Three Chord Thursday Chord Melody Arrangements

Posted on February 7, 2021 by Anne Ku

A chord melody arrangement refers to music that includes both melody and harmony. For ukulele players, it means instrumental ukulele played fingerstyle. We devote our Three Chord Thursday session on March 18th, 2021 at 3 pm ET to performances of this kind.

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Feng Yang Hua Gu (flower drum song) for ukulele

Posted on February 7, 2021 by Anne Ku

Feng Yang Hua Gu is a traditional Chinese folk song that I learned as a child. Only upon reading the lyrics today did I see that the words tell a different story, not a happy, cheerful one as painted by the music. Nonetheless, having arranged it for harp years ago, I am pleased to see how easily the notes transfer to the low G ukulele in the key of C major, in my quest to collect and transcribe them for ukulele, guitar, piano, and voice.

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Do Re Mi for ukulele

Posted on February 6, 2021 by Anne Ku

When I read that Christopher Plummer had died, the song “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music rang in my head. In the movie, Plummer played the widower Captain Von Trapp with seven mischievous children. “Do Re Mi” is an earworm that taught us, if not drilled into us, the alphabet of music. What a perfect application of a major scale for my music theory students! And a great example of pluck and strum for ukulele players!

There’s only one caveat to note. Julie Andrews, as Maria the governess, did not sing it in C major, as we’d expect.

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Three Chord Thursday Irish Songs

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Anne Ku

In anticipation of St Patrick’s Day, we will celebrate well-known Irish songs, many of which require only three chords. Please join us at our Three Chord Thursday session on March 11th, 2021 at 3 pm ET. Wear a solid GREEN of any shade!

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Three Chord Thursday Make It Count (World Maths Day)

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Anne Ku

For World Maths Day, we celebrate songs about counting, numbers, arithmetic, and mathematics. Please join us at our Three Chord Thursday session on March 4th, 2021 at 3 pm ET. Wear something with a number or numbers or mathematics on it!

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Three Chord Thursday: Word painting, a musical technique

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Anne Ku

Can you describe the words you’re singing with music? Such is word painting, a musical technique first employed in the Renaissance period that led to programmatic music and eventually the fabric of film music. An example of singing “climbing up the stairs” would be going up the musical scale in pitch. Please join us at Three Chord Thursday  to celebrate Renoir’s 180th birthday on February 25, 2021 at 3 pm ET. Wear the colors of Renoir’s paintings…..!

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Three Chord Thursday Year of the Ox

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Anne Ku

To celebrate the lunar new year, we will wear RED to welcome happiness, good luck and fortune, as well as share three chord songs about ox, oxen, cows, and other bovine creatures on Thursday February 18th, 2021.

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Three Chord Thursday Timeless Love Songs

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Anne Ku

In the run up to Valentine’s Day, we invite you to choose love songs that can be strummed, plucked, or arranged as chord melody for instrumental ukulele in my online classes. On Thursday 11th February 2021, we will sing and play three chord songs that fall in this category.

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Three Chord Thursday: Weather

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Anne Ku

Whither, whether, weather? It’s that time of the year when we’re tired of staying indoors because of the cold weather, though we’re probably used it by now. In any case, despite the days growing longer (in the northern hemisphere), we have much ado about the weather. On 4th February 2021, we sing and play three chord songs about the weather.

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Three Chord Thursday Full Moon

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Anne Ku

The next full moon is on 24th June 2021 which is already scheduled for Cars & Driving. We will reschedule the Full Moon theme on a future date (part 2 to the first celebration in late January 2021). We will sing and play three chord songs about the moon.

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