Listen to some sample audio tracks from the CD:

Clare Foster designed this practice CD to give vocalists and instrumentalists a daily workout that covers all the bases and stands the test of time. The result is a rare achievement: a series of warm ups that is fun to play and inspiring enough to keep you happy for many years to come!

Clare is an experienced teacher so naturally the package is well thought through. The tone is encouraging and supportive, and instructions are clear and simple. This makes the CD really accessible for students and beginners. But the material is not over-simplified or watered down. These are the kind of exercises, drills and warm ups that any professional musician would want to spend time practising, exploring and experimenting with.

All the common scale, chord types and core rhythms that you need for playing any modern popular style is covered. Plus there is an exciting emphasis on interesting world and contemporary rhythms (including reggae and funk) that you won’t find on any other play along. There are also some wonderful blues etudes and great, funky rhythmic exercises near the end of the CD.

The sound quality is superb and the impressive cast of versatile UK musicians shows what you can do with a play along CD that strays outside bebop and standard changes. The variety of grooves and feels includes Latin, rock, reggae, bossa nova, shuffle, funk, swing, 6/8 and ballads. The variety and quality of feels really helps the CD stand up to repeated use. Vocalists are the primary audience for this CD but instrumental players will benefit enormously both from singing and playing along.

Muscians
Clare Foster (voice)
Pete Billington (piano and bass)
Shanti Paul Jayasinha (keyboards, percussion)
Snowboy (congas and timbales)
Javier Fioramonti (guitar)
Andres Lafone (bass guitar)

To hear audio samples of each different style of exercise click on the player below.

Track listing
How Long Can I Sing?
Four Bar Note Hold In The Cycle Major II V I
Eight Bar Note Hold in the Cycle Minor II V I
Slow Major Arpeggio Staccato
Fast Minor Arpeggio
Descending Major Scale
Major Scale to the 9th
Dorian Step by Step Increase to the 9th
Half Diminished Arpeggiated
Minor/Major 7th Climbing and Gaining
Diminished Broken Chords
Dominant 7th Inversions
Six Chord Types and Scale Patterns
Arpeggios Major to Dominant
Major Sharp 11 Extension in 5/4
Increasing Intervals Chromatically
Chromatic Scale Slow
Chromatic Scale Fast
Get the Shape and Sing It
Rhythm Awareness 4/4 Shuffle
Rhythm Awareness 4/4 Funk/Maracatú
Blues Licks
Clear Blue

About the author

Jazz vocalist Clare Foster has performed in New York, New Orleans, Toronto, Thailand, Singapore and toured all over the UK, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and as far north as Lapland. In 2009 she released her fifth solo album Learning to Love. Clare teaches Jazz Vocals/Voice privately and has also taught at many conservatories including Trinity College of Music, London, The Jyvaskyla Conservatory, Finland, and in the Netherlands and Canada.