The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Tab)


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (midi)

As well as inspiring a gaggle of ukulele orchestras, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain also have a habit of inspiring reviewers. The Independent called them the, “anarcho-syndicalists of the ukelele world,” and John L Walters referred to them as a, “band that appeals to the dispossessed, alienated audience stranded between the Scylla of crass commerciality and the Charybdis of half-baked obscurantism.” No wonder the audience are stranded; neither ‘the Scylla of crass commerciality’ nor ‘Charybdis of half-baked obscurantism’ could be found by my SatNav.

The UOGB’s performance of Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly appears on their live DVD Anarchy in the Ukulele. I haven’t tabbed out the tune exactly as they play it – I felt you might not have half a dozen uke players and a bassist to hand. This version is arranged for solo ukulele.

The most challenging part of the piece is bars 19 and 20. The version I’ve gone with in the tab is the one I like. It sounds great (I like close harmony notes ringing into each other) and is the smoothest transition down the neck. But it isn’t easy. The fingering suggestions under the tab should help you out a little.

A (slightly) easier way to play it is this:

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain tab

It’s still tricky.

Buy Anarchy in the Ukulele

7 Comments

  1. Brian W January 5th, 2008 7:42 pm

    Great tab – so easy to get going on this one and sound good. Thanks!

    Brian W
    London

  2. Woodshed January 5th, 2008 8:01 pm

    Thanks, Brian. Glad you like it.

  3. Brian W January 11th, 2008 12:28 pm

    A discussion on this tab is underway at
    http://www.ukulelecosmos.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=57000#57000

    Some specific suggestions for fine tuning it have been made. Can we work on a ‘version 2′ ?

    Brian W

  4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Redux) | Uke Hunt January 13th, 2008 8:35 pm

    [...] Anyhoo, the new version is much better. You can grab it up there and read more about it and get a variation on the original post. [...]

  5. Ron J July 23rd, 2008 7:38 pm

    Woodshed,
    i love the great work you are doing on these tabs.
    especially on the UOGB
    i’m pretty sure the next song the need to do is Shock The Monkey by Peter Gabriel

  6. HeavyJay December 4th, 2008 1:54 am

    Great tab! I’d love to see the UOGB’s “Fly Me Off the Handel” tabbed out, if you ever have the time and energy.

  7. James Frazer December 25th, 2008 11:49 am

    I saw this song live when they played at Darlington earlier in 2008 – absolutely amazing. It’s hard to believe the ukulele can produce such sound.

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