Ukulele Halloween - Ghostbusters (Duet)
October 23, 2007
Duet Midi
Uke 1 Midi
Uke 2 Midi
This record is, as far as I remember, the third record I ever bought - after Chas ‘n’ Dave’s Snooker Loopy and Van Halen’s Why Can’t This Be Love (yeah, I was one of the cool kids). It might just be the nostalgia, but I can’t get enough of this song. Bustin’ does, indeed, make me feel good.
I’ve written this up as a duet, but I think it would sound great in a uke group/orchestra/ensemble. There are easy chords for the newbies, the riff for the intermediates and some fiddly bits for the show-offs.
The intro is the only spooky bit of the song and works well on its own as an atmospheric bit of music. You can play it all on the uke, with a bit of fiddling, like this:
The riff that kicks in after this is a bit of cobble-together of the bass and the chords. It works well against straight chords and sounds great when the high riff joins in.
The trickiest section of the song is the ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost’ section (and not just the need for turning a blind eye to double negatives). In some of the bars the chords change a beat before you’d expect them to - making them more difficult to keep track of. The synth riff also gets a bit tricky with the added harmony (bars 21 and 22). If you’ve got space on your uke, you might try playing it this way:
I’ve put up midis of both the ukes individually so, even if you’re as lonely and smelly as I am, you can play along and make believe you have a friend. If you want to play along with the original, you’ll have to tune down by half a step.
One thing about this video passed the young, fresh-faced me by but has just shocked the living bejesus out of the old, haggered me. Near the end, there’s an appearance by a very young, very gawky Al Franken. Scary indeed.
Check out Sean Gordon’s version of Ghostbusters on the uke.
Suggested by West and Retrovertigo
Ukulele Halloween: The Gothic Archies - Freakshow
October 21, 2007
The Gothic Archies - Freakshow (Chords)
I could let Halloween season pass without revisiting the Gothic Archies. The chords are fairly simple (so long as you’ve got the hang of playing Bb). The biggest challenge is keeping a straight face and a deadpan voice while singing lines like, “Real people question how someone took a lobster’s face and put it on a cow.”
Scream and Run Away would also be suitable for Halloween performance.
Suggested by Olly
The Saturday UkeTube
October 20, 2007
Stephin Merrit’s second song for Volvo (I’m In A Lonely Way) is up on YouTube. No ukulele on this one. But plenty of ukulele videos right here. [Read more]
Lars Larsson’s Ukulele Video Showcase: Ukulele Duets and More
October 20, 2007
GUGUG
Rawhide (Played on a TV Pal Plastic Ukulele)
California Sun
Exodus
Man in the Street
Tequila
Honey & Bosko - Girl from Ipenema
Laughing Will Smith & Stefan Raab (Germany Interview / Comedy)
Patsy Monteleone, Gio Gaynor — Sleighride
Jeffrey Lew, Uke Jackson — Come Back Baby
Uke Jackson, Patsy Monteleone - Friend of the Devil
Renee Rogers, Uke Crooner - Cheek to Cheek
Karen Langlie, Craig Robertson - Money
Garota de Ipanema (Brazilian, excuse the burp!)
Honey & Bosko (Never enough of them)
Friday Links
October 19, 2007
This week, The Guardian ran a story about the ukulele viciously murdering the recorder in schools. It’s run similar stories before but, for some reason, this one took hold and was picked up by BBC TV and radio, The Telegraph and even made it’s way across the Atlantic to the hipsters at Idolator. Kudos goes to Andy McSmith of The Independent for mentioning living people who play the ukulele.
Speaking of the Beeb, they have a sweet little clip of Ukulele Bob discussing meeting his wife and strumming uke. Non-UK folks will have to content themselves with reading Ukulele Bob putting the world to rights about ukes not being small guitars (and Howlin’ Hobbit setting the world to rights about the different sizes of uke).
Jonathan Coulton buys his first ukulele and puts the Doifter out of a job.
Liverpool may have the world’s largest ukulele, but there’s a new contender for world’s tiniest ukulele. You can follow the progress of this ukulele girl and her magnificent hair, and see some fantastic Tiki carvings, on The Leeward Lounge.
Al Gore may be getting the Peace Prize, but it’s ukers who are really saving the environment.
KPFK have a month show called Ukulele Spotlight. Recent guests have included Uke Hunt favourites Janet Klein and the UkuLady.
Gym Class Heroes drummer Matt McGinley on uke.
Window Shopping eBay Ukuleles
October 19, 2007
If you find that the pink Mahalos just aren’t camp enough, you might treat yourself to a Tiki King designed Cowboy Fluke. Those with more refined tastes might prefer a Curly Mango Fluke (complete with pickup).
Oh Kala, how you tempt me with your good looks and affordable price tag.
Ukulele Halloween: The Misfits - Dig Up Her Bones
October 18, 2007
The Misfits - Dig Up Her Bones (Chords)
This track is from the later, and some would say crappier, non-Danzig version of The Misfits. But I quite like this song and, with a capo at the first fret, the chords are similar to those used in Halloween.
Download Dig Up Her Bones on Amazon
Ukulele Halloween - Twilight Zone
October 17, 2007
This is my go to riff whenever something spooky (or just vaguely coincidental) happens.
For once, it sounds great when you use a guitar pick to play it. The pick gives it a harsh, piercing tone. If you want to recreate it with fingers, use you nails and pick close to the bridge.
Ukulele Halloween: The Addams Family Theme Tune
October 16, 2007
The tune itself is so non-scary that The Wiggles would have rejected it as a little pedestrian. If you really want to scare people, play them the MC Hammer version (it’s enough to frighten the parachute pants off even the most superdope of homeboys).
Anyhoo, back to the real thing. If you’re playing the full, the intro goes like this:
If you’re just going to break out the intro, then it’s easier to play it this way:
Ukulele Halloween: Dance Macabre
October 14, 2007
That may look like a player piano in the video but it’s actually a haunted ghost piano. True fact.
Dance Macabre starts out with two very discordant notes (A and Eb) which are a flattened fifth apart. This interval is supposed to summon up the devil. You can read about some of the other songs where this has been used in The Guardian.
The main theme starts in bar 9. I’ve arranged this so that all the notes ring into each other and create a spooky Gm9 chord. It gets tricky, suitably enough, in bar 13 when the tune switches up a notch. I play the note at the fourth fret with my third finger giving me just enough time to barre my first finger across the third fret. Moving down is easier; you can use the open string to give you time to get the chord shape ready.
Check out Mary Martin’s version on MUD.
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