JOMO Studio

Reworked original “Never Alone” uke version 🐻🎶

Uke cover of Johnny Paycheck’s “It Won’t Be Long) And I’ll Be Hating You” in key of C 🐻🎶

Veena practice: Workin’ on the gamakas & “silent” notes for the geetham Mandara, nice ‘n easy 🕉️⚖️🎶

Uke cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” nice ‘n low in key of F 🐻🎶

Veena practice: Charumathi is teaching me another geetham & told me to practice them 2 ways for now, one “flat” (without gamakas) w/ talam rhythm, and one with the gamakas (ornamentations) she’s been teaching me w/ talam only in the few rest spaces, & she wants me to practice the “silent” notes in both methods; Here’s the aro/ava & a verse ‘n chorus of Mandara (Kundagowra) played “flat” & again w/ gamakas both nice ‘n easy 🕉️⚖️🎶

Veena practice: I like that “mode-switching”; Charumathi wants me to keep practicing the 5-scale switch up w/ Alankaram; I figure you can apply it to any exercise; here’s Sarali Varasai #7 at a nice speed 2, one time each in Mayamalavagowla, Shankarabharanam, Kalyani, Kamavardhini, Karaharapriya 🕉️⚖️🎶

Veena practice: I enjoy learning the gamakas (slides ‘n bends ‘n stuff) & gheetem (short compositions) from Charumathi. This is a verse/chorus of Sree Gananatha (Lambodara) nice ‘n easy & applying teacher’s feedback from our last lesson including not rushing too quickly thru slides; I particularly like the coupla slide-bend combos, so veena-y & characteristic of Carnatic ⚖️🎶🐈‍⬛

The Melakarta scale system of Carnatic music allows for some very cool scales; Raghupriya is interesting as it has a flat 2, a double flat 3 (so it’s really just a major second from the root), a raised 4, a “normal” perfect 5th, a double sharp 6 (so enharmonically a flat 7) and a major 7. So, it’s root note followed by a half-step to the flat 2, another half-step to the double flat 3, then a step of a double augmented 2nd (enharmonic to 2 whole-steps or a major 3) to the raised 4, a half-step to the 5, a regular augmented 2nd (3 half-steps) to the double raised 6, then one more half-step each for the major 7 & octave root. This is the Traveler ‘n me runnin’ thru the scale & playin’ a rather random ridiculous bassline idea in Raghupriya; just exploring, fun stuff 🧳⚖️🎶

Veena Practice: I’ve been workin’ on the geetham that Charumathi has been teaching me called Sree Gananatha (Lambodara); there were a few lil’ potential distractions during this shot tho it felt kinda cool to get back on track & get thru this arrangement which is my current best effort (nice ‘n easy) to incorporate gamakam (ornamentations) as she has been showing me (w/ a coupla misses). Interestingly, the intent is to be “voice-like” so much so that you only strike the notes w/ the plucking hand when they would be sung as a new word or syllable & not for held notes even tho you still go thru the motions & fret the note(s) w/ the fretting hand; And it’s very specific to each verse, so which note(s) are “silent” (not plucked) in the melody might be different depending on the lyrics that go w/ each different verse or chorus. This arrangement begins w/ the aro/ava (notes used in the song in ascending order/descending order) then kinda goes 3 pairs of “verse/chorus” w/ the lyrical phrasing a bit different in each verse & so the “silent” notes are in slightly different spots along the melody; Anyways, I ramble 🕉️⚖️🎶

I’ve been workin’ on a few sweet lil’ uke arrangements I’ve found & I might make a small modification or transpose to “work well” in terms of basic melody & harmony etc; I like to find the best “uke key” for myself, meaning the key that seems to work best between how the chord shapes lay out & my own vocal range & I like to sing in a comfortable lower register these days (nice ‘n easy) esp w/ uke bc I think it’s more pleasant for a listener & just plain feels good to sing ‘n strum as such at the creek or campfire or sofa etc (places ukes like to go). Songs like “Somewhere” w/ a fairly wide melodic range can be tricky, but I also like the way a 4-string uke can add rich harmonic & rhythmic accompaniment & get the gist across & the harmonic job done; this arrangement I found (w/ a coupla personal “cheat-chords”) works pretty well. I always feel shy about sharing stuff esp like this & it’s tough to know when any attempt/take is “good enough.” However, it’s been an inspiring day between speeches/celebrations/grand openings in NY and the Obamas in Chicago, I’ve been meaning to record & perhaps share this arrangement & I “got through” it okay w/ a sincere best effort, I like this shot from my front steps, & Speck came in right on cue for another Speck-tacular ending. So here’s “Somewhere” P.S. Make a plan, vote by Nov 3rd ⛰️🐻🐰🎶🐈‍⬛