[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, that was so lovely!! That sounded very pretty with your humming. Really well done with that. I didn’t try that one but I do love how it sounds and I really like the style of Steven’s arrangements. They’re difficult, but you did a great job with that. 😁💕

Thank you so much for your kind words! 😊 I feel a little bad about not being able to learn BMBTW. I feel like I’m pretty good with the clawhammer technique, but felt really overwhelmed by the length and complexity of that song for some reason. I may try again to learn the solo part at least. I think I’m just in an awkward place where the beginner songs are getting pretty easy (and I love to mess around with them a lot 😅) but the intermediate often feel still too difficult.

But I need to be brave like @dianna and others and just go for it. 😅 @dianna, that was amazing! I loved that you pushed through even if you did have a little bumbles in the ditty; 😂 that’s how you do it. Really well done though!

Everyone else has truly done an amazing job, as well! I want to comment on all of them. Agreed, good luck to all!

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@misterbones, that’s so true about clawhammer uke! It is addicting, and indeed once you get the technique down, you’ll find yourself just hammering random chords or whatever because it’s just so satisfying. I do that, too. 😅 It’s like your fingers are just bouncing on four little trampolines. 😅 Your performance was really good and @karenj your performance was so lovely!

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@samash07, thank you! I’ll have to look for that. 😊 I can’t even say how much I wish someone from Rock Class would do an arr. of “Take On Me,” the slow version, too.

Ha, see, case in point, I have no idea what’s going on with games, unless my brother tells me. 😅

@surferjay, that was so cool!! Thank you for sharing that. I love how jazzy it sounds, very original take. He has a really nice voice, too. I did notice that maybe his uke was a bit out of tune or something, or maybe that was intentional dissonance in the song? Either way that was awesome! 😊💕

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Hellloooo again!

I wanted to also try “Bury Me Beneath The Willow” this month just for fun, but it proved way more intimidating than I expected. I’m not even sure why, but I hit an anxiety wall trying to learn and memorize this one, even though I really love how it sounds.

I wanted to play it and play it with the melody throughout, so I took small pieces of the arrangement and did a simplified version.

I’ve started to realize that it’s way easier for me sometimes to modify a song or play it by ear than learning the notes verbatim. Not sure if that makes sense or not.

This is a “real take,” kind of what I do when trying to get a good take. 😅 “The good part” starts at 37 seconds if you don’t want to watch me struggle, big time. 😂 This one was after ten-ish takes with the banjolele.

I still haven’t given up trying to learn the actual version, but it may take a long time to work through that.

Thanks for listening / reading! 😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@Andrew, thank you so much! It means so much that you say all of that. I feel like I owe pretty much all of that progress to you, the resources and the community here, because when I started here a year ago I didn’t even know what a hammer-on / pull-off was. 😂 And thank you about the feel and finesse. To me, that’s the most magical thing about playing music is when you can connect how a song makes you feel to how you’re playing it. That’s why it’s so special that y’all have helped me to do that. I cry about it, man. 😅 Thank you!

Oh, I’ll have to look at what I missed there. I’m unsurprised by that because I try to memorize songs as quickly as physically possible because I have such dyslexia with reading music. Thank you! 😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@gi_gi_ “nice loopage.” 😂😅

@surferjay, looking forward to more loops! You are the looper king, man! 😂

So true about those lyrics. I try not to think about things like that too much though because it can be kind of sad, but it’s all good. Just view them as pretty lyrics and images. 😂😅😳

Anyway…………. Yay more loops! 😂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Oh lovely! Nonetheless, a lovely performance! Which YouTube channel, if you don’t mind saying?

Ha, I love that song just because I enjoy ’80’s love / power ballads, but the version from the show seems really lovely. 😊

They already have a second one, a second game or show? I’m the least hip person ever when it comes to these things. 😂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@samash07, that was very lovely! Thank you for sharing that! You created that arrangement?

I actually tried to figure that one out but couldn’t for some reason sadly. Love that song! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Loooooooops, oh my gosh, I forgot about ’em! Welcome back, uke friend! 😅💕

That was very lovely. Such a pretty melody and accompaniment. Well done, thank you for sharing that! 😊

That song brings me back to my youf (youth), to when I was young and naïve. Now I’m older and still naïve. 😅

But loooooooops, I’m glad you reappeared and revived this topic with that lovely song! I know I have a few “loop options” to try now, some loopables! It’s only August, there’s still time this year! 😅😂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

So many amazing entries this month!

@abster, that was so fantastic! You both did such a lovely job, and the ending is so cute! 😅💕

For my entry, I picked Fields of Gold, for one. This is still not perfect, but it’s okay at least. 😂😅 I just get so nervous when I record, still.

I’m still trying to get at least a bit of BMBTW, but we’ll see what happens. I love the way that one sounds so much though.

Anyway, thanks for listening and thanks to @Andrew and friends for hosting these challenges and creating such wonderful content! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@lhamilton, that was so beautiful! What Andrew said is so true, that the baritone compliments your whistling of the melody so beautifully. And your whistling is crazy good! Almost impossibly good. 😅

@leb397, that was actually perfect! You conveyed so much feeling with your playing, so lovely. 😊 What @rebeca said is so true too.

I have something ready to share here, but I just have to record it, but I couldn’t agree more that recording is one of the hardest parts of these challenges. For me it’s close to the same feeling of terror as someone watching me play in person. But it helps to know that maybe after the tenth take the fear subsides somewhat. 😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, thank you so much, friendio! 😅💕 I hope the song is also John Denver-y enough as well, along with the attempted classical feel. Thank you for kindly saying I mastered the fingerpicking consistency; that’s probably the thing I’ve done the most on uke since I first started playing because I just love how it can sound and how it feels. Thank you so much for the kind words. 😊💕

@Andrew, thank you so much!! That means a lot coming from you. I’m so happy that you listened to it and liked it. I feel like you and the community you created is arguably the reason this song exists. So, thank you. 😅

@robinboyd, thank you kindly, my friend!! 😊

@rebeca, thank you so much!! I really appreciate all the kind words. I love classical music so much as well. Before joining RC101, I had never heard the song Spanish Romance before, but fell in love with it immediately as well. The interesting thing about trying to create this arrangement is that I had to ask, “what makes a song classical?” I’m sure there are technical things you could list for sure, but for me that was interesting to ponder.

The main thing I think this recording missed was that I didn’t quite capture the emotion I wanted, because I was so nervous. And also I was really annoyed that I messed up right at my favorite part where the major melody begins. You can kind of see that in the video. 😂

Anyway, thank you so much, I can’t even say how much I appreciate all the encouragement from everyone here. It has meant so flippin’ much to me. Thank you! 😊💕

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Quite interesting, indeed! Thank you for explaining that. So, did you have to look up each chord to find a version that would include the G string, or did you figure it out by ear at all? I have often wondered about that, if it’s “wasteful” to go long periods in a song without utilizing all the strings. That may be strange but I’ve wondered that. 😅

It’s so interesting to me to know how different people go about creating songs, so thank you for sharing. 😊

No, I haven’t heard her cover! I’ll have to look that up. I also love Aurora, she is magical. Runaway and Warrior are two of my favorites of hers. She does amazing covers though too.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

I actually have a legit question for once… 😂

With alternate fingerpicking, normally you use the index and middle finger for that, but is there anything wrong with using the thumb and index for that instead? I have this (maybe) bad habit of always bracing my pinky on the uke when I play, especially if I’m playing something fast.

Also, after last month’s lesson, I switched to feeding my uke New England clam chowder instead of “tomater” soup, and it likes it way more! Thanks for the tip! 😂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

So cool!! I love that song a lot and you do a lovely job of it, even from that little snippet. 😊

Which chords did you change? That definitely is a useful tool.

Have you ever heard the cover the Norwegian singer Aurora does of that song? It’s very pretty. She’s peculiar, but in a beautiful way: https://youtu.be/kJ095S0MmnA

[Author]

Posts