Blues on Ukulele?

Then there is what blues cats call "fillin' in the holes".
You have three lines to sing with a space between each line. These are the "holes", so you find a little lick to fill in the hole. Click on the picture for some sample fills in C.
Play eighth note swing style (a tied triplet)
Filling In The Holes Uklele.jpg
 
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This may also help (I wish I could take credit, bit it is one of those things floating online)

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. An empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy league institutions
d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

13. You have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You older than dirt
b. You blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

14. You don't have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a pension fund

15. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

16. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues

17. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. Cheap wine
b. Whiskey or bourbon
c. Muddy water
d. Nasty black coffee

18. The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

19. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broke-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

20. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

21. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

23. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Melon, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

24. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own even one computer, you cannot sing the blues.
 
Here was my attempt at getting some advice from the more experienced players on the forum:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?140830-Resource(s)-for-learning-blues

I ended up buying both a highly recommended ebook and a highly recommended paper book. After working with those, I prowled around on YouTube. This surprises me, but I found the YouTube stuff more helpful. I especially liked a video called "Easy Blues in C" and you may want to check that out.
 
The trouble with playing the Blues in C on your ukulele is that most of the repertoire available is based around Blues in A.

Sounds like you are much more experienced and knowledgable than I and no doubt your advice is sound.

Note, however, that I was recommending a specific blues tune on YouTube called "Easy Blues in C" (or similar). As a beginner, I understand that one must work on the "big picture" but I also find it very encouraging, and helpful, to have a series of small successes along the way. "Easy C" was one for me and I still enjoy it as a warmup tune.
 
This may also help (I wish I could take credit, bit it is one of those things floating online)

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. An empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy league institutions
d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

13. You have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You older than dirt
b. You blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

14. You don't have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a pension fund

15. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

16. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues

17. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. Cheap wine
b. Whiskey or bourbon
c. Muddy water
d. Nasty black coffee

18. The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

19. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broke-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

20. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

21. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

23. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Melon, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

24. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own even one computer, you cannot sing the blues.

25. Your only guitar has a hole in it someplace. And a broken string.

26. You walked into your kitchen in the dark and stepped in something wet and smelly.

27. You broke your dentures, and you have to eat a pureed diet.
 
This may also help (I wish I could take credit, bit it is one of those things floating online)

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. An empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy league institutions
d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

13. You have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You older than dirt
b. You blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

14. You don't have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a pension fund

15. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

16. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues

17. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. Cheap wine
b. Whiskey or bourbon
c. Muddy water
d. Nasty black coffee

18. The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

19. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broke-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

20. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

21. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

23. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Melon, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

24. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own even one computer, you cannot sing the blues.

25. Your only guitar has a hole in it someplace. And a broken string.

26. You walked into your kitchen in the dark and stepped in something wet and smelly.

27. You broke your dentures, and you have to eat a pureed diet.
 
I wanted to add something to this thread that I think is very important. You can do more with the blues than just play the blues.

I would describe myself as a roots/Americana musician. I understand the fundamentals. I know the intervals. I know, in every key, my seven shapes (the five shapes, plus two at a higher octave). I know the progressions. However, I never, ever play the blues. I use the rudiments of the blues to construct my music.

I think of the blues to be an obsolete art form...sort of like Christmas Songs. For me the blues, and Christmas Songs, are set in stone. They are wonderful, and I love to listen to them, but whenever someone tries to make a new Christmas Song or Blues song, I cannot help but think of it as silly and trite.

But all isn't lost. We cannot go backwards but we can go forward. That's my point. If you, like me, think the blues is a bit confining, I just want to say that there is so much to be done musically using the tools of the blues as a spring board. So, I unreservedly promote and endorse studying the blues with the caveat that you can do so much more with it than: I woke up this morning....bum buuuuuuuuum bum bum, I got out of bed, bum buuuuuuuuuum bum bum...brushed my teeth, bum buuuuuuuuum bum bum, dragged a comb over my head....
 
This may also help (I wish I could take credit, bit it is one of those things floating online)

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..." See verse two below

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die. See verse three below.

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

A couple of decades back, my friend Ted and I were asked to do a blues set at a local folk club. One of the songs we did was this one. The middle verse was by Martin Mull, but we decided that it had to be fleshed out a bit. I'm not sure where the first and last verses came from, so we gave Martin Mull the credit. I think we called it The Yuppy Blues.

Ever since my baby left me, I don't know what to think
No ever since she left me I just don't know what to think
Guess I'll have another Valium and go and calmly shrink.

Woke up this afternoon and saw that both my cars were gone
Yes I woke up this afternoon and saw that both my cars were gone
I got so goldarn mad I threw my drink across the lawn.

I took my BMW down to the tune up stand
Yes, I took my Beemer down to the tune up stand
I said, "Check the fuel injection, Pleeeeease Mr. Tune Up Man.



Debbie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjwO0LurN9A
Michelle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYk38MDmRWQ
Amber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TarhO5ZvKAg
Heather https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSS7TQE9FYc
 
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My favorite ukulele Blues player/teacher is this guy:

daddystovepipe
https://www.youtube.com/user/daddystovepipe/search?query=ukulele[

He does guitar too, but the above link should take you to his uke content.

I've tried working on some of his tutorials, but I just can't get my thumb to keep the beat independently. It's one of those "pat your head and rub your tummy" kind of things. I'll keep working at it, but for now it seems impossible. Wonderful stuff tho! It looks deceptively simple when he does it. :)

-Brett

Hello
I want to start with the blues.

How exactly do you play the blues on the ukulele? Are there certain tabs you can follow?

What are the blues anyway?

Can someone help me get started with the blues?

Jared
 
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I wanted to add something to this thread that I think is very important. You can do more with the blues than just play the blues.

I would describe myself as a roots/Americana musician. I understand the fundamentals. I know the intervals. I know, in every key, my seven shapes (the five shapes, plus two at a higher octave). I know the progressions. However, I never, ever play the blues. I use the rudiments of the blues to construct my music.

I think of the blues to be an obsolete art form...sort of like Christmas Songs. For me the blues, and Christmas Songs, are set in stone. They are wonderful, and I love to listen to them, but whenever someone tries to make a new Christmas Song or Blues song, I cannot help but think of it as silly and trite.

But all isn't lost. We cannot go backwards but we can go forward. That's my point. If you, like me, think the blues is a bit confining, I just want to say that there is so much to be done musically using the tools of the blues as a spring board. So, I unreservedly promote and endorse studying the blues with the caveat that you can do so much more with it than: I woke up this morning....bum buuuuuuuuum bum bum, I got out of bed, bum buuuuuuuuuum bum bum...brushed my teeth, bum buuuuuuuuum bum bum, dragged a comb over my head....

Folks often accuse genres of music that they don't really know or like of being confining. I used to tell my parents that I didn't like classical music because it all sounds the same. My dad used to say the same thing about rock music. Many of my friends say that about rap music. I have a friend who says, "Once you've heard one fiddle tune, you've heard 'em all."
There is a lot more to the blues than, "I woke up. . .comb over my head" for sure. You just have to listen for it.
 
Yesterday I spent a chunk of time making a blues uke basic instruction and when I tried to post it I got the message that it was forbidden because it looked like SPAM. This post had no spam or anything else that I would think was spammy at all. Any ideas what I might have done wrong? Maybe it's just too long. I'll try I in two parts.

The way get around that is instead of clicking Post Quick Reply or even after and get a message, click Go Advanced, then click Submit Reply. it may give a message to wait 30 seconds, do so and it should work.
 
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A couple of decades back, my friend Ted and I were asked to do a blues set at a local folk club. One of the songs we did was this one. The middle verse was by Martin Mull, but we decided that it had to be fleshed out a bit. I'm not sure where the first and last verses came from, so we gave Martin Mull the credit. I think we called it The Yuppy Blues.

The ukulele blues that Martin Mull did is here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=mhymcCYC3jk&feature=emb_logo

Thanks for that EDW. I learned it from Sneezy Waters and had never heard Martin Mull's version till now.
 
Sorry for the late reply. I just found out I am moving in 40 days. I got the moving blues.

Little joke there.

Seriously, though. here are the lyrics to a blues song I attempted to write. Based on a true event in my life.

One sunday i went out to hunt

My target was a duck.

Little did I know when I went out that day

I would have really rotten luck!

I went in the water carefully to set up a decoy

When all the sudden, out of nowhere

I jumped a mallard boy.

I aimed my gun very carefully

and fired a single shot

And to my surprise, it fell OUT OF THE SKY

My first greenhead I got.

I went in the water to retrieve the duck

Course I had my waders on

When all the sudden I slipped and fell

and thought I would be gone!

While struggling, I said to myself,

My life is not worth a duck!

I left the duck to the eagle

There you have it rotten luck!

I barely made it to the shore

I was so cold that I cried!

And thats the story of the day

The day I almost died.


Here is the melody, which repeats itself many times. Trying to find chords to go along with it.



Jared
 
You can hear his intro to that album cut here


or a live version

 
I will admit that much of basic 12 bar blues is repetitive.....

The Wanderer and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy are essentially the same song and are 12 bar blue format
Rollover Beethoven and Route 66 are the same, with a quick turn around on the 4
Folsom City Blues is a rip-off if Crescent City Blues (bought and paid for)
Glenn Millers In the Mood is 12 bar format
His Marching With the Saints is a jazzy Saint Louis Blues
The beginning of Dueling Banjos - the echoing partial scale - is 12 bar blues

At the Hop by Danny and the Jrs
Buckets of Rain by Bob Dylan
Going up the Country by Canned Heat
Hound dog
I Feel Good
Johnny B Good
Kansas City
Sweet Little Sixteen
The Thrill is Gone

All of these are 12 bar format

Go on to 16 bar, where the I chord is repeated 8 times instead of 4 and y’all got a mess of blues
Until later, I remain,
EARLY IN THE MORNING, your ICE CREAM MAN, as I FLIP, FLOP AND FLY, I’m just a WHITE BOY LOST IN THE BLUES
 
You can't copyright the chord changes to a song (nor the title), so many songs share the same or very similar changes. Nearly as common as the blues were the I vi IV V changes found in many old time rock and pop songs: Blue Moon, Heart & Soul, Twenty Six Miles, Poor Little Fool. . .

I was listening to Herb Ellis & Stuff Smith doing How Come You Do Me Like You Do? I started playing along and realised that I'd played those same changes before.

I first learned them from a Pink Anderson tune played by Paul Geremia called Bring It On Down.
I was playing it when Maggie came in and started singing Alice's Restaurant. Over the next few years I discovered a bunch more tunes that use these same changes.

Intro: D7 / G7 / |C / G7 / |

[:C / B Bb |A / A7 / |D7 / G7 / |C / G7 / |
C / B Bb |A/ A7 / |D7 / / / |G7 / / / |
C / / / |C7 / / / |
F / / / |Cdim/ / / |
C / B Bb |A / A7 / |D7 / G7 / |C / A7 / |
D7 / G7 / |C / G7 / :]

Here's my list so far. Can you add any?

-Bring It On Down - from Paul Geremia(Pink Anderson?)
-Boogie - John Hartford
-Alice's Restaurant - Arlo Guthrie
-Can't Tame Wild Women - Bill Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers
-They're Red Hot - from Robert Johnson
-How Come You Do Me Like You Do? - Austin & Bergere1924 (from Stuff Smith/ Greenbriar Boys)

My mom used to sing an old pop song called JADA that has a different bridge, but otherwise the same changes.

[:C / B Bb |A / A7 / |D7 / G7 / |C / G7 / |
C / B Bb |A / A7 / |D7 / / / |G7 / / / |
C / D7 / |G7 / / / |
C / D7 / |G7 / / / |
C / B Bb |A / A7 / |D7 / G7 / |C /A7 / |
D7 / G7 / |C / G7 / :]


Then there's Five Foot Two and Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone which share the same changes.

C / / /, E7 / / /, A / / /, A7 / / /, D7 / / /, G7 / / /, C / / /, G7 / / /,
C / / /, E7 / / /, A / / /, A7 / / /, D7 / / /, G7 / / /, C / F /, C / C7 /,
E7 / / /, / / / /, A7 / / /, / / / /, D7 / / /, / / / /, G7 / / /, G7sus / G7 /,
C / / /, E7 / / /, A / / /, A7 / / /, D7 / / /, G7 / / /, C / G7 /, C / / /
 
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