On St Patrick’s Day, I played Erik Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies on the piano and noticed that all three pieces could be easily transcribed on the ukulele. After I notated the three pieces in one file, I searched online to see if anybody else had done so already. My notated piece would be the last piece my new ukulele book, hence the title “Sortie on Satie.”
What makes Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies so mesmerizing and enchanting is the harmony. These are major seventh, minor seventh, and seventh chords that go from the dominant to the tonic. All three pieces are slow moving and contemplative.
As with all the pieces I’ve indicated with chords, it’s possible to play these as duets.
“Sortie on Satie” is the only piece in everything I’ve written so far that’s more of an arrangement than an original composition. Perhaps that’s why I’ve not recorded it or shared it.
The Gymnopedies are beautiful in their simplicity. It feels wrong to change a single note.
Piano files
The piano versions can be freely downloaded from the Internet. Click on the images below to get the PDF files.
Pick Pluck Play! Series
“Sortie on Satie” will be the bonus arrangement in Book 3 Advanced Beginner of the Pick Pluck Play! series, to be released in August 2026. Visit the Ukulele Page to see other titles in the series.
The last page “Ukulele Chords” of the new book contains a table of ukulele chord diagrams ordered alphabetically for the chords used in the book.
For other compositions and arrangements by Anne Ku, please visit the Daily Music Writing Project or scroll through the consecutive blog posts.
