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Hello uke friends!! I just want to say thank you all so much for your kind words about my pseudo-entry with the piano! Your encouragement means so much to me and really honestly moves me. I have so many thoughts, but I’ll finally be able to reply more this weekend, especially about the “cool jazz” tangent 😂 but also all the new entries I’ve missed! So many hearts to this talented, thoughtful, and kind community of RC101! 🥰
Also, is it just me, or did the appearance of the forum change? I don’t know if @Andrew is around as much, but hopefully this isn’t another glitch. 😂
@marianne, such gorgeous playing as always! I love that composition by Matt. Beautifully done! 😊 @misterbones, wow, such a lovely version of that tune you came up with! Really an amazing performance! How did you create the instrumental melody line, by ear? 😊 @abster, beautifully played! Honestly, perfect! I love that you’re playing with even more emotion now, another layer to your skill! 😊
Really looking forward to more performances this month! Again, I’ll share the uke version, I’ve just been, frankly, really distracted by my new piano gift, but also experiencing anxious avoidance about the difficulty of the uke version because for some reason I really struggle with jazzy chords like that on uke. 😂 I guess that’s another layer to this challenge for me!
Hello uke friends! With an alleged blizzard looming over Wisconsin the next few days, how should I spend my time but horsing around with music stuff. I am well stocked with food and water, so just praying the power doesn’t go out – which it well may. Further nort’, they are suppose to be getting record snowfall measured in feet so that’s pretty crazy. Praying everyone stays safe. 🥰
Anyway, so this is something I have been working on. I know this won’t count as an entry, but I’ve basically also fallen back in love with my first musical love which is playing piano and, well, like misterbones, I also fall in love too easily. Or back in love. Sigh, trying so hard to focus…
So, this is just a little snippet that I amused myself with way too much, which is why I thought I would share this sample. This is the kind of singing “style” I am going with, but I was so scared someone would hear me, so I was extra whispery. This week coming up, hopefully I can get a better take because the neighbor who listens in to everything I do won’t be there. 😂😂😂 What is my life, I just can’t say…
Refocusing again – I do intend to also learn the uke version, but I am having an anxious moment with the difficulty of those jazzy chords that Ashley plays. Also, listening to her singing, I knew there was absolutely no way I could sing in the angelic style she sings in, so I am blazing my own trail with my approach to this tune. Trying to. Okay, but just sharing this sample for fun of me playing a piano version. I hope you enjoy / find the minor chaos funny! 😂
Oh, a fun thing about this is, because I had no idea how to play jazz chords on piano at all, I took the uke chords with the lyrics from RC101’s arr. and put it into ChatGPT and told it to tell me note-for-note what all the chords were and that’s how I learned them. 😂
Warning: The rustling at the beginning might be really loud. It’s also hard to say if it’s too quiet or too loud overall because I swear my videos sound different on every device…
Thank you if you give it a listen! Going to go back and listen to the few entries so far! 🙂 🥰
I love the idea of this challenge! It’s an interesting change of pace to have only two options, not being paralyzed by choice for once! 😂 They’re both great options, too. I’m already cooking up something pretty fun, hopefully it works out, many layers of challenges and trying new things for me! I also really like the uke prize this month! I have a sopranino in willow wood and that brand of uke, but not a soprano! Looking forward to hearing what everyone does! 🙂
Many congrats, @lhamilton, Linda! 🙂 That uke is pretty neat! @mysticrick, that Kanile’a is sounding quite gorge, beautiful playing, too! Brilliant work by all this month!! 😀
Hello ukulele friends!! 🙂
Uh oh, guess what?! I learned this today, LOL, in literally one hour. Well, relearned it. If I hadn’t previously learned this a long while ago, I probably would’ve been in trouble, and thankfully the old gears in my brain turned surprisingly well. I have to do a bunch of stuff for my nephew’s birthday party today – including wrap gifts and make cookies, so there just ain’t no time for more tries! Overall, I am pretty pleased I was able to relearn this and get some of the feeling I hoped to achieve, though I forgot to do the vibrato; I got some rubato and dynamics, I think. I really love this one; it’s one of my favorite ukulele tunes. 🥰
Here is my not-perfectly-smooth take of Spanish Romance:
NGL, I will miss @Andrew’s feedback this month and any month where we don’t get it and it seems pretty much everyone feels the same – so I also hope for a Gandalf-the-White-esque return of his feedback. 😂
I also hope to smooth this out even more and post my take of this one on my lil’ YouTube channel publicly later because it’s such a lovely one – and quite obvs, attribute it to RC101. 🥰
Oh, I was going to say that I look forward to going back and listening to all the entries I missed! Good jorb everyone!! 🥰
@marianne, so amazing! Perfectly played as always!! 🥰 Oh I was going to say, I found it interesting that one was described as classical, I can see it, but it’s almost like classical surfer rock (if that’s a thing)! 😅 Anyway, great performance!! Also your sound quality is so good!
@malku2603, sounds so great!! You already have a good sense of the rhythms and it’s sounding really smooth! Also your focus is on point – if someone walked into the room while I was playing, my anxiety would kick in. Great job!! 😊Uh oh, I haven’t even started my entry (shocker) but hopefully I can work on it today since, well, I ain’t got no dates! Enh, I should probably be relieved about that. I’m buying myself flowers today, big time! I’ve got a pretty great day planned actually! Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate! 🥰😅😂🌼🌸🌹
Really looking forward to this one, should be super interesting and full of new learnings!! 🙂
When I think about changing the key of a song, I always think of how to do it on piano, still, because in my opinion it’s so much clearer and simpler to visualize that process on piano, seeing how different key signatures are “parallel” – such as major and minor scales. For me, it’s a very visual thing that way. Even while playing ukulele, I still visualize how the scales look on piano. I hope you magically know what I mean by that, Matt, as you always seem to do! 😂
So, if you play a chord that starts on the “C” note of the C major scale, that is the same thing as playing a chord on the “F” note of the F Major scale. Those are the “1’s” of each of those scales. An “F” note is also the “4” of a C Major scale.
Does that make any sense? So sorry. This is always how I’ve thought about changing keys on instruments. 😂
I have returned to share another little clip I recorded tonight of another piano tune I’m relearning! I haven’t forgotten about this month’s RC101 challenge, but yes, I am infatuated with my new piano. 😂
This is a really fun ragtime tune, The Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin! I relearned a bunch more even after recording this, but it’s just a matter of smoothing out the new material. I hope anyone who sees this enjoys it (and that it’s audible)! 🙂
@leb397, you’re so welcome, friend! 🥰 That’s so magical that you and @mysticrick play in a group together and you’ll also get to play that uke!! I’ve never even seen a Kanile’a ukulele in real life, or held one, let alone played one, so I really hope you enjoy that special experience!! They do look and sound so beautiful, though, o’ course. 😊
Hmmm, well, some days / weeks / months have less stress than others for sure. This week was pretty stressful for multiple reasons, and so the new anxiety symptoms were particularly bad some days with the heart palpitations and chest pain, but it’s just a matter of taking things one day at a time, breathing, and trying to always pray and stay connected to God – all of that, an ongoing challenge. Thank you so much, whenever I can, I want to put everything I have into the creative things I love to do. 😊 And thank you, I love to do that, to chat and leave comments with everyone here! 🥰
@dianna, hahaha!!! The BumbKe Bard, I know it was just a typo, but that was pretty funny! “Bumbke” sounds like lesser-known Polish dessert. “MaMA, when will the bumbkes be done?!” (You have to imagine an accent for that to sound right.) 😂 I’m pretty sure I’m part Polish, so that makes this… okay? Anyway, thank you so, so much for that, I really appreciate that, truly! I love that particular song because it’s one I can really pour passionate expression into, especially on piano (I still can find that challenging on ukulele, but it’s the thing I love most about playing music, is using music for emotional, dynamic expression – if possible). Thank you, though, that really means a lot – because I put a lot into that one! 🥰@janaq1, so lovely with Crossing Hemispheres, beautifully played! Always loved that one by Matt! 🙂
@nelsonlin2021, yes, that arrangement is brilliant and you played it so beautifully! I also love a waltz (to listen to, lol)!From what I understand, when sound cuts in and out like that, it can be a connection issue, as in a cord maybe isn’t connecting properly where it’s plugged in. But I’m maybe the worst person to talk to / help with such things as I am currently having my own sound struggles, but I’m working on them, lol.
Awww, wow, I am so honored that you’d want to learn my version of Pathétique and that you’re working on it! I hope you get to finish it and share it (or even share an unfinished portion of it)!! I’ve never had anyone learn one of my arrangements before that I know of! Thank you for that and for your kind words about it – that really means so much! 🙂
@dianna, your harmonics sounded so lovely! Like @Stephen said, they’re so clear and clean-sounding! I’m glad you’ll keep working on those! 🙂
@katazumiri, congrats on the lesson win!! That will be so much fun, I’m so curious what you’ll work on! Ha, about your tune that’s used in Zumba classes – I have actually done that a couple of times, one time was actually at a bachelorette party, which was… fascinating. I survived. I’m not “in shape” or “fit for movement.” I really need to work on that. That actually makes me want to try Zumba-ing again, lol! And thank you for liking my arrangement, that really means a lot! I hope you enjoy your prize!! 🙂Ohhhhh, lorve this topic!! I think I might just re-visit Spanish Romance because I have not played that in a long, long time and basically have forgotten it! It would be interesting to see if I have improved in playing it, as well. Obviously, I’d record a new video! 🙂
Hello again, dear uke friends! I wanted to write some replies, sorry I didn’t get to every one, but I did listen and loved them all!! 🥰
@grannieannie, your composition was absolutely gorgeous! Like Andrew and Marianne said – so sophisticated and deep – really elegant and unique. For some reason, it reminds me of one of John Williams’ film scores for the movie Munich. There’s probably an overlap with the key and the style there, but anyway, so beautiful!! And thank you so much about my entry, I won’t lie to you, it was indeed A LOT of work and the fact that I got that together in two, three hours – I’m not even sure how I did that. The syncing is one of the trickiest parts for sure – syncing the sound to the video, and trying to time when the tabs appear as exactly as possible with what’s being played (though I maybe could’ve been even more precise). Now that I can create tabs, I love to share them in the videos like that whenever I can because that’s how I learned so many songs – was through freely-shared tabs and sheet music, especially when I was a teenager (oh, and also I can barely afford tabs or sheet music now, as an adult, LOL!). Anyway, thank you so much! 🥰
@katazumiri, so very lovely! What a bop that is! I remember you saying that you like to dance and this definitely seems like a dance-worthy one! I may be a big derp and you already said that, but so much fun and so well done! 🥰😊
@misterbones, so very beautiful! I also love that song so much. I actually have that set to my alarm sound in the morning. It’s actually really nice – a less jarring way to wake up. Anyway, I love the version you learned, too! Lower down, it has a lovely, warm sound to it and you perform it perfectly! I actually requested that song on Matt’s Patreon and he picked it and created that beautiful arrangement. So, really I get 5% credit for it?! (No.) 😂 Matt’s version is VERY tricky, for sure, but it’s so well done. That one’s on my list to learn, but it’ll take some doing. He even said in his lesson that you can’t really learn it by ear (like I love to do) which I thought was funny. ANYWAY, sorry, my thoughts can’t stay on track. Really beautifully done! 😊
@akukes73, very lovely performance of Malagueña! Love that one a lot and you perform extremely well! 😊
@marianne, good golly, that was great! Perfectly played harmonics, so impressive! I like how all the more advanced players are learning all the quirky techniques now, like harmonics – in my opinion, a quirky technique. And also, multiple songs! So crazy! I always look forward to your entries and this one did not disappoint!! 🥰😊
@joe150, very beautiful playing and love that song!! 🙂 Oh my word. I just realized I couldn’t think of what song that is because sometimes I have profound trouble with song titles, and it’s only one of the most well known songs of all time, Blackbird (gosh, I hope that’s right…). Anyway, lovely playing! 😊😂
@nelsonlin2021, oh my word, that was crazy good!! I loved that tune when it came out and you play it incredibly! It’s so tricky! I was too intimidated to learn it, but love listening to it! Really beautifully played! Another really tricky thing about that one is playing for 4 minutes straight! That’s a long time to keep going. The one sad thing is that the sound kept cutting out in your harmony parts and that made it hard to hear at times, but thankfully the part where you played the melody came in clearly! 😊
@brettboy, that was completely magical as usual! Very fun to listen to / watch! You are hilarious, plain and simple, but also so skillful! 😊😂
@malku2603, like Andrew said, really amazing progress on this one! The third take sounded so good! Very beautifully played! 😊
@mickan88, so stinkin’ beautiful! Wow, that was well played! Okay, professional! Really that was amazing. I always loved that version of that song by Matt and you did it wonderful justice! 😊
@leb397, your performance was so very beautiful, friend! Such great work with the… tremolo picking? One day I’ll learn what these techniques are called. 😂 Anyway, really gorgeous playing! Thank you so much for your kind words about my entry, I really appreciate that so much!! 🥰😊…
@Andrew, I already emailed you to thank you, but thank you again so much for that! It means so much that you said that and I almost cried, but obviously didn’t actually cry, about that. Obviously. 😂 I really meant everything I said; the things you create have inspired me so much, and obviously countless others, and I see what you and your friends create as “the bar” for quality – though it’s a constant challenge to reach that bar! 😊 I realized videos where it’s just me playing with the tabs on screen is more my speed for videos, but I hope to keep working on at least briefly speaking on camera because I think that’s good for me. 😊 Anyway, thank you again, I’m so encouraged by that! Ha! Coming for your job, maybe one day when I figure out what’s happening (that day will never come, LOL)! 😂Beautiful work by everyone, again sorry I didn’t reply to everyone, but I listened and loved them all! And look forward to the rest (because I think some people haven’t shared yet, maybe?) Great work, friends!! 🥰
Hello again ukulele friends! 😀
I am so excited to catch up on the videos everyone has posted! I listened to a few, but I’m waiting until I can sit down and listen and reply more in depth! I already read through all of Andrew’s feedback, which is why I am excited to reply, since he pointed out how amazing they are. I pushed it a bit too far tonight for my old bones, which is why I’m not replying to everyone else right now. 😂 Just going to share the fruits of my labor tonight.
I don’t even know how I physically did all of this, but just this evening until now: I recorded this video (which took several tries to get it even this “perfect”) and involved recording the video on my phone and the audio on my laptop, attempted to edit the sound using Audacity (really, really hoping it worked, but if not, I have the audio interface coming and hopefully that will solve all my sound issues, cough, I’m sure it will, lol), edited the video (boy was that a …challenge; it involved lining up the sound clip to the video, cutting up the sheet music into “chunks” and adding in each chunk one at a time and trying to time each one as perfectly as I could with the music), finished editing in text and final tweaks, downloaded that, uploaded to YouTube, created a thumbnail, wrote the YouTube description, and yeah, I guess that was it. Now I’m sharing it here. That felt like a lot for one evening in a couple, few hours. 😂
Needless to say, I had a very late dinner, lol. But when I was done, I felt pretty proud of what I created and that I managed to accomplish all that in one sitting, and that it all seemed to work out. It made me feel a bit emotional, honestly, because I wasn’t sure I could do it. Also, this particular song means a lot to me and I feel very connected to it, so it felt even more personal. I hope y’alls like it! 😊
Anyway, really looking forward to listening through the videos I missed and commenting later! 🥰
And thank you so much for these challenges, @Andrew! That’s part of why it makes me emotional because I couldn’t even imagine being able to create something like this without the inspiring example of the songs and videos you make, and all that I’ve learned through Rock Class 101. I don’t think it would’ve happened, to be perfectly honest. Destiny led me to this group; that’s how I feel. I had some skill, but pretty much everything I learned about ukulele, I learned from here, then from Matt through his lessons. So… thank you. 😊
Anyway, here ’tis:
@lhamilton, that was very magical! Love to hear some clawhammer up in here!! That sounded so lovely and fun! 😊
@grannieannie, that’s really crazy! I have heard of that. I think I remember Matt mentioning that’s something that can happen with time for those who play by ear. Or did you always have that issue? I can see how that would be so frustrating. I think it’s okay that you just write down what you hear; it doesn’t have to be in a specific key if you’re just playing by yourself. My brother also loves to do that – he has created some tunes about daily living with his 4 kids that are quite spectacular, such as the hit, “It’s Bathing Time!” that he would sing to his kids. 😂😂 I think that’s beautiful and interesting that people have that “internal musical voice” that can create tunes that way. 😊So, my recording struggle has continued, including for this month’s challenge. I heard from a few people that the little piano sample I recorded on my phone (that I posted in Showcase Your Playing here) still sounds really quiet. I did a bit of research and decided that I will invest in an audio interface that will help with recording both the piano and ukulele, I hope. I still will create a video with the tabs on screen for this challenge and will attempt to get the best audio I can with what I have, because not sure the audio interface will get here in time to use that. That’s okay, though, it’ll be good going forward if it works out! 😊
