Here’s a short waltz that got me out of bed before 4 o’clock in the morning. Was it the copious amount of homemade chai tea that kept me awake or the buzz of the Long Island Guitar Festival last weekend? I hear notes screaming to get born. I named it “Whirlwind Waltz” because I couldn’t possibly call it “4 O’Clock Waltz” and not get asked why.
Notes of the ascending major scale were fighting with my attempt to sleep. I finally succumbed to them by mentally composing in my head until I got worried that I would forget them if I did fall asleep.
The birds were singing, but it was still pitch black.
The waltz starts innocently in F major, predictably oscillating between two chords of F and C.
After repeating the first section, I meandered into its relative minor key of D minor and dabbled in secondary dominants and other harmonies.
Conscious that maybe I should get some more sleep before sunrise, I decided to end the waltz and squeeze everything into one page.
Pick! Pluck! Play!
“Whirlwind Waltz” is at the first level of the book “Pick! Pluck! Play!” book. Hopefully there’s space to squeeze it in or else put into another book.
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.
I’m thrilled about releasing these books as a precursors (prerequisite) to the 12 Chinese Zodiac Suite, which contains three skill levels.
I am recording all my new compositions in the 100 Days of Ukulele 2025 project. To me, this challenge means uploading a new video recording of a new piece each consecutive day from 1st March to 8th June 2025.
For other recent compositions and arrangements by Anne Ku, please visit the Daily Music Writing Project or scroll through the consecutive blog posts.
