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@marianne, thank you so much for that! It means a lot that you liked how I played your lovely tune. 🥰
Very fun, cute topic! I’m definitely going to attempt Free Fallin’, though it’s likely to be a train wreck because I am bad at literally all the techniques involved. 😂 I probably shouldn’t try to learn that one in two days, that’s a whole month-er for me. Really looking forward to this challenge! 🙂
@leb397, thank you so much, Lousia! I know, I can’t believe that happened. It was so shocking and sudden, even though I knew that could happen at any time – that with congestive heart failure her condition could abruptly worsen – I felt hopeful that I’d have a little longer with her. She was my BFF, that’s so true. Best Feline Forever. She still is. Thank you, I think she was somewhere between the little wolf and the little raccoon. 😻😂 I loved her a lot and really miss her sweet cuddles and pets – that she loved so much, too. 😿 She would literally run if she thought I was going toward our “cuddle spots” and often wait there for me. But I’m also glad her pain is over now and that she didn’t get to the extreme she was when I got to the emergency vet when I was home alone with her. I’m still very much in the grieving stage, but soon I hope I can focus more on the sweet memories I got to have with her. Thank you again! 😻🧡
@grannieannie, thank you so much, Annie! I write this with tears in my eyes, still, because I so appreciate your kind words and the sweet memories I had with her for a short time. 🧡 But everyone who knew her and saw us together could tell she and I had a special connection. And I feel like all the pictures I have capture that. I will cherish that a lot. She also helped me grow as a person because I’m not good at dealing with medical things whatsoever and I went through some of the hardest things ever with her, and learned that I can do those things. Because I was there with her until the moment she died and even after she died, I held and pet her. And now she’s in heaven eating tortilla chips with my other kitty who is eating Cheetos and moths, flying around. 😻
@johanna2509, thank you so much, my friend! It is good to hear from you and that means so much. 🧡 I also still have tears in my eyes because the heartache is so real. Anyone who has had a special connection with an animal knows how devastating their loss is. And I won’t go into detail, but her passing was extremely difficult, but I know she couldn’t feel anything because of the meds. But I am so glad I got to hold her and say goodbye. And yes, still have all the wonderful memories, pictures, videos, her toys, and towels (because she loved to sleep on towels) and I got a little ceramic paw print in lieu of ashes or anything. I hope it’s okay that I share all that, but that’s the reality of it and why the grief and pain is so real. But I’m hoping I’ll soon be able to work through that and focus on the sweet memories I have gotten to have with her. That’s why I’m so glad I have a bunch of videos and pictures of her being adorable and sweet to help me remember that more. Thank you for the lovely comment, it really means a lot! I hope you’re doing well, Johanna. 😻
@janaq1, thank you so much, Jana! It means so much that you say that. I can’t remember if I said, but my family has said that if I had not taken her she might’ve been alone outside when all this happened (because she was an outdoor kitty before I took her). So, I am grateful that I could be there with her and give her as much love as I could in the short time I had her. Thank you, your words mean a lot to me right now. 😻I thought I would share this. I took this video only a couple of days before she went to heaven. I took it on my phone, please excuse the poor video quality.
Thank you all again for your very kind, encouraging comments, they help so much and mean so much. 😻🧡
Hey friends! I just wanted to let all my friends here know who admired my kitty cat, too, that her condition deteriorated suddenly this last Thursday night and we had to put her down. It’s very hard to think about the details of it, but her breathing worsened and she was in critical condition by the time I got her to the emergency vet. I am truly heartbroken by this. She and I had a very special connection instantly and deeply, and even though I didn’t have her long, I loved her so much. It’s so hard to be without her. But she’ll have a special place in my heart forever. 🧡
I’ll share the last picture I got to take of her. It was from the same night she passed, only a few hours earlier.
MowgliPerfectSweetPuff @Andrew, thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words, they mean a lot! So glad you felt I captured the feel of the piece. That’s what I hope most to do when I play music. The beauty of the piece inspires feeling, as well, but I also impart my own feeling into it. That’s what I feel is happening. 😂 For me that’s really true though.
@brettboy, that was truly gorgeous playing!!Hey @Andrew, forgot to say…
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
… Once again.
Maybe I can remember in June, so far I’m dropping the ball. 😂
@grannieannie, thank you so much!! It was a lot of musical information to pack into my brain, but such a beautiful piece! 🥰 Yes, she is a little cuddle fiend so anything that interferes with that (like me playing ukulele), makes her squawk in protest. 😅 I do love her a lot. She is so precious and sweet. You had such a lovely performance with SOTDOTB! That one seems really tricky. Loved seeing your little friend, too! 🥰
@leb397, thank you so much, Louisa!! 🥰 I will keep working on it because part of the issue was that I kept forgetting what came next. For some reason kept switching the 0333 and 0353. 😅 But thank you so much! Thank the Lord, she is still doing okay. The meds seem to be helping her breathing but I take it hour by hour. It’s extremely emotional for me because I love her a lot. But yes, she can’t play as much now, only gently play, but she still loves attention and cuddles. I’m crying. 😂😻😭 Anyway, thank you, friend, I really appreciate your support with that! 🥰😊
I forgot to say, you used a raccoon emoji, she is a little raccoon!! 😻😂🦝🐱
Edit: I’ve already edited this twice, I’m being extra spastic. 😂 But another funny thing that made Marianne’s piece challenging was that parts of it went SUPER high up the fretboard! I always play my googly-eyed soprano uke so anything above the 12th fret doesn’t exist to me. So that was very tricky to navigate. Also that meant I had to play my concert uke that has a higher action and I’m less comfortable with it. Extremely challenging on multiple levels but well worth the effort for the incredible beauty of the song! 😊
Here’s my take on Marianne’s brilliant piece, “Contemplations”:
I did manage to learn this one in a few days, though parts of it were certainly very challenging – especially those huge leaps, some of the chord changes, and also just the length of it (so hard to play that long without messing up, lol!). It’s still not 100% perfect, but I think I did okay with it in that amount of time. That said, I did learn the section with the tremolo for an earlier challenge this year because that was the technique I was focusing on for that month (tremolo). So Marianne’s piece was one song I used to practice that technique. 😊 I learned the rest of the song for this challenge. I somewhat “YouTube-ified” this video because I posted it publicly on my wee lil’ YouTube channel. 😂
(However, no idea why, the film quality of my webcam suddenly tanked. It could be because the lighting wasn’t good. Oh well, lol!)
This is such an incredible piece of music, thanks so much to Marianne for creating it and sharing it and to Steven for teaching it (though – admittedly – I watched the lesson when it came out and not again as I learned it this time, so that might’ve been a mistake, and might show in my awkward fingering in places). 😂😂 I hope I somewhat did it justice, especially with the feeling behind it, though like I said it still isn’t perfect by any means.
Thanks to @Andrew and crew for everything you do! And lovely work by everyone this month!! 😍
@misterbones, haha, so true! The Imperial March is quintessential Star Wars. It sounds really good on the bass. 😀
@leb397, so magical that you’re playing your banjolele so much more! Ha, the loudness of the banjo-uke is why I don’t play it as often because I have neighbors. 😂 You’re making me want to play it more now, anyway, though yours has a much richer and sweeter sound than mine! Thank you so much, like I told you in the other thread, she is doing okay today. I have to monitor her breathing every day and it’s stable for now. She is still doing all the important kitty things, eating, drinking, litter-box-ing, and most importantly, cuddling. I let her gently play but not vigorously like she was doing. Her sweet little heart needs to be treated delicately now. Thank you so much for asking and for the support with that! 😻@grannieannie, I really appreciate that so much! She is my little soulmate to be honest. 😻 I’ve never felt such a special connection to a kitty before and I grew up with cats that I loved a lot. But she’s my sweet, special little friend. This helped me realize even more how precious and dear every moment we have together is and how we should cherish the time we have in our lives. With her, things could change at any moment. So, I’m just enjoying the time I have with her now and trying to make her as comfortable and happy as I can.
@leb397, thank you so much, Louisa (hope I spelled that right)! 😻 Normally we don’t call each other by our real names because nick names are kind of fun, but it seems fitting here to use real names. Thank you, her sweetness makes this situation even more heartbreaking. She is doing okay today, the meds seem to be helping her breathing a good amount. She definitely is much less energetic, but still does want to play. I have to be careful to not let her get too wound up though because she is fragile now. She still loves her cuddles, though. So, enjoying the time I have with her, however long that might be. 😻😥@leb397, not sure if you will see this, but for those who said kind things about my new kitty cat, I wanted to mention that I found out yesterday that she is experiencing congestive heart failure. This was heartbreaking to discover.
I found out when I was going to sleep with her and noticed that she was breathing abnormally heavily while sleeping. Then she got up, stared at me, and walked into her cat carrier on her own (she hates being in there). She was letting me know we had to go. I was there until 5am this morning but they gave her meds and they are helping her for now. Some cats can go for a while with this condition, so please pray she does well for a while with no pain. She’s the sweetest kitty I’ve ever had and my heart has broken for her struggle. She is okay right now though and her breathing seems better. So yes, just thought I’d share that and some pictures from today. 🥰❤️
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IMG_20250519_1849249162 Just wanted to leave a few replies to the entries so far! Hopefully I remember all the ones I listened to (roughly in order). 😂
@marianne, truly gorgeous performance as always! You are an inspiring musician. Really impeccable playing. I’m so honored to try playing your song this month, hopefully I can manage it and do it justice. 🥰
@nelsonlin2021, very beautiful play through of that tune! I especially loved the parts with the tremolo but the feeling throughout was lovely. I’m trying that one and listening to your performance I realized I forgot how the rhythm goes to the second melody (the non -tremolo part). Anyway, very lovely! 😊
@deadbuggy, such a lovely performance, you really bring extra life to all the music you play! Beautiful! 😊
@misterbones, that was perfect!! That really sounds amazing. Did you add a bit of the Imperial March to the end, or was that in the lesson? 😂 Always look forward to hearing your performances and that one didn’t disappoint! 😊
@leb397, I saved your reply for last because of the high rambling potential on my part! 😂 I loved that performance so much, that was really perfect and sounded so good on your antique banjolele! Some songs don’t always translate well to the banjo uke but that worked perfectly! Thought it sounded great start to finish! I oddly was thinking of starting a topic about practice on here just as you asked that question because I’m so curious what others do with that. 😅 I’ll say that my approach of waiting to the very last second possible has backfired a few times, but shockingly goes pretty well most of the time. I can usually tell by listening to the song / watching the lesson play through if I can get away with that. I know that some techniques and styles are way harder for me to learn, for instance, like strumming. I may never learn strumming, I guess that’s fine. I haven’t fully given up yet. 😂😂😅 You “strumpt” so beautifully in that tune! I’ve already rambled a lot, but let’s just say things have gotten much, much worse since I wrote about that. 😂 It’s all okay and with each issue, I’m so blessed to have so much emotional and practical support from those around me. I might write about it in the thread I started about my new kitty cat here. Anyway, lovely work, friend! 🥰❤️@shmu88, that was a very lovely play through of that tune!! Really perfect! 😊
@leb397, there have definitely been tunes here that I’ve felt that way about. One really memorable one was the tune Always With Me from Spirited Away that Steven created. So beautiful, but I had soooo much trouble memorizing that one because it was so long and intricate. The tune you’re learning seems the same sort of thing.My method for practicing RC101 tunes has changed since I started here. I used to start at the beginning of the month but now I sometimes start practicing a week or two before the end of the month, or sometimes the same day I record. 😅😅😅😂😂 But it depends on how tricky the tune is and also how much mental energy I have to spare for the challenge. Everyone has a “challenge quota” each month. The last year or so it’s been harder to pick challenging tunes because life has been so insane.
That said, I picked Marianne’s tune this month which is advanced difficulty and………………… haven’t even started practicing, but that’s where brazen and misplaced overconfidence comes in! 😉😂
Hi Mike from Uke Republic! That’s your formal title here. 😅
Thank you so much for all the uke contributions in the challenges and also for your enthusiastic descriptions of them in the challenge videos! Those are always fun to watch! 😊
I fully intend to visit your shop some day once I escape the deepening mire of poverty in which I find myself now. I haven’t seen any “fancy ukes” in person yet. But I want to go to one of those meetups, too!
Oh and thank you so much, I won an electric ukulele in my first challenge here (almost three years ago now)!! Thanks for all you do to support Rock Class 101! 😊
