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@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!!
@firebladetim, hello and welcome! Nice to have you here! I think you’ll find that the community here is crazy encouraging and helpful and I look forward to hearing more of your playing! Agreed with Andrew that your performance in this month’s challenge was fantastic! 😊
So, I am also mildly obsessed with clawhammer uke. 😅 What kind of songs do you like to play? I think I only know one actual song originally written as clawhammer, Cripple Creek, and a lot of the other songs I play are beginner arrangements from Rock Class that I turned into clawhammer, or my own simple arrangements that I turned into clawhammer. That said, Rock Class 101 has some amazing arrangements in that style. They’re just harder for me to play because they’re “real clawhammer.” 😅
At some point you should share some of your clawhammer playing here! That would be awesome to hear, especially if you have a banjolele.
Sorry I rambled about that. I have that problem. Again welcome! 😊
@leb397, ha, whoops I edited my post with a longer reply. @Andrew can confirm but I’m pretty sure as long as you’re able to upload the file format to YouTube, it should work here because all you’re doing is sharing a link to a video already uploaded there. Hehe, same! I’m going to keep practicing that one. 😊💕
Ha oh thanks! I’ll go bother them right away. 😉😂
@leb397, I just checked and Googlé said that .mov files can be uploaded directly to YouTube. I think as long as you’re able to upload to YouTube and share the link here, the file format shouldn’t matter to RC101 as long as it’s a YouTube link that you’re sharing. But then I don’t use many Apple products so I don’t know how you go about uploading to YouTube. If it’s similar to a Windows PC, you should just be able to go to the YouTube app or site and they have an option to upload the video and find the file there.
Anyway, so sorry you went through that! Your performance was very beautiful! You even nailed that tricky part that Steven said in the lesson, “I can’t even play it meself.” 😅 @dianna, your performance was also very lovely! We did it! All the other entries were crazy good, too! 😊
Agreed that some songs definitely take more than a month to perfect, or get close to perfection. Steven’s Always With Me is so beautiful that it’s worth continuing to play, fo’ shizz (for sure). 😅
@Andrew, thank you so much! I really appreciate that; your encouragement means a lot. 😊
Ha! The first take does sound underwater once again. I thought I’d gotten past that issue, but I was wrong. 😂 I was trying to fix how quiet the recording is but instead it sounds like you’re listening to a robot uke through a wall using a paper cup (all underwater). 😂😳🥺 Anyway thanks again for the feedback!
@leb397, thank you so much! Haha, yes, with Always With Me, I’ve definitely felt like I am in “survival mode,” too. 😅 It’s definitely worth it to keep going with that song, though, because even though my own take still needs work, it’s very satisfying once you (mostly) get it. I’m definitely going to try to remember this one. And thank you for liking the clawhammer POTW! 😅 It’s so much fun to modify songs in that way for me. Looking forward to your entry, friend! 😊
All the other Always With Me’s (and all the song entries) are lovely so far! 😁
@jbmills07, that was magical! 😁😅💕 I think she might’ve been trying to play with you at a few points! 😂 Really lovely performance, too. 😊
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Okay… So, here’s the take I’m going with for now. Agreed with everyone else that it’s so hard to play for so long, even two minutes, without making a mistake. That said, I made many. 😂
Verse 2 is the most mistakey part of this recording, but the rest of it was pretty good, so I also recorded another slightly better take of verse two (I tried to re-record the whole thing again, but I was feeling too anxious to get through it all, so I just recorded the improvements on that little part). I did play the whole thing in the first, longer recording, but wanted a redemption take on that little part. I hope I can actually get another recording of the entire thing, but this month has been a lil’ crazy so we’ll see. 😅
Here’s the redemption take on that little part: https://youtu.be/ihxyVtk1YYQ?si=wskE2gTlHM-w6RrU
Also, sorry about the recording quality. I tried to fix the first video; the second video shows what it sounded like before I “fixed” it. 😅
Last thing, I tried to do four-finger picking, but I injured my ring finger on my right hand a long time ago and because I have been avoiding using that finger playing uke, I got used to three fingers and it was way more comfortable to play it that way for me, and less painful. I’m going to try to do four-finger picking more often, but it will take time to adapt to that.
There’s so much more, this song was a journey, thank you for listening and reading! 😅💕
@shmu88, are you kidding me? That was amazing! I kind of want to cry after listening to that. So good!
You kept the pace of the song so well which is one of many aspects of that song that is so difficult, the speed. And like @jody_hendrickson, memorizing the song, but I think I’ve finally mostly got that (after also questioning my ability to do so). Still, sometimes my brain glitches out and doesn’t recall the information fast enough in time. 😂😅
But with memorizing, I take as much advantage as possible of repeating parts of the song. For me, that’s really helpful. Start small. Once you learn a section, you have it for when it repeats of course. So the best thing to do is to focus on really learning one section very well, then worry about how everything fits together later. Not sure if that makes sense. Just keep going with it and you’ll be surprised at how your brain kicks in (for me, mostly). 😅
I hope I can post my take of that one soon, too. I also have accepted it won’t be perfect but IMO yours was, Shmu (autocorrect wanted that to be “scum”). 😅 Very well done!
@Andrew, sweet! Thank you! I thought I remembered seeing that here. I think it stuck in my mind because Katie’s singing was so beautiful in that lesson. 😊
I also immediately figured out a simple arr. of that one stealing Matt’s riff (?) from Deck the Halls because it sounded so amazing. 😅
