FULL SONG PRACTICE TRACKS
This page is for Full Song Practice Tracks. They are as the name says, full songs usually by an original artist or a famous version. You can put these to many uses:
*Listen and count. Develop your ear and ability to find the beat, tempo, meter, and keep time with it.
*Listen and attend to what instruments are playing what.
*Listen and identify facts you may have learned about the song: chords, melodies, scales used, lyrics, form, etc.
*Play along. This can be great fun, rewarding, and very instructive. How to know if you're ready to do it? Can you remember the whole song? Can you play along at near the given tempo? Can you play it well enough to keep track of where you are, even while you now also have to pay attention to what the recording is doing?
There's more, but those are some keen initial ideas. Above each video are the vital statistics for the track - what you need to know in order to play along with/over it. For more tips and ideas for using these, please see the general introductory page for Practice Tracks. /practice-tracks.
FULL SONG PRACTICE TRACKS
ALPHABETICAL BY SONG TITLE
Title & Comments: Ain't No Sunshine. First video is the original. Second video is a live studio version.
Author: Bill Withers. Video by Andres Trevino.
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 76bpm in the first track, the original. about 72bpm in the second one, live.
Key: A Minor
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: A pentatonic minor.
Chords: Am7 Dm7 Em7 G7
Title & Comments: C Jam Blues, the Duke Ellington classic which inspired the Open Jam Blues that Songdog students learn. This is an object lesson in how the very simple - can be come Very Cool.
Author: Duke Ellington. First video by Rscsamsa is the LCJO. Second video by Okmusix is Duke's orchestra.
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 142bpm in the first video. about 178bpm in the second video.
Key: C Major
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: many. much.
Chords: 12 bar blues in C
Title & Comments: Coconut.
Author: Harry Nilsson. Video by Gossamersilverglow
Meter & Tempo: 2/4 about 68bpm
Key: C Major
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: C major. C pentatonic major. Or just the open strings of the uke.
Chords: C7 (but a regular C chord works also)
Title & Comments: Everyday People. This karaoke track is used because the original is not tuned to standard pitch. Plus with less vocals, it allows more space for students to improvise over.
Author: Sly and the Family Stone. Video by Karafunkaraoke.
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 115bpm
Key: G Major
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: G.
Chords: G (with a hint of C)