3 Chord Thursday I Love America

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 7th December 2023 we acknowledge history and pay our respects to the fallen with patriotic songs as well as songs about our love for America. On this day in 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the course of the second world war.

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3 Chord Thursday Names on Buttons

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

Thursday 16 November 2023 is National Button Day. Let’s put our names on buttons (or name tags) and share songs about names, starting with your name! At the beginning of the pandemic, we hosted two sessions on girl’s and boy’s names. Check out the lists. Do you know a song about your name?

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3 Chord Thursday Friends

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

Thursday 19th October 2023 is New Friends Day! Let’s share songs about friends and friendship. This is the second time we revisit the theme of friends. Join us for an hour of fun in Zoom on 3 Chord Thursday at the usual time of 3 pm EDT with your ukuleles and sunglasses. We always open with a short warm-up lesson punctually at 3 pm EDT when the video recording begins. The public livestream will begin afterwards (when we do our group photo pose with sunglasses and ukuleles).

In our warm-up and lesson, we visit the different ways to start a song to set the tempo, rhythm and harmonic content. We will also show how you can format a song sheet to make it as readable and scrollable as possible.

Special treat! After our session, come to a free one-hour workshop in zoom: Tune for Halloween and learn some tricks with your ukulele to create your own scary and spooky tune. Register separately for the Zoom link for this workshop.

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I Left My Heart in San Francisco for Ukulele Play Along

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Anne Ku

Tony Bennett’s 1962 recording of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was a double whammy. It made him famous. It made the song famous. He sang it in the key of C major. But it’s not a three chord song by any means. How do you reduce it to something manageable yet retain the harmonic color? Enroute to producing a one-page song sheet, I made a play along video with lyrics and chord names against my piano video.

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Fingerstyle ukulele pluck & strum session

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Anne Ku

Test drive Anne Ku’s new arrangements for instrumental ukulele in this in-person session in Boston, Massachusetts.

Meet Eve Myles, the artist

Get your own copy of Fun with Uke Book signed by the authors

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Yankee Doodle

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Anne Ku

As a child, I sang “Yankee Doodle” without understanding what a Yankee Doodle was. The Dutch say the word “Yankees” comes from the names of two guys, Jan (pronounced Yan) and Kees (pronounced Case). Further research shows that “Yankee Doodle” was an insult that backfired (see story). Arranging the music here in Boston, Massachusetts, I recognize the familiar locations of Lexington and Concord. Any visitor to Boston should follow the “Freedom Trail” and visit the USS Constitution, among other historic sites. What about the music? Is it easy and fun to play on the ukulele or the piano?

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Star Spangled Banner

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

The national anthem of the Unites States is not easy to sing due to big interval leaps and huge vocal range (more than 1.5 octaves). In the key of C major, the melody spans from middle C to the second G above it. For non-vocalists, it may be easier to play on the piano, ukulele, or other instruments, than to sing it. I introduce different arrangements I made of “The Star Spangled Banner” for instrumental players.

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3 Chord Thursday Musicals

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

On the last Thursday in November, 30th November 2023, let’s appreciate songs from Musicals – musicial productions in 3 Chord Thursday, the thematic song session in Zoom. Check this list of 50 broadway hits of all time and 101 Greatest Showtunes of All Time. Scroll down to see some suggestions. Join us in Zoom or in-person at the Walter Baker Building in Boston, Massachusetts. As usual, set-up starts at 2:30 PM EST. If you can’t join, you can always play along and follow our publicly livestreamed YouTube recording. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel to get instant e-mail notification of the URL, which works even after the video is unlisted.

Our warm-up lesson will be strumming exercises to support the line-up, including alternating bass.

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3 Chord Thursday Rest in Peace (RIP)

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 2nd November 2023, we observe the Day of the Dead by honoring the music of those musicians who passed away this past year and recent years. Rest in Peace (RIP) Christine McVey, Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, Gordon Lightfoot, Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, …. See the list of musicians who died in 2023. Join us for this special session of 3 Chord Thursday. Please wear solid solemn color of either black or white or both. (Gray is also acceptible.)

Warm Up Lesson

At 3 PM on 2nd November, I will show different ways to end a song. This portion will not be publicly livestreamed but will be recorded and available to all paid subscribers and registered students in Fall 2023. [At our previous 3 Chord Thursday session, I showed several ways of introducing a song.]

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Anne Ku

Who wrote the original tune to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? The same melody used in the alphabet song “A, B, C, D, E, F, G”? The popular nursery rhyme “Baa, baa black sheep, have you any wool” also uses this melody. Wolfgang Amadeus famously wrote twelve piano variations on this theme, the French song “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.” It’s the last piece we analyzed in my 8-week Music Theory Melody course in Zoom.

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