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By David Bruce. For flute (doubling alto flute, bass flute), viola and harp. Chamber Music. Score and parts.
Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.432) By David Bruce. For solo piano. Chamber Music. Duration 8 minutes. Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.467) By David Bruce. For octet: oboe (english horn), clarinet (bass clarinet), bassoon (contrabassoon, optional), horn, violin, viola, cello, contrabass.
Chamber Music. Score and parts. Duration 22 minutes.
Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.452) By John Dowland (1563-1626). Arranged by David Bruce.
For mezzo-soprano voice and string orchestra (5-4-4-3-2). This edition: saddle-stitch. Score and set of parts.
12 pages (score), 4 pages (each part). Duration 10 minutes. Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.538SC-SET) By David Bruce.
For solo harp. Chamber Music. Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.418) By David Bruce. For soprano voice and ensemble (flute (piccolo/alto flute/bass flute), 2 clarinets (bass clarinet), harp, mandolin, percussion, 2 violins, viola, cello, bass). Published by Bill Holab Music (B9.447-SS).
Fred McDowell: Mississippi Delta Blues Singer When people think of the blues, they typically think of a man with a raspy voice singing and playing along with a guitar. While this is a common expression of the blues, it’s not unlikely that in the early to mid 20th century people would sing and play the blues on their ukulele too. In this lesson, we’re going to take a look at one of the most popular chord progressions in traditional blues music known as the 12-bar blues. The blues are characterized by simplicity, repetition, rhythm, and pure emotion. 12-Bar Blues Video Lesson In this video lesson, I show you some examples of the 12-bar blues on ukulele. Feel free to watch this video first, but you may want to keep reading first to understand how the 12-bar blues is structured.
12-Bar Blues Form & Structure Before we learn any fingerpicking patterns, we need to understand the structure of the 12-bar blues. As you probably guessed, the 12-bar blues is made up of twelve bars or measures. Each measure gets four beats. Once you complete these twelve bars, you repeat the entire form. There are three chords commonly used in this pattern: I7, IV7, V7. The chords above are expressed in roman numerals. The “7” next to the roman numerals represent that the chord is a dominant 7th chord.
The first four measures of the 12-bar blues are played over the tonic chord I7. This means, if we were playing in the key of A, our I7 chord would be A7, if we were playing in key of D, our I7 chord would be D7, and so on. The first four measures of the 12-bar blues is played of a I7 chord.
For this lesson, we will play in the key of A, so our I7 chord is going to be (click to view the finger position for this chord). For the next four measures, we are going to switch to a IV7 chord for two bars and then switch back to a I7 for two bars. Again, our I7 chord is. Our IV7 chord in the key of A would be.
For the last four measures, we are going to switch to a V7 chord for two bars and then resolve back to a I7 for the last two measures. Our V7 chord in the key of A would be. Let’s Put It All Together If we put all this together, our basic 12-bar blues structure looks like this. As you can see, the structure is pretty simple.
How To Play Blues Piano
We can create a little bit more interest in this progression by using some variations. 12-Bar Blues Variations The first variation is in the first four bars. To break up the monotony of the I7, we can use a IV7 chord in the second measure. The second variation is in the last four bars.
For the ninth measure, we will still use the V7 chord, but in the tenth measure, we will switch back to a IV7 chord. In the eleventh measure, we will go back to a I7 chord, and then on the 3rd beat of the last measure, we will switch to the V7 chord. The V7 chord in the last measure really helps the 12-bar progression to keep on going. This is because whenever you play a V7 (or any V chord) it wants to resolve back to the I chord. This variation is used for the majority of blues progressions. Here’s what this looks like: Give it a try yourself and let me know how it’s going for you in the comments. Stay tuned because in the next lesson we’re going to take a look at some blues fingerpicking patterns!
Harry, great question. I tend to vary how to play my D7 chord depending on the chords that are coming before and after it.
How To Play Ukulele For Beginners
I find that sometimes by barring it with my middle finger it frees up my index finger to get ready for the next chord. Sometimes when I’m playing a chord before a D7 (like an A7) my index finger is wrapped up in playing that chord, but my middle finger is free, so I can switch to the D7 real smoothly. I like to choose the path of least resistance when it comes to play chords so sometimes I experiment with alternate finger positions.
Wee bairn asleepwhat is there not to like about learnin’ some 12 bar blues over lunch hourthanks mate it’s made my day. Just got a KALA archtop Tenor f hole shiny Black and sounds peachy with blues. I also I live in Brighton so thanks also for the link about Sophie MadeleineI think I’ve fallen for her ( well actually Im married but if i was a few years younger you know). Do you know where to find more blues chord progressions? The blues link is fiddly but its’a comin’.
Why Play A Ukulele
Anyone out therewhen people say if you are interested in learning past a beginner then go spend a bit of money on a better uke. It really makes you want to learn harder and faster.it’s got such a lovely ring to it. Thanks for the comment! П™‚ I love the sound and feeling of the blues on my ukulele. It’s fun to play and easily recognized. I’ve been looking for some other blues songs I could teach for the future.
Got some ideas brewing Your archtop tenor sounds awesome! Are you doing any different alternate tunings?
I really like to go to low G tuning with my tenor sometimes. You are very right. There is something very inspiring about investing money into a quality instrument. I think that investment ends up really motivating us to get all that we can out of our instrument. We have something at stake that’s very motivating! Having brought my first Uke I was trying the finger positions with no luck, I misunderstood them and at one stage I thought one had to be very clever to get G7 (meaning I had to cross over my fingers) I know, pretty stupid eh, anyway after seeing your video I realise I was way off ha ha.
Thanks for making it look easy (I was reading the “Makes Me Happy” book). I will endeavour to practice until I am with it. Many Many thanks and for your downloaded books, are there any fees to pay? Please let me know if there are.
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This is the second post (and video lesson) of a three part ukulele fingerpicking blues lesson series. For the first lesson, I introduced the structure of the 12-bar blues. Get that lesson. Once you’re ready,. Now that we’ve, it’s time to learn a couple fingerpicking patterns that we can use with this form. These fingerpicking patterns are great if you are a beginner to fingerpicking, but they are just as useful if you want to get some new ideas.
Video Lesson: Blues Fingerpicking Pattern #1 This is a video for this lesson showing you how to play the fingerpicking pattern in the 12-bar blues form as described below. Ukulele Fingerpicking Technique There are two common ways to fingerpick on the ukulele.
The first way uses your thumb, index, and middle finger. Your thumb plucks either of the top two strings, your index finger plucks the second to bottom string, and your middle finger plucks the bottom string. The second way uses your thumb, index, middle, and ring finger.
Your thumb plucks the top string, your index finger plucks the second to top string, your middle finger plucks the second to bottom string, and your ring finger plucks the bottom string. One technique is not necessarily better than the other. For example, I like to use the first way when I am doing patterns that have an alternating bass feel to them. For other patterns, I like to use the second way because each finger is assigned to a string. My thought is that I can do a lot more if I’m using four of my fingers versus three. I recommend practicing both ways. For this lesson, we’ll be learning a fingerpicking pattern that uses the first way.
Ukulele Blues Fingerpicking Pattern #1 For this picking pattern, we are going to be playing to a count of four. The chord we will be playing over is an (click to see the fingering). On the first beat, we are going to use our thumb to pluck the C string on the 1st fret. On the “&” of the first beat, we are going to use our middle finger to pluck the bottom A string. On the second beat, we are going to use our thumb again and pluck the top G string. On the “&” of the second beat, we are going to use our index finger to pluck the E string.
That’s our pattern. We repeat the pattern all the way through the third and fourth beats. Blues Fingerpicking Pattern #1: A7 chord - T M T I T M T I a -0-0- e -0-0- c -1-1- g -0-0-1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & We can play this pattern over any chord. Let’s practice it over a.
Blues Fingerpicking Pattern #1: D7 chord - T M T I T M T I a -3-3- e -2-2- c -2-2- g -2-2-1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & For our 12-bar blues progression, we also need to be able to play this pattern over an. Blues Fingerpicking Pattern #1: E7 chord - T M T I T M T I a -2-2- e -0-0- c -2-2- g -1-1-1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & Be sure to watch the video lesson above to hear how this fingerpicking pattern is played. Let’s Fingerpick the 12-Bar Blues We can take this fingerpicking pattern and these chords and play the 12-bar blues progression. In the example of me playing in the video, I use this variation of the 12-bar blues: Blues Lick & Turn Around If you watched the video lesson above, you’ll notice that I add a blues lick on the second to last measure of the 12-bar phrase.
Truck driver daily log. It’s really easy to play. On the first beat of the measure, I do a down strum on an A7 chord. On the second beat, I start into the lick.
I count the lick in triplets through the second, third, and fourth beat. For the second beat, with my thumb, I pluck the 2nd fret on the C string but quickly slide up to the 4th fret. On the “trip” of two, I pluck the 4th fret of the bottom A string with my middle finger, and on the “let” of the beat, I pluck the 4th fret of the C string with my thumb again. I repeat this pattern for the third and fourth beats by walking down the frets. Be sure to watch the video lesson above to see and hear how I play this lick. T M T T M T T M T a -0-4-3-2- e -0- c -1-2/4-4-3-3-2-2- g -0-1 2 trip - let 3 trip - let 4 trip - let It’s Your Turn to Give It a Try The best thing to do is to start off practicing this fingerpicking pattern over only one chord. If you’ve never fingerpicked before, it will take some practice to get your fingers used to the motion of fingerpicking.
Go slow at first, and try to keep your timing as consistent and steady as possible. As I mentioned in the video, you might want to plant the pinky of your fingerpicking hand on the top of the ukulele to stabilize your hand. Remember to be as relaxed as possible. Once you get used to the pattern, try adding a chord change. Then, once you’re comfortable with that, you’re ready to play the 12-bar blues!
How’s the fingerpicking going for you? Do you have any questions? What tips do you have for those who are learning how to fingerpick? Hey David, #1: You will need to modify this lick for different keys. For example, if you decided to play this in the key of C rather than A that is three half steps up.
This means you would have to modify the lick so you are playing it three frets up from where it is being played now. For more on understanding scales and the theory behind them,. #2: The course will be helpful in the sense that you will become stronger with your rhythm and timing. This will inevitably help the rhythm of your fingerpicking, but you should know that the course is focused on strumming and there are no lessons on fingerpicking.
The course is great though because I teach a lot of different songs, so once you learn how to play those with strumming, you could take those and modify them for fingerpicking. Just some things to think about Let me know if you have any other questions! Hey Sue, this could be a couple things. One, it could be the way you are fretting the strings.
When you press down on the strings, make sure you’re finger is right behind and as close to the fret as possible. When you notice a buzzing string, try to isolate what note that is coming from and see if you can move your finger or adjust how hard your pressing to make the buzz go away.
If that doesn’t work, it could just be the action on the ukulele. The action refers to how high or low the strings are off the fretboard. If they are quite low to the fretboard, it could be that a string is getting hung up on a fret and causing a buzzing sound. The only way to remedy this would be to take your ukulele in to a luthier to get it set up. Hey John, I’m glad you’re enjoying the fingerpicking! The speed comes with time and practice. If you can play it cleanly at a slow speed, you’ll be able to play at a fast speed.
Continue to practice at a slow speed and gradually increase the speed. For my fingers, the goal is always to be as loose and relaxed as possible. Any tension will slow you down. Sometimes the temptation when you’re trying to play fast is to tense up to “try” really hard. You have to be as relaxed as possible and that only comes with playing it slow and building up speed. You’ll get there!
Hey Jim, it’s never too late to learn how to play the ukulele. I have some students in my video lesson course who are in the 90s who are learning. If you struggle with memory problems, the ukulele is a good instrument to exercise your memory.
I’ve heard from others who struggle with memory, and with time and practice, they are able to see improvements. You do have to be willing to be patient with yourself. It’s definitely not unrealistic. I think you should give it a try!
Keep me posted on how it’s going for you.
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