Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
@leb397, thank you so much, my friend!! Once I smooth out some of the hiccups, I hope I can get the rubato-i-ness throughout that song. I actually have played the first part of it way more because it’s more like what I play when I’m just relaxing, or messing around, when I play uke. The beginning part of that song really affected how I try to create songs for uke because I loved the sound of it so much. I recommend learning that one; it’s fun. Haha, well, that’s a brilliant idea to leave googly eyes randomly around in public, but I don’t think I should try that with my track record – I already have trouble behaving in public, obviously. It’s a genetic trait. 😅😂 Hope you enjoyed your trip, glad to have you back!! 😊💕
@johanna2509, congratulations!! That’s such a good choice. I have the same Flight electric uke as @lhamilton (I think) and agreed that they’re really good ukes. Looking forward to hearing you share it here when it arrives!! 😁😊
@Stephen, well, even if you don’t see the googly eyes in your dreams, they’re always there… watching. It’s kind of like a horror-movie, “Ring”-esque curse that once you see them, they always see you. But don’t worry; they’re kind of friendly. With the googly eyes muffling the sound of the uke, that actually came up during one of the live lessons with Matt and he said that eventually adding those on would start to muffle the sound. I had maybe twenty on at one point, but to me it seemed like it was starting to muffle it, very sadly. As funny as the goal of putting 450 eyes on the uke was, I now have a disturbed emotional attachment to that uke and the sound is more important (I guess). 😂 Thank you again for the feedback, I hope I can fine tune that one and capture the emotion even more!
@dianna, oh yeah, so true! I’d say most songs here take more than a month to really master, but to me that’s the beauty of them, that they’re so good that you can “grow into them,” like a really nice pair of shoes (like when you “break in” a pair of shoes). 😂 To be honest, I got the feel / pattern of clawhammer so engrained by just playing the pattern over and over again, even just fretting a C or F chord or whatever, and playing the clawhammer pattern. That’s mostly how I learned clawhammer. But that’s just because I loved playing the pattern by itself so much that I actually enjoyed doing that, maybe not everyone would. 😂 Obviously it’s probably more productive to learn songs to get different variations/adaptations on the pattern. Chris created some really great ones here, but it would be amazing if he did more, especially since a bunch of people here are into it now. I’ll have to try his version of Cripple Creek, too, it sounds really good. And thank you so much for liking how I played Andrew’s Classical Etude, that’s one of my favorite songs on RC101. Ha! Well, I know what kind of wall art I need to create for my new digs now. That’s amazing, I never noticed that painting. 😅😂 I do have a recording of that song on my YouTube already, one of the first songs I recorded ever, but I’ll try to get a better take of it! It’s so much fun. Sorry, I get carried away replying. I can’t resist this topic. 😂 Looking forward to hearing more clawhammer from you and the others who are learning it here, so exciting and fun that other people here are into it and so good at it! 😁@Stephen, thank you so much! I really appreciate the encouragement and that you thought I conveyed the emotion of the music. That’s one of the things I want to achieve the most when playing uke, is trying to express a depth of feeling. Oh, now, don’t worry about those googly eyes, Stephen, they’re just there to haunt your dreams! They don’t have eyelids, never have had. Actually, I had to stop adding them to that uke because it actually was starting to muffle the sound which was very disappointing because I still have more than 400 of those left… I need to find another target to add those to…
Sorry. This is why I shouldn’t have coffee in the evening… 🤐
I just wanted to comment on a few entries, even though all the entries are always very amazing:
@gi_gi_, that was so beautifully played, even without any singing! Very beautiful. But if you ever get a chance to record it with the singing, too, it’d be lovely if you share it here. 😊
@jbmills07, that was so lovely! You always play so perfectly and capture the feeling of songs so genuinely. I used to play that song on piano all the time, but it sounds really beautiful on uke. Also appreciate the cheesy smile at the end. 😅
@dianna, that was absolutely magical! I thought your singing was very lovely. I wish I could sing well. I can only sing like a goof. I also love that clawhammer song, it’s the only traditional clawhammer song I know in full actually, but not that version. So fun to hear you play it! 😊Everyone did an amazing job this month, so crazy impressive to hear all the entries!! 😊
Also, sorry, forgot to say, please don’t include me in the prize draw. Thank you!
Edit: sorry I didn’t realize how much of a novel this is. I go “touch grass” now, like the kids say.
@gi_gi_, thaaaank you! The chair is indeed brand new. I just moved this month and that chair was a gift from my parents. I put it together myself; I was pretty proud of that. 😂 I love orange or yellow anything, too. 😊
Really looking forward to hearing your entry, even if it’s just a snippet! 😊
@muzikmama, that is true about piano! In some ways it’s definitely easier than uke. I feel like you can do more nuanced “tricks” with the uke. I’ll have to ponder that more though because I also played piano for a long time. 😅 Haha that explains it. I don’t have tiktok. Love her drawing though, very lovely! 😊
‘Ello, uke friends! 🙂
Here is my entry for this month, Classical Etude written by Andrew Hardel. A very beautiful song; I wanted so much to do it justice, but there are defs a bunch of foibles. Considering, however, that I just finished learning it about two days ago, I am still pretty pleased with how far I came in that amount of time because the approach to playing this is very different from how I’ve played songs before. Like the runs that go up and down that require putting down one finger at a time, as opposed to holding a shape and playing out of that shape (the second approach I’m more used to). Not sure if that makes sense. I did figure out in certain parts that there were ways to play the same notes out of a fixed shape instead, but I wanted to learn it like the lesson taught so I could learn a different approach. Some of the stretches and contortions in this were very, very tricky for me as well. I will continue working on this one; I’m very happy that I was able to finish learning it and come out with an okay take! 🙂
Thank you for these challenges! I love that they motivate me to try new things and I learn so much from them, and have so much fun. Very lovely entries from everyone. Get blessed! 🙂 <3
@leb397, I feel like that’s often how these challenges can go: You learn a song in a month, learn all the notes, but might not be able to play it really, really well for a while. That’s how I feel about the one I’m working on now; it will take a while before I can play it the way I want, but also agree with you; I’ll keep playing it because it’s so lovely. To me, it’s a perfect song. Oh my, I can only imagine moving during COVID, yeesh. 😅😳 Physically moving all my things wasn’t too hard compared to other moves, but kind of emotionally, existentially this was a harder move, without going into too much detail. But it’s good. Ha thank you, I think I should still be able to, if I quit yammering on and get to it!! 😉😅 Ha I hope you get to enjoy the sun at least, even though it’s cooler! 😊
So many amazing entries so far!! All so great. @marianne, your duet (you-et?) was so, so beautiful. Perfectly played and so lovely to listen to! @muzikmama, your entry cracked me up so much, oh my, so perfect. 😂😅 I love that you’re integrating art and silliness into your entries. You used some kind of voice modifier? Very funny and well done! 😅 @leb397, so beautifully played, my friend, that’s probably my favorite Beatles song! Very lovely-ily played. I hope you enjoy your vacation. It’s snowing here today…… 🥺😂😭🤷
I’m still working on Andrew’s Classical Etude, but haven’t had as much time to practice this month due to moving insanity. I haven’t given up yet though! It may not be perfect, but that’s okay. 😅
@surferjay!! So nice to see you pop in with some classic loops! That was/is a good one. I feel like I’ve been saying I need to try another loop for a year, but here we are. 😅 Is this The Year of the Loop at last?! 😉😂💕
So sorry you’re experiencing that. Hopefully peace and normalcy will come to you and that area of the world very soon. And like @gi_gi_ said, hopefully for you that’ll include uke time because your contributions are missed. 😊
@muzikmama, haha, no worries about that! I feel like that kind of joking around is harmless. Also, sorry for the delay, I think I mentioned I just moved about a week ago so steadily (very slowly) trying to get my life back in order. 😂
I need to ask him about that, but I’m pretty sure that it can be any chord moved up the neck to transpose to different chords / keys, as long as you’re fretting all four strings OR the open g string fits with the chord you’re playing, wherever that might be on the uke. I also need to review the CAGED method again because I think that’s so useful once you get it. It makes it so easy to modify any song once you get that. Honestly that really made me feel so much more in control of what I’m playing, especially if I’m trying to create or modify a song.
Oh awesome that you’re working on another arrangement! Please share it here, if you feel comfortable doing do; I’d love to hear it. And your drawing, I’d love to see an update on that too! 😊
Haha no worries about that at all! But it would be lovely to see more uke art from other people too. No question I will share more, too, life has just been nuts lately! Hope you’ve been doing well, my co-author friend! 😂
Such a fun topic! Looking forward to hearing some uke “origin stories”! 😊
For me, I started playing uke because I had to sell my childhood piano because it was broken. I saw someone playing a uke in a YouTube video, so I thought I’d finally buy one to fill the void left from losing my piano. Then I fell in love with playing uke and I continue to play because it brings me so much joy in my life and also helps with my anxiety.
Matt, I wonder if you’ll share the part of your origin story when you traveled interdimensionally to an island filled with capuchin monkeys, but, in that alternate universe, you not only teach them ukulele, but also become a sort of “Santa-Claus-esque” figure to them–because sometimes you seem like you could be a young Santa Claus. 😅😂😅
@leb397, oh my, I used to read those books as a kid, too. Choose from a, b, or c, then turn to a specific page to see what happens. 😅 And obviously at times you’d find all three pages and see which result you liked most (although that might be cheating). 😂 Now I need to find some of those books…
That song is a really good option, I also thought about that one! 😁
@muzikmama, haha!! Man flu. 😂😅 I won’t lie to you, there is some truth to that. It can be pretty funny when someone finds 50°f (10°C) weather to be freezing when a recent low temperature we had in Wisconsin is -11°F (-23°C actual temperature, before wind-chill, which makes it even colder). 😂 But then all of that is relative and it’s understandable if what we consider mild weather is hard to handle for someone who isn’t used to it.
I think I know a bit about what the CAGED method is because I looked through the RC101 material on that. I need to review that again now though, now that I have more experience. I’ve had some private lessons with Matt and most of what I asked him about had to do with chord shapes and patterns and it was just like you said: to transpose up any song, you just move the shapes up (if all of the strings are covered. If the g string is open in the chord, you have to make sure it still fits with the chord you choose moving up). For me that’s so helpful to know things like that because I memorize songs based on the shapes, movements, and sounds, not as much by the chord and note names. Not sure if that makes sense. 😂 It’s so interesting to know the different ways everyone learns and creates music. You should definitely continue trying to create your own arrangements because it only gets more fun with time. I find the prospect of having total freedom to create a song exactly the way I want it, and whatever way I want, to be very exciting and motivating, and the people of Rock Class 101 have helped me so much to be able to do that. A good part by just learning their amazing arrangements and watching how they play. But yes, I hope you enjoyed creating that and keep going with it. 😊
Very interesting indeed with how you shade your drawings! I’m not sure there’s necessarily a wrong or right way to approach shading. All of those methods could work for sure. Filling in light or dark patches you don’t want and keeping the values even where they should be is probably more important than how you do that if that makes sense. That said, there are definitely benefits and drawbacks to each method. Do you think you’ll post another update on that drawing?
Thank you so much for saying that! I think it’s fair to say that interacting with people on RC101 is just as much a fun hobby for me as my other hobbies. 😂 But certain topics no one else I know is interested in, so it’s really nice to be able to share. Thank you so much for your encouragement and also the lovely conversation! 😂
Heck yes, it’s round two of the “free for all”! I find that description very amusing. 😂
I already have one idea for what I want to do. >=]
I think I might learn your “Classical Etude,” Andrew, the one I think was inspired by “Lagrima.” I’ve always liked that one a lot and it’s about time I learned the whole thing. That’s my first idear for this challenge. 😅
@gi_gi_, thank you so much! With my nature photos in the video with the orig music, it was kind of special for me to share those that way because those are some of my favorite photos over the last decade or so, and I don’t share those very often, so it means a lot that you liked them. I always wanted to try to combine the creative things I love to do so that was a fun way to do that. I meant to say that to your first post but got distracted. 😂
Thank you so much for sharing your story with singing! That is so amazing and special that singing has done so much for you in your life, and you got so good at it through sheer will and tenacity. 😂 That’s so inspiring. To me that’s one of the most beautiful things when a creative venture can help you overcome some difficulty in life. For me, creative things have helped me connect with people and to cope with anxiety and depression and things. So true that if your teacher or someone you’re sharing with is extremely critical that can be so discouraging which is why RC101 is such a beautiful community; everyone here is so wonderful and if there is critique, it’s kind, and not intended to put anyone down obviously (but that is definitely something that can and does happen 😅😒). I really look forward to you sharing any more of your singing going forward because it’s very beautiful. Thank you. 😊💕
