Tallest Man on Earth – King of Spain (Chords and Tab)

Tallest Man on Earth is probably my favourite act at the moment. So much so I’m considering a rare field-trip schlepping to Salford to watch him play here. So it didn’t take too many requests to get me to tab up this song.

Open-F Tuning

He plays the song in open-C tuning with a capo at the 8th fret. To mimic that you can tune to open F (fCFA) by tuning the g-string down a whole step and the E-string up half a step.

Intro – F-Tuning


Open-F Intro

The chords aren’t exactly the same as he plays on the guitar, but I think these sound about as close as you’re going to get:

Chords – F-Tuning

One extra thing: keep playing the hammer-y on bits from the intro on the F chords in the verse.

Standard Tuning

With a few adjustments you can play the intro in standard tuning (with the capo still on the third fret) without losing much.

Intro Tab – Standard Tuning


Standard Tuning Intro

A few more adjustments to the chords and you can play it like this:

Tallest Man on Earth – King of Spain (Chords)

The chords are named as if the capo wasn’t there. So when you see F you play the F chord shape.

Requested by Erin and Andrew

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27 Comments

  1. todd July 29th, 2010 6:28 pm

    he really is great….i’ve been really diggin’ ‘a lion’s heart’ and ‘into the blue’ very much…
    great talent…and, as your link to me showed…he’s into bascom lamar lunsford :)

  2. Peter July 29th, 2010 7:45 pm

    Al, you are amazing. I LOVE the Tallest Man on Earth. If you keep tabbing out his stuff I’d love
    “I Won’t Be Found.” Thanks so much!

  3. Phredd July 30th, 2010 11:37 am

    Al,

    Are you able to download American National Public Radio Podcasts off itunes? If so, they have this feature called Tiny Desk Concerts. Artists go to the NPR offices in Washington DC and do a concert for the office staff right there in the office. They are wonderfully entertaining because it is all performance and no effects or gear or anything to inhibit the performer. The Tallest Man on Earth Tiny Desk concert is amazing. If you are able, it is worth the 15 minutes.

  4. Rob NY July 30th, 2010 1:01 pm

    Definitely worth the schlep

  5. Howlin' Hobbit July 30th, 2010 6:00 pm

    It seems to me that “tuning the g-string down a whole step and the E-string up half a step” would leave you with fCFA not fCFE.

  6. laipaz July 30th, 2010 7:04 pm

    Magnificent work!
    I’m dazzled with ‘The Gardener’ and other songs as ‘It will follow the rain’, but it’s impossible to play them with the uke!!
    Well, at least i can try this one!!!
    Thanks for all the sharing

  7. Emily July 30th, 2010 10:04 pm

    Great song, Al. Thanks, as always, for taking the time!

  8. Ryan July 31st, 2010 12:32 am

    Fantastic job! I love Kristian’s music. I just saw him live in March, and it was definitely one of my favorite shows of all time.

  9. Woodshed August 3rd, 2010 4:39 pm

    todd: Glad you’re enjoying his stuff.

    Peter: Not sure if I’ll do any more Tallest… stuff. But it’s always possible.

    Phredd: Thanks very much for turning me on to it. The Tallest session was great and I’ve downloaded a few more since.

    Rob: Let’s hope so.

    Hobbit: Bum ‘oles. I meant fCFE. Thanks for picking up on it.

    laipaz: Thanks very much.

    Emily: You’re welcome.

    Ryan: Glad to hear it. I think I might have to make the effort and go see him.

  10. Luna August 5th, 2010 1:34 am

    LOVE tallest man on earth, is there anyway ‘Love is All’ can be played on the uke?

  11. Iain August 7th, 2010 9:44 pm

    Fantastic, been thrashing away at this all weekend trying to get it down. Neighbours must hate me, it can’t be done quietly. Love the open F. Carefully detuning one of the new f strings ever so slightly gives it a lovely ringing droney sound (OK I found that out by accident..)

  12. Milo August 8th, 2010 11:27 am

    woodshed, I love this song, thank you. Could I request the middle east’s blood and goldilocks by the wild Mercury sound??

  13. Woodshed August 10th, 2010 7:30 pm

    Luna: I’m sure it could be. Somehow.

    Iain: I like the open F tuning as well. I might start using it more.

    Milo: You can request it. But I wouldn’t hold your breath I’m afraid.

  14. André August 14th, 2010 10:25 am

    Wow, I think I love you, man!

    Playing any of TTMoE’s songs on the uke is like some kind of wet dream, thanks!

    By the way, perhaps you could tab a song or two by Yoyoyo Acapulco too? Like “Orange” maybe? Heard their full album?

  15. Logan September 3rd, 2010 3:27 pm

    I’ve been putting off buying a capo since…well, since I bought my ukulele eight months ago. I’ve been a big Tallest Man on Earth fan for a while, and audibly whimpered when I saw that this song required one.
    Last night, I said “No more.” I have fashioned a capo with office supplies. It gets the job done, but beware of damaging the wood on your neck and fret board! Also, this is not recommendable by me (idiot) or Uke Hunt (authority.)

    1. Rubber band 1x: Wrap a rubber band around the to-be-fretted fret so that it’s snug, but not tight.
    2. Rubber band 1-2x: Wrap two rubber bands together around a fret adjacent to that that is to be fretted. These rubber bands can be wrapped tightly if you please. Be wary of being slapped by broken rubber bands. They are meant to hold in place the next ingredient…
    3. Paper clip 1x: Find a paper clip that can reach across the strings of your uke, but not extend past the edges of your fret board. Place the paper clip on rubber band #1, then roll your more tightly wrapped rubber bands to cover the paper clip.
    4. Adjust the paper clip by sliding it around in the mess of rubber bands. Be sure it is cleanly fretting all strings. Give it a few strums. If there is rattling when any of the strings (likely the C and E) are strummed strongly, use…
    5. Binder clip 1x + Rubber band 1x: Take a large binder clip (2″ or so, one that can get a hold of your ukulele’s neck) and wrap a rubber band around the top of one side of the clip (where it will come in contact with the neck.) Channel Hercules, and squeeze it wide enough to hold onto the ukulele’s neck. Position the binder clip such that it’s handles are perpendicular to the neck of the ukulele, and that the furthest (closest to the body) point of contact with the fret board is right on top of the paper clip and rubber bands. Be VERY CAREFUL that you do not scratch or scuff any wood with the binder clip.

    I want to emphasize that I’m not, and certainly Uke Hunt isn’t, in any way recommending anyone else try this; go buy a capo. My ukulele takes a beating, and seems to be enduring this torture, but yours may not.

    …now that I can comment on the quality of the tab and chords: Great! I’ll welcome any future chords and tabs from TTMoE.

  16. Woodshed September 3rd, 2010 10:19 pm

    Logan: If MacGyver played ukulele…

  17. Emma September 7th, 2010 2:01 am

    This is amazing! I love this song and The Tallest Man on Earth. Could I request Love is All?

  18. TimidTapir October 8th, 2010 3:17 pm

    On the off-chance anybody ever reads down the comments lists on old posts like me, thought I’d mention that those ouch-free hair bands holding a pencil down on the fretboard make pretty nice capos as well, not a buzz to be found and a few less parts required than in the previous post (that one is handy if you have office supplies available, but I just had my ponytail and a pencil, so…

  19. Woodshed October 12th, 2010 9:35 pm

    TimidTapir: I read this far. Thanks for the suggestion.

  20. Hugo November 16th, 2010 2:50 pm

    Great tab! I just have one inquiry. The Bbmaj7 in the chorus doesn’t sound all right.. Could you confirm it? Viva España!

  21. Ruth June 8th, 2011 5:11 pm

    Thanks so much for this, I really love this song! But I’ve got a question. On your chords for the normal tuning, you’ve got the chord Gmadd11. The diagram shows 0031 but you’ve written underneath 0041, which did you mean?

  22. Woodshed June 9th, 2011 12:22 am

    Ruth: The numbers underneath refer to fingers rather than frets.

  23. Jessie February 5th, 2012 7:29 pm

    One day I’ll be able to do this perfectly. This is a promise to myself.

  24. Woodshed February 7th, 2012 10:40 am

    Jessie: Good luck!

  25. Andrew June 3rd, 2012 1:50 am

    Ugh, strum suggestion (particular for the lyric part, not intro)? I can get something similar to it, but not exactly right

  26. MaluhiaMitchell June 22nd, 2012 6:24 pm

    Is the capo needed for the F tuning version?

  27. MaluhiaMitchell June 22nd, 2012 6:26 pm

    Disregard that question. Haha I just had to actually listen to the recording you did.

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