Queen – Good Company (Chords and Tab)

Queen – Good Company (Chords)


Good Company Solo (Tab)

I’m amazed that no one has put the chords for this up already. It’s a ukulele classic. I suppose it is more than a little over shadowed on A Night at the Opera with it being followed by Bohemian Rhapsody.

It’s no surprise that Brian May learnt the ukulele before the guitar. This performance is definitely not one of someone who is playing the ukulele like a guitar. He’s throwing in a lot of Formby moves. There are a few triplets and, in the solo, a bunch of sort-of-split-strokes.

I think he must be tuned up half a step to G#C#FA#. They certainly seem to be the more natural chord shapes. And they match the chord shapes he’s using in this clip of him discussing the track (but the uke is tuned way down).

For the strumming, he’s doing mainly down strums with a few triplets thrown in to liven things up.

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28 Comments

  1. zym August 27th, 2009 6:44 pm

    wow – i never realised it was a uke track, but then its probably about 10 years since i last heard it. :)

    As you say, rather over shadowed on Night at the Opera I guess

  2. Ukulelia August 27th, 2009 7:16 pm

    Bless you.

  3. Ukulelia August 27th, 2009 8:02 pm

    Far be it from me to question your majestic authority, but across the pond we leave the second “a” out of “comapany” (check the title on the solo tab).

    Also, maybe this combo for the F chord in the solo?

    2013
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  4. Cat Green Bike August 28th, 2009 10:43 am

    Al, I LOVE YOU!!

  5. Iverrrrrrr August 28th, 2009 3:14 pm

    OOOOH, I’VE WAITED FOR THIS! :D
    I’ve wanted to learn this song for years!!! It shall be done NOW!

  6. Ukulele Bartt August 28th, 2009 5:57 pm

    Hey, Al –
    “Good Company” is one of my favorites – thanks for posting!
    I just played that song at a show a couple of weeks ago, and “Dreamer’s Ball,” too. Brian May got me started on uke when I saw him play it on “Bring Back that Leroy Brown” with Queen.

    And please forgive my intrusion (I still herald your greatness), but is there a typo in your chord chart? Perhaps this D7 should be a Db7:

    F F7 Bb D7 C7 Bbm Dm
    I hardly noticed Sally as we parted company

    F F7 Bb Db7 C7 Bbm Dm
    I hardly noticed Sally as we parted company

    — Al, you are the Freddie Mercury of UWG (Ukulele Website Guys). Thanks!

  7. Woodshed August 29th, 2009 10:21 am

    zym: Yeah, I’d completely forgotten about it as well until I stumbled across that clip.

    Ukulelia: Only one ‘a’ in ‘comapany’? You crazy yanks.

    Xenia: Then why do you never call?

    Iverrrrrrrr: Good luck with it.

    Bartt: Thanks for pointing out the typo. Fixed it. I shall endeavour to grow a Mercury ‘stache.

  8. Ukulelia August 29th, 2009 7:10 pm

    Once saw this high-larious video of some guy impersonating both George Formby and Freddie Mercury performing Blackpool Rock. Tried to find it to post it here, but it’s been pulled from YouTube.

  9. Ukulele Bartt August 29th, 2009 7:32 pm

    Ukulelia –
    That was Stevie Riks doing Freddie and George. He got dumped from YouTube but he’s back with a new screen name. Here’s the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/mrstevieriks

  10. Woodshed August 30th, 2009 1:51 pm

    Thanks for the link, Bartt.

  11. Ukulelia September 4th, 2009 4:00 pm

    Bartt, I’m not seeing the Mercury/Formby video on his page. Am I blind, or is it not currently up? tx, Gary

  12. Ukulele Bartt September 6th, 2009 10:33 pm

    Ukulelia –
    I don’t know if he has that exact vid up. When Youtube dumped him, he had about 300 videos posted. With his new screen name, I guess he’s only uploaded a few thus far. If you e-mailed him, he’d probably re-load it.

  13. fork November 8th, 2009 8:06 pm

    im so glad to see uke tabs for queen. the riffs for ‘Death on Two Legs’ by queen deserves some looking into if you have the time- its quite catchy.

  14. Studiorat December 7th, 2009 5:09 am

    Thanks a million for posting this. This has always been one of my favorite songs… I’ve always been a “deep album cut” kind of guy.

    The Ukulele and the Brian May Jazz Orchestra at the end of the song is simply perfect. Sheer genius.

  15. Woodshed December 10th, 2009 4:54 pm

    Studiorat: I have to agree – the bit at the end is great.

  16. gab February 15th, 2010 1:41 am

    This is wonderful! I’ve been waiting for these to pop up somewhere on the internet for a while now. Much thanks.

  17. liz May 8th, 2011 9:46 am

    I was feelin so down one night….I pulled out my newly purchased uke and away I went with Queen…..loved it thanks..

    will be uke-ing up some of my own tunes soon…..watch this space..

    Happy four strings to you all out there
    liz x

  18. Woodshed May 15th, 2011 12:20 pm

    gab: You’re welcome.

    liz: Look forward to hearing your stuff.

  19. giovanna May 21st, 2011 2:59 pm

    i’m very new at ukulele, you say the uke is tuned a half step up? does that mean that i just tune my uke so every string is sharp?

  20. Woodshed May 22nd, 2011 1:04 pm

    giovanna: Yes, you need to tune them sharp so they’re the same pitch as the usual tuning played at the first fret.

  21. Pete April 9th, 2013 6:44 pm

    Well this is the best transcription of this song i’ve found so far. Thank you for posting it. One point is that I think the tune is actually a semi tone higher in F#Maj which means lots more barring of chords. As mentioned in previous posts I could just tune my uke sharp but then I don’t want to keep changing my tuning. Maybe this is the excuse I need to buy another uke ;)

  22. Woodshed April 10th, 2013 12:43 pm

    Pete: I don’t wish to rob you of a reason to get a new uke, but you could just slap a capo on the first fret.

  23. rob June 8th, 2014 9:51 pm

    Great !!!

  24. Woodshed June 9th, 2014 7:59 am

    rob: Glad you enjoyed it.

  25. Barrington Fox April 9th, 2015 3:41 pm

    I can’t believe my eyes. I was about to throw out my dad’s old ukulele banjo when I discovered this site. The only thing I ever heard are George Formby songs.

    What I would love is a list of sites where I can find more songs like this- preferably with very basic chords. I’ve only just mastered C F and G7
    Thanks very much

  26. Rudy June 8th, 2015 6:42 pm

    Is there a tab around for the intro/outro? Right now I’m just doing one stroke (slowly) for Bb and Fdim and doing a DDUUDU for the C and one stroke for the F. That’s getting me by, but wonder if anyone has figured out the notes playing during C.

  27. Jim August 20th, 2017 9:19 pm

    Fantastic… I just gone through and found it easy to follow and play such a fantastic song.. Thank you so much form posting and all the comments have helped .. This is one of the songs that insire me to play the guitar and Ukulele 35 years ago .. I’m made up I can play this one now :O)

  28. Woodshed August 21st, 2017 11:02 am

    Jim: That’s great! You’re very welcome.

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