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Here is every complete entry on Page 14:
morrieuke1 – Very nicely done! Your technique is great, you have a great tone on the instrument, and your timing is solid! For a little extra challenge, try going back and adding dynamics. In the original, each phrase starts quietly, crescendos in the middle, and trails back off at the end in a mysterious way. You could incorporate this in your own way, and really try exaggerating it at first. Great work on this one! Thank you for taking part in this challenge!
miztaken – You sound very good on this one! You picked a very nice tempo and stuck with it! I find that with sections that I consistently struggle with, it’s best to isolate them and play them slowly until I can get them cleanly, then speed it up to just a bit faster than my ideal tempo. This way, they become easy spots instead of places in the song to tense up in. For you, this would be the chord transitions from 1:10 to 1:30, mostly. Aside from that and one or two other spots, you have the song down! Thank you for your entry!
wongbrown – You’ve got the idea, you are doing great, and playing the song slower is the way to go. Right now you are hesitating right before several chord transitions, and the slower pace would allow you to stay in time. As a performance, the listener usually wants to hear a steady flow rather than a faster performance with random pauses. I highly recommend playing this one about 3/4 of the speed you played it at with a metronome. The notes sound great, and the finger picking parts have a great flow to them! I think the hesitations are only where you transition into “strumming mode.” You are doing a great job, keep it up! Thank you for entering the challenge!
ultramom – You are off to a great start! I think more practice is the main thing to get the song to have a smooth flow. I noticed that sometimes when you are playing chords like at 1:25, you have quite an angle on your fretting hand wrist, and really on both wrists. I highly recommend practicing these chords with less bending in the wrist to avoid tensing up and causing wrist pain. Isolate the transitions to those chords and play slowly with a focus on posture! You’re doing well, and with more practice, you’ll be performance ready! Thank you for your entry!
mdugal – Great job! My only suggestion is to play slower: Some of the chord transitions are tricky, and you are hesitating a bit. Even if you are able to do them at your current speed some of the time, you will benefit by practicing slower and really getting accurate at every transition in time. Try using a metronome at 75 bpm at first. Awesome job, especially for your first challenge! Thank you for joining the challenge!
tiff27 – I really like your costume idea! So creative! You’re doing great on this one, and I like that you picked a comfortable tempo to play at! At 1:20, you are playing the strumming part twice as fast as the fingerpicked notes. Try strumming at half the speed you currently are to match the speed you’re fingerpicking at. You’re doing very well for reading it, too! If you have time to memorize at least a few of the tricky transitions, you’ll get a bit smoother as you go. Thank you for entering this challenge!
coffeemug – Excellent job! This is not an easy song, and there are a few tricky transitions: From measure 3 to 4, transitioning into the Gaddb9 is one of those spots that I would work up from a slower tempo with a metronome. Especially sense it happens a lot in the song, that is one spot I would play over and over until it feels natural. In measures 14 to 15, the transition into the Fm is another spot that I would isolate in the same way. Once you get those to feel more natural, you’re well on your way! Thank you for joining the challenge!
annegodfrey – I think you did a good job on a clear melodic line on this arrangement! As far as the smooth transitions and rhythm, I think you could achieve this by simply playing at 3/4 the speed you are currently at. Then if you had extra time, you could speed it up to the full tempo. Having a metronome or the slowed down version on the tab player can help you hear it at the slower speed as well. Do you ever try to play along with the tab player at 50% speed? I think this might be a great way to get the smooth sound you are after! Thank you for your entry!
turkgoose – I’m so sorry I somehow missed you the first time! You are doing an excellent job on The Sound of Silence. There are just a few tricky chord transitions that are holding you back slightly. The secret here is to spend 80% of your practice time isolating those transitions and really getting them to where they take much less effort than they currently do. This is a matter of muscle memory, and does take time to develop, but isolating those sections will definitely speed things up! Thank you for being part of the challenge, and thank you for resubmitting. Excellent job, you are doing amazingly for a beginner!
Here’s everyone on page 9:
planetfink – You definitely got the emotion across! Paul Simon sitting on the floor is a nice touch! It seems like the chord transitions from 0:52 to 0:58 are the main ones that need a bit of extra work. I would loop that section at a slower tempo and just work on getting the notes to ring out clearly on that whole section. Then when you slowly build it up to speed, your fingers should remember the slight adjustments that you made to get the notes to all ring out. Wonderful work on this! Thank you for joining the challenge, and congratulations on a year on Rock Class 101!
andrewvh – Great job on maintaining the tempo throughout, except where you intentionally slowed down for effect! Congratulations on your first youtube video! It might be nerves, but you played this one very fast! I recommend slowing it down a great deal! This will give you time to get to all of the transitions without having to miss as many (or any) notes. If you have a metronome, try playing along with it at 90 beats per minute or slower. Your version was closer to 110. You are doing wonderfully! Keep it up! Thank you for your entry!
tastyshrimp – Nice work! You’re playing this one very well! There seem to be a few spots where you are hesitating (mainly toward the end of Melody B and at the very end), but over all there’s not much more to say! With the thumb, sometimes having to strum through all of the strings can slow the tempo down even though it creates a cool effect. Try the way that AJ did to give each note a slight attack to each note, and see which sound you prefer afterwards. Thank you for entering the challenge!
nosferatu – Very nice feel and tone! There were only a few spots in the middle where the chords caused you to hesitate, so I think you are doing a great job with the changes! Try going over that theme 2 a bit slower. There’s a tendency on this one to speed up on the strummed chords that is also making it a bit harder to get to the chords in time. Try to hold back on the tempo while strumming to make things a bit easier. You’re sounding great, keep it up! Thank you for your entry!
Here’s everyone on page 8:
laurakarr12 – You are doing a wonderful job! The first 22 seconds sound perfect! To get the next sections up to that level, I would recommend just playing them to a metronome until you aren’t hesitating on them anymore. Your tone sounds great, and there’s very little buzz, so it’s mainly just getting to chord shapes in time. Also, the vibrato at the end on the last chord was very nice! Keep it up, you’re super close to having the whole song down! Thanks for entering this challenge!
joannetala – I don’t know what it is about the little red light, but something about recording makes almost everyone tense up and overthink! You are doing a great job in spite of this! You have most of the song down really well. My main suggestion is to practice it a bit slower with a steady pulse. Here and there you are slightly hesitating and struggling to catch back up to your tempo, and playing a bit slower with a metronome will help with that. Your tone and playing position are great, so it’s just sticking with a constant tempo throughout. Thank you for your entry!
brettboy – That was super entertaining! I love how well you do the mannerisms of a ventriloquist doll so well! You never broke character! On such a difficult piece, I would find it very hard to do that. On such a hard song, I think the main focus should be finding the pulse and sticking to it, regardless of how slow you play it. There were definitely sections that you keep a solid tempo in, and definitely sections where you sacrificed the timing to get the notes. I would recommend keeping the pulse over all else, and fitting the notes in as best as you can. Even at 2/3 the speed you played this one, I think leeping the pulse is the right way to go. However, you did an excellent job working through those tough passages! Keep it up…I know it’s super hard in spite of how easy Evan makes it look! Thank you for challenging yourself in this challenge, and creating such a fun video.
barbecueblack – Wonderful job on this! You had a great feel, and a fairly natural pulse through the piece! I noticed that you gradually sped up a bit…this made the parts towards the end a little trickier, but you got through it! I would recommend playing the song with a metronome to know where you have the tendency to slightly push the tempo, just to make it easier in a performance situation to not let it get too fast. However, it was such a gradual push, that it sounded great and was hardly noticeable at all! Really nice job on this one! Thank you for being part of this challenge!
lyndallk – Very nice job! And you made that ukulele?! That’s very cool! You did a great job keeping a great feel throughout! My only suggestion now is to add some dynamics and really exaggerate the ritards for effect. Each phrase can start quiet and slowly crescendo, and then gradually get softer towards the ends of the phrases. You are already doing a wonderful job on this, and those embellishments will just add a little more of the mysterious vibe to the song that will draw people in. Thank you for sharing this, and congratulations on making a very nice ukulele!
Hi Gina,
That’s a lot of stuff to cover. I almost feel like a Skype lesson would be an easier way to cover every topic you mentioned! I have some basic tutorials on this playlist.
The short answer to right hand technique is: there are many styles of playing! Picado is fairly close to the normal plucking technique on bass, so this is certainly valid! As far as using the thumb: I like to mute with my right hand palm and pluck with the thumb at times for a more muted sound. Also, if muting is frustrating for you, Gruv Gear makes something called a fret wrap that might help you with this! Then for where you are plucking: It’s fine to pluck by the neck, but many players like to play closer to the bridge. Where you pluck has two main effects on playing: Tone and string tension. For tone, you get a brighter tone closer to the bridge, and a warmer tone closer to the neck. For string tension: Closer to the bridge there is more tension, which makes it easier to play faster. Closer to the neck is great for slower songs that require a warmer tone. I hope this helps!Congratulations on the bass ukulele! As far as the longer sustain, my U-Bass has the metal round wound strings. These strings have longer sustain due to being metal. As far as muting, you can rest your right hand thumb on the E string to keep it from ringing when playing the other strings, and you can use the fretting hand fingers not currently playing to mute as you go as well. It takes some getting used to, but just being conscious of it helps. Great questions!
mfaske – Very good job on this one! It’s already fairly smooth sounding, but there are a few things you can do to get it closer to how you want to hear it: I notice that sometimes you are lifting fingers of your fretting hand off of the fretboard a bit early when moving to the next note, especially with the ring finger. This is creating a quiet pull-off, which still sounds ok even though it’s not written. To avoid this, wait even longer before shifting to the new notes. Also, your fretting hand wrist is bending inward a bit…try to keep it a bit straighter as you play, and it might give you a bit more range of motion to your playing. Great work on this, I’m glad you enjoyed learning it! Thank you for participating in this month’s challenge!
omaon4 – Great work on this one! You’re timing and notes are very solid! One thing that would help the song to flow a bit smoother is to pluck the strings a little bit lighter to get a nice warm tone rather than the bright tone you have now. Also, your fretting hand wrist seems to bend back a little on certain notes. Try to keep an almost straight wrist to keep the fingers closer to the frets and to avoid a wrist injury. Wonderful job, keep it up! Thank you for your entry.
santai – Very nicely done! You picked a very good tempo for where you are at, and played most of the song almost perfectly! There were a few sections that seemed to give you a tiny bit of trouble, but honestly, I think this is just from playing such a long piece, not stuff that you really struggle with. Practice those parts at this tempo a little bit more, and then you are ready to use the metronome to gradually speed up to Andrew’s tempo! I recommend mastering each tempo in increments of 5 or 10 beats per minute. Excellent playing! Thank you for entering the challenge!
zukulele – I hope you get time in the future to record again, and that college is going smoothly! Your playing on this is very good! It sounds like something on your ukulele was rattling, maybe a loose tuning peg? Either way, your playing sounds great. If you have any extra time in the future, I recommend recording one of the other songs for the challenge. Learning a new one (even if it’s an easier one) is always a fun challenge…maybe the bigger challenge here would be to learn it in 10-30 minutes so that it doesn’t conflict with school! Great work on this one! Thank you for your entry.
annefgodfrey – I like that you picked one of the more challenging technique pieces. My biggest recommendation on this one is to play about 30% slower, as this will give you time to read ahead so that no sections catch you off guard, as well as give your mind time to process the notes. Keep up the hard work, you sound good on this one! Thank you for participating!
lildevil – Great playing, even with the adjusting to the tenor ukulele! You sound like you are right on track, it’s just a matter of getting used to the stretches. I think the warmup exercise where you play frets 1, 2, 3, and 4 on each string using the index finger for the first fret, middle for the 2nd fret, ring for the 3rd fret, and pinky for the 4th fret notes really helps during the adjustment period. I wish you the best of luck in preparing for Dorian. Please be safe! Thank you for finding time to take part in this challenge!
aquatopaz – You are doing a wonderful job playing the notes correctly! It sounds like you are pausing every phrase or two. To get the song to flow smoothly, try taking 8 measure sections a little bit slower with a metronome to force yourself to play in time. It may be that you are reading the next section during these hesitations. If this is the case, try memorizing section by section before you play along with a metronome. Great job, keep it up! Thank you for your entry!
karenj – That’s so cool that your dad plays ukulele and is excited to hear you play! I know that some of those stretches can be a bit difficult! At 0:10, try isolating that measure or two, and play through this at about half of the speed your performance was at. Start from slightly before the tricky Em shape…maybe at beat 3 of measure 5 to practice getting into this shape. At the slower tempo, your goal is accuracy and getting each melody note to ring clearly. Then slowly work this up to speed. Also, you are more than welcome to play the whole song a bit slower…especially if it helps with tricky sections like this one. Great work either way! Thank you for participating!
mr_moltes – Great job on this one! It’s not easy! You have 95% of this one down and are playing it wonderfully! There’s just one little spot that happens twice: at 0:36 and 1:30 where the rhythm is slightly different: These are straight eighth notes even with the pull offs, so you want to make sure they are even length notes that are evenly spaced. In your version, you are swinging the rhythm (making the first note a bit too long and the second note too short) in these spots. It’s a small detail, you are doing an awesome job over all! Thank you for joining the challenge!
ukandoit – Excellent performance! Your old iPhone recorded just fine! Now that you have the song down, you could add an extra challenge by adding your own dynamics! Try crescendoing (gradually getting louder) at the beginning of each long phrase, and de-crescendoing at the end of the phrases. You don’t need to do this on every phrase, but start there, and decide where it feels natural to do that. Great job on this one! Thank you for entering this challenge!
apblondie – Keep up the great work! I think you understand the rhythms and what to do, you are just trying to play the song slightly faster than you are ready for. Try playing it 10 beats per minute slower (or even 20) with a metronome. This will give you time to look ahead and transition into new sections smoothly. I also noticed that your left wrist bends upwards every now and then. This actually puts a slight strain on the wrist. Try keeping your wrist from bending that way even on the harder passages. While this is a small detail, it keeps your wrist from tiring as quickly. You are doing an awesome job! Thank you for your entry.
robinboyd – I enjoyed the duet! As far as your right wrist, a slight bend for small durations is not too bad. However, if you want to lessen the angle on the wrist, you could change your arm angle and pluck slightly closer to the bridge. However, it’s not necessary. Your playing sounds wonderful (great tone, correct notes, fairly good timing), and for the most part you are staying together well! There are just a couple of spots where eye contact or body language would help you two stay together even better. Some of the chords strums sound slightly out of sync. It’s very slight, and hard to get perfect. You two are well on your way! Keep up the awesome job, and thank you for being part of the challenge!
surfnrz – I like the hammer-ons and pull offs you added towards the beginning and end, very nicely done! My only advice is to try plucking a bit lighter to produce a warmer tone. It sounds great how you are doing it as well, and I can tell you are combating the background noise as well, but being able to play lighter will let the tone of your ukulele come out rather than being covered by the attack of the note. This is really more of an opinion, your playing sounds great as is! Thank you for participating!
holly1 – Great job! The string noise is my arch nemesis as well! On U-Bass it’s even more squeaky and loud, so I feel your pain on that one! I know that Andrew had a concert Ukulele with a nylon low G, so that upgrade would fix that issue (costly, I know!). At 0:21 I’m hearing a slight noise from you lifting your index finger off of the first fret (almost like a soft pull-off), so in this spot, I recommend keeping that pointer finger down rather than lifting it up. It’s also a good habit to get into to not move your fingers so far away from the fretboard when moving to different notes. You sound wonderful on this in spite of those small details. Keep it up! Thank you for your entry!
hotmilktea – Wonderfully played! Great form on the vibrato at the end as well. Your posture and technique are superb! One or two times your fretting hand wrist had a slight bend to it, but you seemed to notice and correct it immediately. Great work on this one! Thank you for entering the challenge!
nthibode – Wonderful Job on both! I’m going to give feedback on Eastern Uke. You sound great on this one, there are just a few spots (0:30 and near 1:03-1:05) where the stretched octave slides just need a tiny bit more work. Make sure that when you practice these spots, that your pinky ends up in the middle of the fret when sliding down to lower numbered frets. If it’s too far back, it might sound one fret off. If this isn’t the case, it might be an open string ringing out. In that case, work on muting the other strings when practicing these slides. Very good job on both songs! Thank you for participating!
gardn_gnome – I really like that you picked a comfortable tempo to play at. For the most part, you stuck with that tempo, just slightly speeding up at the start of theme 2 and theme 3. I would recommend playing to a metronome a bit more to get all of the parts at the same steady tempo, and then gradually build up to a faster tempo. Then focus on keeping the notes smooth and connected as you get ready for the next chord shapes. You are off to a fabulous start, and I can tell that you understand the rhythms, hammer ons, pull offs, and notes very well. Keep up the awesome work! Thank you for your entry!
sprintingyogini – You picked a great speed to play this one at, and the backbeats are very solid on this! For the most part, you have the whole song down! On sections like 0:23 to 0:27 and 0:29 to 0:31, isolate just these spots slowly to get your hand to shift at exactly the right distances with the goal of keeping every finger playing near the middle of the square created by the fret or forward of it (closer to the body of the ukulele). Repeat this until you are confident that your hand will keep the correct spacing and end up on the correct fret. Then play through the whole phrase (since these two spots are so close together) at a slow tempo. Once again, very good job at keeping a fairly consistent tempo and keeping the playing very accurate besides those two spots! Thank you for entering the challenge!
tastyshrimp – You’re off to a good start! I think your list of things to work on is fairly on point! I would start with tempo above all of the other ones, and then work through that list…this way the song stays performance ready as you work on the rest. As far as accidental pull-offs, these are very common! I especially have this issue on the U-Bass due to sweaty fingers! One way around this is to mute with other fingers as much as possible, and wipe your hands between recording attempts. Thanks for participating in the challenge!
joe150 – Way to work on a challenging piece! On this one, I want you to take this one measure at a time, working to get the rhythm down before the notes. Try just clapping the rhythm: count “one and two and three and four and,” but only clap when you say “one,” then the “and” after beat two, then “three” and “four.” Only those words in the quotations. Then try playing the first measure on ukulele while counting, only plucking on those same words. This will work for measures one and two. From there, measure three is easy (just play on “one” “two” “three” four,” but still count the “and” between each number). Once you get that down, try using the reading course to figure out each measure, and master each group of four measures before moving to a new group. It’s difficult, but putting the time in to count it right now will pay off on future challenges! Thank you for your entry!
johanna2509 – You have done a great job on this one so early in the challenge! I would definitely go back and work on incorporating the picado technique when you get a chance, but it sounds great with how you did it! when you are using your thumb to tap on the body of the ukulele, experiment with where you hit it to see if you can get any more volume out of it, and try bouncing off of the ukulele with the knuckle a bit (like a bass player playing “slap bass”). This way you are using the ukulele a bit more like a drum. Aside from this, just play a few times with a metronome to find where you are hesitating to get even smoother at this song. Wonderful job! Enjoy your vacation!
deadbuggy – Very nicely done! That was much faster than the original version, but you stayed in time very well and it sounded great! I noticed a slight amount of fret buzz at 0:23 seconds into the piece, and the simple way to avoid this is to make sure you are reaching your finger to at least the middle of the square created by the metal frets: closer to the fret nearest the body. By reaching just a little bit further, you won’t have to push down as hard to avoid this fret buzz. This is really the only thing I heard to critique, you played very beautifully. Thank you for your entry!
laurasil – Very nice rendition of this one! You are getting a nice sound out of the ukulele, and keeping the percussive strums very consistent. My only suggestion on this one is to add some dynamics to really make certain parts dramatic. Maybe pull the volume down at 0:34 to piano and gradually build to forte before the last few measures. Thank you for participating!
brettboy – Wonderful job! The Fmaj9 sounded very nice at the end! I enjoyed the baritone ukulele on this, too! At 0:07 seconds, I noticed that your wrist is bending inward, which is not terrible as rare as it happened in this video, but is a good thing to avoid in general. That being said, Everything else about these versions is great, and there’s nothing more to say, other than continue adding your twist to these songs! Thank you for sharing this and taking part in the challenge!
Brian,
I have my fingernails almost flush with the fingers so they provide support without hitting the bass strings. I actually prefer the softer sound of the finger tips rather than nails on the ukulele strings as well. Every now and then I’ll grow them a bit longer just for a song or two. Speaking of playing both bass and ukulele, have you tried the U-Bass? The rubber strings are much more forgiving on the wrists than upright and electric bass. I’ve also enjoyed how portable it is!Cheers,
StephenHere’s everyone on page 13:
karenj – I love how you did the background on your video! What a cool idea! You are doing well on this one, and I know those pull offs can be tricky! On the Em chord, I noticed that when you go to play the 3rd fret before pulling off that you aren’t far enough forward on the fret: make sure your middle finger is at least halfway between the metal frets. It’s buzzing before the pull-off due to being back so far on that fret. I know that Em shape makes this difficult to do, but spending a bit of time figuring how to reach that middle finger a little farther forward during that chord will help a lot in the long run!
nitsur – Great job! you have a good sound and feel on this song! There are a few hesitations here and there, and the way I would work through that is playing those spots a bit more until you have what comes next memorized. You could also add a metronome to push you to get to those chords on time. Also, there are just a few dotted half notes in measures 6 and 8 that are getting cut about one beat short. Just make sure to hold these out for the full 3 beats. Thank you for entering the challenge!
ukukelly1 – You are doing well on this! It’s cool that you played this one finger style and with strumming, but have you tried it with the thumb? The thumb will have a softer touch than the fingernails, which creates a more lyrical quality. It sounds great both ways, but it might be something fun to try! Overall you are playing this one great, and I can tell you are reading some sections over having them memorized. My suggestion if you do this is to look just slightly ahead so that new sections don’t catch you off guard and cause hesitations. It’s a bit tricky to remember where to look further ahead, but it’s a great skill to have! Also, on Melody C, I would just spend a bit more time playing this part slowly to get all of those tricky shifts! Great work, and thank you for participating!
becky7777 – This one’s a bit tricky, but you are doing a good job! The hardest part is to get the transitions between sections smoother: 0:21, 0:29, and just getting the last chord right at the end. It seems like you are actually playing those sections fine, but you are hesitating right before the transition like you are preparing for something big. The secret here is to stay relaxed and act as if those are the easy sections. From what you were saying about grinding your teeth, I think if you are recording and you feel like that, take a break, take a few breaths, and come back to it in 5 minutes. It’s hard to relax when recording take after take. Keep up the great work! Thank you for your entry!
timolnz – Nicely done! The notes and the rhythm sound very clean! I would lighten the strums a little bit, and go back and include the timing. The main thing that I notice is that all of the dotted half notes are getting cut short! Just make sure to count to three before moving on to the next chord on these, and the song will breathe better! This also gives you time to remember to pluck/strum lighter. You’re well on your way! Thank you for joining the challenge!
lauracg – You sound great on this one! But the video seems to cut off before the last half of the song! Was this by mistake or are you still working on that section? I imagine by your playing on the first half that this was just an upload/editing error. Great job either way! Thank you for participating!
mheiden – You have a really nice feel/touch on this one! My main suggestion is to play this one to a metronome a few times to get the rhythm a little stronger, and to see where you are hesitating before the chord strums (here and there). On the rhythm: Make sure to hold the dotted half notes out for 3 beats, and the dotted quarter notes for a beat and a half (count: one and two). If this is confusing, go through the reading course section on rhythm to get the concepts down. Excellent job on getting a nice sound out of your ukulele! Thank you for entering the challenge!
Here’s everyone on page 11:
holly1 – You have a great sound and a great feel on this one! My main suggestion to make it sound even better is to focus on the rhythm just a bit at the beginning of the piece. The first chord of measures 1 and 2 are dotted half notes, which get held out for 3 beats instead of just two. Try playing the song with a metronome just to make sure your rhythms stay in 4/4. Aside from this small detail, the whole thing sounded great! If you wanted to add even more to it, you could experiment with dynamics (volume swells into certain sections: try starting piano and build up to forte by melody B, then bringing it back down a bit for Melody C). This is just a suggestion, as you can add your own touch this way. Thank you for your entry!
benita – You did a great job in spite of having no AC! Sweaty hands during recording is the bane of my existence, so I totally understand! The main section to spend a little bit of extra time on is measure 4 through measure six. The trick is waiting for three beats after the first chord in measure 4, and then holding the dotted quarter notes out in measure 5, and knowing which notes are short. If you need help understanding those rhythms, check out the rhythm portion of Andrew’s reading course, or play along with Matt until you can get the rhythm by ear. You sound great, keep it up!
iyers408 – You are doing a good job on the notes, now it’s time to focus on the rhythm. Try taking each phrase of no more than 4 measures at a time, and break down the rhythms (use the Reading course if you need help understanding how) until you can practice along with a metronome at a slower tempo. Then gradually speed it up, only raising the tempo when you are confident you are in time and accurate at the slower speeds.
sprintingyogini – The little spongebob on your thumb is a nice touch…and so is the pineapple ukulele! 0:36 to 0:47 is the only spot that might benefit from a little bit of extra finger-picking practice working with the metronome to get that section up to the speed you play the rest at. The other option for a performance is to slow down the whole piece to the tempo you can play the difficult sections at comfortably. It’s either that, or that Spongebob is slowing your thumb down slightly! You are doing a wonderful job! Thank you for your entry!
mfaske – Great job on this one! Even though it’s a finger-twister, it sounds like you were up to the challenge! The rhythm sounds very close, and the notes sound correct. Throughout the video, I noticed that your fretting hand wrist is almost at a 90 degree angle several times. Try to lessen that angle by keeping your wrist almost straight or with a much more gradual angle. This will help your hand relax a bit as you play, and will prevent your wrist from getting sore when you play for longer periods of time. In addition to this, just keep working to keep your pull offs and hammer ons in time by practicing slowly with a metronome to build up the strength while staying as relaxed as possible. Thank you for entering this challenge!
cyukug – You have a very nice sound and relaxed feel on this one! My main suggestion to make it even more like the original is to hold out the dotted half note rhythms (like the first chord in the song as well as several others) for a full three beats. When you listen to Matt, even though he plays the song slightly rubato…with a very natural flow, he’s hovering around a set tempo. I think playing this song to a metronome to see how long those notes really are will help the song to breathe a bit more when you are performing. Then it’s just a matter of getting melody C a little stronger with just a bit more practice. Great work! Thank you for taking part in this month’s challenge!
tastyshrimp – You are off to an excellent start after only 3 days! There are several sections you are hesitating on right now, so the best way to tackle these is one at a time. For instance: Start with the first 4 measures of the song, and play this phrase until you can get each shift smoothly and in time. Then try the next 4, and then put those 8 measures together. You’re on the right track, it just takes a bit more time to smooth out those transitions! Keep up the great work!
ripley – I was very impressed with your sense of rhythm on this one! Even though you are playing it at a comfortable tempo for you, you are sticking to it very well, and I can tell that you know the rhythm of the song. Most of the transitions were very smooth! Melody C is the hardest part of the song to play smoothly, but you are on the right track! To get the transition smoother from the 3rd fret to the 10th fret, try sliding up to the 10th fret as a glissando (push down as you slide) to create a connection between the notes, or just practice jumping from 3 to 10 while focusing on not cutting the 3rd fret note short. Awesome job! Thank you for your entry.
willymac – You did an excellent job on this! I noticed that you are playing a low G ukulele, which in general works well on this song, but I have a suggestion or two to keep the melody notes from being split into 2 different octaves: The last note of measure 6 is a 5th fret on the G string…on your ukulele, replace this note with the 8th fret on the E string to get the same note up one octave. This way all of the melody notes remain in the higher octave like they would on the standard tuned ukuleles. Great job on already fixing melody C to keep the melody notes away from the open low G string! I also noticed that you changed one chord in measure 9 (on beat 3, you changed the 0 to a 2nd fret), but I like the way this change sounds. Did you do this one on purpose? You seem to have some knowledge on how to arrange and move notes around and a good ear. Once again, awesome job! Thank you for participating in the challenge!