Tennessee Whiskey Vocal Run
We just posted "Tennessee Whiskey" by Chris Stapleton in the song library... What a great song! For those of you who would like to sing it and are intimidated by the long vocal run on the word "warm" in the chorus, I was right there with you!
Here are a few tips to learn it:
Be patient. It takes time to build vocal agility. It took me a while to learn this run because vocal agility is an area where I am still growing.
The song is in A and the vocal run is based on its relative minor: the F#m pentatonic scale. Time to get comfortable with that minor pentatonic scale! Play the scale on the guitar and sing along.
Start slow! Learn each note individually. Make sure that each note is crisp and clear or else the whole run will turn into one long, messy non-note.
If you're short on time and there's an open mic coming up, you can always simplify the run for your performance. It is better to have a simple vocal run that you can sing cleanly than a complicated one that sounds messy.
Lastly, here's a great tutorial you can use if you're ready to commit to doing the work of learning this run. Check it out and let me know how it goes!
...and for those learning more about music theory, F# is the relative minor (aeolian) mode of A major and A major is the relative major (ionian) mode of F# minor, and thus use the same notes.
A major sits at the 3 o'clock position in the circle of 5ths, and thus has 3 sharps.
sharps are in order on the circle of 5ths starting at F, so our 3 sharps will be F#, C#, and G#.
the minor pentatonic scale removes the 2nd and 6th scale degrees (G# and D).
these are the same notes we remove in the A major pentatonic scale, except they occupy scale degrees 4 and 7 in the major pentatonic scale.
so the notes you need are F#, A, B, C#, and E.
i'm nowhere ready for this song... still at my meowing stage 🤣