Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Wow! 78 members joined us for this month’s challenge! I was BLOWN AWAY by how amazing everyone did! Big round of applause to everyone who participated this month. 🙂
Our May Challenge is LIVE and the theme is Funk Songs! I hope each of you join us again.
Below, I will post a list of members who participated in the April challenge for your first chance to win the Kanile’a Ukulele. Please let me know if there are any discrepancies.
—-
jgillard
jgillard
rebeca
rebeca
rafaela
rafaela
clempek
clempek
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
robinl
jbmills07
jbmills07
otzepeng
katazumiri
katazumiri
ldarrow
ldarrow
gi_gi_
gi_gi_
joannetala
joannetala
The_Bumble_Bard
The_Bumble_Bard
anyon1
anyon1
ccwuke
ccwuke
patdrehu
patdrehu
shmu88
shmu88
joe150
joe150
gstriph
gstriph
marlongas
marlongas
selfrazor
barbecueblack
barbecueblack
riffyk
riffyk
mark1256
mark1256
brettboy
brettboy
omaon4
omaon4
robinboyd
robinboyd
johanna2509
johanna2509
bibilele
bibilele
leslieb
leslieb
mepasha
mepasha
lhamilton
lhamilton
lbilkie
lbilkie
lmdlinda
dorabr
ucolele
richo_uke
richo_uke
coffeemug
coffeemug
karenj
karenj
richard_siegert
richard_siegert
smokealot
smokealot
jody_hendrickson
jody_hendrickson
nishant
nishant
concan
concan
tim0721
tim0721
leb397
leb397
ukulelee
ukulelee
misterbones
misterbones
moonshoes
moonshoes
lynnzo
lynnzo
annemarie
annemarie
peiching
morrieuke1
morrieuke1
ksapp92
ksapp92
zongozongo
zongozongo
casadot349
casadot349
dianna
dianna
kdeacon7
kdeacon7
nelsonlin2021
nelsonlin2021
denisedistefano
denisedistefano
brightwing
yukalele
yukalele
suekulele
suekulele
sarahmusic
sarahmusic
rmatos
jebergeron
jebergeron
dividedsky
dividedsky
janaq1
janaq1
riley_ukulele
riley_ukulele
maryjanew
maryjanew
cimarronsailor
cimarronsailor
blairo91
blairo91
kidelozzi
kidelozzi
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
sarahd
sarahd
lyndallk
lyndallk
qiuyan
qiuyan@sarahmusic – Great pacing and feel! Love the ambience too 🙂
@rmatos – Bravo! Incredible take!! 👏
@jebergeron – Performance was great! I only have a couple suggestions. For the 3 bar Breakdown, try to keep it at the same tempo as the A Melody as opposed to speeding it up. That should make the transition smoother into the B Melody.Try the fingering I used for the E5 stretch chords in bar 28/29. It might make it easier to play, especially the phrase in bar 29.
@dividedsky – Excellent job, Jane! You showcased the distinct feels between both sections very well!
@janaq1 – Wow! That was awesome, Jana! Your playing has so much expression and emotion in it! I can hear what you said about uncertainty in some of the passages. So at this point, I’d recommend playing along in the tab player, one section at a time, to help smooth out those phrases and rhythm. Keep up the great work! This was a very impressive performance!
@riley_ukulele – Beautifully played!
@maryjanew – Fantastic performance, MJ! One of the best I’ve heard from you to date! Love the 2nd take too! Keep working on building speed, but try a more gradual step up from the 1st take.Also, check out the index finger barre chord tip I left for @ksapp92 in this post.
@cimarronsailor – Wonderfully played, well done!
@blairo91 – Bravo! I can’t believe this is only your second tune! Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working!!
@kidelozzi – Bravo Steve! You perfectly captured the vibe of the piece! Very well played and TY so much for the kind words 🙂
@ukukelley1 – Great playing, Sheryl! At this point, I’d recommend memorizing it and building speed for the second go around.
@sarahd – Beautifully played! Well done!
@lyndallk – Great playing as always, Lyndall! Sounds like another day or 2 of practice is all you need to smooth it out even more.
@qiuyan – Well done! Great job showcasing the distinct feels between both sections!@denisedistefano – Incredible for 3 months! Keep doing what you’re doing, it’s obv working! Couple tips. I like the roll technique. Looks and sounds great! But try to do it more sparingly. If you watch Steven’s take, he does it every other bar, on the first chord hit, in measures 1 – 8. Then for 9 – 16, he doesn’t do it much. It’s one of those techniques where less is more and doing it less often makes it that much more special when used.
Second, when the song picks up speed, try to relax your right hand. It looks like you have some tension when fingerpicking. We want to aim for 100% relaxed/no tension.
@brightwing – Performance sounded great! Well done!
@yukalele – Great playing David! Only advice I have is to continue working on building speed w/ a focus on clarity and timing. And LOL @ 31.5 😂
@suekulele – Beautiful playing Sue! And your uke sounds amazing! 🙂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).
@misterbones – That was awesome Michael! Have you tried practicing one section at a time to a click? That should tighten up the timing issues.
@moonshoes – An excellent first post! Beautiful playing! For the pinky, you can anchor it or keep it floating. If floating, I’d keep it closer to the other fingers so it’s not so far away if you do a technique that uses it, such as the rasgueado strum.
@lynnzo – Beautiful playing! For the A Melody, try to keep your left hand in form 1 with your thumb placed slightly above the middle of neck. Your current form limits dexterity and mobility as your palm is curled inwards. The U shape gap in form 1 will make it much easier to play and move around the neck.And def keep working on 19! Please share it when you are ready 🙂
@annemarie – Excellent playing! Well done on the stretch chords! At this point, I’d take one section at a time and focus on keeping the timing steady.
@peiching – Sounds like you haven’t missed a beat! Welcome back and hope to hear more from you 🙂
@morrieuke1 – I love how full sounding the tone is! You def got a great one, Michael!! Fantastic performance too!
@ksapp92 – Excellent performance, Kelby! I hear a lot of improvement in your playing in regards to some of the things we talked about in prev challenges. Def keep up the great work!2 small tips for this tune. First, when doing the barre (0555), keep your index straight, not bent at the knuckle. Which looks like this:
That form will give you more mobility when adding the notes on 7 and 8.
Second, when switching to G5 (0235), try to move all fingers into that shape at roughly the same time instead of adding 1 finger at a time. You can practice this by playing F to G5, strumming half notes. So no fingerpicking, just working on the change.
@zongozongo – Playing sounds great! I’d recommend memorizing it so you can focus 100% on playing.
@casadot349 – Wow! That was amazing Casado! I will def send this to Evan! He’ll love it!One thing I want you to work on is proper holding technique. Right now, you’re sitting and playing it like a guitar. But for uke, we need to use a different form.
I’ll embed a video I made for another member a few years ago on how to hold the uke. Additionally, here is another lesson and one more covering this topic that I recommend reviewing.
@dianna – Bravo! Well done and TY so much for the kind words 🙂Couple tips. For the accented strum technique you’re doing from 10 to 17 seconds, try to speed it up a little bit. It feels a little behind the beat atm.
I thought you did really well with the stretch chords! I’d keep practicing that section at a slower tempo to focus on note clarity.
@kdeacon7 – Well done! Recording quality was excellent too! Your uke sounds great! As you continue to practice, I’d work on one section at a time w/ 2 goals: memorized (I know you’re almost there, but I want you to play it w/out sheet music as a reference) and steady tempo.Also, check out the index finger barre chord tip I left for @ksapp92 above.
@nelsonlin2021 – Another excellent performance, Nelson! I’d keep playing it at this tempo, but also at a slower tempo. That slower tempo will help reinforce muscle memory and improve note clarity. Keep up the great work! I’m always impressed with your performances each month 🙂@concan – I’d def say you are more than ready to jump into more challenging pieces like this one. It sounded great, keep doing what you’re doing 🙂
@tim0721 – You aced it! Timing was excellent! Very well played!!
@leb397 – Excellent playing on both tunes! For etude 1, I’d focus your practice on the B Melody. Some of the notes seem to not be ringing out. It’s hard to tell from the angle of the video why, but it sounds like you may not be applying enough pressure fretting the notes.For 32, I like the thumb approach for the first time through, but I think it would be easier to use a 3 or 4 finger approach the second time through to build speed. So that would be my recommendation for you to try 🙂
@ukulelee – Beautifully played Leone and your uke has such a lovely tone! You aced the stretch chords, very impressive! This is def one of my favorite performances from you. Great feel and pacing throughout!@nishant – Awesome performance! Great playing throughout! My only suggestion is to try to increase the speed of the sweep strum. Check out this lesson from our Next Level Strumming Technique Course. Matt’s got some great pointers on the mechanics of that technique.
@ucolele – Beautiful playing! The only suggestion I have is to continue practicing the transition to the G chord in the B Melody. It’s tricky! And don’t forget to add the index finger down to make it an F in bars 17/18. Overall, it was an excellent first post!
@richo_uke – Lovely performance, Rici! There’s only a couple (very) minor hesitations. Sounds like a little more practice will smooth it out. Great job this month!
@coffeemug – Well done, Mary! I have 2 suggestions. First, try playing the first go-around a bit slower in tempo. That will help the second time through have a more profound effect when played at a faster tempo. Second, keep working on that transition to the F chord (0553).
@karenj – Such a beautiful performance for your dad, Karen ❤️
@richard_siegert – Fingerpicking sounds great! Excellent roll technique too! Have you tried playing to a metronome? It sounds like you are around 90 – 95 BPM. Try playing 4 bars at a time to the click. When you can keep it steady, move onto the next 4 bars of the tune. Then piece those together (8 bars).The click will help to push you to keep timing. And breaking it into sections will make it so it’s not overwhelming.
Alternatively, you can use the tab player and turn the metronome on and play with Steven. Still use the same approach as above. Loop 4 bars at a time, at a slower speed than his performance.
When you feel comfortable at your base speed, start increasing the tempo by 5 or 10 BPM.
@smokealot – Beautiful performance, Ulli!
@jody_hendrickson – Roll technique looks and sounds great! Lovely performance! I really enjoyed watching it and TY so much for your kind words 🙂@lhamilton – Wow, Linda that was awesome! As you continue to practice, I’d recommend working on each section individually w/ a focus on tightening the timing.
@lbilkie – Welcome back, Lori! Your performance was great! Only thing I want to mention is bar 15 & 16 should be half notes 🙂@omaon4 – Beautiful performance, Helga! The only comment I have is that I hear a bit of string buzz in some of the notes. I think it might be due to long nails on your fretting hand. Try trimming them so they don’t prevent you from fully pushing the strings down when fretting notes.
@robinboyd – Well done, Robin! Great feel and pacing throughout 👏
@johanna2509 – I could def hear it being used in that show! Your performance was great! You nailed the distinct feels between both sections 🙂
@bibilele – Fantastic performance with a backdrop to match it! Loved it!
@leslieb – The new uke is beautiful and has a lovely tone, Leslie! I hear where you are coming from. It’s prob a bit challenging to play due to its smaller sized frets. You may want to reserve it as a travel uke instead of a daily player for that reason. As for your performance, it was beautifully played! Well done!
@mepasha – Excellent performance, bravo! My only suggestion is to add a ritardando to the ending phrase.@rafaela – That was amazing! Bravo! I think you’re at the point where you’ll want to focus on increasing tempo. Continue with your approach for working on one section at a time. But double check the tab. I did hear a few times where a note(s) or chord was incorrect. Keep up the excellent work, I was very impressed!
@anyon1 – Excellent playing! You nailed the distinct feels between both sections. Well done!
@marianne – Wow, Marianne! That was really impressive that you were able to do those stretch chords with the index finger on a baritone. Even I don’t want to attempt that lol! I know I’ve said it a ton of times, but I really love the deep tone of that uke. It really compliments your beautiful playing 🙂
@ccwuke – Another excellent take this month, Chris! Great job showcasing a distinct feel for both sections!
@patdrehu – Beautiful playing, Patrice! The only thing I can comment on is that you omitted the four bars before the B Melody (bars 9 – 12). Otherwise, it was awesome! Keep up the great work 🙂
@shmu88 – So I didn’t read what you wrote before I watched your performance. And the big thing I was going to mention, was exactly what you focused on. In theme 4, this tune really starts to build. To hear the flow of your playing from the first three themes going into that one, you nailed exactly how this piece is supposed to develop. This has definitely been the most expressive playing I’ve heard from you. Phenomenal job!
@joe150 – Bravo, Joe! This is the best performance I’ve heard from you to date! Keep up the excellent work 🙂
@gstriph – Beautifully played, Jerry! Good luck with the move! Tennessee is an awesome state. Been there a bunch of times and enjoyed each visit 🙂
@marlongas – Excellent performance! And your recording quality was phenomenal too. Well done!
@selfrazor – That was a fantastic first post! Excellent fingerpicking! My only suggestion is to slow the tempo a little bit. It’ll give the music a little more time to breathe.
@barbecueblack – Beautifully played, well done!
@riffyk – That was an excellent first post! You played it beautifully! The only thing I noticed that was a little odd was when you fretted the 2nd fret on the G string. That note sounds a little “off”. It might be an intonation issue with that one fret. This might be something you want to get checked out by a luthier.
@mark1256 – Beautiful played, Mark! The stretch chord section sounded great to me! Keep up the great work 🙂
@brettboy – That was awesome, Brett! I really like how you interpreted this piece and made it your own!Take a look at the example song, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” at the end of our CAGED lesson.
Bar 2 requires an A minor chord. In that example, I took the G chord shape:
x232
And moved it up a whole step to become A major:
x454
Then flatted the major third (C#) to become a minor third (C):
x453
The above is now an A minor chord.
This shows how you can alter the major chord shapes to become minor. You’ll need to make these alterations if it’s called for in the music.
@katazumiri – I thought it came out great!
@clempek – Bravo!I don’t think it’s beyond your playing level at all. You rocked it! Keep up the great work, Clem!@joannetala – Beautiful performance and TY for the kind words, Joanne! Hope you have an awesome trip 🙂
@The_Bumble_Bard – Beautifully played, Rachael! I’d say keep working on the intermediate tunes. You are def ready for them!
@robinboyd – Good point!