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Hi All – I went with Summertime Swing this month. Wow, I have never played that far up the fretboard before! I have a couple of cutaway ukes – when I bought them, I just thought they looked cool – but they do help you reach those pesky high # frets for sure! I experimented playing this on all my instruments, including concert (ugh too small). I was leaning toward recording it on my baritone as it just felt more comfortable (bigger fret spaces? less tension on the strings-easier to fret?). But in the end, I recorded on tenor high G. Those high frets are so small I had to concentrate to keep my fingers (usually) landing in the right spots.
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Hi All – I started the month playing “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay”, which was fun, but I just wasn’t ‘feeling it’ – you know what I mean? I wanted to submit something though, so I rallied to instead pick up & learn eTude #37 at the last minute. A chill vibe matching my current mood I guess. It’s an easier one from a technical perspective, but what I noticed is how much quicker I can learn a song now than say a year ago (ok, yes it’s pretty short, but still I can tell easier for my brain to understand what’s coming next – the structure).
In my rush to record something quickly before running out the door, I didn’t take the time to set my mic up nicely. I recorded it too softly and I can still hear my sock-footed rhythm toe tapping in the background LOL. If I had recorded it at a higher volume, I could have filtered out the faint toe taps I suppose, but it’s something I’ll remember next time.
Nice job everyone!
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I worked on “April Smiles” this month. Loved this song – it was fun to play and learn – thanks @Andrew & @Evan!
I liked how the lesson combined chord melody, lead, and rhythm to help with music theory. I’m still wanting to write a song (someday) and this type of song helps again with concepts. I appreciate how the videos always give fingering suggestions. I found that I experimented a bit on tricky bits and ended up with a slightly different fingering that worked a little better for me in places. A few notes here and there are a little muted, but heh, for me – I’m still happy with it :-).
I also get a tiny bit smarter on recording, Garage Band and iMovie every time I record, so that’s a win too! I amused myself in the split screen portion trying to make it look like one version of me was looking over at the over version of me – not sure I accomplished that, but it was fun anyway!
I’m enjoying everyone’s submissions. Keep up the great work and smiles!
-NatalieAwesome @jbmills07 – I’m working on this song also and agree that last bit of chord melody is the toughest true! Sounds good to me!
@deadbuggy – super fun video, complete with song appropriate umbrella drinks lol.🍹 That is the type of video merging I want to figure out this month also (in addition to actually learning the multiple bits of April Smiles). 🎬 🎥 🎦 🤔
Wow, what a beautiful instrument 😍 thank you to RC101, Kanile’a and Uke Republic!
I think I am going to work on EP018-April Smiles this month. I was hoping this would be the year I could begin to start to tackle song-writing, which has several pre-requisites, including understanding music theory better than I do today! I’ve previously started the RC101 Music Theory/Jamming course, but couldn’t make it through before 🤯, Also been watching YouTube Uke music theory videos and sometimes get a new aha moment. So this lesson sounds good because it has THREE parts (chord melody, lead, rhythm) to study how they interact. PS plus it is such a beautiful song AND it is a low G 👏
I’ve also wanted to experiment with recording myself (video portion) multiple times playing different parts, combining into one video, so this lesson sounds like a great one to try for me.
I look forward to hearing what everyone else plans to learn this month! Planning to having fun learning something new.
@jbmills07 lovely. Thank you for sharing your beautiful memorial slideshow. One day at a time 👍❤️
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I revisited “Fields of Gold” from the 08/2023 challenge. I can hear this version is definitely better than my 08/2023 version with not as much trouble with the dreaded bar chords and more “flow”. When the song called for 7th fret barred, I experimented with index sometimes and middle finger sometimes (because I felt my middle finger might be a little stronger?) but I think either finger works on that bar chord. I still hear places where fretting can be cleaner. but it is improved.
There is something I can’t quite put my finger on that I don’t like – probably just the fretting in some place, but maybe it is the way I am strumming (fingernail vs side of my thumb) or the uke sound itself or cutting some notes short, – yeah maybe all the above – haha. If there are any suggestions on something to try, I love this song, so willing to give it a shot to keep improving it!
-Natalie@andrew agree! Thanks 😊
LOL. We’re going for the “golden ticket” again! ❤️
The song selection was an easy choice for me. I chose the very first song I posted on RC101 (08/2023) – “Fields of Gold”.
Improvement goals – better barre chords, clearer notes ringing out, more “fluid” / “flow”
I haven’t played the song since I posted originally. So it will be a little like learning all over again, but hopefully with a nicer result. 👍
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Hi All – I also worked on “Blue Skies” this month by Matt. What a gentle and relaxing arrangement. Like others, I also tried to give it a little rubato without being overkill. 😀
To all who worked on 12th Street Rag – Wow! I’ve added it to my “goal songs” list to learn down the road (one day). Very fun sounding!
-See you next month
NatalieLove it @brettboy 👏
@misterbones – good choice! I love that you did this one on the banjolele. Just a happy breezy little number. You played it lovely. 👏 👏
@marianne – sounds great! I’m working on this song also the month. I’ve got the notes down, but want to work now on the feel. Your ‘feel’ and dynamics are great. So pretty.
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Hi All – For this month’s challenge I worked on a new technique – rasqueado (aka “sweep”) because I wanted to learn some Spanish sounding songs. To apply it, I learned a new song, La Gitanita (Gypsy Girl) which used the technique. I also got some practice on another technique – Picado. This was a really fun song to learn.
