Safely dance the safety dance: riffs and meaning in music

Posted on June 10, 2018 by Anne Ku

Still reeling from the high energy ukulele jam of the “Eighties Extravaganza,” I can’t stop exploring the songs we didn’t get to sing. One of these is the one hit wonder by the group “Men Without Hats.”

Continue reading →

Posted in ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Safely dance the safety dance: riffs and meaning in music

Selecting songs for a select audience: eighties extravaganza

Posted on June 2, 2018 by Anne Ku

In music, the formal or official term for song selection is “repertoire development.” It sounds sophisticated and significant, and it should be, for it is not trivial at all. Repertoire development refers to creating a balanced portfolio for performers. In programming a concert, it refers to creating an attractive programme for the audience. How does this apply to selecting songs for ukulele jam sessions? In particular, songs from the eighties?

Continue reading →

Posted in photos, sheet music, travel, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ukulele Crash Course for Complete Beginners

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Anne Ku

After giving different kinds of ukulele workshops in Massachusetts, I’ve decided to offer a crash course for those beginners eager to participate in the ukulele scene that’s spreading across the world like wild fire. For time-challenged adults, it’s about making time to get a 1.5 hour dose of instruction in a group setting.

[Related entry: for the absolute, complete, total beginner in ukulele]

Continue reading →

Posted in course, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cold beer for cool blues

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Anne Ku

“Will there be cold beer?” the guitarist asked.

“Not sure, why?”

“I’ll come if there is.”

What is an evening of twelve-bar blues without beer? It doesn’t go with herbal tea, which is what I have been brewing each Wednesday evening for our ukulele jam session. Last week, I brought chocolate cake for “Easy Beatles.”

Herbal tea makes sense for “Earth Day Jam” next Wednesday. But tonight — it’s cold beer for cool blues.

Continue reading →

Posted in sheet music, travel, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cold beer for cool blues

ABBA GOLD JAM

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Anne Ku

Our first ABBA GOLD ukulele jam will take place on Tuesday 1st May 2018 at 7 pm EDT in the common room of the Walter Baker building in Historic Lower Mills.

We will celebrate ABBA’s announcement of new songs, first time in 35 years with a trivia pursuit game and aim to play all 19 songs on their gold album. Join us!! RSVP via meet-up for this FREE singalong to ukulele accompaniment.

While compiling our ukulele songbook for “Easy Beatles” I came across a triibute concert to ABBA on Wednesday 2nd May 2018. Suddenly I remembered how much I love ABBA. How can we devote an evening to the Beatles without one for ABBA?

Continue reading →

Posted in sheet music, travel, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Easy Beatles Jam Session

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Anne Ku

As I explore music for ukulele jam sessions, I keep discovering Beatles songs I’ve never heard of before. In London, I chuckled at the politically incorrect “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and the funny “Octopus’s Garden.” George Harrison’s “I’ll Follow the Sun” and other songs by individual members of the Beatles are all so very interesting. They wrote more than 300 songs though not all were performed or recorded.

Sadly, on this day 10th April 1970 the band officially broke up.

Continue reading →

Posted in sheet music, ukulele, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The freedom and friction of fiction writing

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Anne Ku

“Pick up a postcard on your table and write your address on it. Take what you’ve learned in this conference and write to your future self. Which words of encouragement would you impart?”

Among the postcards of city scenes and outdoor landscapes, the beach scene is the closest to me. I felt a lump in my throat.

Continue reading →

Posted in language, personal development, review, travel, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Anita Shreve, I never got to meet her

Posted on March 30, 2018 by Anne Ku

A pop-up window flashed “Anita Shreve dies at 71″ while I was on FaceTime.

Suddenly, I felt a pang of regret. I’m attending a major writing conference in Boston next week. I’ve moved to New England, where Shreve had set most of her novels. Everywhere I go, I remember her writing — all those love stories set in Maine, and other parts of this area of the country.

Continue reading →

Posted in review, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Anita Shreve, I never got to meet her

This time last year in California

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Anne Ku

We think in cycles, every full moon, every birthday, every St Patrick’s Day, every Valentine’s Day.

This time last year, I was clearing the home of an 84-year old woman named Maureen. A sudden fall on 4th of July 2016 led her to call 911 and subsequent ambulance transport to a hospital and then a private nursing home. She never returned to her three-bedroom condo in San Fernando Valley since.

Continue reading →

Posted in personal development, review, travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This time last year in California

April 15: ex’s of evil in Texas

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Anne Ku

In my quest for songs to fit thematic jam sessions and repertoire for thematic concerts, I came across two things that perplex me. Axes of Evil and Exes of Evil. Maybe it’s a play on words, but it made me wonder why someone referred to his ex of 20-years as “mean-spirited”. Do all exes or ex’s become mean spirited? Is mean same as evil?

Continue reading →

Posted in review, self, travel, ukulele | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on April 15: ex’s of evil in Texas