Author Archives: Anne Ku

About Anne Ku

Anne Ku is a composer who teaches the ukulele and piano.

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 … 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 … 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” … 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 … 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 … 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 … 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 … Continue reading →

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

Culturally themed concert: from New Zealand to Hawaii

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Anne Ku

Music can transport you to another world, another place, another time, another feeling. Such was my motivation yesterday in South Boston and today in Brockton, Massachusetts when I gave a culturally themed concert to take my audience first to New … Continue reading →

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

The validity of student evaluations

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Anne Ku

Whoa! A new Slate article entitled “Student Evaluations Can’t Be Used to Assess Professors” caught my attention today. Research shows that it’s biased in favor of white, cisgender, American-born men. This could explain why my ex-colleague, a white alpha male … Continue reading →

Posted in course, feedback, photos, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The validity of student evaluations

The next essay

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Anne Ku

Since October 2017, I’ve been looking forward to writing an essay on “music and relationships” — a topic I’m not only intimately familiar with but also crave to research and write about. Yet, I procrastinate writing the first word. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in ukulele, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The next essay