Is counting sheep a worldwide phenomenon taught to kids to help them fall asleep? As adults, drinking too much tea or coffee late in the day can cause a sleepless night. Just as worries and other unsettling matters keep us awake. Does counting sheep work? It helped me compose my latest pentatonic piece in the 12 Chinese Zodiac Tunes.
In Chinese, the single character representing sheep, lamb, ram, and goat is the same. To clarify which we add another character in front, such as the character for mountain before the character to get the two-character word for goat. Similarly adding the character for small before the character gives the two-character word for lamb.
Counting Sheep is one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac Tunes that requires extensive use of left hand techniques of hammer on, pull off, and slide. I indicate with slurs.
On left hand techniques: we hammer on a string to get to a higher pitched note. For the reverse, from high to low, we pull off (use the left hand finger that’s already pressed on a string and fret to pluck the string).
If you are a master at playing left hand techniques AND sightreading, playing this piece will be fun.
I deliberately limit the notes in this instrumental solo piece for high G ukulele to the first three frets and the open strings of the high G ukulele. All twelve tunes are based on pentatonic scales — and original (unpublished).
While trying to stick to the five notes of the F major pentatonic scale I chose for this piece, I couldn’t help hearing Bach’s famous piece about shepherds and their sheep.
Johann Sebastian Bach famously quoted himself. And so I quote him.
In this piece, I quoted his “Sheep May Safely Graze,” an aria he wrote in 1713. Also called the Hunting Cantata and Birthday Cantata, BWV 208 is all about shepherds and sheep. Read more about this piece.
Besides fingerpicking individual melodic notes with the right thumb, index and middle fingers, I indicate a down and up strokes (strums) which are best executed with the longest single finger: the middle finger.
If counting sheep works, you eventually start falling asleep.
If not, repeat from the beginning until you do.
In the interest of time, I will wait until the 100 Days Ukulele 2025 Project begins on 1st March to start recording all these pieces that I am writing for the ukulele.
12 Chinese Zodiac Tunes
“Counting Sheep” is the sixth piece in this forthcoming collection of pentatonic pieces for ukulele. I plan to make the entire set available for purchase. Each one fits on a single page of PDF. Each one presents new concepts and techniques.
- Counting Sheep
- Wild Horses or Horse with a Name or Horse’s Mouth
- Year of the Snake
- Dragon Born
- Rabbit Hole
- Two Tigers
- Holy Cow
- Rat Race
For other recent compositions and arrangements by Anne Ku, please visit the Daily Music Project.
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