Reddit reviews The Tuning C.D. (A=440)

Cool!

I hope you don't mind me giving you some feedback. It's always hard to give feedback over the internet because you can never tell if you're too harsh.

Your uke playing is really good! I love the percussion you add, and I think it's really cool you take Pachelbel's Canon and turn it into a jam tune. That's fucking awesome.

I will say that there are a few areas of improvement I'd like to suggest, if you're willing to hear it (I know some people are disheartened by feedback, and that is NOT my intent, I just want you playing to your best ability).

The first thing is tuning.

Your uke is very out of tune. Always make sure your uke is in tune before you play. They will go out of tune every day, and even every few hours. You might have even tuned inside, because slight change in weather conditions can make instruments go out of tune quick. Always use a tuner, and if you don't have one, invest in a good one (the ones that latch onto your uke, for example), or get an app. It's hard for people to enjoy what you have to offer if they are distracted by bad tuning the whole song.

Tips for tuning: My guess is you probably can't hear it that well because you might not have the same training I do. So, train your ear! It's not that hard to do, just take a few minutes to tune your uke by ear before double checking it with a tuner. I use The Tuning CD which my professor suggested to all his students. Each note has a 3m drone of a root fifth and octave, which really gets things in tune. (For years now I prefer the tuning CD over a tuner, because I can get my instruments in tune faster and more reliably than a tuner can.)

I've found one of the tracks on youtube if you don't want to buy the album:

Drone on C:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIq_uGKD7Aw

You can use that for C & G strings at least. Don't tune the E string to it, because of crazy physics stuff. Only tune "perfect intervals," like unisons (obvi), 4ths, 5ths, and 8ves.

But even if you tune the C & G by ear each day using this CD, its great ear training.

The second is tempo.

You are gradually speeding up the whole song until the end. I can't tell if it's an intentional, gradual speed up, or if you are just rushing. Regardless, IMO a consistent tempo is better because your interpretation is like a jam tune, and it'll groove so much better if it sits on one tempo at a time. That said, you could still make an intentional tempo increase, perhaps using two bars to lead in to it, but then stick to that new tempo without rushing. The music at 1:20 is one good spot to do this.

Also, your rhythm is sloppy. I didn't notice it at first, but once things picked up in the middle it was another distraction from your music.

Tips for tempo: How can you make your playing consistent in tempo, and precise in rhythm? Practice with a metronome! I prefer a dedicated metronome device over an app, because I think its more physical and cuts through the air better. The basic idea is to practice so slow there is no way you miss a beat, and then once you are grooving at 100% at that tempo, increase it 5 bpm. Repeat. It takes a lot of patience, but think of the long game instead of the short.

So, take a few measures, especially when you are grooving, and repeat them over and over. Whatever tempo you are playing it at, divide by two. As said before, do not increase tempo until it is perfect rhythm every time

That's all I got, tuning and rhythm

You have some great skill, so don't let these things distract from your playing. Honestly, I wouldn't bother with typing all this shit up so thoroughly if I wasn't impressed by your uke skills, no joke. Your interpretation is awesome, and also attaching the camera to your uke is really cool too. Kinda trippy, I like it. Is that a gopro?

I found that using scales against drones was most helpful. It really requires you to listen and find the correct pitch for each note. It helped me a lot understanding the place of even dissonances which can be hard to tune personally.
https://www.amazon.com/Tuning-C-D-440-Richard-Schwartz/dp/B002COP51Q
This is the CD I used, but you can find several other online sources offering such sustained tones and chords