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All you early posters are so inspiring! @marianne, @otzepeng, and @abster (good to see you back!) did so beautifully on the piece my fingers are still struggling with; @misterbones – OMG! I could listen to that all day! @The_
bumble_Bard: I hope your neighbour appreciates your talent, and I also hope you’ve made it through the storm okay.I’m with @nat_uke now: time to get serious!
Congratulations @lhamilton! That’s a snappy-lookin’ uke, and we’ll look forward to hearing it.
And @mysticrick, thanks for showing us how your new beauty sounds. It sounds great!
Everyone’s submissions were great this month. I so enjoyed the various renditions of the beautiful arrangement of Tennessee Waltz, that timeless classic that was part of the sound background when I was a wee one (and I smiled at the canine(?) accompaniment to @lhamilton).
I’m glad Stephen warned us that it can be slow going to get the fingers used to the triple strum technique, because it was two weeks before I could get that strum going smoothly while the other hand was learning the fingering. This is still pretty choppy – something to work on.
Please exclude my name from this month’s draw.
@marianne – as always, wow!
@The_Bumble_Bard: You must have spent so much time on that video, syncing everything – thanks for putting the tabs together for us.
@leb397: Lucky grandbaby, lucky grandma! And yet you had time to put together an impressive rendition of yet another song I’m going to put on my one-day list.Everyone is sounding so good this month!
This was interesting, taking a little riff all the way through to a finished song, such as it is – I’ve always had great appreciation for those who compose their own music, and now the admiration is even greater! I was challenged by someone (that would be my hubby) to write lyrics about fog, so of course I had to try. But I found it difficult to sing at the same time as concentrating on the fingering, so I added the singing at the end, with a simpler version of the tune along with a photo montage of what my world looks like at this time of year.
@The_Bumble_Bard: Same here. I often make up little tunes to go with what’s happening around me, and I’ve started recording them so I don’t lose them. I have to compose by ear because of an odd little neurological tic (once-perfect pitch that has shifted by a minor third, something that happens with age, apparently), which means I can no longer read notes on the page (and I can no longer play on a keyboard) because my brain wants to hear something different from what the notes actually are. So I write in the tabs according to what the frets sound like to me and I write in the notes as I’m “hearing” them, but if I wanted to write the notes as they actually are (in proper notation), I’d have to go through the laborious process of transposing each one down a minor third. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but it’s a good little challenge for me (who always found music easy).
@The_Bumble_Bard: Yes, I posted about my goal for this month, writing my own song. Problem is, it’s become such an ear worm as I’m working on it that it’s acting as background music throughout the day, as if my brain is afraid I’ll forget it. Enough already! It’s so baked into the folds and creases of that part of my anatomy, I fear it’s never going away. Now I just need to get my fingers to make the tune sound as flawless as it appears in my head!
@The_Bumble_Bard: Great challenge for yourself, and it’s obvious you’re putting a lot of effort into this arrangement – you’ve got some intricate finger movement there, and going to the highest place you can go on the fretboard! That still intimidates me. I share your “camera anxiety,” but you’d never know it, looking at this take. I’ll look forward to seeing your tabs.
I didn’t post many comments last month, but I did want to thank @Katazumiri for taking us through the Christmas market – you always do something creative with your submissions. I’d love to see other people’s surroundings. And welcome to the new members!This is such a great way to learn, and this forum is full of friendly, supportive people.
And Happy New Year to all of you wonderful people!
I wasn’t ready to prepare my own tune for the previous free challenges, so decided this is the time to do it.
Application: Choose a tune from the several little snippets I’ve recorded when something has come to me; decide which key is best for ukulele.
Execution: Develop a song from that tune; add chords and fingerstyle picking to go with it; note it all down on paper; work to bring it up to speed.
Evaluation: Record myself playing it every Friday until I’m ready to submit it on the forum.
Thanks, Andrew, for all you’ve done for the group.
Congratulations, @mysticrick! We’ll look forward to hearing the sweet notes coming from that beauty.
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Here’s my take on Greensleeves, tarted up a bit. Best wishes for the holidays to everyone.
I meant to add that my third primary goal, to push myself, is to learn to play Marianne’s “Contemplations” well enough to play smoothly. The festival is the extra incentive.
Thanks for this, Matt – it prompted me to write down my goals for this year instead of just thinking about them (rather loosely!):
– Share what I’ve learned about fingerpicking through Rockclass101 with a sub-group of HUGS, the local strumming group, through monthly meetups. I’ll develop a learning/practice outline for players with minimal fingerpicking experience, and they can set the pace.
– Keep Beatrice, my lovely Low G, out where I can pick her up throughout the day and play for five or ten minutes at a time. (I was concerned about the humidity in our living area, but during the winter, with a woodstove keeping the room warm, the humidity is just perfect.)
– Attend the ukulele festival in Vancouver that Matt mentioned, and take part in one of his classes/workshops.
Matt, when is the festival? And will you be teaching?