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I Am A PREMIUM MEMBER
Hi Uke Friends, I have enjoyed listening to everyone’s submissions this month. As always, I’m so impressed with all the hard work, commitment and talent! This month I worked on Dock of The Bay….and here it is already the end of the month……so here goes. Fun little piece….thanks to Matt and Rockclass101 for a great arrangement.
@shmu88 that was great….You make it look so easy, setting the bar high….I am also working on that piece….not easy! Sometimes I strum up when I’m supposed to strum down and visa-versa….will take some time to discombobulate my strum pattern.
@leb397 – Yes! I am becoming a little more patient with myself, because it does eventually start to come together….it does take a lot of repetition…over and over again….yes there is a level of frustration…but then I do seem to break thru….this does not necessarily mean it’s 100% by the time I post(more like 75-80%)….usually it needs more work…..and now I just try to keep them in rotation hopefully keeping them in my memory….continuing To practice at a much slower pace.@Andrew….thank-you!😁
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
I worked on EP015 Blues: Rhythm & Licks. Did not get it up to speed….my fingers were tripping over each other, especially during the arpeggio…..
Great job Uke gang, always impressed by the hard work,commitment and talent in this forum…
@The_Bumble_Bard little Mowgli is beautiful, thanks for sharing pics of the newest member of our community!@deadbuggy love it! The orange shirts, the hats, umbrella drinks…..fun times with the ukulele!
Congratulations @frederic!
Musicians keep crazy hours (lol)! @Andrew, thank-you for the (3am) critique and the link to Per-Olof Kindgren’s magical performance…..beautiful and inspiring. Also, your critique for @bibilele (great job @bibilele) was just cool!
@Potter I loved your rendition of Sponge Bob Square Pants, a perfect tribute to Verity. RIP sweet Verity.
@jbmills07 thank-you for sharing your montage of Regina…..what a beautiful soul.@evanjdesilva….if that was for me ( @dianna ) thank-you so much for your critique, and I certainly will continue working on it!
I also want to add….this is a great challenge, so thank-you to RockClass101 as always….I believe that when we can spend time on the subtleties and nuances of these tunes, we can learn so much….I also think it takes time to work thru them…and for me sometimes a month or two just isn’t long enough. It was great to see the growth and improvements for others….so impressed with everyone’s hard work.
I am a PREMIUM MEMBER
What an interesting challenge! In the beginning of the month, when I was able to re-memorize Adelita pretty quickly….I thought great!…I will now be able to work on the subtleties of the piece….which I did….or attempted to do….and I thought things were going pretty well, until I went to record. Having done this for awhile, recording has become a monthly discipline….I don’t believe I’m nervous anymore…..but something does seem to happen when I press that recording button. After several imperfect attempts, frustration begins to build and a certain anxiety (which @The_Bumble_Bard also expressed……)…..and then I run out of time….(it is the 31st of March already!) and I have to submit something….so here it is…..my not so ready for prime-time performance……..On a positive note,…..I see improvement in my performance, but there is still work to be done.
There are so many pieces I would like to revisit, including the ones I just practiced this year. I think I could simply do this challenge for the rest of the year and I’d be happy! For the longest time I have wanted to revisit “Adelita.” I pulled it out and was pleasantly surprised to have it back in my memory very quickly (which is exactly what @Andrew and others have said would happen). This means I can focus my attention on sustain and flow and the emotional nuances using rubato and dynamics. I was also surprised at how short the piece actually is. It didn’t feel that way the first go—round! There are still spots that are rather tricky which I will try to improve. Also, it is March and last year this time I was practicing the “Irish Washerwoman”…..turns out that is also a short piece (again it didn’t seem that way last year)….Interestingly, it was also sustain that I have to work on in that piece. So, I will focus on “Adelita.” That will be my piece for this challenge, but if there is time, I will take a stab at the “Irish Washerwoman,” in attempt to also improve sustain. Have a great month practicing Uke friends!
@Andrew, Thank-you for the critique…..this is definitely a work in progress…..I am enjoying the challenge….I am also enjoying working out of a “Course” and sticking to a particular genre focusing on the same techniques which will hopefully improve my ability to play them.
You nailed it with the wrist…it is tight, but I find in general, my entire body tightens the second I hit the record button….I don’t feel nervous, and I am very aware it happens….I do little breathing exercises…..it just occurred to me,while writing this (maybe an aha moment!)that the tension may all start in the wrist causing tension thru out the body….something to work on…
One more thing, I have noticed that during the split stroke, using the technique of thumb to index finger…I am hitting the body of the uke…this may also be an effect of the tightness in the wrist….
Thanks so much for taking the time ….I will work on relaxing my wrist….
@The_Bumble_Bard …….cool sound….your Aura Lee is haunting…..especially with the image of a cat and dog? Fighting?🙀
Well, I was able to escape the crazy weather in Buffalo for a few days, but will have to return on Friday…….because of travel, I haven’t had a lot of time to practice…..also, I worked on 12th Street Rag which I wanted to play on the banjolee, but was not able to bring it with me…..I used my daughter’s high-G uke….which worked well. I think it is a little easier to play on the regular uke because the strings feel looser…..but I think this style lends itself to the banjolee. I was really excited to continue practicing the techniques from the Beyond the Island Strum course…….which I did revisit as I practiced this piece…..Thanks Rockclass101.
I have been enjoying listening to everyone’s submission….and hearing about all the crazy weather experiences……it’s been quite a winter! Being snowed in is a good excuse to practice!
