In lieu of naming my work in progress for the past few days, I tentatively gave the file name “Up the Neck and Back” to describe the physical process of moving my left hand up the neck of the ukulele and back down. Unless you play a string instrument, you may think it’s about the human neck and back. What exactly do these 16 bars entail?
If you have been following my blog posts, you’ll sense something quite familiar in the opening of this new solo instrumental piece for high G ukulele.
It’s the same A minor chord. The same melody on the G-string. However, it moves differently from the descendants of “One Finger at a Time” which are
Moveable Chord Shapes
There are several moveable chord shapes in this piece, namely:
- A minor (press the G-string only)
- C major (press the A-string only)
- G (three pressure points like the G chord which is 0232)
- B7 (three pressure points like the 4320 chord)
- D-shape or C minor shape (three pressure points like the D major chord 2220 or C minor chord 0333)
Pick! Pluck! Play!
“Up the Neck and Back” will be in 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.
