[jody_hendrickson]

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Hi all,

I tried a few of the pieces this month before settling on Bella Vita. Still working on that arpeggio strumming, and a couple of the chord changes were quite challenging (looking at you, Cdim7!) but it was really fun and satisfying to learn. I also tried it on baritone but like the almost toy-piano quality of the bits high up the neck on the tenor.

Lovely work, everyone.

[jody_hendrickson]

@Andrew Thank you for your encouragement and for the practice tip. I definitely get sucked into wanting to try the whole piece at once. I will try and be more methodical (and disciplined!)in my practice.

@jbmills07 Thank you for your kind words. I went back and forth between a high G concert and my new baritone uke working on “Red is the Rose” and the baritone was definitely more challenging! You played it beautifully, even with your biggest fan draped around your neck!

@leb397 My deepest condolences on losing your mother. Your “Red is the Rose” was a beautiful tribute to her.

[jody_hendrickson]

Hi everyone,

Here is my recording of Andrew’s lovely arrangement of Red is the Rose. I really struggled to memorize and play through without many hiccups and will keep working on it. Playing on a baritone with low D and didn’t make any adjustments, so the low note kinda stands out a bit too much at times…

Happy Spring!

[jody_hendrickson]

Hello all-

This month I wanted to go back and continue to work on one of the pieces I had to abandon for a previous challenge and chose Andrew’s Funk Jam. Only got to about 70% speed but don’t mind it with the slower groove. Had some issues getting adjusted to my new baritone uke (yay!) but it was super fun to play. Andrew, thanks for the “player’s choice” challenge this month. Everyone killed it!

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[jody_hendrickson]

Should be OK now, sorry about that.

[jody_hendrickson]

Hello all-

Here is where I am for now with St. James Infirmary. I plan to keep working at it to get past the moments of brain freeze that inevitably occur on every take. Pardon the errant extra strum at the beginning–I was starting over immediately every time I messed up and there wasn’t enough of a gap for me to trim it out without losing part of the actual first strum. In my limited knowledge of editing….

The other part of my challenge was starting to tackle some theory with the goal of reading from the staff instead of the tab, and that has been going well. So far I have memorized and can construct all the major scales and their major and perfect intervals, and can recognize the relative minors of the major scales. Super fun and challenging and satisfying. Long term project for sure.

It’s been a really cool month watching everyone’s progress and the variety of choices. You all are amazing and I’m glad to be here learning with you.

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by jody_hendrickson.

[jody_hendrickson]

Hi all-

Here is my practice of St. James Infirmary today after increasing my practice speed to 75 BPM. Getting stuck on the A5 to F up the neck transition towards the end and hope to smooth that out, and get up to 80 bpm by the end of the month. It’s been a big challenge but so much fun to play.

It’s been great seeing all the different things people chose to work on, and watching everyone’s struggles and progress. You all are so inspiring.

Warmly,
Jody

[jody_hendrickson]

Greetings from frigid Seattle!

I’m working to be able to play through St. James Infirmary at 60% speed without stumbling. Here is a “warts and all” minute of me practicing my “stickiest” couple of measures with a metronome…getting better but still lots of repetition to go. I also practice it even slower, just a couple of notes at a time, which helps.

[jody_hendrickson]

Hi all-

I love this month’s challenge, and to see all the different things folks are working on!

After submitting my December challenge, I decided I wanted to spend the hiatus working on something blues-y, so I chose St. James Infirmary. I also set a goal for 2024 of learning more music theory, and more about blues methods in particular.

Execution: Learn Evan’s arrangement of St. James Infirmary from memory, review the RC101 lesson on Understanding 12-bar blues, work through Manitoba Hal’s Ukelele Blues Method Book (arrived yesterday!), and work on theory in general using musictheory.net and help from my musician son. I think I am a “seasoned beginner.” I practice an average of an hour or so a day, so I will divide this into theory, technique practice (in the piece as well as from the blues method book), and general practice of the piece. I’ve listened to lots of versions of it and so far Cab Calloway on the Betty Boop show is my favorite–so surreal!

Application: Long term–play more blues!! Understand the differences between 12- 8- and 16-bar. And to use the feeling I get from the listening to blues to bring more feeling into my playing.

Execution: Weekly updates on progress, and submit performance of St. James Infirmary.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 4 weeks ago by jody_hendrickson.

[jody_hendrickson]

Hello Uke family,

This Christmas marks the 2 year anniversary of the gift of my first ukeklele, from my family. The process of learning to play has enriched my life tremendously, in no small part from being part of this lovely community. Feeling grateful for Andrew and the crew, and my fellow learners here at Rock Class 101. Happy and peaceful holidays to you all, and see you in the New Year!

Here is another “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” leaning a bit into the melancholy of it…

Warmly,
Jody

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[jody_hendrickson]

@jbmills07 I second everything The_Bumble_Bard said. Such a lovely heartfelt performance, really beautiful. Thank you! I also loved the Ziggy outtakes, especially your contortions to keep playing while she did her best to be the center of attention. What a sweet relationship you two have. Your dog, however, seemed somewhat less impressed…:)

[jody_hendrickson]

Thanks, Andrew! I will focus on those 8 measures. In measure 43, I couldn’t manage to maintain finger position and get the stretch to reach the D and get a clean slide, and that made that section super-awkward with my improvised fingering. Need to work those finger-stretching exercises! And thanks for the reminder about the tag!

[jody_hendrickson]

Hi folks,

I am a premium member.

Here is my attempt at Always With Me, and as many have already commented, I need at least another month to feel comfortable with it.I found it so hard to play through without my brain just freezing at some point, even with having it memorized.

Thanks to Andrew, Steven and all for the great selection this month. I love Spirited Away, and this song. I hope to do it justice one day!

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by jody_hendrickson.

[jody_hendrickson]

@shmu88 That was just beautiful! I am so impressed that you were able to memorize it; that is a huge challenge for me with this piece. I’ve been doubting whether I’ll be ready to submit this by the 30th but you’ve inspired me to keep at it. Such a lovely piece and arrangement by Steven and you really conveyed the sweetness of it. Thank you.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by jody_hendrickson.

[jody_hendrickson]

Thank you for the encouraging words, Andrew, I very much appreciate your kind feedback. I agree about Transcribe, and really liked using to try different track speeds, and to be able to export the new tracks. Will def be using it again!

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