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@otzepeng, I missed your comment earlier, apologies! Thank you for that! For me, it is pretty ambitious, and I am also terrible at writing down music, but I think I have made improvements for sure. Over the course of being here, I’ve had about 9 lessons from Matt who helped me start to write down the arr.’s I came up with by ear – he taught me basically from square one how to write down tabs, then eventually I started using Guitar Pro. I think the only thing that makes it possible for me to use that is that it flags the measure “red” if you mess up the rhythm; so then you can “troubleshoot” to figure out how to fix it. Without that, I’d be much more lost, for sure. There were still multiple instances where I wrote something down and showed Matt and he helped me fix it (because it still wasn’t right somehow, even with that “cheat” in Guitar Pro, lol). Andrew has also helped me with some things on this vein. It also has helped a lot that I grew up playing piano, reading sheet music, and learned so much from learning the uke songs here and reading Andrew’s feedback. Looking forward to your tune this month! 🙂
That said, I already got the tabs done somehow! :O I found the sheet music that I learned as a child (since that song is pretty ubiquitous) and that helped me SO MUCH with the rhythm; guess Matt was right about that, as well, cough, whoops. 😂 That does help a lot to look at the rhythm of the original tune, instead of just guessing like I like to do, especially with a more complicated song like this.
I realized something QUITE interesting about this uke arr. though. So, what I figured out on uke I was just playing by ear from memory – from how I remembered the song going on piano, and I was quite delighted how accurate it turned out to be, even in the right key of Ab major (four flats)! But the interesting thing was, I misremembered the order of the music. I played up until maybe the eighth measure, then skipped WAAAAAAAAAAY further along into the song, closer to the end, when the main theme of the song is reprised in a different style – which I loved. I kind of love this version, though; it’s like its own thing now. That said, I may want to try going back and recreating this with the rest of the tune, but that’ll take a while to do. I also will relearn this whole tune on piano because I used to know this entire movement of the song. Hashtag, 2026 goals. 😉
This video is of the OG piano version. In my ukulele version, I play up until 0:32, SKIP a huge section, then pick up playing again at 3:20 and stop after that theme is done.
I also attached the tabs I finished to this post (hopefully, lol)!
@gi_gi_ hahahaha!! Oh my word, Aldrine was really somethin’ else about whose songs he would choose for those AFJ. 😂 Half the time, he would disregard everyone’s suggestions and just do whatever he wanted. What a goof. That’s really fun that you still get to see him on Mondays! I hope he’s doing well. I also miss the fun of those shows. 🙂EDIT: Nope, the sheet music is indeed screwed up, but it’s some sort of formatting issue! The tabs are displaying correctly, but the sheet music is a wonky bunch of squares. Then, I almost accidentally downloaded a virus to try to get the JPG version. I’m off to a flying start this year. 😂😭
@misterbones, that’s so, so neat! I can’t wait to hear that. That’s also one of my favorite pieces of classical music. The funny thing is, Matt Dahlberg is creating an arrangement of that same exact section, Vivaldi’s Winter (Largo), for a lesson on his Patreon, but he posts the lesson publicly usually – so you could see that, too. I’m really looking forward to that, but also to hearing your rendition! That’s what I love so much about classical music, too, is the subtle feeling you can convey with fewer “ingredients” at times. 🙂
@frederic, love that goal! So straightforward, but beautiful. 🙂
@gi_gi_ thank you so much, friend, good to hear from you, too! We need to catch up via email because there are some things we need to discuss, LOL!! 😉 I’m really looking forward to your tune, too. Ah, I know, I really miss those shows, too, so sad they’re gone now. It was pretty amazing that Aldrine sang a couple of songs I picked, including a Backstreet Boys song, I Want It That Way, lol. It was so stinkin’ good, too! Maybe one day they’ll return – how are they going to win for a fourth year, if not?! 😉Yay, so excited for this challenge!! I also was hoping that this would be the topic this month. Free-for-aaaaaall! I still find that description really funny. 😂
(I wrote out this whole post and it disappeared when I went to post it, so I had to re-write the whole thing! I am sad now…)
I just was saying, that it’s sad that it seems like this is the last challenge in which Andrew is going to give feedback for a while, if I understood that correctly as a “note” at the end of the challenge post. It’s understandable if that is the case, but I was so sad to read that, as his encouragement and feedback has meant so much to me over the years, and no doubt to many others, in their ukulele journeys. But again, it’s understandable. Change, it’s the way of things (really dramatic).
It was so hard to pick what to work on, but the first thing that came to mind is this:
1. Execution: Practice music notation by writing down one of my ukulele arrangements that I figured out by ear.
2. Application: Write down my ukulele version of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 “Pathétique”: II. Adagio cantabile (A♭ major – I think? It has four flats, so). I learned this song on piano when I was a child, then figured it out by ear on ukulele. No idea how I did that or why it worked, but it did. At one point Matt helped me write down the notes with no time signature, measures, note values, or anything (when I was first learning how to write down tabs), but I want to create a full version in Guitar Pro for ukulele if I can, so then I have it for future reference if I forget the tune.
3. Evaluation: Share the finished tabs here for hopefully @Andrew to look at and let me know if it’s even remotely correct. 😂 Bonus: Create a video of me playing the tune with the tabs on screen. I already know the tune; it’s just the struggle of writing it down.
Super bonus: Layer an arrangement I did that’s the same tune as a recent RC101 tune over one of their arrangements of the same tune. What tune it is will be secret, but this may end up being a separate thing if I can’t complete it in this challenge. This is just if the first thing goes quickly. Again, very realistic for me… 😂
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Loved reading through everyone’s goals for this month! It will be so fun to see how everyone does. Very excited that @lhamilton is doing a clawhammer tune, always love that! @nat-uke, also really excited to see your recorder + ukulele mashup! @gi_gi_ can’t wait to hear your tune, no doubt it will be so lovely, friend! 🙂 I think I know that tune. I think that’s one that Aldrine used to sing on their Aloha Friday Jam? So funny. Did you know that their podcast won that award they were obsessed with for the third year in a row? I found that really funny, even though it sadly no longer exists. That’s how good they are – they don’t even need to be doing the podcast to win, LOL. Anyway, really looking forward to this challenge!! 🥰
@Abster, truly amazing and so, so lovely! You’re really getting even more finesse behind your playing! Please continue, this is clearly a talent you have (though tennis is also great, lol)! 🙂
@katazumiri, oh man, those are each so amazing!! Added those onto my YouTube playlist immediately!! Ha, genuinely good music to listen to, not just a gimmick! I especially loved the coffee one and the lyrics for that! 😂 Also, in the vacuum one, the one guy really was spraying something the whole time – let’s just hope it was water! 😂 Oh, I also really loved the banjo one. Whatever filter (probably the wrong term) they put over the banjo really softened the sound and took away some of the harshness that banjos can sometimes have, and it worked so well with that! Thank you for sharing, friend!! 🙂
Sorry for the delay by the way! It’s been busy of course, but also… to be honest, I still have days I am really struggling with my health; so all my energy has to go into daily survival. I really hope I can continue to improve with that. I am trying to make some lifestyle changes with my diet, including removing most caffeine, so that has really helped with the heart palpitation issues I was having (though sadly that still does happen sometimes). Reconnecting to my love of ukulele is a priority for this coming year. Every time I do play though, I’m reminded how much I love it. Also, I am getting a piano keyboard this year because my family is helping me pay for it. Otherwise, it’d probably be another five years before I got it… if ever. So, I’m extremely grateful for that. Piano was my first instrument, so it’s very exciting to also reconnect to that. Also, like any respectable middle-aged lady, I’m going to try learning watercolor because someone gifted me that. Anyway, there’s my typical, stream-of-consciousness journal entry at random, please enjoy! 😉 😂
Yay!! So happy that we reached that goal and even surpassed it!! So lovely! 🥰
Many congrats, @mysticrick, for such a special win! It’s kind of like @leb397 won by proxy because she gets to hear you play it in person! 😉 So neat, can’t wait to see it in future challenges! 🥰🎁🎄
@Katazumiri, yay, I look forward to listening to that later! That sounds beautifully eccentric!! 😀
@dianna, haha, apparently you do! It looks very beautiful! I only have a little tree for myself, but I had zero time to set it up or anything, so I just admire others’ trees! 😉 Thank you so much for that! I’m starting to see this is how I love to play ukulele – Take a simple(ish) arrangement and play it in the way I feel most comfortable and in a kind of style that I love to play, which is very flowy (technical term). It’s very lovely how encouraging Andrew and Matt have been about my enjoyment of playing that way and that’s really helped me develop that skill even more. 🙂 Ha, away in the Manager, who knows what that means, lol! For some reason, the picture of the Bible is out of focus in the video; the picture by itself is perfectly in focus. I’m the worst; I feel like I should know the Leonard Cohen reference. :S I hope you enjoy your holidays, too, friend! 🙂 ❤️
@janaq1, very beautiful playing! 😉 ❤️Oh my word, now I have 49 subscribers!! It’s both hilarious and sad how excited I am for that! 50 subs, here we come!! Thank you to whoever did that (or perhaps it was someone outside RC101, but still)! Thanks, LOL! 😉
@grannieannie, awwwwwwwwww, thank you SO much for that!! That seriously is so nice that you did that. I had a goal of reaching 50 subscribers by the end of the year (that I made maybe a month ago, lol), but it’s okay if it doesn’t happen. The main reason I have that channel is it’s a good incentive to create more polished versions of the arrangements I try to make and to practice the things that make me most anxious – talking, playing in front of others, and having people look at me, lol. But it’s also good practice for creating videos, even though that’s seemingly perpetually a WIP for me. Anyway, thank you so much! 🙂 🥰
Loved reading your goals! Those are some really good ones. I’m so jealous that you get to go to that festival in Vancouver and see Matt. One day I hope to be able to get to a uke festival, preferably one he’s at to meet him! He’s just been such an inspiration and help to me in my ukulele journey. I really hope you enjoy that! 🙂
Also, when you get to learn Contemplations by Marianne, you should definitely share it here! Would love to hear it, and I’m sure she would too! And Andrew, too! That one’s so beautiful. 🙂
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
So, I picked Away in the Manger this month (I always almost write “manager” for some reason, lol) and I managed to struggle with it a bit. Well, I was modifying it for high g, but then I tried to make it fancy, so all of that is on me. A beautiful arr. by Andrew though, the “meat” of the tune is lovely. 🙂
I got to listen through a few of the entries – all very lovely! @dianna, a very beautiful take on that tune, but I have one question for you: Is that tree real? If so, WOW, your Christmas tree game is on point, lol. @katazumiri, a very lovely take on that tune, too, and always love the layers you create! A nice walk through your city, too. 🙂 @brettboy, that was really magical!! Loved the duet!! @nat-uke, your take on that tune was so beautiful and your video is nice ‘n’ polished! 🙂 So yes, that’s all I’ll comment on for now, but just want to say this community is still so special to me. I look forward to having more time coming up after the holidays to just chill and play ukulele more. Boy do I miss that! As of now, I’m 6 batches of Christmas cookies deep because I’m in charge of making all the dough for some reason, lol. And everything else. We all know how this time of year goes. 😉
I did donate to the Ukulele Kids Club!! 🥰
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to this beautiful ukulele family!! 🥰
Oh the image in the video is a random picture of a Bible I took a long time ago in an old church. Just thought it looked kinda neat! 😉
Also, please enjoy the random accidental pseudo-harmonic I did and the sound of my phone buzzing near the end of the tune. Man, am I incredible at recording! 😉
@marianne, that was really lovely, really great idea to do a medley like that! Everyone else’s entries were so lovely, too. 🥰
I also wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who left me lovely feedback last month on my entry. That really meant a lot to me, but I still seem to be struggling to get out of “survival mode” – but getting there (plus, even more busy with all the Christmas stuff happening). 😂
I may also try to do more than one of these tunes. I have one almost ready. I look forward to recording / sharing / donating to this lovely charity that brings a lot of joy to these kiddos – the joy of playing ukulele, which we all know is a true joy in this world. 🥰
Also really looking forward to hearing more performances! 😊🥰🎄
Yay, love this topic every year! It’s good to have “hashtag” goals!
I’m wondering if this will be in the same format as your live lesson on your Patreon, Matt: Play, Progress, Push? I’m going to format my goals in that way, anyway. 😅
Here are my goals for 2026:
1. Play: Continue creating arrangements in the random, noodle-y way that I love to do.
2. Progress: Continue to work on writing down my arrangements, strumming, learning Rock Class 101 tunes, and all the things that challenge me.
3. Push: Create 1 YouTube video per month of my own cute lil’ arrangements with written tabs. Extra push: Go live on that channel once in front of my 47 subscribers. 😅
Okay, that’s it! Thank you for another amazing year! Hearts to you all! 🙂
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Hello dear ukulele friends! 😊
Well, unsurprisingly, I waited until the last second to practice / record / share my take on Morning Dew, but it looks like a bunch of other people are last second, too! Looking forward to going back and listening to a bunch of the entries. 😊
I knew this tune would be trickier for me because it’s written for Low G and in a very different style from what I play, and therefore is the opposite of intuitive for me, since all I play is High G uke. Also, all the hammer-ons and pull-offs – Those things still can be hard for me sometimes. So, it took about 100% of my CPU to go against my instincts / habits while playing this. 😂 Nonetheless, this was a really fun one to learn! And a very beautiful tune!
Also, I have a “bonus edition” of the tune I tried to recreate in a familiar style for me, but it was really nice trying to clawhammer-ify a tune again! I didn’t get super far with it, the last bit is pretty rough (because I only played through that part once as clawhammer), but I think it has high potential for that style! 😊
I hope everyone’s T-gives was lovely for all who celebrate! And that everyone is doing well. Thank you, @Andrew, for these amazing challenges and for all that you do with your team! 🥰
@deadbuggy, very beautifully played and beautiful arrangement by Christopher! I didn’t realize that was the song he arranged for you, so neat and special! Thank you for sharing this!! 🙂 <3
I finally got a chance to reply to some things here! 😊
@nat-uke, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement! I’m pretty sure at this point – after this year that I’ve had – that not only has my gas tank been siphoned, but also I’m pretty sure the car has been stripped for parts (sometimes literally). 😂 You are really right though. Sometimes you can’t push yourself as hard when life is already so challenging – a challenge in itself. I also looked at Morning Dew and it’s trickier than I thought, which is perfect, it isn’t “too” easy. I also want to try something different with it. Thank you, your entry with Moondance was so good! I also have been practicing singing almost every day. I’ve talked with some really good singers about this and they say that confidence is almost as important as skill with singing. I really think that’s true. Anyway, thank you again, and look forward to your performance, too! 😊
@gi_gi_ it’s really lovely to see you appear, friend! We need to catch up soon. It’s been a while with life being so crazy. 😊 La Gitanita sounds so cool, it does seem like a good chance to work on that one! I have multiple RC101 tunes like that where I started then got distracted from learning them. 😂 Miss you, Double G! Glad you’re back! 🥰
@grannieannie, thank you so much for that!! I was really surprised that I was able to learn the first section so quickly, but knew I would struggle with the strumming parts. That skill just does not come naturally to me whatsoever for some reason. I think it’s because I have a really poor sense of rhythm and get really flustered (in a Guitar Hero-esque sense) with the pressure to hit the notes at the right time. That’s why I’m also really bad at those games and actually all video games, even though I do like them.😂 Uhhh, anyway, I really enjoyed your performance of Iron Man, that would also looked so hard and you did a lovely job with it!! 😊
@marianne, good gravy, that was exquisite! I think @Andrew described your performance as breathtaking – so true. So much incredible feeling and beauty behind your playing. It’s truly inspiring and moving. It makes me want to try that one, but I don’t have a low G or baritone uke. So sorry to hear of the loss of your work colleague. Praying for strength for everyone near to them and sorry that you’re going through that. 🥰
@misterbones, really amazing performance! You capture the feeling of so many different styles and utilize so many different techniques so well. I don’t really know that song. Were there tapped harmonics in your playing? It sounded really good, I didn’t notice anything off about it! Such a great performance! 😊
@bolognakid, really, really great performance!! Sounded perfect, honestly. Such a fun song, too. Also, just want to say, my name is also Rachael, spelled -ael! I haven’t personally met many fellow -ael’s in my life, maybe two or three, so it’s nice to meet another! 😊😂
@morrieuke1, so lovely, such a great feel to your performance! I really enjoyed it! 😊
@darktoto, very beautiful playing!! It sounded perfect to me. 😊Really looking forward to hearing more this month and hoping to get my performance done NOT the last day of the challenge! 😂
