Ayano Tsuji - Kaze Ni Naru (The Cat Returns Theme)
March 2, 2008 · Print This Article
Ayano Tsuji - Kaze Ni Naru (The Cat Returns Theme) (Chords)
Japanese singer, Ayano Tsuji (or Tsuji-Ayano as she seems to put it herself) has set herself up as the anti J-pop (the slick, fashionable pop music often sung in English) and playing the uke certainly sets her apart from the J-pop scene. Going against the grain didn’t do much for her career, but she did breakthrough when her song Kaze Ni Naru was used as the theme to the manga film The Cat Returns.
The version used in the film (and the one I’ve written up) is a more stripped down version. At least it is in comparison to the full version. The chords used in that version are, for the most part, the same. Just a few orchestral embellishments.
My Japanese isn’t quite good enough to provide a full chord sheet, so I’ve written up the chords (separated into bars). If you want to tackle the lyrics, you can find them here.
The chords are straightforward. They’re simple enough for a five year old to play. The strumming is fairly constant through the song. In the intro, it’s just one strum per chord. For the rest of the song, she’s strums down, down, up, up, down, up. When you’re strumming a pattern like this, try to keep your hand moving in a steady down, up motion and miss the strings where there is no strum. This makes sure that the tempo is nice and even.
The only place this pattern won’t work is in the bars that contain both F and G chords. Here, strumming each chord down twice will see you through.
The link to the video of the 5-year-old doesn’t work…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LB11ApyBHF0
Oh, bum.
Thanks, Jordy. *fixed*
WOW!I was surprised!
I ‘m very glad. Thanks.
The reason she prefers Tsuji Ayano is that the surname (Tsuji) always comes first in Japanese (as far as I know, feel free to correct me).
lelekids: You’re welcome. Keep up the good work
Liam: Thanks for the info. I had an idea it worked something like that.
Woodshed, thank you - you are a genius!
Watched The Cat Returns last Friday night - finished about 1am - heard the theme at the end and instantly fell in love with it…. so, jumped on the net, full of anticipation (but not holding out a huge amount of hope, to be honest), and lo and behold, who turns up at the top of my search…. you!
You are a star! I swear, without you and the inspiration Ukulele Hunt has given me, my uke playing would (still) be entirely pitiful…. thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Just trying to learn the lyrics to Kaze Ni Naru now…. getting there! (almost!)
Thanks very much, Pom. I’m really glad to have helped you out.
Good luck getting there.
Amazing film, amazing tune - played it out on casio whilst humming the tune and sang along with the Japanese lyrics too…thanks so much excellent resource. Well done.
Thanks, Sam. Glad you like it.