Chromatic Scale Studies for high G ukulele

Hot off the cyberpress! Exercises to prepare for “Plight of the Waspy Sting.” Each of the 13 sections (rehearsal marks) are to be repeated. Practising these fingerstyle studies will also prepare you for Halloween. Read on.

Yesterday, I wrote “Plight of the Waspy Sting” (or should I call it “Plight of the Nasty Sting” )to buzz the tune out of my head. Overnight, the chromatic riffs spread through my body aching to be played and heard. I woke up with a mission.

I must write another piece to prepare the enthusiastic ukulele player to play this short piece for performance.

Chromatic Scale

The chromatic scale is a scale of adjacent and consecutive notes that are half-step or semitone apart.

Chrome means color. On the piano keyboard, there are only two colors: black and white. If you play them consecutively and adjacently in one (pitch) direction, you get the chromatic scale.

The ukulele uses frets to divide the pitch tones. Every fret takes you a semitone (half step) higher or lower depending on the direction. Towards the sound hole, the pitch goes up. Towards the head stock (tuning pegs) or nut of the ukulele fretboard, the pitch goes down.

Learning outcomes

This four page “etude” can be split into many more studies. I used repeat signs to emphasize the importance of repetition in practising towards reaching a goal.

• read tablature
• read notes
• use the optimal left hand fingers to press the strings and frets
• use the optimal right hand fingers to fingerpick the strings
• practice alternating the right hand index and middle fingers to move fast
• employ “left hand techniques” – using left hand fingers that normally press the strings to move the strings and make pitched tone.
• play with dynamics and expression
• make use of the open G-string
• play at different tempi (tempos)

SAVE THE DATE!

World Wasp Day Wednesday 24th September 2025

Introducing the new book “Chromatic Scale Studies for high G ukulele”