6 Solo Pieces

Flower Sleeps at 4

Buttercup

Whistlepipe Gully

Blinter

The Valla Beach Bash

The Fantastic Mr. Flea

Six Pieces for Ukulele

Pieces 1 to 5 were written between 2019 and 2021 as part of my PhD portfolio “New Works for Classical Ukulele”. The final piece, The Fantastic Mr Flea, was composed in 2024. The pieces explore a variety of techniques commonly associated with the classical guitar, but with the over-riding aim of demonstrating how they might be applied and adapted to create unique and challenging music for the ukulele (high G tuning). The techniques used include campanella style, arpeggios, plucked chords and harmonics and are suitable for intermediate to advanced players who are already familiar with fingerstyle techniques. The titles were inspired by some of the places I visited during the course of my studies and the friends I made while there.

 

1. Flower Sleeps at 4

This piece was joint runner-up in the Joyce Dixie Composition Competition at the University of Surrey in 2021. The title comes from the 4 o’clock flower which is also known as the Marvel of Peru, Mirabilis jalapa and bunga pukul empat (Malay). Some sources say the flower opens at 4pm and others say it closes at 4pm! My friend Josie has some growing in her garden in Spain. While there on vacation I was struck by the vibrant colours and sweet scent of the flowers and the fact that, like me, they hate the cold! The music was inspired by the idea of the flowers gently falling asleep on a lazy, hazy Spanish afternoon. 

 

2. Buttercup

A short and rhythmical piece which uses plucked chords and dotted rhythms. Ranunculus (Latin for little frog), refers to the fact these small, yellow flowers grow in wild places, especially near water. I chose this as a title because of the bouncy, vibrant nature of the piece.

 

3. Whistlepipe Gully: Wattle, Wagtail and Waterfall

As a child I spent several years living in Kalamunda in the Perth Hills, Western Australia. It was here that I first started learning to play the guitar. In 2019, some 45 years later, I returned to Kalamunda to perform and present classical ukulele workshops to local ukulele groups. It was an emotional time for me: revisiting old memories while creating new ones. One afternoon my hosts, Lyn and Kevin, took me on a bush walk to Whistlepipe Gully. The track meandered along the gully allowing us to take in the sights and sounds so unique to the Australian bush - the golden blooms of the wattle tree, the darting of willie wagtail and the sudden rush and tumble of an unexpected waterfall. The piece, like the path, is about wandering. This is reflected in the repeated arpeggio patterns across the open strings, while the melody moves up and down the first string. Subtle changes in the rhythm represent the twists and turns of the track. The 4th string is tuned down a tone to F to create an open F major 7 chord.

 

4. Blinter

This piece was commissioned by Giovanni Albini for the highScore Festival 2021 and released on Da Vinci Classics in 2002. Blinter is a northern Scots word which means ‘a cold dazzle…the radiance of winter stars on a cold night’. The music was inspired by the Scottish nature writer Nan Shepherd whose book “The Living Mountain” celebrates the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. Her message was that mountains are not there to be conquered but to be seen, respected and appreciated. I imagined Shepherd camped in the mountains looking up at the distant stars. Each bar is repeated to suggest the distant shimmering of the stars. Unlike many of my other compositions Blinter uses very few open notes. The idea was to experiment with an unusual tonality in order to draw new sounds from the ukulele. Essentially, this is an arpeggio piece but there are often campanella exchanges between the 4th and 1st strings. 

 

5. The Valla Beach Bash

A little jig and another memory from my 2019 tour of Australia. Valla Beach is a quiet town on the east coast of Australia well known for its beautiful beaches and relaxed life style. It is also home to the “Valla Beach Ukulele Camp and Beach Party” which draws ukulele enthusiasts from all over Australia. The Valla Beach Bash is a fast and lively jig inspired by this joyous event and the many wonderful people I met during my stay. It is dedicated to wild women everywhere but most of all to my good friends Cathy and Angie. 

 

6. The Fantastic Mr. Flea

Ukulele is thought to be a made up Hawaiian word which means bouncing flea. I wanted to write a piece that is a celebration of both the instrument and the many people across the globe who are united by our passion for the fantastic little flea. One very special person in our beloved ukulele community is Esther the Cow whose enthusiasm for this instrument is as broad as her smile!