Free Ukulele Music: The Gratis Etudes

pulelehua

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As some of you know, I've been writing ukulele music for a few years now. I try to come out with a book every summer. And this summer has proven to be no exception.

I've written another 10 short etudes. These are easier than my previous efforts, and are for players who have been playing for a bit, and are interested in exploring instrumental, fingerstyle music more.

For whatever reason, they wrote themselves pretty quickly. So, I've decided to give them away for free.

I feel I owe the ukulele community quite a lot. As many of you will be able to empathise with, discovering the ukulele has been somehow more than discovering an instrument. It's been a source of peace and comfort, conversation and socialising. It's been one of the most purely positive things in my life.

So, if you're interested in having a dabble, visit my website. The link is below. The hyperlink to the PDF is pretty ugly at the moment. I just wanted to get them up and available. I'll make it purty later. ;)

I'll be posting videos of the etudes being played in the coming weeks.

Thanks for your time and support. :)
 
John, I like these a lot. I really didn't know where to start building some fingerstyle chops, and these make a lot of sense to me. They kinda remind me of the Guiliani studies for classical guitar. Mahalo!
 
Oh John, these look wonderful. Thanks again for sharing your great talent with us. If (and when) I win the lotto, you'll be one of the folks getting their dream ukes!

I particularly like the look of number 12. There nothing like a switch from 4 per beat to 3 per beat mid-piece. All that slaving away I did in first year music theory class will finally pay off!

Thanks again!
 
As some of you know, I've been writing ukulele music for a few years now. I try to come out with a book every summer. And this summer has proven to be no exception.

I've written another 10 short etudes. These are easier than my previous efforts, and are for players who have been playing for a bit, and are interested in exploring instrumental, fingerstyle music more.

For whatever reason, they wrote themselves pretty quickly. So, I've decided to give them away for free.

I feel I owe the ukulele community quite a lot. As many of you will be able to empathise with, discovering the ukulele has been somehow more than discovering an instrument. It's been a source of peace and comfort, conversation and socialising. It's been one of the most purely positive things in my life.

So, if you're interested in having a dabble, visit my website. The link is below. The hyperlink to the PDF is pretty ugly at the moment. I just wanted to get them up and available. I'll make it purty later. ;)

I'll be posting videos of the etudes being played in the coming weeks.

Thanks for your time and support. :)
Thank you for sharing-great website! So when are you going to transcribe this for ukulele? Just kidding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yfqEl4TCdg
Cheers!
 
I'm not sure what an etude is, and I usually avoid tabs because if I don't figure out the fingering for something by ear I never seem to get it into permanent memory, but these actually look pretty approachable. Thanks!

John
 
Thanks so much! I feel the same way about ukuleles and ukulele people myself...it's saved my sanity...but I don't write music...I do well to play what other people write!
 
I liked what I saw. Fun stuff to try. Thank you.
 
John, an etude is just a study. It's a slightly poncy term, but I don't really like the word study, either. It seems to imply unenjoyable work.

Thanks everyone!

Jamie, I will pray for your lotto victory. ;)
 
Cheers, John.

I'm looking forward to these being a little easier to master than the last lot (not that there's anything wrong with stretching oneself).

:)
 
What a nice thing to do. Just added them to my iBooks. Thank you for your generosity.
 
Mahalo John....wow thank you for your generosity.... looks great for a study....way better than a first draft for sure....
 
Always a fan of your work and love stumbling through the original etudes every now and then. Looks like I might actually be able to play these pretty well. Will you have recordings of these as well?
 
Always a fan of your work and love stumbling through the original etudes every now and then. Looks like I might actually be able to play these pretty well. Will you have recordings of these as well?

I will post videos. The first should be up in about a week. Fingers and toes crossed. :)
 
I've started posting some simple videos of the Gratis Etudes on my YouTube channel (link in my signature). I've also started a thread in the "Links and Videos" section if you want to provide any feedback.

1 video is currently up. 2 more should be up by the end of the day.

Thanks for your support, everyone!

:)
 
Thanks for these. Going through the ones that haven't made it to YT yet is a good music-reading exercise. I'm eager to see if I'm at all close. Very nicely done.
 
This is great. I'm still just mainly strumming, but I am in awe with all that can be done with this instrument. Wonderful! - Ed Luhrs aka Angus
 
This is great. I'm still just mainly strumming, but I am in awe with all that can be done with this instrument. Wonderful! - Ed Luhrs aka Angus

Thanks, Ed. If it's any consolation, I'm equally in awe with all that can be done with a ukulele. And humble about how much of it I still can't do. :)
 
Thank you so much! My wife's going out of town tomorrow for a couple of nights, kids are sleeping over at friends' houses--now I know what I'll be working on!
 
Just played through XXI and XXII---with Roman numeral names, these pieces could also be called "Ukulele Superbowls".

They sound sweet and they're fun to play---thank you for sharing these thoughtful gifts!
 
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