The song I played on the guitar and piano as a teenager on Okinawa was fun because of the catchy piano introduction that’s also used between verses. It starts in the key of D but modulates to C for the first verse. Staying in C for the second verse, it returns to the D for the third verse and the modulates back to C for the fourth verse (which is a repeat of the first verse). Released in 1971, it is Cat Steven’s greatest hit. He took a relatively unknown Christian hymn first published in 1931, and harmonized it differently, most notably using a piano arrangement and performance by Rick Wakeman. The text was written by an English poet famous for nursery rhymes, and the hymn was set to an old Scottish Gaelic melody known as Bunessan.
Morning Has Broken is a rare example of a hymn made famous in popular media. Now that I play the organ and piano at church, I have the possibility of recording myself on the Yamaha Clavinova (digital piano) and playing the organ to that recording. It allows me to move from one instrument to another and explore orchestration settings.
Listening to Cat Stevens’ strum accompaniments on guitar, I envision the same possibilities for the ukulele. It is gratifying to switch chords (so quickly) using the same waltz-like strum pattern on the ukulele. Cat Steven’s version uses 15 chords!
Returning to the original hymn, I found several recordings of choir, organ, and piano.
A melody can be harmonized in more than one way. Listen to the following harmonization of the hymn on the piano. It’s the same melody but definitely not a pop song.
In the choir recording below, you can hear it’s in 9/4 time — NOT 3/4. What’s the difference?
For the ukulele, I chose my own harmony, utilizing the diatonic chords in C major. These are the chords that only use the notes in the C major scale. Choosing a D minor chord on the 5th fret captures the melody note, allowing the possibility for a chord melody arrangement. This version is suitable for either high or low G ukulele. The C5 chord captures the G note as written in the tablature.
To make use of the high G string, I changed the tablature.
For those with low G ukulele, we can transpose the hymn to G major for those who can sing and play in that key.
I will publish my arrangements for ukulele in a new collection. In the mean time, I will introduce these arrangements in my upcoming music classes.
Even better, play along to Cat Stevens himself.