Jun/28/09
7comments

John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)


John King – Larry O’Gaff (Tab)

I’ve spent hours and hours examining John King’s arrangements (particularly his Classical Ukulele book) and working out he decided to play things a certain way. I’ll always regret not emailing him and asking him a for an interview (although I’ve recently discovered that emailing your heroes can be a bit disappointing).

I had lengthy discussions with Ken Middleton about the opening run of this tune. I couldn’t believe that John King would play two consective notes on the same string. The only other time he does it in this piece is on the lower reaches of the C string where he doesn’t have a choice. But it is very difficult to get the phrase fluent any other way (and it’s still tricky the way it’s played).

And it’s not the only tricky passage. One part I had big trouble with is bar 28/29. So I play it like this in my version of the tune:

larry o gaff john king tab

Buy John King’s The Classical Ukulele (And you really should – it’s the best ukulele tab book around)

7 Comments

  1. minipixel June 28th, 2009 3:22 pm

    Thanks for all the hard work! Gonna give my old fingers a workout now.

  2. Woodshed June 28th, 2009 8:22 pm

    minipixel: Good luck with it.

  3. Tamster June 28th, 2009 10:47 pm

    I liked this song when I first heard it. I’m glad you did up the tab for it. Thanks

  4. mwalimu June 28th, 2009 11:34 pm

    What amazes me is how that tiny uke he plays makes such a loud clear sound. I once got to hold it, it’s the tiniest uke you can imagine, it seemed like it would break if I closed my hand around it. But, DAMN, it’s a player in the hands of the master.

  5. Woodshed June 29th, 2009 11:31 am

    Tamster: Thanks.

    mwalimu: Yeah, the thinner and more minimal the wood, the bigger the sound. I’m pretty sure I would break that uke after about one tune.

  6. Phil June 30th, 2009 11:55 am

    Such a sad loss… John was an amazing player, and when I’m not thrashing about doing the rock/pop stuff with the Re-entrants I always have his classical ukulele book to hand. Incredible tone and articulation.
    Looks like I have some tab to work on, thanks Woodshed! (lovely playing, too)

  7. Kala KA-ASLAS Lacewood and Spruce Soprano Review | Ukulele Hunt March 10th, 2010 9:50 pm

    [...] Picking Test (MP3) (Larry O’Gaff tab [...]

Got something to say?