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Becky,
I think they feel better under the fingers and bend nicely, but I’m not sure that they’re much better at bending than the Aquila New Nylguts I have on another instrument. Seems like differences in action might also affect this? Not sure. I attempted to measure the amount of bend (not so sure all the way to half step), but the reading registers the initial note and when I bend just zips off to the right of the screen like “I know that’s higher but I don’t know what note you got to…”.
SherylI have the same question. I LOVED Red is the Rose, and had it down pretty smooth last month. I enjoyed it so much that I played it a lot. And after a month of mostly focusing on A Thousand Years, even Red (and certainly things like Moon…) has lots of stutters and misses. I know repetition works — there are a couple things I play almost every day of my life — one of your fingerpicking etudes, and the first Arpeggio Meditation in Daniel Ward’s book — and those are both always as close to perfect as I get and completely from memory. But does that work for 30 or 40 songs? Time… Maybe the answer is to develop a play list, starting small (5 songs) and adding one when the first is solid.
Hi Andrew – Thanks very much for the feedback. I do have a tendency to move ahead with a new piece before it’s smooth yet… “…that wasn’t too bad, I’ll keep going…” and then I think I get in the habit of accepting all the breaks. I’ll take your approach and do a little more drilling to polish each section before moving ahead. That will likely also help my memorization skills.
Thanks again,
SherylHere is A Thousand Years.
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER.
Recording-induced roughness in multiple places, but I feel ok about this one. I actually almost completely memorized it, but there were a couple places I could easily get stuck so kept the music handy for reference. Memorization is something I’m working on, so I was pleased with significant progress there, at least.
I had trouble figuring out how to end without a dial to manage fade — so I added a different ending that mostly repeats the intro very softly. See what you think, Andrew.
Sheryl
Very beautiful! The Moon Bird sound AND the playing! Congratulations, miztaken!
I was unfamiliar with the brand and model, so went to the website to check them out. I listened to the beautiful demos. Between the demos and your lovely lullaby I feel like I’ve been to a fine concert event this evening!
SherylThe tuners are adorable! I’m another from the same age cohort or near it, I suppose. Loving this hobby. I have learned a lot and improved due largely to Andrew’s RockClass101. As B.W. Stevenson (for anyone who knows who that is) said, “May have come a long way, but I gotta long way to go.”
Enjoy the site and interacting with good people here!
SherylImpressive! Good for you! And thanks for sharing the recording with the group. Seems like a difficult arrangement that takes stamina and you did a great job with it. From the cheers it’s obvious the crowd thought so, too!
Enjoying all the great renditions of these beautiful Irish melodies. Great challenge idea, Andrew.
Here’s my rendition of “Red is the Rose.”
SherylHere is Scarborough Fair for my Feb challenge entry. I have been playing Ode to Joy, Aura Lee, and Scarborough Fair to reinforce reading notes. I already knew how to read music from a little flute, piano, and voice…. but I wasn’t having much luck learning/remembering the uke fretboard til starting these notation pieces — so THANKS ANDREW!
SherylBrettboy — Beautiful! I am impressed with your playing, singing, and also recording-layering skills!!!
My January Challenge was to learn to use the on-screen tab viewer and use repetition/looping to smooth out the most challenging measures of Fingerpicking Etude # 11, and improve my pace.
I did indeed learn to use the on-screen tab viewer, and I learned it is a highly effective learning tool. I also learned I dislike repetition, and am not always overflowing with self-discipline when it comes to music…. It took a fair bit of practice before I could keep up with the on-screen tab viewer even at 50% tempo for the couple of really challenging measures — so that was helpful right up front. Then I probably only had three solid sessions of looping with the tab viewer over the month. I started at the slowest pace and worked them up to 75%. I don’t think I ever made it up to tempo. If I had done more looping repetitions, my performance would be better, obviously. However, it really did make a big difference given what it sounded like when I started… Now I have a go-to tool to use to figure out challenging sections and to drive myself to get things up to a crisper tempo. Here’s the result……..
Sheryl
Rickeymike,
Sounds great! Can tell you must be doing well with the notation course. What kind of concert did you end up getting?Lisa,
Very beautiful original song. Amazing how your composing talents are growing!Sheryl
Rickeymike, I agree with others who have suggested stringing the Mitchell low G, and investing in something better with regular re-entrant tuning. My additional recommendation would be to do some online research before visiting the music store. Check out the review sites – one of my favorites is gotaukulele.com. Select ukulele reviews and you can search by brand or see lists categorized by price range. Barry’s reviews are thorough, and can help a lot. Sometimes the price difference between a pretty satisfying uke and a really frustrating one is not that much.
Good luck and have fun shopping!This is a great challenge for me to tackle something that should help my learning process from here forward: using the on-screen tab viewer. Everyone talks about what a great tool it is, but all I’ve ever had any success doing is slowing the pace down. I need to take the time to figure out how to loop difficult measures (there seem to be one or two in every piece that I never get comfortable playing, and I’m determined to learn how to get those done with looping).
So here’s Post # 1 for the January Challenge.
1) Execution – I will use the on-screen tab viewer as a tool to learn Fingerpicking Etude # 11, which includes two skills I have difficulty with — hammer-ons (they don’t ring out) and dampened string beats/slaps (they sound inconsistent).2) Application – I am familiarizing myself with the song now and can play Theme 1 almost without hesitation already. Theme 2 is where it gets tricky, with eighth note fingerpicking and the rhythm beats/slaps, as well as a couple hammer-ons. I will loop the two most challenging rhythm measures until they are consistently correct, then will play the entire song with the tab viewer, first at a slower tempo by mid-month and then up to speed, with consistently ringing hammer-ons and consistently rhythmic beats/slaps by month end.
3) Evaluation – I will assess whether I can consistently play with the on-screen tab viewer at a slower pace by mid-month. When I post my final performance video at the end of this month, I will assess the difference my new practice approach has made. My standard will be that the song sounds fun and upbeat (versus like a struggle… 😉 ).
I think this challenge will help me not only learn to play this piece very well, but will also give me a practice tool that I have not been using to advantage so far, and which I can then apply to future lessons and challenges.
Keep doing what you’re doing, Andrew – it’s all great!
I will echo miztaken’s request to add lessons in styles that sound best on banjolele. I got a book of fiddle tunes for banjolele, but it is harder to learn without your example and instructions for fingerings that make the playing smoother, etc. Would be great to be able to use the tab viewer to start slow and get fast fingerpicking songs up to speed.
I want to reinforce, while you’re thinking about priorities for next year, that your feedback on our performances is important. Keep that coming!
Happy 2019!
