Nirvana/UOGB – Smells Like Teen Spirit

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Probably the most famous chord riff ever and very popular on the ukulele thanks to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain version. These chords are in the same key as those used in the UOGB version.

12 Comments

  1. LonnaB March 10th, 2009 7:31 pm

    Little B’s gonna love this.

    Is it odd that my nine year old loves Nirvana?

  2. J-Hob March 10th, 2009 11:22 pm

    I reckon this would work really well on my new TV Pal! I will give it a bash in the morn when the wife’s not asleep.

    Cheers Sheddy!

  3. Musicians Gear Australia March 11th, 2009 4:27 am

    How awesome, it’s like Nirvana on 45 speed…

    Nice work!

    A.

  4. David Barnes March 11th, 2009 10:38 am

    Al (and everybody else) here’s another one for you: The Stones’ Brown Sugar riff.

    The basic chords are:

    Eb, C, Ab, Bb, C.

    Try that, it’ll sound roughly right. The Eb and C are for a full bar, the Ab and Bb for half a bar each.

    There are some embellishments.

    The Eb starts with the normal 0331 but you throw in a 0311 as well.

    The C chord starts the normal 0003 but goes to 0010.

    Ab is hard enough without any embellishments. But if I’m feeling dexterous I’ll play the Bb with with a bit of 3213.

    The C at the end is like the C at the first.

    Feel free to tab this out properly, I don’t have — and don’t plan to learn — any tabbing software. It’s an amazing riff and fun to play on the uke.

  5. David Barnes March 11th, 2009 10:41 am

    PS How about the Chuck Berry intro riff (from Johnny B Goode, Roll Over Beethoven)? Or do you already have that in your incredible Blues Uke book? (I’ve read the book, I just can’t recall if it’s in there.)

  6. Woodshed March 11th, 2009 9:21 pm

    Lonna: No, it’s entirely consistent with good musical breeding.

    John: Absolutely. Made for plastic ukuleles.

    Mr Australia: Thanks.

    David: Thanks for the chords. There is a ‘Chuck Berry Style Lick’ in the ebook which bears an uncanny resemblance to Johnny B Goode.

  7. Koerie January 21st, 2010 10:01 am

    Somebody should tab the Battlefield 2 theme. You know, the chords behind the snares? and the Bugle call. I might give that a go actually… keep an eye on the game themes area Ill try and see if I can work it out XD

  8. mcnilly February 13th, 2010 8:31 pm

    Nice tab, any help on muted string strum? i just cant get it to sound right. . .

  9. Woodshed February 14th, 2010 1:56 pm

    mcnilly: For this one, I lay my index finger flat across all the strings.

  10. mcnilly February 14th, 2010 1:58 pm

    Cheer al, I’ll have a bash at that later then!

  11. Corey C420 February 14th, 2010 9:44 pm

    Yes I was looking for this song thanks!

  12. Woodshed February 15th, 2010 9:59 pm

    Corey: You’re welcome.

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