America the Beautiful

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Anne Ku

A parishioner requested “America the Beautiful” to include in the programme on the weekend before Independence Day. For Catholic mass, I played it as a recessional hymn on the organ while the young cantor lead the congregation who sang more loudly than usual. This request, along with other comments on my post in Facebook, prompted me to look into arranging the unofficial national anthem for easy piano and instrumental ukulele solo on Independence Day, 4th of July 2023, a rainy day in Boston, Massachusetts.

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God Bless America

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Anne Ku

Irving Berlin initially penned the words to “God Bless America” while serving as a sergeant at an army camp in 1918. As typical of many of his songs which didn’t fit the occasion at the time, it was put away in a trunk. Twenty years later, opportunity knocked on his door. Berlin pulled out this song for Kate Smith, the singer to debut at Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) in 1938. For many Americans, it became the unofficial second national anthem. [See the other national anthems.]

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Correct fingering for error-free execution with ease

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Anne Ku

“Pencil in your fingering for both hands. Use a pencil in case you want to erase later. Decide on the fingering. Practice with the fingering you wrote in the score.” Why? The students in piano and ukulele classes ask. Why is correct fingering important?

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Pachelbel Progression

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Anne Ku

When I learn of a musician’s departure, I instantly hear his or her music in my head. Last week, I checked my phone and read “RIP George Winston” in my Facebook feed. His Pachelbel Canon Variations entered my sound space immediately. Although I was on my way out, I couldn’t resist but record a short video clip on my piano. Since then I have been noodling over how to introduce his music to my piano students. Today I will show the eight-chord progression as an exercise in block and broken chords and inversions in my piano harmonization class in Zoom.

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Omoide 思ひで for ukulele, theme from Midnight Diner

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Anne Ku

One occupational hazard of being a musician is the susceptibility to ear worms. Certain tunes creep into your existence and take over your sound space. You can’t get rid of it until you’ve written it down, performed, recorded, published it, or let another ear worm take its place. Omoide, the song that opens every episode of the Netflix series Midnight Diner, is such an ear worm. Fingerpicked on the folk (steel-string) guitar, Mr Suzuki’s song has interesting origins. I had to transcribe it for the low G ukulele.

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3 Chord Thursday Games

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Anne Ku

Thursday 20th July 2023 is World Chess Day. We celebrate in 3 Chord Thursday with songs about games: board games, sports games, any kind of game. Scroll below to see suggestions. Show up wearing something you’d wear when playing a worked out the ukulele crossword puzzles? Some ideas: bridge, cards, chess, gambling, rummy, … Sports: baseball, basketball, football, golf, ping pong, rowing, snooker, soccer, tennis, ….

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3 Chord Thursday Cities

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Anne Ku

Thursday 6th July 2023 is Capital City Day, an official public holiday in Kazakhstan, though elsewhere it’s definitely NOT a public holiday. 3 Chord Thursday celebrates it with songs about cities, anywhere in the world. You can always submit a video of your performance if you can’t do it live in our one-hour session in Zoom. Check out the songs suggested below, in our previous theme of locations, on this list, or in this article.

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Taster Workshop on song writing and composition

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Anne Ku

The ukulele culture of sharing songs and sightreading song sheets sometimes leads to writing your own songs. It may start with a famous poem with words that seem to suit a tune whose origins you’re not sure of. Convinced it’s not an existing song, you proceed to turn the poem into a new song — something you can call your own. Alternatively, you may hear a song in your head, so mesmerizing that you have to drop everything to capture that “ear worm” in order to free yourself from it.

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Fingerstyle Ukulele Showcase

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Anne Ku

Curious about the NEW music intentionally AND specifically written for the ukulele? As an accompanying instrument, the ukulele can help us sing in tune and play in sync. As a solo instrument, there are plenty of transcriptions and arrangements made for the ukulele. But music composed with the ukulele in mind? Do you know any?

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Music Theory MELODY

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Anne Ku

Of the essential elements of music, melody is the single most important ingredient in a song. You can think of melody as a series of notes, one after another, defined by the distance in pitch (interval) and duration. What makes a catchy melody? A great melody that withstands the test of time? An instant hit?

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