124 GLOBAL UKULELE past, present and practice FINGERINGS OF THE FRETTING HAND Follow the given fingerings. We learn things by muscle memory and that's why it's always best do the exercises in a uniform way; in this fashion learning will be faster and smoother. The fingers of the fretting hand are numbered in the same way as in chord charts. The numbers are marked above the notes. 0 = open string 1 = index finger 2 = middle finger 3 = ring finger 4 = little finger In the beginning, a good tip is to let each finger have its own fret: The index finger (1) takes care of the first fret The middle finger (2) takes care of the second fret The ring finger (3) takes care of the third fret The little finger (4) takes care of the fourth and fifth fret There are many exceptions, but first you should follow the instructions you have recently learned. At this point, we're not using the G string at all for the melody. Later on, we'll learn that the G string is useful in melody playing, especially in the Campanella style. *2 At first, however, we'll leave the G string in peace. 1. index finger 2. middle finger 3. ring finger 4. little finger *2 In the Campanella style, the tone following each tone is taken from a different string, so that the previous string is kept ringing. The result is a harp-like or bell-like tone, continuously flowing melody and accompaniment.
MELODY PLAYING 125 THE C MAJOR SCALE We can now learn the notes of the C major scale, one note at a time. The lowest note of the ukulele is C, the very note you get when striking the open C string. The C note is shown here both in the score and in the tablature. Practice picking a single note by playing the C note. The next note is D. This note is found at the second fret of the C string. Learn how to press this note with the middle finger of your fretting hand. Here are a few exercises with the C and D notes: ° ¢ C 4 4 4 4 & 0 ⁄ w 0 ° ¢ D 4 4 4 4 & 2 ⁄ w 2 ° ¢ C C C C 4 4 4 4 & 0 0 0 0 ⁄ œ œ œ œ 0 0 0 0 ° ¢ C C D D C D C D & 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 2 ⁄ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 2
136 GLOBAL UKULELE past, present and practice FINGERPICKING, ACCOMPANIMENT If we want to get the full potential out of our ukulele, we need to learn to use our fingers, so lets set our fingers in motion. In this section, we will learn the different accompaniment patterns that we can play in different time signatures. We will employ the standard international lettering for identifying your strumming hand fingers: p = thumb i = index finger m = middle finger a = ring finger These letters come from the Spanish names of the fingers: pulgar, indicio, medio and anular. Some publications use the letter "t" for the thumb and "r" for the ring finger. The little finger isn't normally used for picking, because it is the shortest and weakest finger. In addition, there are only four strings on the ukulele so fortunately, we don't have to learn how to use it. Use your thumb to pick down, the other fingers to pick up. At first, you should play close to the sound hole, as picking in this area will produce a good, balanced sound. However, if you want a softer sound, you can move up towards the neck. If you want a harder sound, move down towards the bridge.
FINGERPICKING, ACCOMPANIMENT 137 Keep your wrist position so that you can pluck with your index finger, middle finger, and ring finger at right angles to the strings. Do not hold the wrist so that your fingers are parallel to the strings. In accompaniment playing, your strumming hand fingers move outwards, away from the sound hole, rather than across it as they do when you strum. Don't play accompanying patterns with reststrokes. In a rest-stroke, the finger will rest on the next string after picking. It's a useful technique for playing melodies and chord melodies, but not so good for accompaniments. You should try to hold your hand in the air, rather than supporting your wrist or fingers on the ukulele top. This will allow you to change your picking position and easily switch from strumming to picking and vice versa. This is a particularly good approach for playing classical music on the ukulele. However, if it is difficult to hold your hand in the air, you can also rest your wrist on the ukulele top or bridge. This gives more support, but can make it difficult to change the position of your picking hand, and you will likely find the transition between strumming and picking more challenging. Some players also rest their little finger, ring finger or both on the top of the uke. This can also make it difficult to change the picking location and to move between strumming and picking, but is very common among ukulele players. The drawback is that you cannot use the ring finger for picking, but that's not necessarily a problem for an accomplished player. You can use this approach in three-finger picking patterns.
246 GLOBAL UKULELE past, present and practice JAZZ, SWING AND OTHER ADVANCED CHORDS In this chapter, we will learn more about the various 7-chords and 6-chords. Until now most of our chords have only had three distinct notes in them. These are known as triad chords. When we add a 6th or 7th to our chord, we will have four distinct notes in the chord. The chords of this chapter may seem cumbersome at first; because all four fingers of the fretting hand are used in many of the chords. JAZZ Jazz is a music style born in the United States at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Jazz, like blues, originated in African-American music, its roots in blues and ragtime music. The city of New Orleans is considered to be the cradle of jazz music. Improvisation and variation are essential parts of jazz music. Jazz is not a coherent style of music, as over the decades it has developed into many different styles. In this chapter, we focus mainly on early jazz, the swing music born at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. The actual golden age of swing music was 1935-1946, but swing became popular again in the 1950s, thanks to singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Skilled ukulele players were also interested in jazz, but full-blooded jazz ukulelists are few and far between. Many of the 1950s players performed swing and Latin-American music, the most famous of them being Lyle Ritz (1930-2017). He made several recordings both as a soloist in big bands and in smaller ensembles, in which setting his elegant playing fits the genre perfectly. The earliest recordings of Lyle Ritz are from the 1950s. Of the younger generation of players, we should mention Remco Houtman-Janssen (b.1973), known as Ukulelezaza. He is a ukulele virtuoso based in Belgium, specializing in old swing music, and you can admire his fantastic playing on his YouTube channel.
JAZZ, SWING AND OTHER ADVANCED CHORDS 247 ST. JAMES INFIRMARY This melancholy jazz standard was originally a folk song, made famous by Louis Armstrong's recording in 1928. The song's key is D minor and the song has three chords: Dm6, Gm6, and A7. All four fretting hand fingers are needed for the Dm6 chord. However, the Gm6 and A7 chords show that four note chords are not always trickier than the major and minor triads. The time signature is 4/4, so each bar contains four beats. Don't let the chords ring too long, but mute down after every chord. The muting is marked with a small dot on the note. Try muting with your strumming hand at first, which is done by dropping your thumb on the strings after the chord strike. Play only downstrokes. Old style jazz is mainly played with a swing feel, just like blues. When the tempo is fast, the eighth notes are played straight. Play the chord progression of ”St. James Infirmary” with this strum. A7 0100 Dm6 2314 Gm6 0201 D D D D 4 &4 . . . . V V V V D‹6 A7 D‹6 D‹6 G‹6 A7 qa z=[qp ]e D‹6 A7 D‹6 G‹6 D‹6 A7 D‹6 4 & 4b &b