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One way to overcome stage fright is to personify your uke and turn it into an Emotional Support Ukulele. That actually kind of has helped me. 😅 One of the googly eyes fell inside of it though and now it’s permanently stuck there… 😂
But I think the only way to improve stage fright is to go through the scary situations. But also, share your playing with people who are kind and supportive as much as possible, like I have here on Rock Class 101 and with Matt in private lessons – and with certain people I know that I can trust. Sharing that way has helped improve my confidence in playing and speaking so much and I’m forever grateful for that. If you have that kind of fear, it’s always there, but there are ways to help make it better.
Really looking forward to this lesson, thank you so much! 😊
@katazumiri, really beautiful! That seems like something you could dance to. I mean, people who dance could dance to that, not me. 😂 I think it’s really fun to create a song based on a randomly generated chord progression, too. Really lovely! 😊
@maryjanew, thank you kindly for that!! 😊💕 Haha that is so strange, but true, that you do have to practice your own original songs, especially when you come up with ideas more difficult than you normally, naturally play. 😅 Hahaha that’s why you have to record as much as you can and why I still often do that, but I’ve definitely had that happen, too. 😂 I’ll often noodle for a while and then if I come up with something I really like, then I’ll record it. Looking forward to seeing what else everyone shares, such amazing entries so far by @deadbuggy and @janaq1! 😊
@grannieannie, thank you so, so much for that! I can’t say how much I appreciate all this encouragement and your kind words. 😊 I may update that one relatively soon because it’s definitely evolved since that video, a lot. 😂 I really enjoy sharing my thought process behind what I create, and hearing about others’ thought processes when they create, too. Thank you again!! 😊💕
@janaq1, that was absolutely beautiful, gorgeous composition! So cool and funny to read about how that lovely tune came to be. 😅 Really lovely!@nat-uke, haha!! @gi_gi_ and I have liked to bring up the Drewmpa Loompas whenever we can just so @Andrew never forgets about his destiny in this world. 😂😉😅 The original Willy Wonka will always be the best one, cherish those golden tickets!! And indeed the potential of winning that gorgeous uke in the fall! 😉😂💕
Congrats @emiliano!! Such a beautiful uke! You’re so lucky! Agreed with @gi_gi_ that you’ll do it justice and hopefully no issues with customs! Look forward to hearing you play it!! 😊
@nat-uke, congrats on winning those ten golden tickets straight from the Drewmpa Loompa’s hands!! Really awesome! 😉😅@Andrew, thank you so much for taking the time to look at that! 😊 And thank you for letting me know that’s what the harmonies are. Maybe it would be better to keep it simple. And it’s really nice when there’s no wrong answer; that doesn’t happen very often in life. 😅 Thank you so much again!! 😊💕
@lyndallk, thank you so much for that, friend!! 😁💕 To me, that’s one of the most exciting things about playing a musical instrument, is being more creative and free with it. But the more technical knowledge you have, the more creative abilities like that can thrive (contrary to my strange superstitions about that), which is one of many reasons why I’m so grateful to RC101, for teaching me so much. For some reason, if I’m speaking AND playing together, I feel less anxious doing both things on camera, usually. 😂 I think because it feels more casual. Can’t wait to see what you share in this challenge and see what everyone shares!! 😁💕 Also Happy Fourth of July, to people who celebrate!! 😁🇺🇸🎆🎇
@leb397, thank you so much for that, my friend!! 😁💕😊 This is a strange thing for me that when I’m talking AND playing uke, like explaining something that I’m trying to create, I feel less anxious on camera, usually. I think because it feels more casual, more like talking to an extremely non-judgemental, kind, and encouraging friend. 😂 Right now for the title, I’m leaning towards, “Farmer Jessop’s Crusty Old Peanut Butter Jar,” but we’ll see. 😉😅😂😂😅
Haha!! That is always a surprise when you appear in the newsletter. 😁 That was a really great performance though. Ha I thought you looked lovely in the video! There were definitely a couple of times when I shared something and thought crud, hope they don’t use that for something (because I filmed right after work or something 😅). Anyway, I hope you get a chance to share something in this challenge too! All of Andrew’s originals are very lovely and a couple don’t seem too tricky, if you aren’t thinking of creating your own. Thank you again! 😊💕
@emiliano, well, that’s kind of awkward. 😅 I didn’t realize that’s what tapping was. I’ve seen Matt play that technique when he plays Jake Shimabakuro’s “Dragon” but I didn’t realize that’s what he was doing, right-hand fretting. I’ll have to look those songs up and maybe look into tapping more because that’s definitely a technique I’d find useful. Thank you for pointing that out! 😂😊
Also, I thought I might call my tune “The Light of Hidden Flowers,” which is a line from a Pablo Neruda poem that I thought about today, because the song so far is about the hidden beauty of things, the often mysterious process of creation, and also love that you have to keep within yourself for whatever reason and you can’t speak about it. Not that the song will maybe live up to such a beautiful line of poetry but we’ll see. 😉😂
Or it might be called Ol’ Farmer Jessop’s Crusty Peanut Butter Jar if it turns into clawhammer. 😅😅😂😂
@dianna, thank you so much!! 😊💕 I’m so happy that you also found that concept of noodling inspiring and it caused you to try it too! I’m so happy that @Andrew created this community so that we can share things like that. For me, the spontaneous kind of playing is very exciting because it’s a process of creating new music. Do you think you’ll try to write your own tune this month? Thank you for the kind words again!! 😅😊💕
@deadbuggy, agreed with @gi_gi_ that was perfect! Really, really lovely tune! 😊💕@gi_gi_, I’m so happy about that! Matt actually explained to me what noodling was; I didn’t even know that was a thing until he explained it. 😅 But at the same time, I was noodling since I started playing uke without even realizing it. 😂 It makes me so happy that knowing that opened up your playing even more. To me that’s so exciting, when you have more and more freedom to create, to play freely. I learned so much from learning Rock Class songs and talking to @Andrew, too. That video of his about songwriting was perfect. I hope a lot of people here try that. 😁 Also, I already know your song will be beautiful. 😅😊
@gi_gi_ thank you so much, my friend!! 😁💕 I know, obviously you know I’m excited, too!! 😂😳😉 It would be really cool if you did try to write a tune of your own, that would be amazing. 😊
@emiliano, thank you so much! I don’t know why, but when the challenges here include some option for writing originals, I get overly hyper about it. 😂 I’m so glad you like the mega slides! I think it’s really fun to have ridiculously big slides in uke songs because they can sound kinda goofy, but they were suppose to sound pretty and flowy in this one, so I’m glad you thought they were! 😊
Well, I thought about doing the kind of harmonics that I think are called artificial harmonics (the kind you do with just your right hand) to get the higher up melody notes with the lower F chord, but I couldn’t get the a10 note to make any sound. Then I thought I would try right-hand fretting the same notes and it kind of worked. 😅 Is that called tapping? I’ve wanted to be able to do that for a while because some songs I’ve tried to arrange could use that technique, having low chords and a very high up melody, but I don’t know if that’s uncouth to play that way (right-hand fretting for a right-hand player)…
And I don’t have a name for it yet. That’s really the last thing I do is figure out a title. 😅 Thank you again!
That’s really scary, I hope you stay safe!!
Just want to say that I knew this challenge would also include some of @Andrew’s lovely originals, which are always very beautiful and inspiring to me, but I still have to choose the more creative option in this challenge because I love to do that.
@nat-uke, what you said in your write up about Yellow Submarine cracked me up. “Yellow Submarine once in a while is good, but over and over all month…” 😂 Paraphrasing, how you said it was funnier. Also your performance was very lovely! Along with everyone else’s this month. 😊
I really enjoy reading through all the feedback for these challenges by @Andrew, always so informative and interesting! Thank you so much! 😊
Shazam!! I had this whole post and video locked and loaded for as soon as this challenge started! 😂
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…Hello friends! 😊😅
I was so excited for this original songs challenge that I immediately started working on this – as soon as I knew what the theme was. 😅 I tried to explain a bit of my reasoning for what I created so far in the video.
But now, listening to it back, I realize it needs to be refined *a lot* more. I just like the idea of having huge slides in this, but I need to work on making them sound smoother, softer, and subtler. Even since I filmed this, I have changed aspects of the melody and also decided I may use the right hand fretting more sparingly, but it was fun to try, lol. I may still include it. Also, it might turn into clawhammer because I haven’t made an original clawhammer arrangement yet, somehow. 😅
So, please consider this a very overly eager first draft. 😂 It might be interesting to see how much it changes over the course of a month-ish. I’m part of a wedding this month, so we’ll see how things time out with that. Thank you so much for listening and for all the fun of these challenges! 😊💕
P.S. I’m literally cry-laughing about how insanely quickly I replied to this new challenge. 😂😅😂😭😂
