[Andrew]

Wow! 100 members joined us for this month’s challenge! Steven, Stephen, and I were 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 Beatles 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.

—-

samash07
samash07
deadbuggy
deadbuggy
laurakarr12
laurakarr12
johanna2509
johanna2509
evapaju
evapaju
slr4chums
slr4chums
rebeca
rebeca
yukalele
yukalele
jsanjuan
jsanjuan
katazumiri
katazumiri
terryfallon3
terryfallon3
barbecueblack
barbecueblack
ccwuke
ccwuke
leslieb
leslieb
dividedsky
dividedsky
jlbross
jlbross
simonalexander
simonalexander
june2020
june2020
ukandrea
ukandrea
nthibode
nthibode
moonshine
moonshine
shmu88
shmu88
peiching
tim0721
tim0721
casadot349
casadot349
ajk101
ajk101
ldarrow
ldarrow
gstriph
gstriph
biancak
biancak
kdeacon7
kdeacon7
rafaela
rafaela
brettboy
brettboy
lynnzo
lynnzo
joe150
joe150
kidelozzi
kidelozzi
lyndallk
lyndallk
marygrace
jbmills07
jbmills07
bibilele
lbilkie
lbilkie
lynettejd
lynettejd
kpurdy
kpurdy
ukulelee
ukulelee
debb1985
debb1985
kmoore925x
kmoore925x
sarrafina
sarrafina
wongbrown
wongbrown
mark1256
mark1256
leb397
leb397
sir_anzalot
sir_anzalot
joannetala
joannetala
dianna
dianna
gi_gi_
gi_gi_
lhamilton
lhamilton
felixhchan
felixhchan
cimarronsailor
cimarronsailor
pysanky
pysanky
mkstewart67
mkstewart67
followmemae
antotonin
antotonin
seoulkim
seoulkim
jnjmalos
jnjmalos
lisadmh
lisadmh
riley_ukulele
riley_ukulele
misterbones
misterbones
dal08260
dal08260
ivo_zag
ivo_zag
andrewvh
tessiert
tessiert
ukealori
ukealori
ukukelley1
ukukelley1
turkgoose
turkgoose
artcrocker
artcrocker
karenj
karenj
akukes73
akukes73
richard_siegert
richard_siegert
concan
concan
themccoys
themccoys
zongozongo
zongozongo
uku241
uku241
akichman
akichman
laurajax
laurajax
sarahd
sarahd
janaq1
janaq1
cararozy
tules14
jayton
jayton
robinboyd
robinboyd
smudge
smudge
omaon4
omaon4
timolnz
timolnz
kirpuff
kirpuff
canucke
canucke
gonzo-fett
gonzo-fett
alysun1
nelsonlin2021
nelsonlin2021
maryjanew
maryjanew
puppylovesuke
puppylovesuke
qiuyan
qiuyan

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 12.

—-

gonzo-fett – Great performance and feel overall. Only thing I’d say is to double check the music as some of the notes were incorrect.

alysun1 – Performance was great! Only thing I’d say is to work on keeping it a little more steady (timing wise).

nelsonlin2021 – So listening to the opening phrase (first 30 seconds) of each performance, I can already hear that you have cleaned up some of the unwanted string noise and increased the clarity of picked notes in the chords. So off the bat, I can already tell that you know what to do and what to work on. As I listen to the rest, there’s only a few chords that have tricky transitions or just full barre chords (that are hard for everybody) that trip you up a little bit.

So I’d say target your practice in these areas and keep doing what you’re doing. Because you’re practicing has already produced a great result 🙂

maryjanew – Excellent start, MJ! I saw your note about being short on time this month, but I think with a little bit more practice you’ll have it down.

Also, give the picado technique a shot. Great song for working on this technique 🙂

puppylovesuke – Excellent performance with great feel!

qiuyan – Fantastic performance overall! There’s only a few times where you’re ahead of the beat. So my suggestion is to practice with the tab player with Stephen and I. And record yourself. Listen back to make sure you’re locked in with me.

jeg143 – Performance sounded great! Keep working on that B Melody 🙂

Unfortunately, you submitted past our deadline so I won’t be able to give you an entry for this month. I tried to give everyone a friendly reminder on the 30th. But the good news is there are five more chances to enter for the prize.

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 9.

—-

seoulkim – Bravo, excellent performance! You had a beautiful sustain throughout most of this performance, so I would focus on the chord shapes that were harder, produced buzz, or had less sustain. And one tip for the Dm7 in bar 2, keep your middle finger barred at the first joint (covering strings 1 and 2). That’ll increase sustain 🙂

jnjmalos – Well done! I’d recommend playing along with Stephen and I in the tab player. That’ll help smooth out any timing issues. Try 4 or 8 bars sections at a time.

And don’t be afraid to give the picado technique a shot 🙂

lisadmh – Performance was perfect, only thing I’m hearing is that you’re cutting that one bar (that repeats twice) of the C chord short. So just watch out for that. Other than that, it had a great feel! Very impressive to hear so much progress in your playing 🙂

riley_ukulele – A lot of the measures are played with beautiful feel. It just sounds like you need a little bit more practice and I did see your note about how busy this month was. Keep practicing when time permits and I have no doubt you’ll have it flowing from start to end beautifully 🙂

misterbones – That intro was epic! Love it and very creative. So for a lot of this song you’re locked into the groove. For ex: 39 to 49 sec is super tight. But there’s other times where you’re a little loose.

What I would suggest is to play along with the tab player with Evan. Take a four bar section but slow it down to at least 70%. And record yourself. Listen back and analyze if you matched him perfectly or not. If you’re locked in with him, record yourself playing at the same speed without him and analyze.

This has always been the best way for me to work on timing and groove.

dal08260 – Excellent performance!

pysanky – Beautifully played, well done!

ivo_zag – Well done! The one area I’d work on is increasing the sustain. I’m hearing a bit of choppy/staccato sound in your playing. Try playing at a slower tempo and keeping your fingers held down for the entire note(s) duration.

You can also check out this lesson that Matt taught for more tips for increasing sustain.

andrewvh – Nice job, Andrew! Give the picado technique a shot. Great song for working on this technique 🙂

tessiert – Excellent performance! Keep doing what you’re doing with your practicing, because it’s working! Only thing I’d say is to gradually start to push yourself to go faster. Try 5 or 10 bpm faster from here.

[Andrew]

@jbmills07 – Excellent start for the May Challenge, Justin! Slow the tempo down as you keep practicing. Look forward to hearing where you get it at the end of the month 🙂

@mark1256 – Great performance and you nailed the playful feel! Well done, Mark 🙂

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 6.

—-

ajk101 – Well done! Playing sounds great, only thing I’d say is that there’s a section in the B Melody that was a tiny bit rushed. So just work on timing in that part. And keep up the great work!

Also, bring down the level that you’re recording at. It’s sounding a bit like it’s clipping (at/above the max).

ldarrow – Sounds great, Linda! Love to see when you guys challenge yourself 🙂

Nothing to really critique. Keep practicing and keep up the good work!

gstriph – Playing sounds great, Jerry! To answer your question, I’d play along with the bass track with the metronome on throughout. Tap your foot as you go along and try to focus more so on the click than what the bass is doing. I’ll email you this play-along track 🙂

biancak – I love the contrasting feels. Great idea and great playing!

kdeacon7 – excellent first challenge post! Playing sounds great! Here’s one tip for working on timing. Switch the tab player into synthetic mode and activate the metronome. Take one section at a time and loop it. Slow it down to whatever speed you need and try to tap your foot along as you go. Repeat for the next section (ignoring the ritardando). And when you feel comfortable with that, start to gradually boost the tempo.

rafaela – Beautiful playing. Very impressive!

brettboy – Killer groove, so much fun to watch! Great job, Brett 🙂

lynnzo – Beautifully played, Lynn! Keep up the great work 🙂

joe150 – Bravo, Joe! This is the best performance I’ve heard from you to date. Keep up the excellent work!

kidelozzi – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

lyndallk – Beautifully played with great feeling and interpretation.

marygrace – I did see your note for me on this forum post, and it was my pleasure! You played it beautifully and I was honored to share it 🙂

jbmills07 – I love how you added a stronger feel for the C Melody. Doing that really breathes life and emotion into these performances. Overall it was excellent, the only thing I’d suggest is to use the middle (4th string) and ring (2nd string) to grab the Gm/C7. That’ll make the switch back and forth to F easier. Keep up the excellent work, Justin!

[Andrew]

Here’s everyone on page 5.

—-

moonshine – great job! There were a few notes that you held out a little bit longer than what’s notated in the music. Therefore, I’d recommend playing along with Stephen and I in the tab player. That’ll help smooth out any timing issues.

And don’t be afraid to give the picado technique a shot 🙂

shmu88 – it was amazing Sam! I was honored to share it in our newsletter 🙂

P.S. Don’t forget to add the premium member tag to your next challenge post.

peiching – Thank you for the kind words and your performance was beautiful. Check out our harmonics course for help with that technique.

tim0721 – Here’s my feedback for you 🙂

casadot349 – Bravo, that was amazing! The biggest tip I can give you is to work on timing. And one of the best ways to work on that is to play along with the tab player. Evan’s playing will act as a guide to help keep you in check. And try to tap your foot along and sway to the groove of the band as you play. That’s another good way to feel the beat.

katazumiri – That was amazing! Keep doing what you’re doing and slowly push yourself to build the speed. Keep up the great work!

[Andrew]

@cararozy – You’re good! Look forward to watching it 🙂

[Andrew]

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

[Andrew]

@jnjmalos – Your video is showing as private. Can you set it to public?

[Andrew]

@leb397 – can you upload your video to YouTube and share the link here? Unfortunately, our upload feature is primarily for photos.

[Andrew]

That’s awesome to hear, Mel! Keep up the great work 🙂

[Andrew]

@kdeacon7 – All good now, thx for uploading to YouTube 🙂

[Andrew]

Hi Toni, jump into this lesson. It explains rhythms and there’s 11 exercises that you can practice with.

When I taught private lessons, my students had the most success with timing by learning to read music. I’d recommend checking out our course 🙂

[Andrew]

@ukandrea – Fantastic news! Thank you so much for putting that together with Corey 🙂

And amazing playing, bravo!

@nthibode – Beautifully played, Nathalie 🙂

[Andrew]

Welcome, Gerald! Happy to have you on-board.

Please add that tune to our request list. We do vote-offs from that list every few months 🙂

[Author]

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