When I composed “Year of the Snake” in the run up to Chinese New Year of the Snake in January 2025, I did not expect it would take me on a new journey, one of exploring the twelve major pentatonic scales in composition. Writing the twelve pentatonic pieces for high G ukulele “sort of” took over my life and the “Daily Music Writing Project.” As I get ready to publish the Chinese Zodiac Suite, I revisit this first piece and rename it “Snake Eyes” for good reasons.
Why Snake Eyes?
“Snake Eyes” is the name of a character in the musical production “Anything Goes.” It also refers to landing on a pair of ones in throwing dice. It’s the worst possible result in gambling because you can’t get anything less than that. The two die look like the eyes of a snake. “Snake Eyes” describes an unlucky outcome or negative situation.
I am renaming this piece not for its meaning but the character who never physically shows up in the musical. “Snake Eyes Johnson” is public enemy number one in “Anything Goes.”
Harmonizing the melody
Prior to writing “Holy Cow” I was hesitant to add harmony. Would harmonizing a pentatonic piece remove the Chinese-sounding melodies?
The good news: a pentatonic melody has only five different notes and no half steps. There should be many harmonization possibilities.
To allow beginners to play duets, I deliberately chose easy to finger chords such as Am7 (C6), C, Am, Fadd9, etc.
From solo to duet
Adding chords to a melody offers new performance possibilities. You can now duet with someone else who plays the chords.
Chinese Zodiac Suite
All 12 pieces are written for high G ukulele. All twelve are pentatonic. Each piece is dedicated to one of the 12 animals in the 12 Chinese Zodiac Cycle.
- Counting Sheep, Counting Sheep to Sleep
- Gift Horse
- Year of the Snake – Snake Eyes (this blog post)
- Dragon Born
- Rabbit Hole
- Two Tigers
- Holy Cow – Sacred Cow
- Rat Race
- Guinea Pig
- Doggy Bag
- Rooster – Chicken Feed
- Monkey Around
For other recent compositions and arrangements by Anne Ku, please visit the Daily Music Writing Project or scroll through the consecutive blog posts.
