Blues and jazz
Pop and classical use major and natural minor. Blues adds lowered thirds and sevenths plus the fi blue note between fa and sol. Jazz swing puts a long-short lilt on the beat.
Jazz and blues vocabulary sits after classroom pitch and time — bends and swing assume locked syllables.
Scat is syllables without lyrics — still must land on the beat.
Blues turns introduce me and fi before Lab D’s card.
Your-voice page picks pop/rock knobs; this page picks jazz language.
Blues scale
On do: do me fa fi sol le te dȯ. The syllable fi is the extra pitch between fa and sol. It should show on the check between fa and sol if you hold it.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
- Play once. Count the lowered thirds: me not mi, le not la.
- Your turn up and down. If the check says mi on the third note, you sang major — drop to me.
- On fi, the check may flicker fa or sol while you slide — that is the blue note between them.
do me fa fi sol, then back fa me do. The lick you repeat.
- Your turn until me stays me and fi sits between fa and sol.
- Then the longer scale above. The lick is the part you can sing without looking.
Blues on Hot cross buns
Same rhythm as the first phrase on Western singing · Hot cross buns, but the lowered third me replaces mi. The check must say me, not mi.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
| Syllables | me | re | do — | me | re | do — | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words | Hot | cross | buns | Hot | cross | buns | ||
- Play once. Your turn on the first three notes: me · re · do.
- If the check says mi, you sang major — flatten to me on “Hot.”
Swing feel
Instead of even eighths, the first half of the beat is longer. Sing do–re as “doo … ray” on one click. Then the same lilt on a five-note line.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
- Turn Metro on. Play once — the first “doo” is longer than the “ray.”
- Your turn. If it feels like a march (equal steps), you are straightening the swing.
- Tap your foot on the click; let the second half of each beat arrive late in your mouth, not in your foot.
do–re, mi–fa, sol holds, then fa–mi, re–do. Long-short on the way.
- Your turn with the metronome. Sol is the only note that sits on its own.
- The check still walks do re mi fa sol and back. Swing changes the time, not the name.
Swing on When the saints
Opening four notes from Repertoire · When the saints, with long-short pairs on each beat. Syllables stay do · mi · sol · do; only the timing swings.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
| Syllables | do | mi | sol | do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words | When | the | saints | go |
- Metro on. Play once — “When” is longer than “the” on the same beat.
- Your turn. If every note lands on the click like a march, swing more: delay the second half of each pair.
- The check still names do, mi, sol, do — only time changed.
Swing on Row, row, row your boat
First five notes from Row, row, row your boat in 6/8, swung on “row row row your boat.”
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
| Syllables | do | do | do | re | mi — | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words | Row | row | row | your | boat | |
- Your turn through do · do · do · re · mi. “boat” still lands on the long mi.
- Compare straight 6/8 on the repertoire page, then come back here for the lilt.
Scat starter
Scat is syllables on pitch. The consonant bounces; the vowel still rings on the scale degree. Once the scale drill is easy, scat the rhythm of a tune you know.
Scat uses consonants and vowels as rhythm — the check still hears pitch when you sustain.
Start with one repeated syllable on do, then move the scale.
Listen to classic scat for rhythm ideas, not for copying someone else’s throat.
Hot cross scat on this page is a joke name for a serious rhythm drill.
Scat on Hot cross buns
Same pitches as the song on the hub. The labels are nonsense syllables; the check still names mi · re · do.
Press Play once and listen before you sing. Your turn is for testing, not for guessing.
The check names the pitch you actually sang — adjust until it matches the lit syllable in tune.
If anything pinches, stop and reset on SOVT or a lower do in the practice bar.
Short daily reps here beat one long session on the weekend.
- Your turn on the first phrase. If the check says re on the first note, you started on re — the pitch is still mi.
- Keep consonants light; the vowel inside “doo” or “ba” carries the pitch.
Sing the same scale in a few modes on the Lab F. Theory for modes and jazz harmony: Advanced theory. Also watch: Scat intro — jazz syllables.