues. They are never fun to go through!Big improvement in your fretting on the classical tune. Notes are ring beautifully now! And bravo on the folk tune, you nailed the feel of the piece! Which is equally as hard to do as the fingerstyle playing.
@morrieuke1 – I can’t believe how intricate and detailed your first composition is. Not to mention, you wrote a very catchy A melody with a perfect counterpart in the B melody. My first songs, and the 100 after that, were not anywhere close to this! You def need to keep composing.
@jody_hendrickson – Jody, your video is showing as private, can you set it to public?
Friendly Reminder – The deadline for receiving feedback and an entry into the giveaway is tonight at 11:59 PM ET (check your local time zone).
Here are the folks on page 10 I haven’t left feedback for 🙂
@ukandrea – Wow, Andrea! An incredibly beautiful duet. I’m def gonna share this in our newsletter this week. So so good! 👏
@lhamilton – Very beautiful arrangement. Great use of movement throughout the piece, which gave it a great flow Linda! My only suggestion would be to work towards establishing a more steady tempo. Perhaps playing along with this recording would be a great way to practice.@ccwuke – That was awesome, Chris! I just shared a clip in our social media posts today 🙂
@nelsonlin2021 – Awesome progress on this tune, Nelson! Timing and strumming technique sound great! Couple suggestions. I’m not seeing/hearing enough articulation with the sweep strum. Go back to the mechanics lesson for that and work on getting each digit to deploy separately in rapid succession. This is probably the hardest technique in the course, IMO.When you come down with the slap, your hand hand stops and pauses for a split second on the body. Try not to do this, we want to keep the down/up motion going, timed perfectly to the 16th note rhythm.
@mark1256 – Such a pretty song, Mark! Nice job on the timing. Great work so far!
@jedart – You’ve got those triplets down now! Great feel, loved your performance!
@jody_hendrickson – Great job on the feel, I think playing it with the swing-like rhythm is one of the hardest aspects of this piece. Timing is excellent too! Looking forward to hearing your final take 🙂
@katazumiri – I like it! On the first tune, you’re playing a D Phrygian Dominant scale for that main melody. Very cool sound! Second tune is neat too!
@malku2603 – Very nice! Excellent progress 🙂
@marianne – Incredible performance! You play with incredible expression and feel! I shared a clip in our social media posts today 🙂
@jamieo – That was an excellent take, Jamie! Fingerpicking looks and sounds great! My only suggestion would be to focus on timing. There’s a slight hesitation here and there – but it’s very minor! Try playing along with with me in the tab player, at a speed that’s comfortable. Try starting at 75% speed. When you can play it perfectly in time, bump it up by 5%, and work your way up to 100%.@lhamilton – Thanks for the great suggestion, Linda. It’s coming this Friday 🙂
