AURA LEA – A song of the American Civil War . . . . Fingerpicking arrangement by Ukulele Mike Lynch . . . . contained in the Solo Ukulele Instrumentals eBook Enhanced Edition . . . .

Now available: UKULELE BASICS DVD . . . great for beginning ukulele players for more info email: mike@ukulelemikelynch.com

Here is a You Tube video of my solo ukulele arrangement of AURA LEA

Here is another You Tube video of my strumming and singing the lyrics of AURA LEA

Many may recognize this tune as the tender love ballad
sung by Elvis Presley as “LOVE ME TENDER”, but in fact “AURA LEA” was written
by W.W. Fosdick and George R. Poulton in 1861.
It fast became a popular song cherished by both the North and South
during the American Civil War.

It was written in the vein of Stephen Foster and so many
other popular songwriters of the time.

Chock full of florid poetry and soft tender melodious
notes. . . I’ve always been so attracted to this song and in the process of
developing my solo instrumental version I realized to a greater extent why the
song is so well written.  A deceptively
simple sounding tune, it has a rather sophisticated chord progression. . . .
The use of the D augmented chord in the chorus is an example of that.  Going from A on the first statement of “AURA
LEA”  then up to the D augmented as we
sing “AURA LEA” once again.  It adds a
strength to that line that a more conventional chord progression would not have
achieved.  Simple yet complex . . . the
sign of an accomplished songwriter. . . In designing this instrumental solo ,
as always I’m on the search for JUST the right key that fits best under the
fingers on the uke.  I try as much as
possible to avoid large leaps or uncomfortable high up on the neck barre
chords. . . I found this piece seemed to fall into place quite easily in the
Key of A. . . Whether or not it’s compatible with your voice might be in
question, but as a stand alone instrumental I think A is the perfect key.

Below is a short clip from the sheet music of this piece in tablature format

I’ve posted the video on this blog site so you can have
repeated access to it for listening and eventually for learning. . . It’s also
on my MusicTeacher2010 YouTube channel.
P.S. Just a little side note. . . In this video I included an image of my paternal grandmother who lived during the Civil War period

AURA LEA is contained in my SOLO UKULELE INSTRUMENTAL eBook Volume 1 Enlarged 2013 Edition. It sells for $28.95 and can be purchased by paying through the paypal donate button on my website: http://www.ukulelemikelynch.com
Once purchased, I will email it to you within the day.