Spooky & scary tune for Halloween

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Anne Ku

Halloween is a big deal in the United States. As soon as the leaves start changing color, houses get decorated with witches, cobwebs, skeletons, and ghosts. Do you know a spooky and scary tune for this occasion? What makes a song spooky and scary? To find out, join my one-hour workshop in Zoom on spooky and scary riffs with your ukulele and get ready for a trick or treat.

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Fall 2023 Classes in Zoom

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Anne Ku

Hot off the press! In response to student feedback, I’m offering two Music Theory courses: One for anyone who has not taken any music theory previously. And another 2.0 for those who have. I’m co-teaching a new course SONGWRITING with Bruce Boreham (Venice, Italy). It promises to unleash your creativity. Ukulele Bootcamp will focus on rhythm, it’s the “thing” that keeps everyone together.

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Brown Eyed Girl double stops in Margaritaville

Posted on September 17, 2023 by Anne Ku

Catchy instrumental introductions hook you in, especially if they return as an instrumental interlude later in the song. Without these intros and interludes, the song seems incomplete. Such is the case of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” both of which can be executed with double stops on the ukulele. To get the rhythm correct, it’s best to count and label the eighth notes with the tabs for correct placement.

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Puff, the Magic Dragon

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Anne Ku

An instrumental introduction sets the tempo, establishes the rhythm, and anticipates the starting note of the melody for a song. Here’s my attempt to capture Peter, Paul and Mary’s version of “Puff, the Magic Dragon” in a key I can sing comfortably in. Transposing it for the ukulele, the process is what I call “authentic replication.”

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Canon for a Wedding

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Anne Ku

Why did Pachelbel write the Canon in D? He was an organist not a violinist. Yet he wrote the Canon and the Gigue for three violins, later accompanied by basso continuo (e.g. harpsichord, lute, or cello). One speculation is that he wrote the pieces for a special occasion: the wedding of his student Johann Christoph Bach, the older brother of the famous Johann Sebastian.

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Pachelbel Medley (workshops in Zoom)

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Anne Ku

For Pachelbel’s Birthday Party, I made a medley of songs that follow the eight-bar chord progression in Pachelbel’s Canon. In selecting the songs, I noticed that most of the 24 songs I had listed did NOT follow the progression in full or exactly.

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Over the Rainbow from Oz to Iz

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Anne Ku

The most requested song that people ask me to play on my ukulele is not Judy Garland’s signature song “Over the Rainbow.” In the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz,” she sings of a place that’s far away, free of trouble. She sings with great rubato, accompanied by a jazz orchestra.

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Pachelbel Birthday Party

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Anne Ku

Johann Pachelbel’s exact date of birth is not recorded. Born in Nürnberg (Nuremberg), he was baptized on 1st September 1653, which means his 370th birthday is either happening soon or has already happened. We celebrated his greatest gift to the music world on Friday 1st September 2023. As an organist, Pachelbel was best known for his music for organ, although his famous Canon in D and its companion Gigue were originally written for string instruments (three violins and a ground bass, e.g. cello).

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3 Chord Thursday Songs of Faith

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 21st December 2023, the last time we meet this year, we will celebrate the festive season with songs of faith and worship such as hymns, carols, meditations, chants, and songs of any faith. What’s the most rousing hymn of all time? What’s the most famous hymn? The oldest? Check this list of 50 most loved hymns. There are also famous classical pieces whose tunes are borrowed for religious services, such as Sibelius’ Finlandia and Holst’s The Planets. Here is a list of 25 such hymns from Seventh Day Adventist Hymnal. Here’s another list of tunes and hymns you may recognize.

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3 Chord Thursday I Love America

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Anne Ku

On Thursday 7th December 2023 we acknowledge history and pay our respects to the fallen with patriotic songs as well as songs about our love for America. On this day in 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the course of the second world war.

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