Apr/15/10

74comments

Train – Hey Soul Sister (Chords)

Yes, I’ve finally caved. The endless requests, the hundreds of people turning up at the site looking for it, Ritek making me feel guilty about it, ukulele-tabs.com getting ganked. And then there’s the sensible part of me that thinks, “It’s only a damn song. If people just want to play it, why are you being such a dick?” My stated aim is to, “make sure everyone who wants to play an instrument does.” So until I amend it to, “make sure everyone who wants to play an instrument does – unless I think they have terrible taste,” here it is.

I have to admit, despite it having some of the most appalling lyrics I’ve ever heard, I did catch myself humming the tune on a number of occasions.

Judging by the video, he has the G and A strings switched round. So the B chord is actually being played 2324, the C#m 4446, A chord 0102 and E is 2444. The only advantage I can see with this is that the E chord is a lot easier to play. But I’ve written the chords up in standard tuning since I guess that’s what most of you will be using.

Suggested Strumming

The main pattern is:

d – d – – u d u

Play that twice for each chord in the verse. The only exception is on the lines that finish with a quick A – B change where you play the pattern once for each chord.

In the chorus, play the pattern twice on A and once on B. Then two down strums each for the E and B.

In the Key of F

The chords are in the uke-unfriendly key of E which is a sure sign it was written on guitar and hastily transferred to uke when they heard the bandwagon rolling into town.

A simpler set of chords to use would be in F:

Train – Hey Soul Sister (in F)(Chords)

Tune your uke down half a step to B-tuning if you want to play in the same key as the original.

In the Key-na Grannis

For her version of the song Kina Grannis uses the D chord shapes and is also in B-tuning.

Hey Soul Sister (in D)

Next week, Justin Bieber and High School Musical.

View Comments

74 Comments

Acilius April 15th, 2010 7:18 pm

Okay, I admit it, I like this song. Thanks very much, Al.
melissa April 15th, 2010 9:13 pm

I hate this song, but I love this blog and your dedication to your readers!! xo

I picked up the uke a few months ago when I broke my wrist and couldn’t get my fingers around the neck of my guitar. I can use my wrist now, but I haven’t put down the uke yet… go figure! Your blog is awesome and inspiring — despite these weird songs that get thrown in here and there ;)
cardboardfrog April 15th, 2010 10:22 pm

i hadn’t heard this song or heard of it till you mentioned it, is it some kind of popular music ditty?
honestly woodshed you can’t reference stuff you don’t post on the site, i usually only have to check here for uke news lol.
good work!
0R4NG3 April 15th, 2010 11:01 pm

I really hope your kidding about Justin Bieber and High School Musical. If you posted those…. I have no idea what I would do. Definitly not stop coming to the site. IT IS SO AMAZING!
0R4NG3 April 15th, 2010 11:02 pm

( Even though I don’t like this song at all…)
Craig Robertson April 16th, 2010 3:02 am

“The chords are in the uke-unfriendly key of E which is a sure sign it was written on guitar and hastily transferred to uke when they heard the bandwagon rolling into town.’

Ha! That is very perceptive of you, Al.
J-Hob April 16th, 2010 12:45 pm

First time I’d heard that and I concur that it’s throw-away cheesy pappy pop shite, there’s no accounting for taste eh?

I think we need another Fall tab to redress the balance and bring peace and harmony to the world once again.

Actually I quite like the idea of Fall forfeits for tabbing indiscretions against your better judgement.
cheerios April 16th, 2010 1:55 pm

When I began seeing that billions and billions
(as Carl Sagan said in a different context) of videos of this were
popping-up daily, I anticipated
rat’s poo poo of galactic awfulness that ate up all IQ points that crossed its brain evaporating path. For my
very survival I established a NO HSS EVER policy.
Having finally broken down and exposed my few remaining
fully-functioning brain cells to this malware, I can only scream in futile agony, “Why?”

The sensible part of you, Al, is the part that wanted nothing to do with this. The bandwagon never should have been allowed past the gates of UH. Burn it, blow it up, destroy it utterly, but
do not jump on it. Now when Tiny McWhatsHisFace
puts up his billion views video he’ll say he got
the chords from Ukulele Hunt. When you figure in
all the people worldwide being turned off of music
altogether because they were exposed to some
“I suck at ukulele, but here’s my version of Hey,
Soul Sister anyway, and kudos to Ukulele Hunt for the chords” uke thrashers and bashers, you’ve actually lessened
the number of future ukulele players.

A line has to be drawn somewhere in matters of discrimination and taste, and now that HSS has been allowed onto UH, it’s hard to imagine
anything at all that wouldn’t be. The notion that
everyone who wants to play an instrument should
be encouraged and empowered is shown to be utter rubbish by even
a casual trip through Youtube, and you don’t even have to stray from the ukulele videos. Better to have piano-playing cats than most of the ukers you find there.
Eric April 16th, 2010 2:42 pm

‘The chords are in the uke-unfriendly key of E which is a sure sign it was written on guitar and hastily transferred to uke when they heard the bandwagon rolling into town.’

Probably true, also I don’t know if he could sing it even a half step higher.
Richard April 16th, 2010 10:50 pm

Wow! I’ve never heard that song till now. That is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. I think you are providing an important service by pointing out theses brutal songs. It is best that they be revealed for the derivative crap that they are rather than thrive under the rock of popularity.

Please excuse the mixed metaphor. The song has obviously fried some brain things.
Thomas April 17th, 2010 8:32 am

I Actually like the song. Guess I should hide away in shame somewhere.

What surprises me though, is that you got so many requests for it. Google and knowledge of the alphabet (which also seems to be a prerequisite for using Google) will get you the chords, and enable you to transpose it to a more convenient chord.

What also surprised me is the beautifully phrased but quite aggressive nature of the responses towards the song. First off, it’s just a song. Sheesh! No need to get so worked up about it. Also, I thought the chords used had something to do with the fact he used D tuning. Which makes E not that hard at all. (All I did was use D tuning chord shapes on a C tuned uke, sounded fine to me (though not in tune to the song, but I don’t play along with the radio)). Third, if I want to listen to something with 13 layers of deep emotions to ponder about, this site offers plenty of artists and songs that have really clever and well thought-out lyrics that are not about Madonna or Mr. Mister (but, for instance, Acne. http://ukulelehunt.com/2009/11/22/charlieissocoollike-a-song-about-acne-chords/). I like this (HSS) song because it’s cheerful, puts me in a sunny mood, and it’s easily hummable when it’s on the radio when I’m in my car, or at work. And it pets a smile on peoples faces when you play it. (even if crappy. Most of my family play no musical instrument whatsoever, so they’re impressed that I can play a couple of chords). Youtube is a place infested with bad, crappy videos.

Since TONS of people like the song, I think the sheer volume of people means that actually a lot MORE people will take up uke. And a lot of those will probably figure (after playing HSS for 1564532 times) that it might be nice to try something else. And Google will undoubtedly point them into this general direction. Which is great, because it’ll show a lot of people what great stuff there is you can do with a uke.

Also, Mr. Woods own words:
“10. Enjoy yourself. The big appeal of the ukulele is that it is the most fun instrument around. People try to denigrate the ukulele as a toy. I think calling the uke a toy is a huge compliment. Toys are fun to play with and so is the ukulele.”

Don’t like the song, play something else! Don’t like to watch/listen to it: listen to something more fun! I really see no need to get so worked up about this “bandwagon at the gates”. It’s people playing uke’s, not undead zombies that only eat people with brains tuned into indie-music god admiration! Though they should eat people that like this Mraz character :-).
Woodshed April 17th, 2010 4:15 pm

Aciius: Dangerous thing to admit in public.

melissa: Zach Condon switched to uke from guitar for the same reason. So you’re in good company.

cbf: I shall be more considerate of those for whom this is their only window on the world ;)

OR4NG3: I’ve warmed to Justin Bieber ever since the Funny or Die thing.

Craig: I wonder if there’s any truth in it or just my cynicism.

J-Hob: Good suggestion. I might well do that.

cheerios: “The notion that everyone who wants to play an instrument should be encouraged and empowered is shown to be utter rubbish by even
a casual trip through Youtube.” I’m not saying that everyone who wants to play an instrument should be listened to. Entirely different thing.

Eric: Good point. He’s struggling a little as it is.

Richard: Hope your brain recovers soon!

Thomas: I’m pretty sure he’s not using D-tuning. It’s certainly the standard-tuning A-chord shape being played. You can hear the difference in the Kina Grannis version.

I’m willing to admit that, generally, the popularity of this song is a good thing for the ukulele.

I’m still not entirely sure which Madonna he’s singing about in the song.
Joe April 19th, 2010 3:57 am

Hey,
I just realized something about the chords. Lots of hit songs use the exact same chords and I was in fact playing them about an hour before I started bothering to learn the song.

-Joe
PS I agree with you, its a catchy song but i hate the lyrics
Woodshed April 19th, 2010 10:55 pm

Joe: Absolutely right. It’s a classic chord trick.
zym April 19th, 2010 11:30 pm

just like before with that Jason Mraz chap. Ive never hear this song before in my life!!
gracieface April 21st, 2010 12:57 am

this song is insanely annoying, yet somehow a little addictive!
PercussionMan April 21st, 2010 5:05 pm

Thank you for posting the ‘Hey Soul Sister’ Uke chords. Whether or not people like the words or if it makes sense to anyone (it doesn’t to me) it’s a popular hit and is already being used for a jingle in TV commercial’s. My point is, it’s established as a successful jingle/song like the Jeopardy jingle. ‘Hey Soul Sister’ is a great song to add to anyone’s musical repertoire. The Rock group Train has many hit’s and a couple grammy’s, so, they’re not a one-hit wonder group and they had no idea that this one song would be such a hit. They did great and so did you for spreading the joy that this song turns on when you play it. Thank you!
Nate April 21st, 2010 5:14 pm

I personally liked Train better when they did songs like this:

http://chordie.com/chord.pere/www.xguitar.com/guitar-tabs/train/train/i_am.txt?1944-06-06=always&transpose=&tuning=GCEA
Patrick April 21st, 2010 5:15 pm

I don’t get why you hate this song so much. It is a blast to play and the lyrics tho non sensical at times are NOT so bad..seriously. I listen to blues, folk , pop, brazilian, cuban…etc.. music can be bad but this is not. Until you can write a song nearly as good as ..ah.. never mind.. LOVE this site, tho somewhat opinionated and clicky…besides there are a LOT of songs on your site that plain suck…now theres my opinion..sorry..hehe!
Nate April 21st, 2010 5:16 pm

Oh, and also, Hey Soul Sister IS I’m Yours. You apparently just can’t miss with that chord progression.
Patrick April 21st, 2010 5:20 pm

Oh yeah… when can we expect to see “Drops of Jupiter” .. kidding! (great song tho)
0R4NG3 April 26th, 2010 8:38 am

Woodshed: The Funny or Die thing was amazing. If he does anymore of those I might actually like him as much as you say you do…… PROVE YOURSELF!
Ritek May 1st, 2010 2:02 pm

Woodshed: Who is making who feeling guilty now? Cheers for putting it up. Glad the Key of E didn’t get you a bed at the Royal Clinic Hotel.
fork May 2nd, 2010 1:47 am

i dont understand how annoyed people get by this song, its…just a song. its catchy, its another song with a nod to the uke, and its soo easy. im glad you just put up with crap people give you and post it for those who do really love this song. im not the biggest fan of it, but in the end im really glad you put it up anyway to pull in fledgeling uke players. the world could use more ukes
Ric May 11th, 2010 10:23 pm

Just the fact that a very successful band plays a very popular song accompanied by uke only, (at least in one video version) is a huge move toward popularizing the uke. Gotta love Train for that. Face it, the song is decent, the uke sounds great in it–hence the hundreds of requests for inclusion on the site. Keep up the good work.
jrok May 12th, 2010 2:53 pm

thanks for the chords man!,also i was wondering if you know how to play “billionaire” by travie mccoy and bruno mars?
Lindy Danny May 19th, 2010 1:47 pm

Wow… I think I heard a bit of this on the radio at a restaurant the other day and someone was talking about how it was neat to hear a ukulele. It may be band-wagoning, but at least there is some exposure. The question is: Is ukulele still cool when it becomes main stream?

~DB
carol Voller May 19th, 2010 9:47 pm

Thanks for the chords, I find it very catchy.
It’s nice to have something that’s modern to try. I am having Ukele lessons, most of us are over 50 and really enjoying it.

Carol
El Awrenz May 22nd, 2010 6:35 am

I like this song. But then again, I’ve got an advanced sense of melody and musical construction. I’ve been dissecting songs since I was about 10. So why is this song a hit? Well, if you understand why ABBA had so many hits, then you might have an inkling of why this song works. It’s a combination of melody, production, musicianship, mix, and “earnestness” which is to say, hard work, all of which can transsend awful lyrics (see ABBA). The lyrics aren’t that bad, really. I mean come on, have you actually heard Rude Boy by Rihanna?
Steve June 2nd, 2010 5:58 am

The Song Hey Soul Sister is a Catchy song that you can’t get out of your head ” Pure Brilliance”, Great lyrics and i love the Uke.
James McGlumphy June 4th, 2010 5:55 pm

I play it on my Tenor with low g tuning (aquila nylgut strings). Sounds pretty good. My teenage kids like this song. Lyrics schmearics.
Jacqui Graham June 8th, 2010 8:37 pm

Never mind how terrible the song is, think of how many people are being exposed to the lovely sounds of the ukulele! Thanks for lowering your standards to publish the chords. I love your closing line: “Next week, Justin Bieber and High School Musical.”
Annie June 30th, 2010 7:11 am

My 9 month old niece loses it with excitement whenever I just take my ukulele out of the case, and her arms start going and she’s got a perma-smile when I actually start to play. This will be one of the songs she’s dancing to whenever she gets around to standing on her own. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t notice if the lyrics suck ;D Thank you for the great website! I’ve been directing anyone who asks about playing the ukulele to this site. So far there have been 3 new ukuleles in my immediate and extended family in the last year :D …and since I got a new one too, I have one on reserve when the younger cousins want to learn some chords at the campfires this summer :)
Brendontheskittlesguy July 2nd, 2010 8:49 am

I still don’t understand how it’s bandwagonning (excuse the spelling). Just yet….. I lobe this new ukelele coming in to songs at the moment… It’s gives a wonderful alterniative sound to summer.. And it reminds people that it’s not just spongebob who plays the ukelele. I genuinly love this song, and have done since I first heard it, being played by a friend who was playing it for a friend who passed away recently, but hey, everyone to their own I suppose…
And also tbh, if they HAVE wrote it on guitar then made it for ukelele, who cares?! It sounds good
and is wonderfully catchy and good
for playing whilst driving with the
roof down and over-sized sunglasses… Roll on the summer!! :-)
Woodshed July 3rd, 2010 12:41 pm

Annie: Great work spreading the ukulele love. And thanks very much for mentioning my site to people.
David Cuban July 4th, 2010 1:00 am

Hey I’m new to the ukulele but I have found this site to be probably the easiest way to teach myself (so to speak). Thanks for the help.
Woodshed July 8th, 2010 9:23 pm

David: Thanks. Glad you’re finding it useful.
Vincent July 13th, 2010 4:08 am

I wasn’t going to learn this song. Then it came on at a party I was at and 10 girls screamed. I learned it the next day.
Woodshed July 13th, 2010 8:51 pm

Vincent: Just remember you have to respect yourself the morning after.
Addieo July 19th, 2010 10:00 pm

Thanks for the chords,

When your not in the mood for playing your normal stuff it’s good to learn some popular shizz. Makes it entertaining for the regular humanoids out there when they ask you to play.

Cheers again, love the site!
Woodshed July 21st, 2010 7:51 pm

Addieo: Thanks. I’ll concede it’s useful to know a few tunes that will entertain humanoids.
Wanda July 22nd, 2010 5:50 pm

This song is very easy to play in the key of E on a D-tuned ukulele. On a d-tuned, the strings are A,D,F# and B
HaoleBoy July 28th, 2010 4:51 am

As they say, there is no accounting for taste…

However, I really like this song, especially when its ukulele-only and vocals (thanks! – dump the other instrument stuff)

As a ukulele-beginner, this song has some neat chord progressions and strumming patterns — it’s actually very instructive and really fun to play.

If you don’t like the lyrics, just dump ’em and listen to the sound. It’s a great, catchy beat with lots of energy on the uke … remember, it’s all about fun. We’re not doing our PhD thesis on Bach, here. I’ve done that sort of s**t; not always that much fun…

This song is just fun – pure and simple. And the lyrics are pretty fun, too, if a bit random.

Great site; keep it up! I love everyone’s perspective.
Jim September 1st, 2010 6:42 pm

In the text where you discuss switching the G and A strings around, you show the C#m chord as 2224 when it should be 4446. Obviously, you can choose to tune the G string up to A and the A string down to G instead of switching them. I tried it this way and found the song to be a little easier to play. You don’t have to mute the high string in the E chord and the chord changes are more comfortable.
Woodshed September 1st, 2010 8:16 pm

Jim: Thanks very much. Made the change. I wonder how he came to use that tuning. It does make the dreaded E easier to play but it’s such a strange thing to do.
MJ September 14th, 2010 12:39 am

Really? You’re complaining about this song when you have ‘Bleeding Love’ on here? I think the lyrics to this song are lame to, but it’s fun to play and my ukulele is tuned in B, just because I like it that way. Makes it easier to sing high songs. Anyways, this song helped my find this site, so I like it better now…Cool site!
Woodshed September 14th, 2010 10:59 am

MJ: Bleeding Love is a fantastic song!
Mike125 September 20th, 2010 11:36 pm

I think this is an amazing song, and apparently so do a lot of other people (since it went #1). Thanks for the tabs anyway, even though I can’t see what’s wrong with this song. If you like it, you don’t have bad taste.
Al Barcelon November 26th, 2010 2:39 am

Hey, Thanks for doing this for Uke and in 3 keys besides? I’ve been trying to get this for a long time and was too lazy to figure it out myself. Yeah the lyrics are silly but that’s not the spirit of this piece. The music is happy and hopeful — probably why they used it in many commercials. And, your right! This stuff means so much to guys like me who just want to play an instrument for the sheer fun of it. Looking forward to more cool stuff.
Woodshed November 27th, 2010 2:27 pm

Al: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
Kyle December 11th, 2010 3:59 pm

The chord progression is a lot easier in D-Tuning. For me at least, just thought I’d share cause I’ve been into the D-Tuning since I started getting back into the uke lately and this song was hard to get used to playing before.
Al Barcelon December 11th, 2010 7:45 pm

Fouled around with transposing Soul Sister ’cause I couldn’t sing it in “E”. So I brought it down to “C”. And, the progressions in “C” are very easy on the left hand. I was wondering if you could throw together the “What a Wonderful World” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” medley by that Hawaiian guy Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. I always wanted to play that one too. I have an album of his with some traditional island songs and some original compositions. His songs aren’t very challenging and the chords might be fun to learn.
Jim December 28th, 2010 10:01 pm

Wow, he is struggling to sing in that falsetto. It’s amazing what the studio did for that guys voice.
mac daddy January 11th, 2011 1:05 am

just got a uke a week ago.learning much from all,thkx.how do i B tune??????
J-Hob January 11th, 2011 10:22 am

This song is listed as one of only three ‘rock’ songs listed in the top 100 singles sales for 2010. The fact that it is even listed as rock makes me despair.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/10/rock-n-roll-read-last-rites
RedCrayon January 24th, 2011 6:14 pm

Thanks for the chords!! Got a uke for Christmas and I’m loving it! Although I have to admit a cringed a bit when I listened to the acoustic live version of Hey Soul Sister.
mouse February 11th, 2011 1:29 pm

bieber hatetrain aside, if you actually figured out + shared chords for his Baby song, that would be cool.
Kieran March 7th, 2011 5:57 pm

It sounds very accurate if you the play the E as such:

A|2
E|0
C|4
G|4

Also it makes the E a whole load easier :D
Gnarlywhale March 31st, 2011 5:19 am

I didn’t know Howie Mandel was in train.
Kris September 7th, 2011 4:13 am

I’m a beginning uke player and think your site is great!

Question about the end of the chorus, after he sings “Tonight,” and then the uke continues…is this played one strum pattern or two?
Heed September 8th, 2011 11:42 pm

Thanks for posting this song. I know a lot of people have been ragging on it, but god forbid we should actually learn something popular on our ukes.

My question is about the chord voicings. How can I get my voicings to sound more similar to the video without changing the tuning of my uke? Or is that impossible? The progression just doesn’t sound right to me.

Thanks for your uke-ism!!!
Tamagotchi October 18th, 2011 11:49 am

Why can’t he sing in a lower key??? What is stopping him??? Frustrating. Thanks for the chords anyway!
Theodore December 23rd, 2011 8:01 am

Hi, as so many others have said, I love the site. I thought I might chime in on this seemingly endless thread, too.

Sometime between Harry Potter and Twilight, or Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it occurred to me that by limiting my experience to that which I find fulfilling and valid (which in my case is usually baroque masterworks, or renaissance lithography), I miss that which is actually capturing the collective imagination. The “next big thing” is popular, and often not terribly sophisticated. But it somehow speaks to the human experience, which is the hallmark of artistic endeavor.

This song, like almost all pop music, is about infatuation and sexual attraction. It’s playful and open, and it’s really not such bad lyric poetry in a contemporary vein. In fact it’s a recast of “Marry Me” (also by this band), and is more cunningly written. My girlfriend, whom I sometimes characterized as having awful taste, I admit, called this music, “The (perfect iteration) of that moment when you see someone and fall instantly in love with them.” You know, when you see someone walking down the street, and you stare, with your jaw dangling. It’s not in my idiom – I’ve never called anyone “soul sister” in my life – but the language remains consistent with itself, it’s not obscene, and it has a certain charm.

And what do I know anyway? I watched a dozen videos of this band performing this song in a number of venues, trying to figure out what the ukulelist was fingering, and I think these guys have a blast doing what they’re doing. That’s a kind of honesty, too. So it’s not Homer, or Milton, or even Bob Dylan (who butchered language on more than one occasion). Most things aren’t.
D.D. Manhattanio January 19th, 2012 8:30 pm

Found this site a few days ago and had a uke for just over a year and think it’s incredible (even though I can’t play it). Grateful that you grated your teeth and posted this song. I like it but then again there’s people out there who like Bob Dylan and I think he’s shit.

Thanks anywho!
Woodshed January 20th, 2012 8:56 am

D.D. Manhattanio: Thanks. Although if you think Dylan is shit I’m questioning your taste!
hippowong March 24th, 2012 6:08 pm

Why is this song so hard to sing and strum at the same time. It’s driving me crazy. The rhythm of the lyrics don’t seem to fit naturally with the rhythm of the song. I’ve seen tutorials saying the strum is DDU UDU but here its D D UDU. Either one I can’t get the singing and the strumming together. =(
Aj May 2nd, 2012 4:09 am

Hello guys!
Do you happen to know if that Ukulele is Soprano or is it Tenor?
Also I imagine there’s some serious Ukulele lovers around this website (probably most of you) so I would appreciate if you know the reference of that Ukulele as well…

I’m going to get a Ukulele and start doing some demos so I would appreciate your help!

Thank you!
@aj_ontheroad
Ike May 2nd, 2012 9:33 am

The lyrics might not be brilliant, but they make at least as much sense as IZ’s mangled versions of Over the Rainbow (note: NOT Somewhere Over the Rainbow) and What a Wonderful World.
Woodshed May 16th, 2012 11:23 am

Aj: It’s a Fender tenor.
Jonã May 17th, 2012 8:53 pm

I prefer playing this song in C, is better to sing and better to play.
The groove August 2nd, 2012 5:35 pm

The reason this song is so hated is because of the lyrics. The vocal melody and the uke playing are pretty cool! I mean the like ” You’re so gangsta, i’m so thug” may be the worst line I’ve ever heard in a pop song. It dosn’t matter how popular it is the lyrics are damn awful.
Rosemary September 24th, 2012 12:51 am

Wow.

His voice reminds me of the time I got a fly stuck in my room. It was about as smart as the lyrics.

Catchy song though.
Ruthie November 19th, 2012 1:04 pm

My friend wants me to learn this song so I can accompany his singing. If I am too lazy to retune can I just capo this on the first fret and use the last version?
Woodshed November 20th, 2012 10:52 am

Ruthie: Capo on the second fret if you want it in the same key as the original. But you don’t need a capo if your friend is happy singing it in the key of D.

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Train – Hey Soul Sister (Chords)