Jazz Ukulele. Abe Langrimas Jr. Hall Leonard. Review

Brido

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Well, I have had Abe Langrimas Jr’s book for ten days or so and i have had
time to work through it all.

1. Firstly it is all there.... all the aspects of Jazz ukulele that you will
need.
2. The trouble is that each topic is dealt with a little too briefly for my
liking.
3. The explanations are good for each of the techniques and the exercises
are based on the authors own compositions. I am sure this is economical
from a copyright payment viewpoint, but if you know the songs I always think
the practice of them and the techniques they demonstrate is that much
easier.
4. There is no DVD but rather you download all the exercises from the net.
This works well and I have to say that the exercises and backing tracks are
really great.
5. There are a large number of Jazz chords in boxes and can be used as a
sort of Jazz Chord Dictionary. The chords are certainly sufficient for the
book and to get a new uke jazz player off the mark.
6. It does not avoid the academics of Jazz and the varied scales modes are
explained quite well, but they need learning!

My best part of the book is the chord tones/non tones and improvisation. A
really great approach to Jazz improvisation.

It is, IMHO, a good book. It lacks some jazz standards to get your teeth
into. It is unduly skimpy, in fact I have decided to call it a “Quick sniff
of the cork”, not that you will not enjoy or learn from the contents, but
there could be more body in the “wine”.

Just as a sort of PS. I picked up a book called. Jumbo Ukulele Songbook
from Hal Leonard (as is the Jazz book above). There are a 100 tunes there
and they are many and varied... however, with my comments above about the
lack of Jazz standards, there are a lot of songs from the Great American
Songbook in this book, that are or could well be played in a jazzy style.
The chords are in a Chord chart (boxes) and are simple. If you want to jazz
the song up , just use some of the “up fret board” inversions ( or even
chord substitutions) and you will get a great sound.

Brian
 
Thanks for the review.

How are the exercises in the book? Are the relevant to the topic being explained?

How many exercises are in the book?

Also, are the sound samples with each exercise?

I've found working with and hearing the sound sample simplifies learning. Also, is it tab and standard notation?
 
Thanks for the review. I bought the book as soon as it became available on Amazon. I didn't feel comfortable reviewing it because it's above my current level. But with a little effort I'll be able to work through it without much trouble. After all, a man's reach should exceed his grasp and all that :)

I'm pleased with the book. It makes a good companion to Glen Rose's Jazzy Ukulele materials.
 
Thanks for the review. Much appreciated.
 
Just bought this book last week and have not dived in deep as yet but the little of have looked at seems great and I agree with Phil on the tones and improv sections are great will do a bigger review once I get into the book
 
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