AVE MARIA by Franz Schubert – Solo Ukulele Arrangement by Ukulele Mike Lynch
The Lady of the Lake and the Ave Maria
According to Wikipedia the piece was composed as a setting of a song from Walter Scott’s popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation by Adam Storck (de) (1780–1822), and thus forms part of Schubert’s Liederzyklus vom Fräulein vom See. In Scott’s poem the character Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake (Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands), has gone with her exiled father to stay in the Goblin’s cave as he has declined to join their previous host, Roderick Dhu, in rebellion against King James. Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, sets off up the mountain with his warriors, but lingers and hears the distant sound of the harpist Allan-bane, accompanying Ellen who sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help. Roderick Dhu pauses, then goes on to battle.
Schubert’s arrangement is said to have first been performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in the little Austrian town of Steyregg and dedicated to her, which led to her becoming known as “the lady of the lake” herself.
The opening words and refrain of Ellen’s song, namely “Ave Maria” (Latin for “Hail Mary”), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert’s melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer Ave Maria. The Latin version of the Ave Maria is now so frequently used with Schubert’s melody that it has led to the misconception that he originally wrote the melody as a setting for the Ave Maria.
Notes on my arrangement:
In this arrangement for ukulele, I decided to treat it as a Chord/Melody piece. It involves absolutely no fingerpicking. Only the thumb is used throughout the piece. The melody generally rides on the top or first string. Most Chord/Melody pieces rely on the melody being on that top string. Having decided to do it in this format actually predetermined that I would end up doing it in the Key of C.
When heard, this piece sung vocally, it is most often done in Eb, Bb or Ab keys. . .
As in all of my arrangements, I’ve made a great effort to maintain the integrity of the chords of the original piece but have adapted them to making the piece more accessible to most players. There are plenty of arrangements using elaborate fingerpicking styles such as the one done by Jake Shimabukuro which are elegantly beautiful but also incredibly difficult for most average players. In all my arrangements, it is always my goal to make them approachable and playable.
Listen to my recording and take note that I play quite freely. . . I don’t try to hold to a “click” or metronome . . .We call that RUBATO. It should be played that way for the greatest feeling. Playing in that style also allows for one to approach the chord fingerings more easily. You wont feel rushed so it allows you time to make the proper fingering changes.
Franz Shubert composed this piece with frequent use of Diminished 7th chords and I have certainly retained those as they are beautiful lush sounding chords. Enjoy them and get use to them. They are also great for Jazz arrangements. Play up on the neck for the warmest tone. If you play down towards the bridge or sound hole you will get a more brittle hard sound.
As in all tablature pieces, be patient with yourself. Take a few measures a day. . . Make that your goal. Don’t try to attempt to play through the whole piece in one sitting. Just take short segments. . . Learn them . . . repeat them over and over . . . memorize them . . . then move on to the next section. Set a few measures a day and in no time you’ll have the entire piece learned.
The little section that employs Hammer on and Pull offs can be played without those ornamentation effects. Learn it first without them, then go back and practice them independently. They do take some time and patience to learn. And at all times remember to have fun. Enjoy the process . . . enjoy the journey. .
Happy Strumming, Ukulele Mike
Here is my YouTube performance and tutorial of Ave Maria by Franz Schubert . . .
The Shubert Ave Maria is contained in the Chord/Melody eBook ONE. It can be purchased by making a payment of just $20.00 through the paypal button on my website: http://www.ukulelemikelynch.com Once purchased, it will be personally emailed to you withiin the day.
Full Table of Contents:
Each of the Chord/Melody collections can be purchased individually for just $20.00 or all together at a combo “TRILOGY” discount of just $50.00
I also did an arrangement of the Bach/Gounod setting of the Ave Maria. Here is a link detailing that piece:
For information regarding any ukulele product please email: TheUkuleleMan2012@hotmail.com
UKUELE MIKE LYNCH
Announcing the new 2013 Edition of my UKULELE SOLO INSTRUMENTALS eBook.
Contains even more pieces then before . . . The entire table of contents is listed below
Amazing Grace
Aura Lea
Blackbird
Cherry Blossoms
Crazy G Part 1 & 2
Del Sol
Edelweiss
Finlandia
Freight Train
Going Home
Greensleeves
Here Comes The Sun
Here There & Everywhere
Keyport Rag
Kona Breeze
Lord Of All Hopefulness
Ode To Joy
Panis Angelicus
Paris Nocturne
River Of Dreams
The Rose Garden Serenade
Simple Gifts
Stairway To Heaven
Tammy
The Pink Panther
This Little Light Of Mine
Tiki Dance
Arirang
Bella Toscana
Baby’s Breath
Can’t Help Falling In Love
Etude in Dminor
I Dreamed A Dream
Beethoven Pathetique Sonata
Theme From Forrest Gump
Till There Was You
All pieces are arranged by Mike Lynch Aka: Ukulele Mike and are formatted in tablature. The eBook is available for purchase for $28.95…
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I vividly remember that cool November day in 1968 returning to my college dorm room with my newly acquired treasure tucked under my arm. It was the newly released Beatle’s “WHITE” double album. I quickly put it on the turntable. . . does anybody remember turntables? ha ha ha. . . And my ears were immediately delighted by Paul’s travis picking on the acoustic Martin D28 as he played his now classic song “BLACKBIRD” Now, that year I had just taken up the classical guitar and one of my earliest endeavors was to learn J.S. Bach’s composition BOUREE. Something about this BLACKBIRD piece hauntingly reminded me of BOUREE. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I heard Paul claim that he too was working on the BOUREE that same year and out…
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“FIRST AID” for tablature players – – – – from Dr. Ukulele Mike Lynch
I’ve had so many people showing a great interest in playing solo ukulele instrumentals lately. Sales of my SOLO INSTRUMENTALS eBook plus my CHRISTMAS UKULELE eBook not to speak of all of my individual tabs lets me know how popular solo instrumental playing is becoming among the global ukulele community. A couple of years ago I released a collection of Solo Christmas Melodies and below is a page from that collection that attempts to summarize the subject of TABLATURE notation.
What in the world is tablature anyway???
Well, it’s actually a form of notation that has been used since the days of the
Renaissance and Baroque eras when it was developed to notate music for fretted string
Instruments such as the lute, viheula and guitar.
There were also types of tablature for organs, harps and ocarina.
Often the term tablature is misused when referring to simple chord/lyric songsheets. There are…
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Doing a little “soft shoe” with the Ukulele – Old Time Ukulele with “By The Light Of The Silvery Moon”
The popular song “By The Light Of The Silvery Moon” was written by Gus Edwards and the Lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was originally published in 1909 and it was first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine. It was just one of a series of moon-related songs of the Tin Pan Alley era. The song has been used in a great many television shows and motion pictures. A film by the same title was released in 1953, starring Doris Day. It served as a sequel to yet another Doris Day film “On Moonlight Bay” In performing this arrangement we call to mind the days of Vaudevile and most primarily the popular dance style “Soft Shoe”. . . . In this audio example you will notice the light whimsical triplet patterns that I intersperse throughout the strum. This mirrors the very rhythm of the “soft shoe” The primary strum is…
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“Pokarekare Ana” – Traditional New Zealand Maori Love Song – 1914 – arranged for solo ukulele by Ukulele Mike Lynch
According to Wikipedia, we find that Pokarekare Ana is a traditional New Zealand love song written in Māori, probably communally composed about the time World War I began in 1914. It has been translated into English, and also enjoys some popularity in Australia
The song is very popular in New Zealand, and has been adapted for multiple purposes, including in advertising and by sporting groups. Notable uses include:
• “Sailing Away”, which promoted New Zealand’s 1987 America’s Cup challenge, and featured an ensemble choir of famous New Zealanders recording as ‘All Of Us’,
• It is best known worldwide through Air New Zealand’s TV advertisements in 2000. This version was performed by Rose Hanify (later of NZ Band Supermodel). In particular, the song became a phenomenon in Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where the song again became another unofficial anthem, this time for the success of Oceania…
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Classic Henry Mancini song arranged for solo ukulele – “MOON RIVER” – Ukulele Mike Lynch arranger
Classic Henry Mancini song arranged for Solo Ukulele – “MOON RIVER” – Ukulele Mike Lynch arranger
According to Wikipedia, Enrico Nicola “Henry” Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor and arranger, who is best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
His best-known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series (“The Pink Panther Theme”) and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. Mancini had a long collaboration with the film director Blake Edwards and won numerous Academy Awards for the songs in Edwards films, including “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, “Days of Wine and Roses” and for the score to Victor Victoria.
“Moon River” is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer. It received an Academy…
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Jazz icon Erroll Garner’s “MISTY” – arranged for solo ukulele by Ukulele Mike Lynch
Jazz icon Erroll Garner’s “MISTY” – arranged for solo ukulele by Ukulele Mike Lynch
Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1923 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad “Misty”, has become a jazz standard. Scott Yanow of Allmusic calls him “one of the most distinctive of all pianists” and a “brilliant virtuoso”.
Notice the short excerpt from my arrangement of MISTY shown below
A stylistic element used in this arrangement is the use of slurs. A slur occurs where you play one note and move up or down to the next note without plucking it again with the right hand. It can be done either as a slide S or a hammer on H.
These terms were first used the the celebrated folk singer, songwriter and author Pete Seeger.
The full arrangement of MISTY…
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49 All time favorite classics from the early 20th Century combined in one collection. This book has been a labor of love for me. . . My wife’s grandmother, Mabel Kaufer, acquired her ukulele at about the age of 16 and can be seen in family photos dating back to 1918 playing her uke. . . Through the years she would always be leading the family at Christmas, summer vacations at Lake Sammamish, Family reunions etc. and the songs she always sang were the songs that she grew up with as a young girl. . . Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Ain’t She Sweet, Moonlight Bay, You Are My Sunshine, For Me And My Gal etc. . . The days of family sing-a-longs and home music making have kinda gone by the way for TV, computer games etc. It is my sincere hope that making this collection available to ukulele…
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“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” – Ukulele tutorial by Ukulele Mike Lynch
According to Wikipedia
“Let Me Call You Sweetheart” is a popular song, with music by Leo Friedman and lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson. The song was published in 1910 and first recorded by The Peerless Quartet.
The complete lyrics:
I am dreaming Dear of you, day by dayDreaming when the skies are blue, When they’re gray;When the silv’ry moonlight gleams, Still I wander on in dreams,In a land of love, it seems, Just with you.Let me call you “Sweetheart,” I’m in love with you.Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.Keep the love-light glowing in your eyes so true.Let me call you “Sweetheart,” I’m in love with you.Longing for you all the while, More and more;Longing for the sunny smile, I adore;Birds are singing far and near, Roses blooming ev’rywhereYou, alone, my heart can cheer; You, just you.Let me call you “Sweetheart,” I’m in love with you.Let me…
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