Today we’ll see how we can get two benefits out of one exercise. We’re going to do some vocal warm ups while also getting to know the ukulele fretboard better at the same time. This exercise can be done over any scale or arpeggio, because we’re only using the ukulele as a guide for our starting note. Where we go from there vocally is up to us.
Whenever I start learning a new jazz standard, I try to listen to as many different versions of it as possible, including male and female vocal versions, and instrumental versions. I sing along to each version until I’ve got the melody, lyrics and structure internalized. Then I put away the recordings and start to work on the song on my own, trying out different tempos and finding the key that fits my voice.
Born out of African-American work songs and spirituals, the blues hold a huge place in the history of music, and in the hearts of music lovers. The blues also sowed the seeds of jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and so much more. Traditionally, a typical 12-bar blues follows a “call and response” pattern where a four bar ‘statement’ is repeated a second time for a middle four bar section, and this is followed by the final four bars which are the “response”.
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’re going to talk about a ubiquitous chord progression in jazz called the “major 2-5-1” progression. This, along with the minor 2-5-1 progression, which we’ll cover in another post, is probably the most important chord progression you will ever learn in jazz. The major 2-5-1 progression is a sequence of three chords in the same key centre built on the 2nd, 5th and first degree of that major scale. If music theory turns you off, don’t worry! You don’t need to understand the theory of it to start playing this, you just need to keep your ears open. If you’ve listened to a lot of jazz music, I guarantee you that you have already heard tons of 2-5-1 progressions, even if you didn’t know what they were called. So bear with me, I promise it will be worth it!
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.
The song Cheek To Cheek by Irving Berlin is a great example of the major 2-5-1 progression, because the second section of the song is basically made up of repeating 2-5-1’s. For simplicity, I’m labeling this second part of the song as the “B” section, so-called because it comes after the “A” section tat starts Heaven, I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so…. The “B” section starts at bar 33 with the lyric I would love to go out fishin’ in a river or a creek. If you need a reminder of what a major 2-5-1 is, check out What’s a major 2-5-1? Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with the theory behind this. What matters most is getting the sounds in your ears. The theory can come later.
Today we’re going to talk about the 1-6-2-5 chord progression. Sometimes you will see it written as “I-vi-ii-V” with Roman numerals, where lowercase indicates a minor chord and uppercase indicates a major chord. Remember the song “Look For The Silver Lining” which we covered in the lesson Playing The Roots – Part 1? The first four bars of that song are a 1-6-2-5 progression. The progression is also used in the first four bars of “Cheek To Cheek” and countless other standards.
The song “Blue Moon” is a great example of a 1-6-2-5 progression, which occurs twice at the beginning of each A section (the song has an AABA structure, so the progression is heard a lot). In fact, this Rogers and Hart classic is one of the earliest recorded instances of this progression. Since it was fist published, it’s been recorded many times, including a wonderfully swinging version by Billie Holiday in the key of Ab, with a fabulous band that included Oscar Peterson on piano, Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. As with any jazz standard, there are many variations of the changes for this song, so you may find slightly different chords to these if you look them up in a jazz songbook.
Today we’ll look at one of my favourite exercises – the octave slide. This is another vocal exercise that we can do while getting to know the ukulele fretboard better. In the video above, I show you how to get started with it.
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.