The universe has a strange way of directing me to my next song. I was looking at upcoming national days. The 13th of January every year is National Stephen Foster Day. Known as the Father of American Music, Stephen Collins Foster died on 13th January 1864 at the age of 37. At first, I thought of arranging “Beautiful Dreamer” but this morning, I woke up humming “Oh Susanna.”
All of Stephen Foster’s songs are in the public domain. This means we can perform, record, and publish without asking anyone for permission.
The song title has many nuances: “Oh Susanna” or “Oh! Susanna!” or “Oh, Susanna” or “Oh Susannah.”
The song can be accompanied by three chords.
The mention of “banjo” in the lyrics makes me think of ways to mimic the banjo. At high tempo, the melodic notes can be hammered on and pulled off on high or low G ukulele. I chose high G ukulele to illustrate the left hand techniques.
One way to introduce the chords into the song is to strum on long melody notes. As an accompanying instrument, the ukulele should not compete but support the voice.
Do you have a favorite song by Stephen Foster?
Practice suggestions
Practice the left hand techniques separately from the strums.
More information
Get access to the sheet music, notification of new work, and table of contents of this Daily Music Writing Project.
