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This month I worked on Irish Washerwoman, though I was tempted by the other tunes…..especially when others posted the gorgeous “Red is the Rose,”……..so I dabbled with the other tunes and even took a look at the Triplet Course, which admittedly twisted my clawhammer brain…..I was concerned that I would confuse the two…..that will be a course that I will have to take slowly and start with the etude before doing the capstone piece. I was impressed with @misterbones and @planetfink’s submissions……..amazing work! @morrieuke1 your Danny Boy was beautiful…..picking and singing is not easy,…..just a lovely submission!
Please do not include me in the drawing this month. Thank-you!
@brettboy that is impressive discipline – Cheers to seven more!….and thank-you – I always look forward to your posts.
@deadbuggy – beautiful playing …..and that is a ‘way-cool’ t-shirt!@brettboy, 4 years…….that’s 48 challenges…..that’s a true commitment. I always enjoy your posts because you always set the bar high inspiring the rest of us. That is a beautiful take on ‘Red is the Rose’………have you actually submitted for all 48 challenges in the past 4 years?……..how many years have you been submitting?
@The_Bumble_Bard can’t wait to see what you have cookin’😁Congratulations @Johanna2509! What a treat to be able to choose from some of Uke Republic’s inventory….Enoy!
Thank-you @Andrew……yes, I’m having a little love-affair with this banjo-uke, found it used a year or two ago at this great little music shop in Rochester, NY. I love old-time and bluegrass genre and clawhammer banjo-uke fits right in….so I will keep on bum-ditty-ing until I can keep up in a jam.
@The_Bumble_Bard – Thank-you! I still have a ways to go before it flows….sometimes I think it takes more than a month to get these pieces down (more like 3+)….Your Classical Etude was gorgeous….and you nailed the harmonics at the end! By the way I love the googly-eyes….gives your uke some personality😁……..In my ID photo there is a painting in the background…..it is covered with googly eyes – The artist (my friend) calls it “The Eyes of the Universe” 🤪. I would love to hear your rendition of Cripple Creek…..I know you are busy with the move, but when everything has settled…..maybe?
Good-luck with your move!I wasn’t sure if I would be posting or not this month……so here goes by the skin of my teeth….sliding in near the last possible moment. I decided to first transpose Cripple Creek from the key of C to the Key of A and then write out the tabs using ukulele notepad, which took a bit of time for me…..but it was fun to play with the fretboard, trying to figure out what worked best for clawhammering. This gave me less time to actually practice….so there are a lot of hesitations……slowing down and speeding up…..which needs to be ironed out. I had it in my mind that I would find a u-tube video to play along with….but I didn’t get up to speed in time. Instead, I used the sound of water as background rhythm/sound. Also, embarrassingly, there is a singing part and I was having difficulty remembering what I was playing and the words at the same time -(though the words couldn’t be any simpler🤪).
I am so impressed with all of the submissions, everyone works so hard….and it shows! I have been listening to all of your posts for over a year now…….I see such impressive improvement and growth, which inspires me. As always, thank-you Rock Class 101!
Please do not include me in the draw this month.
@Andrew, Wow! Thank-you for taking the time to make the comparison between my two submissions. Yes,….Flow! That’s it (though there were a few brain farts and finger-flubs)! So now I am beginning to see/feel/experience the connection between Tempo-Expression and Flow…….finding the Zen…….though it still feels like an obsession, a drive towards improvement (some kind of perfection?).
I love this piece because it sounds deceivingly simple and a bit haunting in its relentless tempo, and because the tempo and expression are so interlinked. It is time to let it rest for a bit though, and later return to it to continue this process.
I will try to keep this one going throughout the year so that it becomes so embedded in muscle memory……cellular!
It’s already 31 January…Yikes! Well, the goals I set for myself fell by the way side as I became somewhat obsessed with “Always With Me,”……I thought that it would take a week to prepare it, but that was not the case at all. In the first week, I realized that I had already forgotten and it took a few days to re-memorize it. Mid-month I realized that the piece wasn’t where I wanted it to be, so rather than move on I stuck with it. Also, my focus was on tempo and expression….this piece was perfect for that. Spent a lot of time with a metronome in my ear and playing along with Steve!
As I took a step back to continue working on a previous piece, I was totally blown away by everyone elses’ submissions…..Wow! Amazing originality and creativity, impressive techniques (like harmonics) and impressive clawhammer! Congratulations uke friends!
https://rockclass101.com/blackbird/ check this out @denisedistefan….they have a lesson on Black Bird here at Rock Class 101.
Happy New Year! Funny, I have been thinking about this probably since Matt’s live lesson on goal setting for 2024. So how wonderful that our first challenge of the New Year is to create our own lesson based on our interests and areas in which we would like to improve. As much as I would love to focus on clawhammer (which I will also be doing outside of this lesson),instead I’m going to focus on maintaining tempo and simplicity in expression. To me this means taking a step back and revisiting some of the pieces that I worked on last year.
Execution: Revisit “Always With Me” and if I have time “Adilita” (Always With Me is still somewhat in my memory….Adilita may take more time, because I will have to re-memorize)….I find myself in that vast expanse of intermediate playing, and I believe I have been here for awhile. I would love to have that sense of breaking through to a level of intermediate proficiency that will serve me in more advanced pieces.
Application: I will be focusing on the relationship between tempo and expression, and possibly review the classical techniques course for Adilita. I have always had the sense that I would get so far with my practice and then move on to another challenge. I am hoping by continuing to practice these pieces with a focus on tempo/expression, I can continue to fine tune my playing.
Evaluation: I like the idea of journaling in an effort to keep track of my experience……I will keep you posted as I go along.
Good-luck Uke friends…..this is a great challenge! Dianna
@jbmills07 that was so sweet and congratulations to @joe150!
Thank-you Andrew…..yes….I was taking liberties on purpose that backfired a bit…….there were things that I liked while playing that didn’t sound as good on recording……also, I was trying to just use the thumb for strumming and picking, which made it a little trickier (my other fingers desperately wanted to join in)……
Expression vs./(or as) K.I.S.S. Now this is interesting and fun….great challenge for 2024 – See you then and Happy Holidays!
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Donation of $20 to the Ukulele Kids ClubThis Month I worked on Matt’s lovely arrangement of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I wish all my Uke friends here a Happy and Joyous Holiday season, and as always Thanks to all at Rock Class 101 for all that you do.
