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@nat-uke, that was so lovely! Beautifully played indeed! That was the first song I learned after joining RC101 and the one with which I ended up winning the electric uke, so that one will be special to me probs forevs. Agreed with @Andrew that I hope your hub’s procedures go well! 😊💕
@dianna, haha, thank you! So dumb trying to be the first to post when arguably it’s probably better to wait until I had it more refined, but I still find it funny to try sometimes. 😅😂 And thank you about the painting! I’ve done more drawing than painting but my family has started having “painting parties” so I’ve done a bit more painting now. I did one of a balloon last summer that I was pretty happy with, but I somehow lost the picture I took of it. 😅 Thank you though! 😊@Andrew, thank you so much! Your encouragement really means a lot to me. I hope I can smooth it out even more and get a better sounding recording hopefully. 😅
Thank you so much for that! That seriously means a lot that you say that. 😊
I shall let you know when I donate, mayhaps tonight! 😊🎀🎄💚❤️
@leb397, thank you so much, my friend! I know, I absolutely love when Matt does arrangements like that, that involve very rubato-y interpretations. He’s so brilliant at that and with creating very beautiful chord progressions and things. I agree with that so much. Knowing people even through this site has been one of the most special creative experiences I’ve had and honestly I feel brought out musical abilities I never thought I could have, and helped achieve goals I may not have reached otherwise, like being able to create my own arrangements and things that I do for fun. That’s just so special to me, sorry to go on, but that truly is so special and I’m so grateful for that. You’re a big part of what makes this group special, too, with how encouraging you are to others. So yes, thank you. Happy Holidays to you, too! 😅❤️💚🎄🎀@firebladetim, that was absolutely amazing! Oh my, so magical. I thought your playing and singing was fantastic, very funny song, and I thought you did great being on camera especially for never having done it before really! That’s always so stressful and you did perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing! 😁
Boom, babeh! First entry! 😅
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
I wanted to do another early take and, considering how tricky this one is and that I only started learning it yesterday, I am pretty pleased with it. The thumbnail is a random, okay painting of a Christmas ornament I did very recently. 😅 I didn’t want to be on camera today though so the rest of the video is just kinda blank. Hopefully the audio is tolerable if not quiet. I may still want to record another take getting this as perfect as possible since Matt created such a beautiful arrangement, I want to do it justice.
Okay, here ’tis:
The pauses are just ’cause of rubato, not because I forgot what the next part was, obviously. 😅
Ha! And I forgot about me having a complete spasm at the beginning. Please disregard that. 😂
I shall donate to the UKC charity a little later. Thank you so much! 😊🎄❤️🎀❤️🎄💚
Edit: I also just wanted to say how incredibly grateful I am to Rock Class 101, the instructors and all the wonderful students here, both groups being so talented, amazing, kind, and generous. Thank you for making this year so special to me in so many ways and for setting such a beautiful example of what a truly supportive community looks like. I have so much love for y’all, even though I may never get to meet you. So yes, thank you. ❤️
@firebladetim, oh sweet, I look forward to hearing more! That’s smart to have a playlist of songs you want to learn. I write down songs I want to learn but not in an organized list, just chaotically in random places. I need to get that together. 😂 Anyway look forward to hearing more tunes from you!
Side note, I love the names of clawhammer tunes. It’s always things like “Applesauce and Peanut Butter Pie” and “Ol’ Johnny’s Mountain Boots” and things like that. 😅😂
@dianna, I was defs waiting for you to chime in! I think it would just be cool if Rock Class 101 added more clawhammer tunes in general at some point. I hope they will! True there are a wealth of options on the YouTubes as well. 😊
@leb397, agreed the bluegrass sound of clawhammer is so cool! 😁💕@jody_hendrickson, your performance was also really beautiful! Haha!! The part with the doggo entering so slowly and loudly with the claw-clicking, then staring, and just leaving, indeed completely unimpressed. Comedy gold. I forgot about that part. 😂😅
@jbmills07, that was such an amazing performance! Really flawless to my ears. I love how you play it, too. It’s amazing to me to hear all the different interpretations of the same song, each with such unique feeling behind them. Yours brings out the “Jane Austen dance” vibe that makes me love Steven’s arrangements. 😅
Also, those bloopers were hilarious. Highlights: Shameless Ziggy booty, cat tail muting the uke strings, “ZIGGEH!” and desperately holding the uke away as she is aggressively trying to be the center of attention, lol. Watching that made me miss having a cat so much though.
Also, everyone has done an amazing job this month!! So much appreciation to Andrew and friends for all they do! Looking forward to the next challenge, too! 😊🎄💚❤️
@firebladetim, that was very magical! Sweeeet! Thank you for sharing! There’s something about clawhammer that just lifts your spirits instantly and is so beautifully goofy to me. 😅 Love it, well played! If you have any others, please keep sharing! 😁
@firebladetim, thank you so much! That really means a lot. I am starting to be pretty pleased with how it’s sounding, though it’s taking a while and will take much longer, but I’m okay with that because I love figuring out arrangements. 😅
There are so many great classical arr. here on Rock Class 101 that inspire me so much. They have an arrangement of Lacrimosa by Mozart, for one, pretty epic. 😅 Steven’s arrangements on the site are some of my favorite classical arrangements for uke that I’ve seen. I say that because for me they set an example for what’s possible to do on uke and kind of a standard for quality that I hope to one day achieve. Anyway thank you! 😁
Hello again!
So, I’ve continued working on this whenever I can and I added more to the themes. I think I called this one Theme 1, for some reason, even though it comes second in the song. I’ll figure that out later. 😂
Warning: there is a random loud noise at the beginning but only happens once. I think it’s the sound of me hitting the record button but when I “normalized” the audio to increase the volume, it amplified that as well. I’ll figure out recording some day… 😅
There are still mistakes but I think I’m starting to smooth it out and flesh it out more and add more feeling, but there is still more to it.
There are developments with the other themes, too, but I’ll share those later. Thank you to anyone who listens and also reads my rambling. 😅
That’s very true! I’ve noticed that, as well, that some songs fall naturally into the clawhammer pattern more than others. Others you have to modify more to fit. I’m sure there’s a technical reason for that. Or reasons. 😅 It’s interesting that you’ve been having to transpose to different keys. It’s true there are definitely some keys that work more naturally on uke. Maybe I’ll have to go listen to the songs you mentioned, just out of curiosity of what you’re working on. 😅 Oh last thing I was going to say, is that I arrange songs the same way you do, by ear, but I am learning to write them down with the help of some of the instructors here and by learning the arrangements here. RC101 has helped me so much with learning uke overall. Anyway thank you for sharing all of that!
@muzikmama, haha! Same! 😂 That image is hilarious, but also that you know it’s true that many people do feel that with performing. That cracked me up big time. 😅😂
@firebladetim, that’s a respectable list of songs! I love the sound of songs that are specifically written as clawhammer by people who know what they’re doing. So much fun. I’ve heard of most of those; they’re all really good ones. This makes me want to learn more traditional clawhammer tunes. Like I said, RC101 has some lovely ones that I started to learn and I started the course here, but I’m incredibly bad at finishing things. That’s why I like the challenges here because they help me have a focused goal to learn a song each month. A whole song. 😂
If you don’t mind me asking, how do you go about arranging songs as clawhammer? For me, I basically just learn a “regular song,” then turn it into clawhammer by just kinda guessing. But I’m curious how you approach it.
@Andrew That’s one thing we learned at music college, everyone would be so ready to get up and move and be done once the last note was played. But cutting it short takes away from the performance and makes it look like you want it to be over as soon as possible.
Hahaha!! For some reason, this description amuses me on multiple levels. I think because it’s so true. 😂😅
@Abster, that was absolutely incredible! Agreed with others who say you have a gift. You definitely do. I feel like he could be watching the movie while playing the song and not miss a beat. 😂 Beautifully done! 😊@firebladetim, uh, I also learned clawhammer initially from Richard Hefner! Then found Rock Class 101. That’s a bit uncanny, but I guess if you’re interested in clawhammer ukulele, that’s a common path one might take. 😅 I never played a stringed instrument before playing ukulele, only piano, so when I first saw Richard Hefner playing clawhammer uke, my mind was blown. I never knew the uke or any instrument could be played that way. Then the arrangements from Rock Class blew my mind even more. It was like seeing a magic trick, but then learning how to do it yourself (on occasion–there are still many uke feats beyond my skill that I find magical). 😅
What are some of specific tunes you’re trying to arrange from Peter Seeger, just out of curiosity?
Haven’t heard of Aaron Keim. I’ll have to look him up.
Thank you for sharing your story! I look forward to hearing you play some clawhammer!!
