Tulips in Triple Time for high G ukulele

Seeing the tulips and daffodils on a sunny warm day reminds me that this is the best time to be in the Netherlands. But I am in Boston, where spring is sudden and short; winters are long; summer is spent cooling off in natural bodies of water and swimming pools; autumn is famous for fall colors. I take out my bicycle for the first time this year and cycle to the nearby cemetery. I figure out an easy waltz for fingerpickers, which I call “Tulips in Triple Time” because I am missing The Netherlands.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lament on Love and Loss for high G ukulele

I play my new piece as though I’m bidding farewell to my composition spree. I have to go into publishing mode as well as take care of all the administration called “life” that’s piled up while I hibernated in cosy composer paradise this past winter. My “lament on love and loss” expresses my reluctance of the unrequited. The birds and the blossoms are calling me to step out of the hermit life of a composer and cycle to the nearby cemetery with my high G ukulele.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

C Minor Scale Waltz for high G ukulele

The C minor scale is more challenging to read and play than its parallel – C major scale. There are three flats. Harmonizing it is different, too. All the notes can be played on the first three frets of the high G ukulele. I wrote it together with the C major scale waltz.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

C Major Scale Waltz for high G ukulele

The C major scale is the most important scale on any musical instrument. For now, let’s focus on playing the C major scale on the ukulele. My waltz can be played as a solo or duet, hence “C Major Scale Waltz.”

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Minor Motif for high G ukulele

Have you ever woken up with a tune that sounds so familiar that you spend the rest of the morning trying figure out where you heard or played it? The tune in my head was so loud and enduring that I had to find a home for it. Here’s what happened. It was a minor motif. I didn’t hear it on the high G ukulele but it’s very possible to play it.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Glistening Glass for high G ukulele

The music of Philip Glass accompanied the 2019 film “Samurai Marathon” brilliantly. Watching the movie last evening reminds me of his Glass Works for solo piano, beautiful yet haunting. Inspired by his music, I decided to write my own minimal music for the ukulele. As today is the annual Boston Marathon, play to make it glisten like Glass’s music — and listen for it, thus “Glistening Glass.”

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Up the Neck and Back

In lieu of naming my work in progress for the past few days, I tentatively gave the file name “Up the Neck and Back” to describe the physical process of moving my left hand up the neck of the ukulele and back down. Unless you play a string instrument, you may think it’s about the human neck and back. What exactly do these 16 bars entail?

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Call and Response

One of the first workshops I gave at a ukulele festival was “call and response.” Songs that use this structure include “Doo Wah Diddy” and “Day O, the Banana Boat Song.” It’s also possible to “call and respond” with the Z-chord. Here’s a piece that gives practice for the development of many musical skills.

Continue reading
Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Z Before A

Here’s a chord switching exercise laid out in notation and tablature with accents, strum patterns, and left hand fingering. Why Z before A? The Z Chord begins the piece. And it ends on the A chord, hence “Z Before A” for high G ukulele.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Relative Lives in Parallel Universe

The idea of writing an instrumental piece that uses only one finger at a time is idealistic. After penning “One Finger at a Time,” I noticed it didn’t sound right. Reusing the same opening, I rewrote the piece. Like the harmony of moving from a minor key to its relative major and then to its parallel major, sometimes we live relative lives in a parallel universe.

Continue reading
Posted in sheet music, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments