And thanks for writing. Using a baritone ukulele for jazz chords is inspired! Most jazz guitarists, when playing chords, often play chords that use four strings (or less) at a time, so your instrument of choice can certainly be helpful to you.

The biggest challenge, as I’m sure you’re aware, is that many times jazz players use the four “center” strings, if you will – that is, the A, D, G and B. Many times, too, they’ll play maybe the D, G and B strings together but use the low E string for a bass note. Or, likewise, they’ll use the three high strings (high E, B and G) for part of the chord while using the A or low E for a bass note.

A lot of times, your choices may not have to necessarily be a chord substitution, but rather a change of chord voicing, meaning that you’ve got the necessary note but you’re playing them in a different place on the neck. As you move up the neck of the baritone ukulele you should find yourself (even with small hands) able to make bigger stretches so you may be able to come up with different voicings of the same chord in a number of ways.

It’s also important to note that because you only have the four strings, and because they are tuned to specific intervals, some chords will need a different voicing simply to sound a bit more pleasant. Or interesting. Or ominous, depending on your arrangement.

Sounds like you’re enjoying your baritone ukulele a lot and I wish you much success in your ongoing search for more and more jazz chords – both in terms of chord substitutions and in different chord voicings.

Peace

Hello and thanks for writing. I just had a listen to Podcast 3 and there is an initial drop of volume but (at least on my cheap headphones) I could still hear everything without a problem. I’d be happy to send you a copy of the MP3 directly to you, but I’m not sure that’s going to make much of a difference. Let me know.

Looking forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

I’ve been using “GUITAR CHORD BOOKS” to seek out these CHORD SUBSTITUES. You just might say that I’m a baritone uke player looking to sound like the great JOE PASS!.. I suspect that never gonna ever happen, but I do keep trying, regardless!…

What I’m also finding very irritating is that when I do find a song that I like, its usually the chords that are written that are not too good sounding for my ear!.. so, I don’t really know what gives with the way some of these songs are shown, cause, some songs sound just “Lousy”"”…..

So, I continue my quest for “chord perfection” each day,seeking out these “subsitute chords” on the internet.. and, YES, I do agree that Dmi7b5 does sound great!…..

Thanks!

Bob

The volume was very low in this podcast. couldn’t hear a thing.

Are you referring to the very last MP3 file? That would be an Am chord, done with a simple downstroke. It’s a good way to end the song.

Hope this helps. Looking forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

Thanks again,
Melissa

You’re absolutely right about the Am chord not being an Am chord any longer. Because you’ve got a capo on the third fret, you’ve raised the entire chord up three half-steps so it’s now a Cm even though you’re using the same Am shape that you would in open position.

This sort of confusion is normal. I covered it in an old blog post called “Doublespeak,” which I’m reprinting here:

So you put a capo on your guitar, say the third fret, and you start playing a song using a D chord. What are you playing?

Most guitarists will say “D.” And that’s the start of a lot of confusion. In reality, when we place the capo on the third fret (as in this example) we raise all of our chords up a step and a half. So your D chord is actually now F. If you don’t believe me, place your capo on the third fret and check the open D string against your tuner.

Now it goes without saying that we do already know this. Or kind of know it. Somewhere in those brains of ours wheels are clicking and our ears are also telling us that this D chord doesn’t sound like D. But when we think about the actual chord we’re playing, our fingers and brains are saying “D” and not “F.” It might be even better to say that our fingers and brains are on autopilot and not thinking or saying anything.

This is part of the accepted “doublespeak” of the guitarist when it comes to using a capo. We’ll acknowledge that using a capo changes the simple chords we play but we continue to call the chords by their open position names. When you think about it, it’s interesting because we don’t do the same thing with barre chords as we move our index finger around the neck like an instantly adjustable capo.

And all this discussion might also be a big yawn, but not acknowledging the doublespeak is usually what makes us second guess all the time when using the capo. We know what we do but haven’t taken the time to understand what it is that’s exactly happening. And that understanding is key to help us make using the capo easier.

Now, this isn’t to say that you want to start thinking of the new chords and keys each time you use the capo. That’s like expecting some shredding lead guitarist to name off every note in a lightning-fast lick. It’s just not going to happen. We learn patterns, whether those patterns are scales or chord shapes, and we use them without thought once we know where to start, once we have a reference point. And what is a capo if not a reference point?

So begin to acknowledge, if not embrace, the doublespeak. When someone says, “This song is just G, C and D with the capo on the fourth fret,” somewhere in the back recesses of your mind you should be thinking, “Okay, that’s really B, E and F#” and then go back to talking about the chords as if nothing’s changed. Doing this will help you when you’re trying to change a song in a difficult key, because you’ll be starting to recognize the “real” chords as well as the “capo position” chords. And it will also start you on a path where you’ll be thinking about chord progressions in terms of scale degrees.

When someone is writing out a chord chart or a tablature that uses a capo, it’s almost automatic that whatever is written is relative to the placement of the capo. So the Am, Dm, C, B7, E in your example becomes Cm, Fm, Eb, D7 and G when you play them with a capo on the third fret. But usually in the tablature it will still be Am, Dm, etc., because the chords are written with the capo placement as a given.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to post again with any further questions.

Peace

I am confused when I see guitar tab say for example, place capo on 3rd fret and play chords Am Dm C B7 E…without the capo my Am chord fingering would be X02210?? With a capo on the 3rd fret does that now become X35543 ?? But that is no longer an Am chord is it? I’m just beginning on guitar, but I know some theory and piano. So, I apologize for my ignorance in advance. ;-)

Kindly,
Melissa

And thank you for your kind words concerning my arrangement of “Fields of Gold.” Hopefully someday we’ll be able to get that one back up online.

Concerning “It’s Probably Me” – I got to know this song four years ago when I was asked to play bass on it for a performance. I’ve never came up with my own single-guitar arrangement for it, but I think that might be a good project for the summer!

This is what I can tell you: The essential structure of the song is a verse of three parts – in many ways it’s much like the typical twelve bar blues format, although with much more ornate chords and with ten measures substituting for the final four.

It begins with a four-measure progression based on the “I” chord of Em:

Em(maj9)
Em6/9
Em11
and back to Em6/9.

The second part (which would normally be two measures of the “IV” chord followed by two measures of the “I” chord) has a very slight variation of that patern:

Am7
Bm7
and then two measures of Em7 (although the synthesizer seems to be adding the 11 to the chord).

The third part, which is ten measures long, begins the same way as the second part but changes dramatically once you get to the second measure of Em7:

Am7
Bm7
Em7
A9/C#
Cmaj9
B7#9(b13)
Em(maj9)
Em6/9
Em11
and back to Em6/9.

The “bridge” section, if you will, is essentially a brief variation of the verse but ends with the “part 3″ of the verse (although there is a slight variation in the 2nd measure of this part, as well):

Am7
D
Gmaj9
Em7 / F#m7 / G / Bm7 (one beat each chord in this measure)
Am7
D
Gmaj9 (two measures)
Am7
B7#9 / B7#5 (two beats each chord in this measure)
Em7
A9/C#
Cmaj9
B7#9(b13)
Em(maj9)
Em6/9
Em11
and back to Em6/9.

There are then solos taking place over the “verse – part 1″ progression and eventually all three parts get played again for the final verse.

It’s a bit of an understatement, but there are some complicated chords to deal with in this song. And the guitarist on the original recording is not always playing the full chord indicated. Sometimes just parts of it and sometimes even just one or two notes. A single-guitar arrangement of this is going to be very dependent on the guitarist and on whether or not that guitarist is also singing the song. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of these chords have E, B, G and D notes in them, so making use of the open high four strings whenever possible is a good thing.

I hope this helps get you started. It’s definitely got me started!

Looking forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

From a THEORY standpoint, simple chords – triads – consist of only three note names. For example, a C chord is made up of a C, E and G. You can achieve this by following the “stacking thirds” method.

However, in terms of APPLICATION to your instrument – guitar, naturally – a C chord would seem to be made up of more than just three notes. After all, a basic open C is played using strings 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, correct? Correct.

The catch is, all of those notes are just a specific combination of C, E and G:
String 5, fret 3 = C
String 4, fret 2 = E
String 3, open = G
String 2, fret 1 = C
String 1, open = E

So you can see that our 5-note C chord is still just using the three notes of the triad, but in two octaves (low and high C and E, with only one G).

Now depending on the VOICING of your chord (the shape you choose, such as a barre chord C), your specific combination of C, E and G may be different, but that C chord will still only consist of those three letter names. Try out a barre shape and you’ll see what I mean.

Hope this sheds more light on it!
jb

Don’t be so quick with the fault – it could verily easily be mine! Anyway, I think I fixed it, so take another look to be sure and let me know if I need to change it again.

Peace

I just spotted a typo in the article (probably my fault) in the explanation of the Pythagorean comma. It should read “if you take a starting frequency and multiply it by 150% twelve times, you don’t get the same result as doubling it seven times.”

And to answer your question, Sam, I practice all sorts of scales and rotate through them as part of my warm-up routine. But when I’m improvising, I try to forget about them. If I’m doing a blues tune, I may start out with a riff built from a blues scale, but then I follow what I hear in my head… so I can depart from it significantly as I go along.

Scales, like intervals and chords, are really just a way to categorize sounds so we’ll be able to find them when we want them. So they’re kind of like a dictionary of sounds. In the long run, you should combine theory study with ear training; if you can hear what you want in your head, you can then associate it with the fingerings you need to achieve it – any other approach ends up with a mechanical result on at least some level. A mechanical approach can sound good, and even sound consistently good… but it’s rarely going to sound inspired.