Solo lab
Original etudes for ukulele — re-entrant colour, fingerstyle rolls, campanella hints, and groove in odd meters. No quoted solos. No artist names. High-G is a feature, not a bug. Paths A–C build the language; Path D is the advanced ladder. One TAB + Play per card.
Path A · Fingerstyle colours
Open-string rolls, campanella-ish cascades, call/response. Let high G sparkle; mute only when the job asks.
A1 · Open Am roll
Your job: Roll C–E–A (and high G colour) through open Am, then reverse. Let opens ring.
A2 · A-string hammer flurry
Your job: A-string flurry with H/P. Soft thumb; land and bloom.
A3 · Double-stop climb (uke)
Your job: C+E (or similar) blocks climbing. Keep both notes warm and even.
A4 · Colour stabs (root + high)
Your job: Root + high colour tone on 1 and 3. Short attacks; don’t drown the room.
A5 · Open cascade → fretted answer
Your job: Ringing opens as “harmonics,” then a fretted answer that lands.
A6 · Leap across the re-entrant
Your job: Low-ish sustain → high-G answer. Leave air; high G is the sparkle.
A7 · Call / response (thumb · fingers)
Your job: Bars 1–2: thumb stabs. Bars 3–4: finger run. Trade roles next loop.
A8 · Uke finger tremolo
Your job: Same pitch, fast even i–m. Then leap to the fifth and hold.
A9 · Em roll (campanella hint)
Your job: Same roll idea as A1, moved toward Em colour. Prefer ringing paths.
A10 · Mini fingerstyle form
Your job: Continuous fingerstyle etude — rolls → flurry → climb → cascade → silence.
Path B · Groove & odd meters
Pocket on a small instrument — odd meters, chord-tone songs, sequences that fit the uke range.
B1 · 7/8 uke pocket (3+2+2)
Your job: Accent every group “1”. Count out loud; keep the uke groove light.
B2 · 5/4 uke arp walk
Your job: Five quarters up the chord tones, then reverse. Small instrument, big bar.
B3 · 9/8 uke cell (2+2+2+3)
Your job: Accents on 1 of each group. Let the final 3 ring.
B4 · 11/8 uke vamp (3+3+3+2)
Your job: Three groups of 3, then a short 2. Keep the last 2 crisp and ringing.
B5 · Dense uke arps · Am–G–F–E
Your job: One bar each. Chord tone on beat 1 — don’t blur changes in this tiny range.
B6 · Uke chord-tone song · G–Em–C–D
Your job: Root on 1; light fill; anticipate next root on & of 4. Keep it singable.
B7 · 3-against-4 uke phrase
Your job: Click in 4; your attacks every 3 eighths; resolve together. Stay light.
B8 · 5-against-4 uke accents
Your job: Click in 4; accent every 5 eighths lightly. Meet on bar 5 beat 1.
B9 · Uke sequence (down a third)
Your job: 4-note cell, repeat starting a third lower. Stay inside comfortable frets.
B10 · Uke feel shift
Your job: 2 bars half-time, 2 bars double-time. Tone must stay warm through the gear change.
Path C · Song-sized etudes
Short forms you could drop into a verse. Match Play, then rewrite the melody keeping the form.
C1 · Fingerstyle sonata
Your job: A A B A′ — rolls, leap, open colour, return.
C2 · Progressive uke suite
Your job: Odd meter → dense arps → lock. One take that could sit in a song.
C3 · Fingerstyle mash
Your job: Chordal intro → 5/4 → climb → poly cool-down with open colour.
Path D · Advanced re-entrant
Harder fingerstyle and meter work made for GCEA. Climb in order; ringing opens are allowed when written.
D1 · 16th cage (four strings)
Your job: Strict sixteenths across GCEA in position. If any note rushes, drop 8 BPM.
D2 · Cross-string sparkle
Your job: Zig-zag adjacent strings. Let opens ring when written; mute when not.
D3 · Campanella-ish span
Your job: One continuous arpeggio that prefers ringing paths — up then down. No hesitation.
D4 · Shape teleport
Your job: New shape every quarter. Land silent, then speak. Eyes ahead of the fretting hand.
D5 · Open drone + sparkle
Your job: Hold a low-ish open while a high line moves. Two voices on four strings.
D6 · 13/8 uke denseness (3+3+3+2+2)
Your job: Accent every group “1”. Sixteenths on the last two cells. Count until boring.
D7 · Semitone uke engine
Your job: 4-note cell, repeat starting one fret lower. Stay warm; no tempo sag.
D8 · Nested uke poly (3 / 4 / 5)
Your job: Click in 4. Accents every 3 eighths for 2 bars, then every 5 for 2 bars, then resolve.
D9 · Re-entrant endurance wall
Your job: Cage → cross → span → sequence without stopping. Soft fretting hand.
D10 · Capstone · Re-entrant form
Your job: Teleport → two-voice → 13/8 → semitone → poly cool-down → silence. One clean take.
Same lab, other rooms
Text twin: solo-lab.md