How do you express an idea, an emotion, a feeling, a thought, or an intention? In words? Music? Visuals?
It’s not enough to express it in music. I invite you to submit the visual of something that you create to accompany my new fingerstyle piece for high G ukulele “Plight of the Waspy Sting.”
Continue readingUpon completing the 15 Miles in June to fundraise for the American Red Cross to provide swimming lessons, I immediately returned to my music. There has to be a way to describe the process of meeting that challenge. Swimming laps is repetitive. One has to count. Here is my short programmatic piece to describe my experience.
Continue readingFor the third time, I completed 100 Days of Ukulele marathon. Unlike the previous years, this time I recorded only the music I wrote. This means writing enough music to keep me busy for a hundred consecutive days. In truth, I wrote more than 100 days of music, for I started by arranging music in the “Daily Music Project” and then evolved to composing my own stuff.
Continue readingTaking the same chords and arpeggios in “Euridice’s Descent,” kind of like ripping out Adam’s rib, I write another piece. Euridice’s love Orpheus, Orpheo, or Orfeo descends to Hell to look for her. In “Orfeo Arpeggio,” I explore different ways to descend using arpeggios, hence “Orfeo Arpeggio.”
Continue readingThe descending line of bass and melody and other notes is a powerful thing. In my new instrumental ukulele piece, I explore different ways to descend. I am reminded of Euridice who went to hell twice. Hence, “Euridice’s Descent.”
Continue readingIn last Saturday’s guitar orchestra rehearsal, I marvelled the hemioles we played in one of our pieces. A fellow guitarist remarked, “six, eight, three, four.” I declared that I’d write a piece that included hemioles. For the rest of the day, I thought about how I’d do it. Can it be a solo instrumental piece or does it have to be a duet? I couldn’t sleep that night without writing hemiole guacamole.
Continue readingThe idea for a new composition sometimes starts with a title. The tropical fruit I love so much rhymes with tango, a dance I’d like to master one day. We can easily simulate the tango rhythm with a simple two bar ostinato. As it’s easier to write a duet than a solo piece, let’s see if the high G ukuleles can occupy the same sonic space, i.e. the same register in “Mango Tango Ostinato.”
Continue readingSometimes reading a book published in a distant location makes me hungry for the cuisine of that faraway place. Long overdue, I downloaded and digested the 155-page book summarizing the contents of the first academic conference on the ukulele from the website announcing the third conference which will take place this autumn. There’s so much in there! Can I whet your appetite with my new fingerstyle piece – Arpeggio Carpaccio Prego for high G ukulele?
Continue readingA popular variation of the basic Travis fingerpicking pattern is the pinch (twist), hold, then inside, outside, inside strings. The American band Kansas uses this pattern in their hit song “Dust in the Wind.” The melody is contained in the fingerpicking, hence “chord melody.” This accompaniment pattern also works well for Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Hence, the title “Travel with Travis in the Wind” for high G ukulele.
Continue readingBesides the arpeggio and Alberti bass, the third most important fingerstyle accompaniment pattern is Travis Picking. Named after the American country and western singer and songwriter Merle Travis, the fingerpicking pattern has many variations. To this, I added two left hand techniques of hammer on and pull off for fun, hence “Travel with Travis: Hammer & Pull” for high G ukulele. I’ve since added SLIDE.
Continue reading