I play my new piece as though I’m bidding farewell to my composition spree. I have to go into publishing mode as well as take care of all the administration called “life” that’s piled up while I hibernated in cosy composer paradise this past winter. My “lament on love and loss” expresses my reluctance of the unrequited. The birds and the blossoms are calling me to step out of the hermit life of a composer and cycle to the nearby cemetery with my high G ukulele.
I am resisting titling my pieces with the mechanics of playing. This could be “study in A minor” or “Legato in A minor” but it doesn’t inform the ukulele player on how to play it.
Instead, I named it “Lament on Love and Loss” to convey how I am feeling now. I am reluctant to stop doing what I love, which is composing, so that I can revise, record, and publish. The loss would be all those compositions that are eager to be born but will now be unrequited.
Like my latest pieces, I make deliberate use of moveable chord shapes to slide the entire left hand up and down the fretboard. The right hand fingers move continuously for legato playing.
Background
After noodling in 3/4 time and 6/8 time on an un-named waltz and untitled ballad without success, I started a new piece from scratch. This time the notes flowed. The result is not a serenade or an elegy.
I experimented with the A minor broken chord and its cousins, the E7, and various diminished and diminished 7 chords. I imposed a constraint of four repeating sections of 8 bars to end in a picardy third. It’s good to set constraints, objectives, and structure. Lack of these elements is the reason the previous pieces are unfinished
Pick! Pluck! Play!
“Lament on Love and Loss” will be included in the 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 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.
