Blue Bossa is an instrumental jazz composition by Kenny Dorham . It was introduced on Joe Henderson's 1963 album Page One. A blend of hard bop and bossa nova, the tune was possibly influenced by Dorham's visit to the Rio de Janeiro Jazz Festival in 1961. The tune has since been recorded numerous times by different artists, making it a jazz standard.

McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public recognition from the jazz establishment that many of his peers did. For this reason, writer Gary Giddins said that Dorham's name has become "virtually synonymous with underrated." Dorham composed the jazz standard "Blue Bossa", which first appeared on Joe Henderson's album Page One. wikiwand

Ukulele Chords

Cm Fm Dm7b5 G7 Ebm Ab7 Db

These and many other chords are covered in the Learn A Chord A Day series of lessons.

C Tuning Chords

In the Daily Ukulele series of book the chords are actually listing in their order of appearance. And, are always the basic open position chords when possible.

Starting Melody Note and 1st Interval

Blue Bossa is in 4/4, Common Time and the Key of Cm .
Start on P5 ↑ Octave.

Intervals Legend: Root=note that begins a scale of the starting key; C is C, D is D, Am is A, Em is E, etc… m=minor; M=Major; P=Perfect; D=Diminished; A=Augmented. • ↑ is up/ascending; ↓ is down/descending;

Harmonic Analysis (HA) Worksheet

Visit the Harmonic Analysis for Scale and Chord Selection series of lessons for information on creating your own Harmonic Analysis Worksheet

A re-harmonization, in Red can be a simple, sticking pretty close to the original composer's intentions or complex and a whole new set of chord changes.

Cm7

Fm7

Cm:

Dm7b5

G7+

Cm7

Dm7b5

D Locrian for the II V

The D Locrian is a very contemporary scale choice vs. the traditional Harmonic Minor scale typically used.

Ebm7

Ab13

Dbmaj7

Ebm

Ab7

Db:

Dm7b5

G7+

Cm7

( Dm7b5 G7+ )

Dm7b5

( G7 )

Cm:

For a Turnback a II V or substitution works great.

Ralph Patt Vanilla Book

Checkout the Ralph Patt Vanilla Book (~~ralphpatt.com/Song.html~~) for the Vanilla changes for Blue Bossa • The Vanilla Book uncovers the basic (“Vanilla”) chord changes to over 400 of the most commonly played jazz standards to help the jazz player learn the basic changes and allow the player to add embellishments and substitutions on a solid framework.

Embellishments to basic chords such as added 6ths, 9ths, 13ths, flat 5ths etc. are usually determined by the melody notes and the style of music being played and finally your ear.

NOTE: Ralph Oliver Patt (5 December 1929 – 6 October 2010) was an American jazz guitarist who introduced major-thirds tuning, which can simplify the learning of the fretboard and chords by beginners and facilitate improvisation by advanced guitarists. His use of this tuning was first inspired by the atonal music of Arnold Schoenberg, and later by the jazz of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman.

Ralph Patt (5 December 1929—6 October 2010) has passed away and the site is no longer up. However, through the magic o f the Internet and the INTERNET ARCHIVE WayNackMachine you can still checkout most of his pages.

The Harmonic Analysis (HA)

A Harmonic Analysis (RMA/HA) and its worksheet are intended to show the function of the chords, the harmonic principles used, the keys and tonalities the song explores. And, can be used for scale selections and chord and scale substitutions.

NOTE: A Harmonic Analysis Worksheet is NOT intended to be a lead leadsheet. Minimal roadmap information such as repeats, fine, D.S., D.C., and codas has been used in preparing the worksheets to somewhat mirror the leadsheet in the Daily Ukulele book.

Sections, Verse, Chorus, 1st, 2nd Ending, turnbacks …

The worksheets will show 1st, 2nd Ending, turnbacks, etc. as indicated in the Yellow Book. You should start to recognize that 1st endings typically always return to a previous verse or an section. With a 2nd ending, a transition to a different part of the song, a or chorus. Harmonic Principles are used for these repeats and transitions.

If turnback chords are not indicated for these 1st and 2nd endings in the original Yellow Book leadsheet, recommended chord(s) will be indicated in parentheses or as an alternate harmony in Red . Typically the last measures or turnbacks will be a chord that resolves to and harmonically leads you to the next section or turning you back to the same section. Typically a V or direct substitution of that next chord.

Reference Key

This is the key of the source leadsheet.

Blue Bossa is in 4/4, Common Time and the Key of Cm .

Harmonic Principles Used:

These are the harmonic principles used in Blue Bossa.

Nashville Number System (NNS)

Nashville Numbering System always uses four bars/measures per line, no bar lines, and default is each number of the number of beats per bar/measure based on the time signature. If multiple chords in same bar then they are underlined. It can be as simple as converting the Roman Numerals above to Arabic numbers.

At its simplest you simply replace the roman numbers with Arabic numbers. e.g., I becomes 1 , II becomes 2 , etc. The only exception is the bVII7 chord becomes 7 as this borrowed chord from the Mixolydian tonality is so common and the VII (half-diminished seventh) in a major chord is so rare (actually never). And, you could go as far as saying all the modes are numbered: I II III IV V VI VII — just as in the major scale. So calling it a 7 is not that far out.

Check the definitive book Nashville Number System

Scale Selection

Once a Harmonic Analysis has been completed, scale selections can be made. These scale selections can be either vertical or horizontal choices. And, really, only needed if you are going to take a solo or embellish the melody with added notes.

Scale Abbreviation Legend

Traditional Scales: Maj: Major (Ionian), Nat Min: Natural Minor, Dim: Diminished, WT: Whole Tone, Har Min: Harmonic Minor

Contemporary Scales: Minor Pent: Minor Pentatonic, Pent: Major Pentatonic, Blues

Scale/Mode Names: Ion: Ionian (Major), Dor: Dorian (Minor), Phrygian: Phrygian, Lyd: Lydian, Mix: Mixolydian (Dominant), Aeol: Aeolian (Natural Minor), Loc: Locrian