Building Ukulele Jazz chord knowledge

Edspyhill05

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2017
Messages
157
Reaction score
31
Note: This is a rewrite of the original post after the original post was somehow deleted.

So, jazz guitarists build a lot of Major chords off the E and A strings, then create the variations like dom7, min7, M7, 6 and 9 chords. I’m in the process of trying this with a Low G tuning. I noticed Abigail Flowers was successful to some extent on Baritone ukulele, on which she accompanies her singing.

Anyone try this and hit some walls on Low G tenor Ukulele?
 
Last edited:
A noble and worthy sentiment. I'm not actually a jazz musician--more of a Roots musician that dabbles in jazz-esque things when it serves my purpose. Here are some of the things I have found useful.

For every chord quality, learn a shape with a root on each of the four strings so that you can move around the fret board.

The chord qualities that pop up again and again for me are: maj7, m7, dom7, 9, dim7 (which is also the altered dominant, dom7b9). Additionally I often prefer to use the m6 in place of the maj7; they are similar to each other but the m6 chord has something that I like.

It has been very useful to me to study Rhythm Changes in order to infer how to employ jazz chords.
 
A chord is just a chord. I don't know how it helps to think of some (but not others?) as 'jazz' chords. Perhaps I'm missing the point - I often do!

John Colter
 
Jazz definitely tends to avoid simple majors, minors, and sevenths, and instead adds a fourth or fifth note to expand these basic chords, and as stated alters or extends basic triads.

Go to Glen Rose’s excellent and inexpensive jazz ukulele materials to expand your palette and learn some of the building block progressions that make up jazz, because one should not just think of single jazz chords but rather think of groups of jazz chords that commonly are used together, the essential two-five-one progressions and the types of chords commonly used in these building blocks. Rhythm Changes uses them.
 
Hmmm - when you are using these 'jazz' chords, does that mean you are playing jazz?

John Colter
 
Nice. Thanks for putting this together.

I really found the substitution chart enlightening. Very useful. Also the suggestion to find all the ii V I progressions. Just that step opens a song up.

I’m going to do the exercise with All Of Me, then see if my results are correct.

Thanks again.

Ed
 
Last edited:
Can someone post a copy of my original post? Somehow the post disappeared. Although if I can't see the text no one can.
 
Last edited:
I was able to create a chord chart of Dom 7th chords built off the low G and C strings.. When I attempted to do the same with the extended/tension chords, Major 7add13, Major 6/9, Major 6, and other chords I found the task not doable. The issue is the guitar has the 2 extra strings, the E & A strings which allow the necessary spread chords that skip the A string (across he 4 strings). With our linear low G tuning, G C E A, we have to create some chords that span 5 or even more frets.

I haven’t tried the Dominant tension chords yet but expect to find the same hurdles.

I think the solution is to find the tension chords on the ukulele and incorporate them into mostly “ii - V - I” progressions and other parts of chord progressions found in standards.

Somehow the text of the original post were deleted. Don’t have a clue how.

Ed T.
 
Last edited:
We can make progressions sound jazzier by adding passing chords.
Here's a way of playing Darktown Strutter's Ball. The passing chords are underlined (and I added some chords to the turn-around).
Instead of:
C / / /, / / / /, D / / /, / / / /, G7 / / /, / / / /, C / / /, G7 / / /...
You could play:
C / / /, / / / C#, D / / /, / Db D /, G7 / / /, F#7 / G7 /, C / A7 /, Dm7 / G7 /...

You can put a passing chord in between when you're going from a IV to a V or a V to a IV.

Instead of C / / /, D / / / you could play C B C C#, D / / /

These all work best with closed chords.
 
Last edited:
Turn-arounds, usually the last 2 bars of a section, can be varied to sound jazzier. As long as they go from the I chord to the V, you can get there different ways. Here are 5 examples. The Ebm7 in the last turn-around is a passing chord:
C / / /, G7 / / /
C / A7 /, Dm7 / G7 /
C / A7 /, D / G7 /
C / C#dim /, Dm7 / G7 /
C / Em7 Ebm7, Dm7 / G7 /


You can also play these twice (or once) as an intro to a song in C. Of course they can be transposed to other keys.
 
Last edited:
Since posting this and reading replies, I worked on the concept of chord roots on the G and C strings. It wasn’t very helpful or enlightening.

BUT, working on Glen Rose’s Jazzy Ukulele book and taking a few online workshops with Diane Nalini, I started to see the connections between extended “jazz” chords. It goes back to the advice we see and hear, learn songs.

Ed T.
 
I would say one of the best things to do is to study a whole heap of jazz standards and start to identify common chords and progressions. Get yourself a Real Book of standards. Start with some well known ones like Autumn Leaves and I Got Rhythm.
I’ve covered some of this on my YouTube channel and jazz book. I ditto Glen Rose’s excellent Jazzy Ukulele books too. He’s great.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom