Home: Jazz Chords for Baritone Ukulele
The Chapters
Preface — How I got started.
Introduction — understanding the whys as well as the hows of jazz chords. Explains why a baritone ukulele is an excellent instrument for learning and experimentation.
Scales and Chords — the relationship between scales and chords and how to discover chords on the fretboard.
Major Chords — the movable shapes for major chords. The haunting introduction of Bali Ha’i with its progression of odd major chords is used to illustrate the power of movable chords.
Minor Chords — the movable shapes for minor chords.
7th Chords and a 6th — the four essential seventh chords, used in jazz chord scales. The ones rooted on the fourth string are illustrated in this video: Four Essential Seventh Chords (4:37)
Intervals — a look at the intervals in those essential seventh chord shapes. The brilliance of the tuning of the ukulele (or guitar) is seen in the fluid ways the movable seventh chords span the fretboard. It’s as if the instrument were designed to play seventh chords. (Maybe it was.)
Chord Scales — an explanation of chord scales, and why the four essential chords appear so often, seventh, major seventh, minor seventh and the oh so important minor seventh with a flatted fifth. Illustrated in this video: Chord Scales (4:24) The chapter also includes an illustration of shapes for playing the classic ii – V – I jazz progression.
Pythagoras — I was blown away when I learned about Pythagoras’s contribution to our music. See the videos on the home page as well as read the chapter.
Fly Me to the Moon — Pythgoras invented/discovered the Circle of Fifths, which is the basis for this classic jazz song. Chord shapes are chosen for the song that illustrate how movable chords can be put together to get smoothly flowing accompaniments.
Miracle of Diminished 7ths — They’re all the same! Just one shape to know. And if you know that shape, and the roles the different notes might take, you can easily, on the fly, create any of the seventh chords without having to look at a chart.
More Chord Progressions — I IV V, the blues and more. How to find and link the movable shapes for this classic progression.
Augmented and Suspended — the chord variations used to create anticipation.
Extended and Altered — the chord variations used for flavoring.
More 6th and 7ths — More variations on the essential seventh and sixth chords.
9ths — the issues with ninth chords, and how to play them anyway.
11ths — no such problems here.
13ths — The book started with the author pondering thirteenth chords, and ends (almost) with how to play to them.
Bali Ha’i — a full arrangement of chord shapes for playing Bali Ha’i, showing how to use the voicings of chords to find shapes that flow.
The Girl from Ipanema — a full arrangement of chord shapes for accompanying this beautiful jazz classic.
Lots of Shapes — the appendix, a full listing of jazz chords covered in the book and some extras as well.
