The summer has been busy. I’ve worked on numerous songs and am preparing for a virtual recital in September. The music has become a bit more complicated, and I’ve labored on more than one song at a time, so I’m behind in getting these on YouTube. My last video posting was June!

This is the first classical piece I’ve tackled on the ukulele. It is Franz Schubert’s Ave Maria, which has a fascinating history and was written in 1825. Trevor gave this to me for practicing a couple exercises: reading tablature and moving fingers into chord positions while playing only the single notes of the chord. The song’s arrangement is a little different, and I’m playing an abridged version, but it’s recognizable:

I use my Islander ukulele with the standard reentrant tuning because the lower octave G on my Kala doesn’t work here. Next up, my recital music, which is a classical piece from Edvard Grieg that should be instantly identifiable. It is frequently heard in commercials and on TV shows.