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The slow movement (aka largo) of Vivaldi’s winter concerto has always been one of my favorite pieces of classical music, and coincidentally I stumbled across a nice ukulele arrangement a couple of weeks ago which I already started learning. So I’ll make that the subject of my January challenge. What’s fascinating about this piece of music is that it’s made up using the very simplest of ingredients. It’s a basic major 1-4-5 progression, a straightforward steady rhythm, and the melody spans less than an octave. Yet when you listen to it, it sounds like the prettiest thing you’ve ever heard. But I guess with the great masters of classical music it’s the same as with great chefs: all they need is a few simple ingredients to create a masterpiece.
The challenge with playing something like this is to make every note count and bring out all the beauty. I will particularly focus on the legato playing to really make the melody sing. And one challenge I noticed in this particular arrangement is that there are a few melodic runs played on the high g string, with notes on the e or a string played as harmonic accompaniment. For some reason I have a hard time bringing out the notes on the high g string, they always sound softer than the notes on the other strings and tend to be covered up. So whenever the melody is played on the high g string, I have to make a conscious effort to pluck it a little harder than usual, and pluck the other string a little softer. I found this really challenging in my first practice attempts.So to sum it up:
Execution: learn to play a moderately challenging ukulele arrangement with a specific focus on feel. Practice the emphasis of melody notes played on different strings, particularly the high g string.
Application: apply these techniques by learning and playing the arrangement of the slow movement of Vivaldi’s winter concerto.
Execution: I will practice this song every day with a special focus on these areas and will post the result when I reached a point at which further progress becomes slow.
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Silent Night, decided to add some background noise at the last moment:
I donated $40 to the UKC.
Happy Holidays everyone!
I’d say the most important decision you want to make is whether to get one with metal wound strings or rubber strings. I had the chance to test both types in a store, and very much preferred the metal wound strings. It is much louder when played unamplified, and feels more natural and closer to a regular guitar or bass guitar than the thick rubber strings. On the down side, there’s lots of string noise which is difficult to control, and some might prefer the sound of the rubber strings which is closer to a double bass, while the metal wound strings sound more like a bass guitar.
Other than that, I’d say anything that has Kala or Fender written on the headstock will be fine, there’s not really too much difference in terms of sound and playability, other than the type of strings used. So if you have a chance to try them out in person, try both types and see what you like more. Either way, you definitely want to get an amp along with it. You can practice solo without an amp to a certain extent, but it’s really not much fun playing an U-Bass unamplified, and definitely won’t work very well in a setting together with other instruments or a playalong track.
Forgot to mention: I’ve got the Fender Fullerton Precision Bass Uke, and very happy with it. Probably the cheapest one you can get with metal wound strings.@The_Bumble_Bard: Thanks a lot! The tapped harmonics is just the one tap at 0:44 in my video, where the player is supposed to tap the top two non-fretted strings just above the 12th fret, which results in a unique sound I was not able to reproduce correctly. Doesn’t really matter that much, anything that results in some kind of percussive sound will do the job, I just wasn’t able to make it sound exactly as Andrew taught it in the lesson. If you’re curious to know what it’s supposed to sound like, you can listen to Andrew’s original performance.
@leb397 Thanks!
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La Gitanita has been on my list for quite a while, happy to see it coming up in a monthly challenge. The tapped harmonics just won’t work for me though, I can’t make it sound right no matter what.
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Looks like I’m the first one to tackle this lovely little ditty this month. Enjoy!
Thanks a lot @The_Bumble_Bard! No, it is still the same U-Bass as in all my previous videos where I added bass. I actually do have an electric bass guitar as well, I got that about half a year ago when I realized I really wanted to get into bass playing a lot more, and I thought it is probably better to learn it on an instrument with regular scale length. But of course when I record a duet with Ukulele, I will always resort to the U-Bass, mostly for the looks. In regards to sound and technique the differences are really marginal. Going back and forth between U-Bass and regular electric bass guitar is less of a change than switching between soprano and tenor uke, I’d say.
Making use of the freedom we were given for this month’s challenge yet once more, other than as per the usual I decided not to pick one of the more advanced or challenging selections, but instead I went for an arrangement that gave me the opportunity to work on different areas than technique, i.e. timing, expression, groove and such. Also once more I used the opportunity to further practice my newly acquired bass playing skills. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was just perfect for all of that.
Please exclude me from the prize drawing this month. Thanks.
@The_Bumble_Bard Thanks a lot, that’s very kind.
@dianna: Thanks a lot! Yes, the easiest way to record multiple instrumental tracks is using an audio interface, and that’s what I did, pretty much exactly as described here: https://rockclass101.com/ultimate-guide-recording-ukulele/
This is particularly easy when the instruments have a pickup, so instead of using a mike, I can plug them directly into the audio interface. Then I can record each additional track directly by playing it live to what I’ve recorded before, without the need to use headphones. And the audio interface also allows me to add a metronome click, which is of course not audible in the final recording. I was actually shocked how bad I was at just holding a steady beat, just by listening back to my recording along with the click. Definitely a very good practice routine to improve timing.
Proceeding like this means all the audio is already in sync automatically, then I just have to sync it up with the video recorded separately via the phone.As mentioned in my initial posting, I worked on improvising all parts (rhythm, bass, lead) of a simple chord progression borrowed from the Dire Straits song Six Blade Knife. As I’ll be on vacation starting next week for the rest of the month, this is where I am. Still a work in progress, but this has to do for now:
I’ll take the chance this month to explore something I otherwise don’t do enough: improvisation. So instead of doing what we usually do every month, pick a piece, learn to play all the parts, memorize everything, repeat the same thing a million times over again, I’ll do something completely different:
1) Execution: improvise all parts (bass, rhythm, lead) of a simple three chord progression. Come up with as many variations as possible within this very limited frame without sounding wrong.
2) Application: the three chord progression I’ve chosen is Am (four beats), C (2 beats) D (two beats), which is deceptively simple, but also happens to be the chord progression of one of my favorite Dire Straits songs, Six Blade Knife. So I’ll call this the Six Blade Knife jam. I’ll practice all parts separately with an iReal backing track, and then try to put it all together.
3) Evaluation: I’ll record first the bass part, then the rhythm part, then the lead part, and review each part until I’m happy with it and ready to continue to the next one. At the end, I hope to have something that sounds remotely like the Dire Straits song.
