Welcome back to this short primer on how to start learning the chord changes to any song by playing and singing the bass lines. This is a terrific exercise to do before you start playing the full chords on the ‘ukulele. I try to do it for every song I learn. This is helpful because the root might be completely absent from the chord when we play jazz chords with higher extensions (colour notes) like 9, 11, and 13. In order to make sense of what we hear on the ukulele, we need to anchor ourselves with the root. And if we aren’t playing the root on the ukulele, we still need to hear it in our heads.

Today we’ll aim to practice major 2-5-1s on the ukulele in all 12 keys. While that might sound intimidating, it will be easier than you think. That’s because we will use the exact same pattern of chord shapes as we cycle through the keys. These kinds of patterns will serve you really well when it comes to reading jazz charts. For today, we’ll focus on one particular pattern only. This is a great way to drill, and to get to know the fretboard! 

As a follow up to my last post on Major 2-5-1 drills – pattern 1, I thought I’d provide a short footnote about how you can get maximum benefit from this exercise and in fact, any drill exercise. The purpose of drills is to teach our muscles and brains to do things in an automatic way. It can be tempting to do them in front of the TV or while our minds wander off into a beautiful daydream. Alas! This kind of practice is not going to be as beneficial as a more conscious form of practice.

Today we’re kicking off a new series on bossa nova, which I’m very excited about because I adore singing bossa novas. It’s also one of my favourite genres in which to write original songs.

Today we’re covering two right hand techniques that are essential to achieving an authentic sound in bossa nova comping. I cover both in the video above.