Graded classical repertoire for ukulele

Is anyone using “Graded Classical Repertoire for Ukulele: For low G Ukulele”? It looks interesting. I had success with “The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music” (ABRSM) with my classical guitar studies and progress.

Edspyhill05 said:

Is anyone using “Graded Classical Repertoire for Ukulele: For low G Ukulele”? It looks interesting. I had success with “The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music” (ABRSM) with my classical guitar studies and progress.

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I can’t give you a specific answer on that but as far as I know the ABRSM doesn’t do Ukulele music exams. The London based Victoria College of Music does do Ukulele exams and their exams are very similarly valued and graded to those by the ABRSM.

It might be that I misunderstood the question. As I understand it the pieces within the book have been graded by the author’s idea of their relative difficulty. That difficulty might or might not be similar to how an examining body (for music student grades) would rate each piece.

I use it and love it. This is from my Amazon review:


“The arrangements are very well-thought out and sound beautiful on the ukulele. But what I love most about the book is the grading system: all of the pieces are categorized, based on level of difficulty, from grade 1-8. This means that there’s something for everyone, and even the grade level 1 pieces sound great on the uke.

By purchasing this book, you also get access to recordings of all of the pieces performed by none other than Jeff Peterson himself. The recordings are beautiful and really showcase what this little instrument is capable of. At 171 pages, I’ll be learning from and enjoying this book for many years to come. Thank you Jeff and Simon for making this tremendous resource available to those of us that want to do more with the ukulele than just strum chords.”

generaltsao said:

I use it and love it.

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I generally agree with your assessment. Many excellent arrangements ranging from relatively simple to extremely challenging. I do take exception with some of the ranking of individual pieces. Some lower level arrangements seem quite difficult (to me) while other higher-ranked ones are not as challenging. So, what I do is skip around through the book, finding pieces that suit my skill and aspirational levels, and have fun playing and learning. I'm not taking exams or looking for certifications...I just want to play nice music well!

You make a good point. “O Mio Babbino Caro,” a grade 7 piece, is totally playable with a little practice. But then you have a grade 5 Carcassi etude that should probably be ranked higher/harder (the first measure requires a 2nd to 7th fret stretch).

Of course- I’m really nitpicking here. Overall it’s a great book.

Neat. I just ordered it, because I have a low-G string on the way for my Ohana CK-50 - curious to try it out!

My wish for this book (as well as the "20 Practice Routines for Fingerstyle Ukulele," by the same authors) is that it be available as a PDF (*not* Kindle--formatting of music materials frequently gets messed up in Kindle conversion). I would not mind paying extra and having the PDF be a "locked" version (as the MelBay.com books are) if I could have it in PDF to keep on my iPad.

These days I don't carry around or really "keep" any hardcopy materials. I *used* to have an entire bookcase of ukulele and Hawaiian cultural materials but when a fire swept through our town, I learned the hard way that having electronic versions, with cloud backup, is so much better. Plus, I can have them with me all the time, even when traveling.

I contacted Jeff Peterson about the possibility of a PDF version but it wasn't in the works at this time. I guess I'll just buy the hardcopy version on Amazon then take it apart, page by page, to scan and create a PDF version of the materials for my own personal use. At least they use a standard paper size for easier batch scanning...

Because of this thread, I just ordered the 20 Practice Routines for Fingerstyle Ukulele. It looks like just what I have been looking for and need. I may order the Graded book later.

Hello,
I recently purchased "Graded repertoire" and, while I already have tons of material for low-g uke, I find this one very good, with some really challenging pieces in the last pages. I only regret a few transcriptions are not as accurate as they should be, namely Bach's Arioso BWV 1056 which lacks the last bars of the "outro" leading to a breathtaking dominant chord. This part is not more difficult to transcribe than the rest of the piece so I find odd to skip it. But I admit this is just a small detail and the overall dedication put in this work is stunning and should keep every serious player busy for quite some time.
Just my 2 cents,
Gilles

Snargle said:

I generally agree with your assessment. Many excellent arrangements ranging from relatively simple to extremely challenging. I do take exception with some of the ranking of individual pieces. Some lower level arrangements seem quite difficult (to me) while other higher-ranked ones are not as challenging. So, what I do is skip around through the book, finding pieces that suit my skill and aspirational levels, and have fun playing and learning. I'm not taking exams or looking for certifications...I just want to play nice music well!

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I agree with Snargle "almost exactly" It's a nice book to own. Since I'm playing more re-entrant lately, I would buy a high G one if it existed.

Ed1 said:

I agree with Snargle "almost exactly" It's a nice book to own. Since I'm playing more re-entrant lately, I would buy a high G one if it existed.

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I believe Jeff Peterson said there will be a Volume 2 at some point that will be all high g/re-entrant arrangements.

Jeff Peterson will be doing two Zoom workshops, on 12-Nov and 19-Nov, for the Gaithersburg UkeFest folks. More info is available on the Gaithersburg UkeFest Facebook page or their website.

Steedy said:

Jeff Peterson will be doing two Zoom workshops, on 12-Nov and 19-Nov, for the Gaithersburg UkeFest folks. More info is available on the Gaithersburg UkeFest Facebook page or their website.

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I’m looking on their website and not seeing these two events in November. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, Steedy. Can you share a website link, please?

Tonya said:

I’m looking on their website and not seeing these two events in November. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong, Steedy. Can you share a website link, please?

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Looks like their website is not current, but you can find the workshop announcements on the Gaithersburg UkeFest Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Aloha219

Just jump over there and scroll about halfway down the page.

Their email address is: gaithersburgukefest at gmail dot com

(You have to email them to register for the workshops.)

Hope this helps!

Steedy said:

Hope this helps!

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Thanks, Steedy, it sure did. And, to find the Peterson info easier on the FB page (it is so tough to figure out "where" things are and scrolling forever), I used the "search page" magnifier and spotted it right away!