On St Patrick’s Day, I played Erik Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies on the piano and noticed that all three pieces could be easily transcribed on the ukulele. After I notated the three pieces in one file, I searched online to see if anybody else had done so already. My notated piece would be the last piece in level one of my book, hence the title “Sortie on Satie.”
What makes Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies so mesmerizing and enchanting is the harmony. These are major seventh, minor seventh, and seventh chords that go from the dominant to the tonic. All three pieces are slow moving and contemplative.
As with all the pieces I’ve indicated with chords, it’s possible to play these as duets.
“Sortie on Satie” is the only piece in everything I’ve written so far that’s more of an arrangement than an original composition. Perhaps that’s why I’ve not recorded it or shared it.
The Gymnopedies are beautiful in their simplicity. It feels wrong to change a single note.
Piano files
The piano versions can be freely downloaded from the Internet. Click on the images below to get the PDF files.
Pick! Pluck! Play!
“Sortie on Satie” is the last piece in the first or second 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.
