[Andrew]

@abster – Amazing fingerpicking & strumming, Abhay! Way to go 🙂

[Andrew]

@uku_on – Excellent take Caleb! I agree, it needs just a little more polishing/practice time to smooth out. But it doesn’t sound like it would take too much work to get there. Keep up the great work!

@rafaela – Wow, Rafaela! Phenomenal playing! @annemarie is right, you aced the muted hits. I remember Matt spending a few weeks practicing the last theme to get those clean. It’s not easy! You did so well, bravo 👏

[Andrew]

@katazumiri – Bravo! Lovely duet and playing. Literally a perfect take! From here, I’d work on boosting tempo. Keep up the great work, Lena 🙂

[Andrew]

That’s awesome to hear! Keep up the good work, Steve!

[Andrew]

Heads up: The live lesson will be on the fourth Tuesday of the month due to vacation.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Andrew.

[Andrew]

@The_Bumble_Bard – I love it! The transition to clawhammer style was flawless! Very creative idea and I will def be sharing it in our newsletter tomorrow 🙂

[Andrew]

Travis picking is a repetitive right hand picking pattern where the underlying chords continually change. There is not a singular pattern for travis picking like there is for the island strum. It can be different in each song that uses it. The key is that the picking pattern is repetitive.

[Andrew]

We did it! We crushed the Spring Challenges!

228 members participated in our last 3 challenges and I have been blown away by everyone’s performances! Thanks to each and everyone of you who participated.

We are going live at 12 PM ET (check your local time zone) on July 4th to announce the winner who gets to choose either a $1,745 K-1 Kanile’a Ukulele or a custom-built $2,900 Kanile’a Ukulele! The live stream link is below:

—-

Here is everyone who participated this month. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.

muzikmama
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
billypancakes
billypancakes
jbmills07
jbmills07
hawaiihaze
hawaiihaze
musiclover
musiclover
mepasha
mepasha
jebergeron
jebergeron
bunny2311
mark1256
mark1256
gi_gi_
gi_gi_
smokealot
smokealot
lisadmh
lisadmh
ldarrow
ldarrow
suekulele
suekulele
jgillard
jgillard
misterbones
misterbones
lyndallk
lyndallk
brettboy
brettboy
annemarie
annemarie
kaski85
kaski85
dianna
dianna
joannetala
joannetala
leslieb
leslieb
rebeca
rebeca
jedart
jedart
rafaela
rafaela
ukandrea
ukandrea
shmu88
shmu88
otzepeng
katazumiri
katazumiri
The_Bumble_Bard
The_Bumble_Bard
laurakarr12
laurakarr12
anyon1
anyon1
lhamilton
lhamilton
richo_uke
richo_uke
june2020
june2020
robinl
robinl
ccwuke
ccwuke
jody_hendrickson
jody_hendrickson
clempek
clempek
denisedistefano
denisedistefano
kdeacon7
kdeacon7
abster
abster
gstriph
gstriph
moonshoes
moonshoes
morrieuke1
morrieuke1
leb397
leb397
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
bibilele
bibilele
karenj
karenj
rgillof
rgillof
marlongas
marlongas
riffyk
riffyk
coffeemug
coffeemug
johanna2509
johanna2509
dorabr
lbilkie
lbilkie
concan
concan
akukes73
akukes73
mlarson
mlarson
joe150
joe150
lynnzo
lynnzo
gracme2
gracme2
patdrehu
patdrehu
ukulelee
ukulelee
dividedsky
dividedsky
uku_on
uku_on
brightwing
lynnsheila
lynnsheila
ksapp92
ksapp92
janaq1
janaq1
hiouke
hiouke
yukalele
yukalele
addilein
addilein
rmatos
lynettejd
lynettejd
omaon4
omaon4
tessiert
tessiert
lmdlinda
maryjanew
maryjanew

[Andrew]

@ksapp92 – Beautifully played, Kelby! I really liked your pacing. Especially the fermata before going into the second theme. I also liked how you played the piece with a softer touch. Gave it a great feel. One suggestion. That single note on the 4th string before the triplet strums start, let that note ring just a little longer. It sounded cut short to me, like an 8th note instead of a quarter. Overall, well done! I think this is my fav performance from you to date 🙂

@janaq1 – Rhythm was spot on! The only thing I noticed was that you re-interpreted bar 2. Here’s what I think you meant to do:

I have to say you played the piece very well! Great job this month 🙂

@hiouke – Excellent strumming! Form looks great and you aced the feel-good vibes! Only thing I’d work on is increasing tempo (gradually). Keep up the great work!

@yukalele – Great job on the duet David! Timing was very good! Only thing I’d work on is getting the harmony part to be a little cleaner. Practice at a slower tempo and work it up to speed. Doesn’t sound like it will take too long to get 100% clean.

@addilein – Bravo Astrid! Very well played! Only thing I’d suggest working on is increasing tempo, while keeping it steady. Keep up the great work!

@rmatos – It works brilliantly on high G! You aced it! Phenomenal performance, very well done! 👏

@lynettejd – Beautifully played, Lyn! Well done!

@omaon4 – Playing sounded great, Helga! You have great strumming form too! One thing I’d recommend changing is when there’s a muted strum (XXXX) on the & of 4. Come up with a muted strum for that hit instead of coming down with a slap (chunk).

Other than that, work on keeping it steady and boosting tempo (gradually). Well done this month!

@tessiert – Beautifully played, Trace! Pacing was well done and I love the softer feel you played the piece with. For the triplet strum, since you played 3 quarter notes before it, I’d recommend doing only 1 triplet strum, instead of 2. That keeps the time signature of the measure uniform with the rest of the piece.

And I wouldn’t worry about “extraneous sounds”. That’s part of what makes acoustic instruments charming 🙂

P.S. Don’t forget the premium tag for K giveaways 😉

@lmdlinda – Beautiful feel and excellent timing! Wonderful performance, Linda! Well done!

@maryjanew – Excellent job on the strumming part, MJ! Harmony was very well played and your timing was great! Only thing I’d work on is getting the quarter note hit (beat 4) in each bar to ring a little cleaner.

@nelsonlin2021 – Strumming form looks great, Nelson. But I’m hearing a different pattern. Try to count the pattern as you play:

Mute Mute Strum Mute Mute Strum Mute Mute Strum Mute Mute Strum Mute Mute Strum Strum

Unfortunately, you just missed our cutoff time for an entry. I tried to give everyone a friendly reminder yesterday. You still have entries from April 🙂

[Andrew]

Friendly Reminder – The deadline for receiving feedback and an entry into the giveaway is tonight at 11:59 PM EDT (check your local time zone).

[Andrew]

@brightwing – Excellent strumming! My only suggestion would be to slow the tempo just a touch so it’s a little more chill in its groove. TY for the kind words!!

@lynnsheila – Bravo, Sheila! Fantastic playing! A wonderful first post. I look forward to watching more performances from you! Keep up the great work 🙂

[Andrew]

@gracme2 – Great playing Carmen! I have a few tips for you.

First, try to keep the rhythm as steady 8ths in bar 5 and 6. Second, during the walk down in bar 11 to 12, try to keep finger pressure held down so the melody note sustains instead of lifting pressure off which makes it sound staccato-y. Here’s a sound sample of staccato vs sustained:

Third, check out this lesson for help with playing the triplet strum. Matt teaches a few ways to do it. Try them all and stick with the one you like the most 🙂

@patdrehu – Great playing, Patrice! Double check bar 4, I’m hearing it cut short a few notes. Playing wise, I’d target the transitions where you pause a little bit. See if you can get those smoother so we keep the tempo steady.

I’d also like to hear more emphasis on the dynamic changes. So softer fingerpicking, louder strumming, and more a more dynamic cresc./decresc. at the end.

@ukulelee – Wow, this is my fav performance from you to date Leone. You aced it! Phenomenal playing! And we can call the last chord a jazz hit lol! 🙂

@dividedsky – Bravo Jane! Beautiful duet! Great playing and perfect timing 👏

And TY for the kind words. I’ve really enjoyed writing these mini lessons this year 🙂

@uku_on – I always fear someone will think the April challenge is an April fools joke! I hate that happened with you, Caleb. But I promise, we wouldn’t joke about giveaways. Only silly things like this video 😂

Your performance was awesome! Excellent strumming technique. And the feel of the piece was spot on. Well done!

[Andrew]

@concan – Beautifully played with great feel! And awesome job on getting it memorized. That helps so much as it allows you to focus 100% on your playing . Well done this month! 🙂

@akukes73 – Fantastic playing! Excellent timing too!

@mlarson – Great playing! It was a lovely performance 🙂

I’d recommend working on your left hand form. I’m seeing incorrect form throughout the piece. For example, in the first 10 seconds of the video, your palm is supporting the underside of the neck. That’s something we don’t want to do as it limits finger dexterity. Form 2 is best to use throughout this tune. Form 2 uses your index to help support the neck. The video lesson at the bottom of the page demos/explains this technique.

Another area to work on is to keep your fingers curved at the first joint. For example, 13 seconds into the video you play a C chord and if you look at your ring finger, you’ll see it’s straight. We always want to fret notes with the fingertip while being curved at the first joint.

Check out this lesson for help with playing the triplet strum.

@joe150 – Fantastic take, Joe! Well done this month! My only suggestion is to memorize it 🙂

@lynnzo – Well done on the 1 finger etude! Playing sounds great! I’d continue working towards boosting tempo (gradually).

Watch out for tugging the strings too. If you pause your video at 43 seconds, you can see that you’re pulling the C string down a bit. That makes the note go sharp. Try to keep the string as parallel as possible.

Awesome to see you tackle the blues tune too! Pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone is one of the best ways to grow!

@riffyk – No for fingerpicking. And I don’t think so either for strumming. I would only recommend to loosed up, try to relax your right hand more as you strum.

[Andrew]

@lbilkie – Beautifully played! Keep in mind, the first bar gets repeated twice 😉

[Andrew]

@marlongas – Excellent job showcasing all 3 dynamic changes, Carlos! Well done 👏

@riffyk – Great playing, Kahn! So this piece is an advanced level tune. I think it might be a little more than you’re ready for right now. I’d recommend working on beginner and intermediate pieces. Set a goal to memorize them and before you know it, you’ll be ready for advanced tunes 🙂

@coffeemug – Great strumming! You’ve got the rhythm down, but you did play the pattern once more than necessary. Just a heads up in case you play it with others, they’ll be done one bar before you.

@johanna2509 – Pacing and feel was very nice. You’ve got a great touch w/ fingerpicking and the triplet strum. Well done, Johanna!

@dorabr – Fingerpicking sounds great! And the triplet strum was well done, great technique! The one thing I’d recommend working on is tempo/timing. Right now, I’m hearing a pause after many bars and some notes that sound like sets of 3.

Try to play everything as steady 8th notes before experimenting with rubato. You can practice this with a metronome or using the tab player in “synthetic” mode with the metronome activated.

[Author]

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