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@marianne – You play that so elegantly, and you’ve made the notes ring. I’m working on this piece too – the feeling you put into it is an inspiration.
Congrats, @leihali and @abster! @abster, we’re all watching as you progress from amazing to superstar!
@stephencox – Of course [head-slap]! (referencing trying to improve vibrato by playing a song filled with dense chords). I’ve turned that around – now when warming up, I pick a random note and pick out the tune from there, which also helps me to become more familiar with the fretboard. Thanks for your constructive comments.@jbmills07 I’m sure I’m not the only one who shed tears with you as you played that heartfelt song for Regina. Thank you for opening up to this group – it can’t have been easy. You’re going through some profound feelings, and all you can do is feel them as deeply as you can, cry when you need to, and hold her hand to let her know you’re with her. Warm hugs.
So many great submissions this month, and all of them so different! @dianna mentioned everyone I wanted to comment on, so I won’t say it all over again, but I’m so impressed with the talent in this group and with everyone’s fearless sharing of where you are with the uke just now.
I wanted to work on vibrato this month, to the point where it happens naturally, and decided to play “the meatball song” from Lady and the Tramp: Bella Notte. So first I had to pick out the melody in a key that would allow me to hold a number of long notes, then I had to pick out the chords for the melody and get them down on paper so I could remember them. That took longer than I’d expected, and only then did I realize this song has different chords for each of its phrases, and the chords in the key I’d picked involve ridiculous chords and crazy chord changes. By that time it seemed too late to transpose everything to a different key – and who knew if different chord changes wouldn’t be just as difficult – so I plowed on through. Only at the end of this process did I listen to the song from the 1955 movie, and found that it was played (on an accordion) in the same key I had picked, at least for the first rendition.
So anyway, this is the best I can do for now. Thanks, Andrew, for an interesting challenge.
Thanks, Andrew, for this interesting challenge. I’ve been wanting to practise vibrato to the point where it becomes automatic when I’m playing, but so far, just getting my fingers on the right frets and strings at the right time has required all my focus. So this month I’m going to concentrate on vibrato. When I mentioned to my dearest that I needed a song with long, drawn-out notes, he said, “What about the song from Lady and the Tramp where they’re eating the meatballs?” Right away I knew what he meant – when I was ten or so, I got a piano book with songs from Disney movies, and I used to love playing and singing along to Bella Notte.
I’m not sure which key to play it in – I’m still noodling around with that, as I want to avoid too many open strings on the long notes.
Execution: I haven’t yet developed a vibrato technique, so I want to concentrate on using vibrato where the songs I’m playing seem to call for it. I would like vibrato to become an automatic response.
Application: Watch Andrew’s lesson on vibrato and use the exercises every day as part of my warm-up. Arrange a fairly simple version of Bella Notte so I can concentrate on using vibrato on the drawn-out notes, to add feeling to the melody.
Evaluation: Record myself at the end of each week, to see how I’m progressing; submit a final recording at the end of the month.
@leb397 – I hear you. The dark days of winter can be so hard to get through, and I so look forward to the days getting longer. Glad you found something to work on this month, and even a little bit each day will make you feel as if you’ve accomplished something. (I invested in a light visor this year, but haven’t had it long enough to see if it makes a difference. It’s not become a habit yet, so it would help if I could remember to use it every morning!)
Congrats, @jbmills07! I hope this brightens up the end of a rough year – we’ll look forward to hearing the beautiful melodies coming from your new uke. And Ziggy . . . bless his little . . . bless him!
@oetzpeng, your little furry pet is a good performer, too!
Thanks again to Andrew for doing everything you do, and Happy New Year everyone!
@leb397 – Thanks for inducting me into the bonus track group, although I can’t guarantee to be a regular member! Merry Christmas to you.
@abster – I always look forward to your submissions, and you gave us a bonus this time! Your sister has a lovely voice, and I hope she will join you again some time.
@The_Bumble_Bard – It took me a while to build up to “performance” standard, if you can call it that. One day, navigating around the fretboard will come more naturally, but I have to let my brain come to that in its own time. Happy holidays to you – I can imagine you and your googly uke are the life of the party!I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Why is it that when I practise on my air ukulele (especially as I’m falling asleep), I can play through an entire piece without any clangers, with smooth transitions, and everything sounds lovely? When I practise in real time, I can play each section without mistakes, but when I try to put them all together, I get . . . well . . . this. Anyway, it’s the best I can do for now. To make up for it, I’ve added a little bonus track at the end.
Thanks again, Andrew and crew—I’m so glad I discovered Rockclass101. I hope you get a well-deserved break. And now we can look forward to the days getting longer.
Happy holidays, everyone. Take care of each other, take care of yourselves, and we’ll see you next year.
Another day or two and I’ll have a video ready to submit – another day or two is all we have left, isn’t it? There’s so much talent in this group and such a range of experience. This is a great community where everyone is so supportive and helpful. Special thanks to Andrew and crew for making all this happen. You make it look easy, which is a sure sign that you’re putting a great deal of time and effort into everything you do. I hope you all get a well-deserved rest for the holidays.
Just a few comments:
@The_Bumble_Bard – You are always having so much fun with your playing! Thanks for continuing to remind us of this.
@ukefinlandgirl – I love your beautiful instrument! And you are making some beautiful sounds with it.
@katazumiri – What graceful hand movements! It’s fun to watch that addition to your playing.
@leb397 – I never tire of hearing someone play the banjo uke – thanks for adding that little bonus. Strangely enough, my brother recently reminded me that our older sister once had a banjolele many years ago. So long ago that I can barely remember it, except that I was allowed to look but not touch. We don’t know what happened to it – it didn’t turn up when we cleared out her house, and my sister has been gone for four years now. One of life’s mysteries!Welcome @leihali! (Don’t forget to say that you’re a Premium Member.) I also grew up playing the piano, and learning uke has given me a new respect for players of all stringed instruments. Piano has provided a solid sense of rhythm (also in your case, clearly), so at least we don’t have to learn that at the same time as trying to master the fretboard.
Not sure why my Youtube video isn’t embedded in the message, but I assume the link will work okay.
Again, I’m in awe of the talent in this group. One day I hope to feel effortlessly comfortable on the fretboard (you immediately come to mind, @abster, @Nico_uke, @marianne, among so many others), but for now I’m still picking my way through each piece. @leb397, ain’t that the truth: it takes longer to make the connections between older fingers and older brains—but what a pleasant way to keep the synapses firing!
@The_Bumble_Bard: Thanks for watching for my entry. I’m on the last minute again because I changed etudes halfway through—wanted to play something on my new Low-G, but my first pick proved to be beyond my capabilities, and my second choice was almost as difficult. How true that the fingering has to become second nature before attempting to add feeling. This Etude, no. 17, is meant to focus on dynamics, which I thought would be easy to incorporate, but I found I had to put all my attention into the fingering.I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
Thank you, Andrew. Your etudes are not only beautifully written, but each one is geared toward a certain level while managing to add an extra little challenge somewhere in the piece. I don’t feel I’ve risen to this challenge adequately — clearly I need to strengthen the hammer-ons/pull-offs, and I’m not sure why I kept looking down at what my right hand was doing — but I wanted to submit something on my new low-G Kala. I’ll definitely be working on this one because it’s such a lovely piece.
Oh, @leb397, I feel your pain! But you came back strong with another submission right away. I think I bit off more than I can chew with Etude #17, but I wanted something I could play on my brand new low-G Kala, thanks to the generosity of Uke Republic. I didn’t realize it would have such finger-tangles toward the end, so I’m going to have to crawl through it at a snail’s pace and submit it at the last minute – I hope Andrew has an extra half hour to listen to it!
@The_Bumble_Bard, congratulations for putting three different styles together, and so seamlessly!Love hearing everyone’s entries – so much talent in this group.
