- This topic has 94 replies, 43 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 8 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi Rock Class 101 Community!
We are back with site member challenge #52! WOW, there has now been over 2,500+ members participating in our challenges! If you’ve sat on the sidelines, please join us for this month’s challenge! Challenges are a fun way to stay motivated and a great way to meet fellow ukulele players who are passionate about learning and becoming better players. 🙂
And I offer feedback on ALL submissions!
Please watch the video above and read instructions below carefully for details/instructions on this month’s challenge.
Pick 1 from the following 4 RC101 Lessons:
1) “Summertime Blues” by Eddie Cochran * – A fun fingerstyle take on a classic summer song! This arrangement is perfect for the seasoned beginner, because it uses a mix of fingerpicking and strumming. Which means, you get to work on two playing styles in one song!
* Taught in its entirety for FREE!
2) “Summertime” by George Gershwin * – A sultry take on a timeless melody.
* Taught in its entirety for FREE!
3) “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris – “Wipe Out” features a memorable guitar hook and drum beat set in a 12 bar blues. Our arrangement was written to emphasize these two aspects.
4) “Aloha ʻOe” by Queen Liliʻuokalani – A traditional Hawaiian song consisting of only 3 chords and a beautiful melody.
** If you need assistance with how to record yourself check out our FREE course on recording audio/video and/or private message me and I will be happy to help you out. **
_______________
GOALS FOR MEMBER CHALLENGE:
1. Beginner Level: Be able to play one of the lessons as shown by Andrew smoothly and in time. Do not worry about trying to play fast; slow and steady wins the race.
Recommended Piece: “Summertime Blues”
2. Intermediate to Advanced Level: Be able to play the lesson as shown by Andrew smoothly, in time, and at or close to the original piece’s tempo.
Recommended Pieces: “Wipe Out”, “Summertime”, OR “Aloha ‘Oe”
3. Participation Goal: 35 Rock Class 101 Member Participant Videos/MP3 posted.
_______________
GROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:
1. Post your Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud links of you playing 1 of the 4 RC101 pieces anytime between Thursday, July 1st until Saturday, July 31st, 11:59pm EST.
The upload feature on the site only supports file sizes up to 5 MB. Members must host their own files. Creating an account is easy and free 🙂 Here are the links to create an account:
YouTube (For Video) – https://www.youtube.com/create_channel
SoundCloud (For Audio) – https://soundcloud.com/signin
2. Submit individually, as a reply, IN THIS POST.
3. Feel free to submit more than one video for the challenge, but additional videos will not count as extra entries into the raffle for the prize.
4. Have fun and don’t be intimidated by this challenge!!! Use this challenge to help you set goals and complete them by a deadline. You can also use this as an opportunity to chat with your fellow Rock Class 101 members and share tips or tricks on this challenge that you think are useful.
5. You must perform the entire piece to receive an entry into the prize raffle. Performance must be submitted by the deadline listed (in #1) above to gain an entry in the raffle, as well as, to receive feedback.
* Note: In my opinion, it is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. So if you are a beginner and can only play the first couple of measures. That is completely ok. If you play two more measures of the next challenge piece than you did the previous one, you are on track to getting better. This is what these challenges are about… you learning ukulele and getting better. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.
_______________
COMMON FAQs:
1) The prize and the challenge is open to the entire world!
2) Premium membership is NOT required to participate, but will make participation easier as it gains you complete access to the full video lessons, tabs, and the on-screen tab viewer.
3) Basic membership (free) is required to submit a reply on this forum post. You can sign up for Basic Membership HERE.
4) To post YouTube video links (in which they appear embedded on the forum), simply copy and past the video URL in its own line. For example:
YouTube URL
5) If you live in the Continental U.S., we will ship the giveaway ukulele to you for FREE! If you live outside of the Continental U.S., there will be a shipping fee ranging between $40 USD to $80 USD. This fee will be collected by Uke Republic. You are also responsible for any custom fees or duties.
_______________
Giveaway Rules:
There will be 1 winner, selected by random drawing on August 5th. To qualify to win, you must submit your audio and/or video links of your playing by the deadline listed above.
Grand Prize:
1) $100 Grand Prize! Includes:
A) Flight DUC380 Topaz Concert Ukulele With Bag
_______________
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR!
Uke Republic: http://www.ukerepublic.com/
Let’s crush this challenge!
FIRST 😉
I AM A PREMIUM MEMBER
I had done Wipe Out already as I was quite new to RC 101 – and without having tried it again I am sure I can do much better know with all I could learn.
So as a start my old beginner skills try:
For a better version I have to start practicing again and will do a second submission.
And I think additionally I will go for Steven’s Summertime.
Andrea
Aloha Everyone and happy Summer to all of my fellow Northern Hemisphere uke lovers!
Andrew, I’m having a hard time choosing a song this month. Will you please read my thoughts below and then give me your “vote” about which tune you think I should try learning this month?
For the June 2019 member challenge I learned Aloha Oe. It’s a great arrangement and I can play it pretty good but I bet I could play it a little better now.
Here’s that performance:
I also already know how to play James Hill’s Summertime arrangement (Here’s a video of that performance:
But Your Arrangement looks pretty Sweet too!
I’m also intrigued by wipe out and summertime blues. They both look fun but maybe not much of a challenge for me at this point. But maybe fun is what I need this month? I do have a lot of visitors and plans this month.
So you can see why I’m having a hard time choosing a song.
Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Hey Brett! The JH arr. is super cool. So I’d skip learning a song you already know how to play in one form.
You’re right, the 2 new ones would be easy for you. If you choose one, I’d go for Wipe Out. It’ll be more challenging with that rhythm breakdown in the middle and the sheer speed of the piece.
If time is your biggest concern, I’d brush up on Aloha.
But my vote is Wipe Out. I think it’s the most fun choice. But can you trust me? I’m biased and it’s my arr LOL
Hi Brett,
you definitely have the groove. I would LOVE to her Wipe Out from you and get us in Dirty Dancing mood!@ukandrea – Sounds great, Andrea! As you continue to practice, I want you to focus on timing and playing to a click. And def post a follow up closer to the end of the month 🙂
Summertime
I’m a PREMIUM member
Bucking my usual trend of practising right til the last minute to the point of missing the deadline on occasion. This is my first recording. I’ll be interested to see how much I can improve by end of month and if I can get Wipe Out done also as that outro lick is killer.
Summertime really is infectious,tho…looking forward to finessing and getting rid of hesitations/errors
@henri0 – Brilliant playing! I’ll be sure to send it to Stephen. He’s gonna love it 🙂
Hi everyone!
I chose Aloha ‘Oe. When this piece was in the June challenge 2019 I tried learning it, because it
sounds so beautiful. But at that time I struggled so much with my concert uke, no premium membership and weak fingers.
I got frustrated and gave up. I was kinda scared when I saw this song again for this month lol. But I thought
I’ll give it a try and see whether I have improved. Definitely much easier on a tenor uke, with the tabs and the on screen tab viewer.
The high notes are still tricky ring out loudly though. The video below is not perfect, I hesitated once and made a small mistake.
I am still happy to be able to play it now 🙂PS: I was excited when I saw that this month a Flight ukulele will be given away. I love my Flight tenor 🙂
Help! I really want to learn Aloha ‘Oe, but the only uke I can somewhat make work right now is my Koaloha tenor that’s strung with a Low G. I just can’t seem to make my other tenor (Lanikai) cooperate- not sure if it’s an action issue or what. The neck may be thicker and my fingers are not strong enough. And forget tapping that harmonic!
So my question is, should I restring my Koaloha with a high G or just keep practicing with my Lanikai and try to build up strength? What do you do when you want to play high and low G songs with your favorite uke? Buy another one, ha ha?
P.S. @johanna2509 that was awesome!
@johanna2509 – Beautifully played, Johanna!
@lbilkie – Hard to say what the issue is without playing your Lanikai. I’ve actually never played one, so I’m not sure on neck size/action. Is there a local music store that could look at it and maybe do a setup if needed?Thanks, @Andrew. I probably should do that. I’m going to try changing the strings first. They feel thinner and tighter(?) than the ones on my Koaloha. It could just be my imagination, but you are right to suggest that I should have it checked out at least.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.