Blank Williams
Well-known member
As the title says I’m looking for some entry/intermediate level jazz instrumentals. It’s a genre I’m not super familiar with but I’d like to explore a bit more. Thanks in advance.
Hi. Ukulele is fantastic for jazz. When you say jazz are you interested in all styles of jazz or the 1920s and thirties jazz that features ukulele? Or more just standards in the jazz repertoire with tabs for ukulele? Do you want just chords to strum through while you or someone sings the standard (like “All of Me” or Fly Me to the Moon)? Or are you interested in chord- melody arrangements? Do you want something that will teach you jazz as you progress? Sorry for all the questions but this will certainly help me and probably others offer suggestions.As the title says I’m looking for some entry/intermediate level jazz instrumentals. It’s a genre I’m not super familiar with but I’d like to explore a bit more. Thanks in advance.
Thanks I’ll look into that. I’m starting to realize that I like guitar for songwriting and singing and I’d like to focus more on solo instrumental stuff on the ukulele. And yeah I definitely want to learn more of the basics of the songs and run with it.I’d check out Hal Leonard’s jazz ukulele offerings. I have a few of their books and, besides the Lyle Ritz ones (which are a tall order indeed), they’re pretty great.
As you learn, though, don’t forget to experiment and see how YOU like to play them. Jazz is all about getting the bones right and putting your own spin on it.
I would definitely recommend James Hill’s website and music. And again give Kobayashi’s Ukulele jazz a try.Thanks Mike and Jim. I really like the instrumentals that Christopher Davis-Shannon plays. That’s pretty much what I meant, since I also play soprano.
Definitely will. Thanks!I would definitely recommend James Hill’s website and music. And again give Konayashi’s Ukulele jazz a try.
Yeah I’m going to start learning this one tonight.Autumn Leaves is definitely a good choice. It’s got a bunch of variety to it so it’s not boring to play and it’s a solid crowd-pleaser!
We're talking about the same thing, improvising over standard chord progressions.Let me offer a very different viewpoint here. And I realize this is very argumentative. That being said, my premise is that nothing is less jazzy than playing jazz standards with the notes codified in a tradition. Jazz is supposed to be a living breathing thing, not something in suspended animation. So what I've been doing is taking the famous progressions like Bird Changes or Rhythm Changes and using them to make my own improvised melodies. I think it is going okay because when my wife was on a zoom meeting, people heard my music in the background and called it "nice." Nice may be an insult to a jazz master, but I'll take it as a compliment. To me nice means appropriate. So even though I'm not a real musician, I can improvise melodies that sound normal. That's something.
So I don't want to say to abandon the normal curriculum of playing standards; I merely want to say that there are other opportunities out there for jazz ukulele.
Agree. My favorite is playing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” or “Rudolph” bcz they fit the Changes progression and great fun at holiday time. Great way to also introduce the progression to people unfamiliar with jazz forms. Most people only think of the Blues or Standards when you talk jazz.Let me offer a very different viewpoint here. And I realize this is very argumentative. That being said, my premise is that nothing is less jazzy than playing jazz standards with the notes codified in a tradition. Jazz is supposed to be a living breathing thing, not something in suspended animation. So what I've been doing is taking the famous progressions like Bird Changes or Rhythm Changes and using them to make my own improvised melodies. I think it is going okay because when my wife was on a zoom meeting, people heard my music in the background and called it "nice." Nice may be an insult to a jazz master, but I'll take it as a compliment. To me nice means appropriate. So even though I'm not a real musician, I can improvise melodies that sound normal. That's something.
So I don't want to say to abandon the normal curriculum of playing standards; I merely want to say that there are other opportunities out there for jazz ukulele.
Oh sorry if my message came across in a wrong way. I thought I was supporting your point that you can do anything with Rhythm Changes, and I added even songs one may not suspect as such, like Holiday tunes, or as you said just make them up. I fully support the benefits of at doing more than certain perhaps stereotypical ideas of what one expects to hear on uke!thanks Jimpro, I am not trying to be devisive. I'm just trying to say that jazz is about following your heart as opposed to following the heart of someone in the 1930's.
Actually I think you and I are on the same wavelength. I guess I should have been more specific with my intentions. Because jazz (pretty much all of it) is foreign to me, I want to learn the basics or “bones” and then deconstruct it. The lesser used chords and interesting changes are what really has me interested right now.Let me offer a very different viewpoint here. And I realize this is very argumentative. That being said, my premise is that nothing is less jazzy than playing jazz standards with the notes codified in a tradition. Jazz is supposed to be a living breathing thing, not something in suspended animation. So what I've been doing is taking the famous progressions like Bird Changes or Rhythm Changes and using them to make my own improvised melodies. I think it is going okay because when my wife was on a zoom meeting, people heard my music in the background and called it "nice." Nice may be an insult to a jazz master, but I'll take it as a compliment. To me nice means appropriate. So even though I'm not a real musician, I can improvise melodies that sound normal. That's something.
So I don't want to say to abandon the normal curriculum of playing standards; I merely want to say that there are other opportunities out there for jazz ukulele.