C Minor Scale Waltz for high G ukulele

The C minor scale is more challenging to read and play than its parallel – C major scale. There are three flats. Harmonizing it is different, too. All the notes can be played on the first three frets of the high G ukulele. I wrote it together with the C major scale waltz.

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C Major Scale Waltz for high G ukulele

The C major scale is the most important scale on any musical instrument. For now, let’s focus on playing the C major scale on the ukulele. My waltz can be played as a solo or duet, hence “C Major Scale Waltz.”

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A Minor Motif for high G ukulele

Have you ever woken up with a tune that sounds so familiar that you spend the rest of the morning trying figure out where you heard or played it? The tune in my head was so loud and enduring that I had to find a home for it. Here’s what happened. It was a minor motif. I didn’t hear it on the high G ukulele but it’s very possible to play it.

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Glistening Glass for high G ukulele

The music of Philip Glass accompanied the 2019 film “Samurai Marathon” brilliantly. Watching the movie last evening reminds me of his Glass Works for solo piano, beautiful yet haunting. Inspired by his music, I decided to write my own minimal music for the ukulele. As today is the annual Boston Marathon, play to make it glisten like Glass’s music — and listen for it, thus “Glistening Glass.”

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Up the Neck and Back

In lieu of naming my work in progress for the past few days, I tentatively gave the file name “Up the Neck and Back” to describe the physical process of moving my left hand up the neck of the ukulele and back down. Unless you play a string instrument, you may think it’s about the human neck and back. What exactly do these 16 bars entail?

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Call and Response

One of the first workshops I gave at a ukulele festival was “call and response.” Songs that use this structure include “Doo Wah Diddy” and “Day O, the Banana Boat Song.” It’s also possible to “call and respond” with the Z-chord. Here’s a piece that gives practice for the development of many musical skills.

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Z Before A

Here’s a chord switching exercise laid out in notation and tablature with accents, strum patterns, and left hand fingering. Why Z before A? The Z Chord begins the piece. And it ends on the A chord, hence “Z Before A” for high G ukulele.

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Relative Lives in Parallel Universe

The idea of writing an instrumental piece that uses only one finger at a time is idealistic. After penning “One Finger at a Time,” I noticed it didn’t sound right. Reusing the same opening, I rewrote the piece. Like the harmony of moving from a minor key to its relative major and then to its parallel major, sometimes we live relative lives in a parallel universe.

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The Z Chord or “Zed Chord”

In the very first ukulele class I give, I introduce the Zed Chord. Before we even start tuning our ukuleles and introducing ourselves, I get everyone to hold the ukulele and make the Z or Zed Chord. What is this famous chord?

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Roman Hands & Russian Fingers

It is so easy to get complicated. As usual, before I opened my eyes while still in bed, I was mulling over how to simplify “One Finger at a Time.” All the best laid plans of mice and men went awry when I tried to develop the instrumental piece last night. Were there bits I could re-use in a new piece for Level I of my new book? I heard “roaming hands and rushing fingers” as a teenager. When translated to the ukulele it’s suddenly “Roman Hands & Russian Fingers” for the high G ukulele!

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