The last step in making a mosaic piece is grouting. Though a dirty and messy process, grouting is required to fill the gaps between the tiles. In the short time left in the third session of the mosaic workshop, I used already cut tiles, mainly leftovers, to produce an abstract mosaic of blues and greens. In my rush to finish, I wasn’t sure what the result would look like. Only when I finished grouting did I see the melody in the mosaic.
Yesterday, I woke up with the idea of writing a melody on the high G-string. It got so complicated that I decided to leave it. There was a huge gap in the two page score.
This morning, I woke up with a new idea. Why not continue the melody on the A-string?
Today was the last day of the four week mosaic workshop. The last session is always reserved for grouting. I’d get my hands dirty but there will be no cuts or sticky glue. It will be short. I will have time to write my piece for ukulele.
To get to from the melody in the high G-string to the A-string required some finesse. Wanting to avoid difficult to finger chords, I looked for left hand chord shapes that were familiar. In the above sample extract, the E7 is a moveable shape of the regular D7 chord. The Am chord has the Em shape.
On the repeat, I vary notes slightly. I replace the E7 with Ddim; and Am with C.
Like the mosaic, this ukulele piece does not stop until the last two measures. The eighth notes fill the entire piece. No gaps until the end.
Pick! Pluck! Play!
“Melody in the Mosaic” may be inserted into the second or third level of the book “Pick! Pluck! Play!”
The last page “Ukulele Chords” of the new book contains a table of ukulele chord diagrams ordered alphabetically for the chords used in the book.
I’m thrilled about releasing these two books as a precursors (prerequisite) to the 12 Chinese Zodiac Suite, which contains three skill levels.
I am recording all my new compositions in the 100 Days of Ukulele 2025 project. To me, this challenge means uploading a new video recording of a new piece each consecutive day from 1st March to 8th June 2025.
For other recent compositions and arrangements by Anne Ku, please visit the Daily Music Writing Project or scroll through the consecutive blog posts.
