[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

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@dianna, that’s so true!! Rocky is Rose! So precious! 😅😻

@leb397, do you mean that the vocal was distracting from hearing the clawhammer part? Oh yes, if you slow it down that much, I feel like that would really distort the sound. Yes, we shall prevail! Just keep taking it slow. 😊💕

I actually wanted to try singing the Willow song but then I realized……. I can’t sing, whoops. 😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, haha, awww, thank you! I always look forward to seeing your entries, too! It’s so much fun to see what everyone does. Even though it’s the same songs, everyone’s is a little bit different. 😊

I’m also trying to learn BMBTW and that’s so dang tricky. For me, it was super hard to figure out the rhythm initially. I had to listen to the lesson many times, even so far, to grasp it, because I need to have it in my head to play it. I’m not good at reading the music and learning the rhythm that way. Also, memorizing all the patterns is so tricky because they are all very similar. Besides being rather whiny, I think it’s such a beautiful song, so it’s worth the struggle. 😂 I’m also going to learn Fields of Gold now in case I fail at BMBTW. 😅

And also My Heart Will Go On in clawhammer………….. 😉😂

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@jbmills07, another beaut!! You add so much to that song by playing with feeling, as you always seem to. Rocky is 100% adorbs!! I can’t even. 😻 I must go adopt a cat now, I have no choice, my landlord won’t notice (she would). 😉😂 Very lovely playing, though!

Side note, I just tested it, and My Heart Will Go On has high clawhammer potential; it scores an 8 or 9 on the CP scale. But I must learn at least one song as written… I know it’s good ‘n’ right to do that, to color inside the lines. I have big time problems with that, man, not just with music. 😅😂🥺

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@robinboyd, haha, I’m the same way with memorizing things like that. That’s so true; when you learn a chord in a certain context, it’s so much easier to remember, if you have a specific association with it. I’m still pretty bad at knowing the exact names of chords and I only know a few individual notes on the fretboard, but it’s a start to know, “oh, this is an E7 chord.” I just learned a higher up version of that chord for a song I’m working on, found from the link Lisa suggested. 😂

I’m definitely going to use that, too, though, thank you. 😊

This is the one @lisadmh suggested earlier: https://www.ezfolk.com/uke/chords/A_major/a_major.html

I posted that in my last reply but that’s also nice. 😊

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