Virtuosic instrumental ukulele performances woo and awe us. Master ukulele shredders like Taimane and Jake Shimabukuro play so fast and furiously that sometimes you can’t see the fingers at all. They play up and down the neck, covering the entire geography of the four string instrument. It would seem impossible to play at their breakneck speed. But maybe it’s possible to play an octave lower, half as fast, or even strum the chords and play along.
Body Surfing by Herb Ohta
Shown above, the first four chords used in the instrumental ukulele solo piece “Body Surfing” are an example of the Andalusian cadence, a common chord progression I discuss in my book on the subject.
For less virtuosic players, it’s possible to play the repetitive riffs an octave lower from what is usually played.
If it weren’t for the Bb note below middle C, it’s easier to play these riffs on the high G ukulele.
Practice suggestions
Practice the chords until you can finger and switch and play them without looking at the chord diagrams.
Listen and watch Taimane and Jake play Body Surfing.
Play along by strumming the chords.
Read the notes and tabs and fingerpick the riffs.
Access to the sheet music
- The pdfs will be e-mailed to all those who registered and paid for the 8-week Ukulele Winter 2025 course. See the Classes Webpage for further details.
- Annual subscribers to 3 Chord Thursday 2025 may request and receive these new arrangements as part of their package, for supporting the thematic song sessions for 2025.
- In due course, these arrangements will be available for purchase.
- Use the ORDER FORM for arrangements, exercises, and other work by Anne Ku.
Notification of new and updated work
There is no ONE way to find out. The best way is ALL the ways.
- Sign up for the celebrated Ukulele Enthusiast e-blast (newsletter) to get on the mailing list for notification of such new arrangements. Use the Google Form.
- Subscribe to this website to get instant notification of these daily tabs. Use the form at the top right hand corner of any webpage.
- Subscribe to the YouTube Channel to get notification of new livestreams and uploads. It’s my intention to record my new work within a week of publishing on this website.
Catalog of new music by Anne Ku
Below is what I know and have done so far and what I plan to do for this week. Each piece is followed by exercises to prepare and support that piece. The “day” column refers to the day in the project, starting on the 1st day of 2025. As you can see, I am several days ahead.
| Day | Title / Topic | Keys | Type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greensleeves / What Child Is This | Em, Fm, Gm, Am | Lead Sheet Chord Melody | sample score, video |
| 2 | Andalusian Cadence | Am, Gm | Arpeggio Accompaniment | sample score |
| 3 | Auld Lang Syne for high G ukulele | F, G | Lead Sheet Chord Melody | sample score, playalong video |
| 4 | Left Hand Techniques | G | Lead Sheet | definition, sample score |
| 5 | On Top of Spaghetti | C | Chord Melody | playalong video |
| 6 | Auld Lang Syne in F for low G ukulele | F, C | Chord Melody | playalong video |
| 7 | Feed the Birds | Em, Am | Lead Sheet, Chord Melody | sample scores |
| 8 | Accompaniment in 3/4 Time | Am | High G ukulele | sample scores |
| 9 | Accompaniment exercises in 3/4 Time | Am | Low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 10 | Strum & Fingerpick Exercise in 3/4 Time | C | high or low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 11 | Exercise for Waltz Accompaniment | C | high or low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 12 | Oh Susanna! | C | high or low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 13 | Travis Picking exercises | C | high and low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 14 | Puff the Magic Dragon 7 Travis Picking variations | C | high and low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 15 | We Shall Overcome | C | high and low G ukulele | sample scores |
| 16 | Can’t Help Falling in Love | C, F | high and low G ukulele | download lead sheet |
| 17 | Friday I’m in Love | F, G | high G ukulele | scores, play along videos |
| 18 | Happy Birthday for ukulele | F | high & low G ukulele | lead sheets, chord melody, score |
| 19 | Happy Birthday for high G ukulele | F, C | high G ukulele | chord melody scores |
| 20 | Body Surfing for ukulele | Gm | high and low G ukulele | samples of scores |