$3.00
Description
Most ukulele music on the market today is based on singing and strumming chords. “Piece in D Minor” is a melodic study designed to get the player out of “strumming mode” and into the idea of single note solo playing.
This kind of playing is best executed with the use of a standard guitar pick. Originally having been a guitarist, Jeff transferred his guitar-playing knowledge to the ukulele fretboard, which is essentially tuned like a guitar as if capoed at the fifth fret (save for the 4th string which is an octave higher than its guitar counterpart).
A melodic study is best described as a piece of music in a certain key that follows a chord structure related to that key. The melody is composed of scales, arpeggios, and melodic lines that follow the chord sequence in both a logical and musical manner.
The end result of practicing melodic studies is to give the musician a better grasp on “what notes work well” in a particular key in general. More specifically, the student can subconsciously “file away” smaller musical phrases that work with particular chords.
