[The_Bumble_Bard]

@dianna, thank you so much!! It really means a lot that you say that. 😁😻

I’ve always loved figuring out songs by ear; it’s one of my favorite things to do on instruments. I find it very fun and relaxing. I did that on piano growing up and they were similar to what I’ve done on uke so far, pretty simple, but they usually allow me to express the feeling I want at my current skill level. The Over The Rainbow arrangement is one of the ones I’m most proud of so far. The feel of it was inspired by one of Matt’s arrangements. And I actually got to talk with him about this Memory arrangement in a private lesson last week, which was very fun and helpful.

But learning RC101’s arrangements has helped me improve my own arrangements (and general skills on uke) so much and also finish creating them, and write them down, especially with Matt’s help with that specific thing. 😅😂😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, haha!! When I first joined here I was actually “potato lady,” but I asked Andrew to change it to what it is now because it’s the same as my illustrious YouTube channel and still-currently-unpublished, highly-refined blog. That’s why it’s The Bumble Bard because bumbling around and acting a fool is what I do best (not always in a good way… 😳). Also, I like bumble bees, even though I’m scared of them, and poetry. 😅

That is the “short” explanation. 😅

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, so true! I think even Gollum joined in this challenge ( @moonshoes ) and boy is that ever an honor! 😅 A lot of time in those mountains to practice I guess, though it is kind of dark…

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@Andrew :

But I promise, we wouldn’t joke about giveaways. Only silly things like this video 😂

This is beautiful! The ending is hilarious. Hand slowly and steadily reaches to close the Skype window, shocked expression unchanging 😂😅

@leb397, agreed! 😊 I genuinely don’t think I’d be where I am playing ukulele without Rock Class and the lovely people here. The encouragement here has helped me do things I didn’t think I could ever do with ukulele to this extent tbh, compared to where I was before I started here. Just so grateful for that and all the fun that happened in the process. 😊💕

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by The_Bumble_Bard.

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, that was flippin’ amazing! I feel like you really nailed the groove of that song super well and all the techniques involved, but @Andrew had great suggestions as always, of course. Still really, really great! I felt the same intense struggle last month trying Funk Jam because that song was beyond me and I still am working on it. 😂 Anyway, lovely work! 😊

@morrieuke1, you also did a great job with that song!!

Everyone else has done an amazing job, too! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@leb397, thank you so much for saying so! I’ve said it many times, but your encouragement has meant so much to me. I sadly have not gotten the chance to see Cats live, but I did get to see The Lion King on Broadway once and almost got clocked with an elephant’s tusk as they were walking down the aisles of the audience to get to the stage. 😅😂😅

That’s so kind of you to say, thank you! 😊 I really do hope that sharing my own struggles can be helpful to people. Another thing that can help is finding one person, just one, who you feel comfortable playing in front of. For me that’s been my mom and we’ve bonded over that since I started playing uke. She has the same struggles with performance anxiety so if my hands start shaking or I pause or have other issues, she doesn’t judge me.

Haha that’s so awesome that you’re tackling such a tricky song! I look forward to hearing that. For me the challenge was trying to tackle two minis this month and I half succeeded. 😂😅

This is the other song. I shared it only on YouTube just to see what happened but I like sharing these here so we can talk about things as we do here and your encouragement has really helped me a lot honestly. Here ’tis, it’s my arrangement of Somewhere Over The Rainbow: https://youtu.be/0Ao1mG8eIo0

Look forward to hearing your entry and thank you again so much, friend! 😊💕

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@abster, that was absolutely amazing! Perfect job! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@Andrew, thank you so much! I will try that triplet strummin’. NGL, it really does mean a lot that you loved the variation because your original version is so magical and sweet; I will get it eventually. Thank you! 😁

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Hahaha! Well, thank you, @lisadmh! It may not be purrfect, but I’m glad you’re feline (feeling) the cats. 😂😅😸

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Here is my second entry, a variation on Feel Good Strummin’ (the fingerstyle edition):

My wrist didn’t like the chord changes right now, so it might take a while to build up to the original’s exact chords and to the strumming, but I hope to get there. I love this tune! Thank you, @Andrew! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER

I joined the One Finger Etude club this month. I had lofty ambitions of doing two of these minis, because for me it’s borderline impossible to spread out my brain and finger power that much. 😅 Well, I almost did two, but I can’t talk about that yet. 😂😅

@dianna, replying to your previous posts: I’m pretty sure we’re the same person. 😂😅 Just with our anxieties and struggles. You did such an amazing job doing three of those minis, so crazy! And all of them were so lovely too. Really impressive. For me those tips / approaches I talked about before have been helping me a lot to push through the anxiety of recording. It’s still there, but they help to push through it. And I’m glad that @Andrew agrees, it’s so true: Once you know a song really, really well, to the point that you don’t have to think about it, that’s the loveliest part because then you can start to impart more feeling into your playing and feel less anxiety if you struggle with that. That’s my experience and what I love most about playing uke, is when you get to that point of familiarity with a song.

Here’s my One Finger Etude. The strumming part is highly questionable. 😂

For some reason, it reminds me of this song, starting around 38 seconds:

Thank you for reading and listening! Everyone has done an amazing job with these lovely minis. 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Magical! Beautifully played! 😁

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@jbmills07, the only Zelda game I’ve played is the one where the characters are meleé fighting. Super Smash Bros…? Haha that’s so funny that you also played the Disney Sega games. Those were the best. 😅

Rocksteady and Beebop are pretty amazing names for cats! I already have future names for cats or dogs that I will have at some point. 😅 I actually think you can attach photos. If you look at the window where you create a new reply, there’s a button that says “select file” and I think you can upload photos that way. Pocket kittens! 😅

Yes, amazing music from video games and also movies. So many of them translate so beautifully to the uke as proven by Rock Class’ uke arrangements. 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

So many lovely performances even so far!

@gi_gi_, I loved your video and performance so much! So lovely. I also love your outfit a lot. 😅

About what everyone was saying with multiple takes when recording… So true.

These are some things that have been helping me with that and with my performance anxiety:

* If I mess up, I don’t stop recording, but just start over (if I have to) while keeping the recording going. Then I crop the video later.

* I try to learn the song so well that I don’t have to think about it, so I can focus on pushing passed the anxiety. That takes a long time, though. But the songs I know best are the ones I’m the most comfortable recording.

* I try to focus on the emotion I feel when playing a song. That may be the thing that’s been helping me the most. And trying to channel the performance anxiety into the emotion I feel behind the music, like the anxiety (and frustration at times) is “powering” my playing. That sounds crazy 😅 but that helps me redirect the fear into something useful and positive.

* I accept that the first few (or 40) takes will likely not be shareable, and that’s okay. I also tell myself that it’s okay if I’m having anxiety symptoms, that they will pass, and if they don’t I can try again later. And it’s okay if there are mistakes. Basically, anything to take the “pressure” off a bit.

It really, really helps that Rock Class is full of people who are not only non-judgmental, but also incredibly kind, helpful, and sympathetic. It’s a safe space to share. And a lot of people share these struggles, even some of the instructors.

I hope this isn’t too much, I just thought this might be helpful. Thank ye! 😊

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@gi_gi_, that would be really cool! I’m not sure if I’d survive that challenge though unless the time period for it were five years (minimum). 😅

It’s always so cool to see the “behind the scenes” of how great musicians learn songs and create songs. To me that’s maybe even more interesting than the final performance. It’s like if a magician let you have a glimpse into his magical hat, but inside the hat is a tiny virtuosic man practicing ukulele.

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