The first snowfall is always magical—just like the first day of anything new. The snow lies fresh and white, and in its stillness, I hear a waltz: the Snow White Waltz. It begins as an arpeggio, a chord melody that invites a second player to join with gentle um-pah-pah strums. The tune feels familiar, echoing something timeless, yet waiting to become its own story.
This morning, I woke to a world transformed. Snow had fallen silently overnight, blanketing cars and streets in fresh white. Before heading to work, I knew I’d have to clear the car, but for a moment, I just admired the stillness.
Later, during my break, I wandered through the nearby park and recorded several short video clips of the snowy scene. As I created a new reel on Facebook, I used a performance I had recorded earlier: “Gabriel’s Message,” played as a prelude on the Yamaha Clavinova.
As soon as I returned home, I joined a group discussion on Zoom and decided I couldn’t make it to a concert that afternoon. Instead, I felt an irresistible urge to compose something new.
I began in 4/4 time and played the arpeggiated melody on my red soprano ukulele.
Very quickly, I simplified it to 3/4 time. There was no need for a fourth note.
For a moment, I considered 6/8, imagining it as a ballad.
Before long, a page of notes had filled up with flowing arpeggios.
I named the piece “Snow White Waltz.”
Only after finishing did I realize the melody was an echo of “Gabriel’s Message,” the carol I had played earlier. It was familiar yet transformed into something new.
Although this short waltz started in minor, I moved it to its relative major and reaffirmed the C major ending.
As usual, after I complete a new piece, I ask, “What shall I do with this?”
Which book of Pick Pluck Play! does it belong?
Or should I write a new book of short arpeggiated pieces?
Short Arpeggiated Pieces by Anne Ku
Each piece is ONE page long (as opposed to two pages in Pick Pluck Play! )
- Intro to Arpeggio: 4/4 time; ascending arpeggio (8th notes)
- Harp on Arpeggio: 4/4 time; descending arpeggio (8th notes)
- Snow White Waltz: 3/4 time; arpeggio (quarter notes)
