Dec/30/11
46comments

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (Chords)

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (Chords)

This video went up yesterday and I’ve already had a deluge of requests. Including three from one person. So I’ve set aside my holiday shenanigans (and my irrationally intense dislike of JGL) and put it up in time for New Year’s.

It is a really lovely song with some nice jazzy touches. Like the I-II7-iv-V7 turnaround and the G#7 leading into the middle.

If you don’t fancy dashing up to the 6th fret for the F#7 you can play it this way.

Suggested Strumming

For intro you can do this for the first three chords:

d – d u

And a down strum for the E7.

And you can do just down strums for the main bit of the song too.

In the verse: four down strums for the A and G7. Two each until the B chord (four for that) then back to two each.

In the middle: four down strums for the C#m and two each for the others in the first two lines. In the third line, six down strums for the C#m and two for the F#7. Then four each in the last line.

Buy the Ella Fitzgerald version

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46 Comments

  1. Abbie December 30th, 2011 12:26 pm

    Thanks for that – I saw a link to that video on Twitter then saw that 2 minutes earlier you’d posted the chords! Look: https://skitch.com/abbie2020/gw65f/nyetweet Talk about prompt chord provision! I always end up learning songs that Zooey does because she does so many brilliant jazzy tunes. And how can you dislike JGL when he has such a beautiful smile? Or is that why? ;)

  2. PJPerkin December 30th, 2011 1:03 pm

    I don’t know if it’s just me, but on the second line of the chords, the file’s corrupted and it makes them fairly unreadable. You can see the chord name, but not the chart.

  3. Anna December 30th, 2011 1:52 pm

    This is so cute. Can’t wait to get out my uke and start playing around with it!

  4. Woodshed December 30th, 2011 2:27 pm

    Abbie: Glad to be of service! Yeah, I can’t see that smile as anything other than smug.

    PJPerkin: Thanks. It should be fixed now.

    Anna: Have fun with it!

  5. Captain Nirvana December 30th, 2011 4:50 pm

    Thank you so much, Woodshed, and sorry for emailing you three times.

  6. pv123 December 30th, 2011 6:13 pm

    Well done, Captain Nirvana.

    And thank you, Mr Woodshed. This is (another) lovely song and your site is like Christmas year round because it’s a continuing source of inspiration.

    Happy New Year!

  7. Frenchie December 30th, 2011 8:40 pm

    Ahhh I knew I could count on you :) I’ve been telling my dad this is a fantastic site for us beginner uku people (well me, he’s pretty good), although he might not appreciate this post as much as I am. Thank you for giving us the popular and the obscure.

    Happy New Year from the land where palm trees sway ;)

  8. Alex J. December 30th, 2011 10:19 pm

    Thanks for posting this! And happy new year!

  9. Rachel December 30th, 2011 10:42 pm

    Just wanted to say that you’re awesome for doing this. Thanks so much for posting and Happy New Year! :)

  10. sodivided December 31st, 2011 1:58 am

    Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!!!

  11. Erin December 31st, 2011 2:43 am

    Thank you for posting this! I didn’t think I’d have a chance of finding their version online (at least for uke) and I was taking longer than I wanted to figuring it out. Happy New Years!

  12. Laura December 31st, 2011 4:49 am

    What kind of ukulele is that, anybody know?

  13. Maggie December 31st, 2011 8:33 am

    Yes!! Thank you, this is perfect!! :) Happy New Years!!! (..but what’s with the irrational dislike of JGL?! haha)

  14. Warwick Steele December 31st, 2011 11:12 am

    Nice, but much more Jazzy if you sub 9ths for the 7ths and a Dm7 instead of the Dm. You can improve the last two lines of each verse by playing:
    Line 3: A, F#9, Bm7, B7#11,
    Line 4: E9, E7, A, etc

  15. Woodchuck December 31st, 2011 3:04 pm

    Perhaps it’s a Kala? A bit difficult to tell as the video is flipped (shot on a laptop). But it looks like the edge of the Kala logo for a split second there. Could be totally wrong.

  16. Woodshed December 31st, 2011 3:26 pm

    Laura and Woodchuck: My guess would be a Cordoba. It looks like their elongated headstock. And the brief glimpse of logo could be theirs. I don’t associate friction tuners with them though.

    Everyone: Thanks and Happy New Year’s Eve!

  17. annie December 31st, 2011 3:40 pm

    what type of ukulele is that? Im thinking about learning to play and really like the tone of that one, is it soprano or concert or what? Also Id love some suggestions on what type would be good for a begginer

  18. Cynthia wolff December 31st, 2011 4:04 pm

    I’m a newbie to your site and already looking it. A friend sent me this song and low and behold the next day you post it and send it to me with the chords and how to play it… How totally cool is that .. I love uke hunt,! Thank you so much. Happy New Year and here’s to more playing for us all. Cynthia

  19. Tonie December 31st, 2011 7:56 pm

    Are they both playing left handed? Interesting…

  20. Eliana December 31st, 2011 8:45 pm

    Tonie, I’m pretty sure the video is just flipped.

    I just wanted to thank you SOO much for putting these chords up! I discovered this video yesterday and went; gosh I have to learn that. But wait I don’t have a ukulele. So I went upstairs (I’m 16 not 40 haha) and asked my parents and we ended up discovering a vintage ukulele that was my great-grandmother’s when she was a child. It’s a beauty! So I’ve picked it up in the last day learning from the “Empire Ukulele Method” book (I’ll link it if I can find the book below.. It’s REALLY old)! It is SO much fun, and being able to play more than just Alouette, thanks to this site, really pays off :)
    Cheers and happy new years! All the best uk-ing in 2012 ;)

    That book; http://cgi.ebay.com/Empire-UKULELE-METHOD-Teaching-Sheet-Music-Book-58_W0QQitemZ200604076924QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SRCH:US:105
    It’s hot pink in real life :)

  21. Dan Levine December 31st, 2011 11:35 pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHzA8nf_Dsw&list=UUdHNTnY9JTTqNchxzfivkQw&index=1&feature=plcp

  22. Woodshed January 1st, 2012 2:59 pm

    annie: Size-wise, it’s a tenor.

    Cynthia: Thanks! And Happy New Year to you too.

    Tonie: Yeah, it’s definitely flipped.

    Ellana: Nice find!

    Dan: Nicely done.

  23. L.Bo Marie January 1st, 2012 8:26 pm

    under the influence of a little too much fireball, trying to play this last night… we get as far as the bridge and realize not one of us has ever learned more than “neeeeww years, neeeeeeeeew years eve”.

    we sang it loudly and off key anyway.

    Happy New year Al!

  24. Woodshed January 2nd, 2012 11:25 am

    L.bo: Glad to hear it! Happy New Year!

  25. pv123 January 2nd, 2012 11:55 am

    Warwick, anyone… couldn’t find B7#11 despite the power of Google.

  26. Warwick Steele January 3rd, 2012 9:18 am

    to pv 123: B7#11 is the new name for B7b5 and you play a straight B7 and just add the g on the E string. It is a lovely Jazz tone which leads into the E9/E7 which follow. The derivation of the name comes from the fact that modern Jazz guitarists identify the ‘g’ as being in a higher octave than the other notes. But you will find the 7b5 group of chords in any book of chords and it is the same 4 notes.

  27. pv123 January 3rd, 2012 10:50 am

    to Warwick: Firstly, thanks for the new progressions – they add warmth and flow to the song. Secondly, thanks for the decode on #11ths.

  28. Jacob January 3rd, 2012 11:14 am

    Hi Warwick, sorry to be pedantic but surely a G natural would be a #5 (or b13)? If you look at a full B dominant chord spelled out:

    B=1 D#=3 F#=5 A=7 C#=9 E=11 G#=13

    Either the G or F natural seem to work well, I just wanted to clarify which you mean

  29. Michelle January 3rd, 2012 12:57 pm

    Hello everyone… I am brand new to the ukulele and would like to learn to play this song because it seems to be around my skill level, however, I noticed in the tab that the shapes for D and B are not listed at the top. As I mentioned I am completely new to the uke (and stringed instruments in general… although I played the piano for quite some time) and do not know the chord shapes. I was hoping someone could help me out. These seem to be the only two shapes missing for me to attempt this song. Thanks so much and I can’t wait to play this!!!!

  30. Woodshed January 3rd, 2012 1:19 pm

    Michelle: D = 2220 and B = 4322 (going from the g-string to A-string).

  31. Michelle January 3rd, 2012 1:32 pm

    Thank you so much… I’m so excited to try this!

  32. Warwick Steele January 3rd, 2012 1:49 pm

    Thanks for your comment Jacob. On re-examining the chord I have to agree with your point. My initial comment was based on a lesson I had by video link with a jazz player in California who described the chord to me in the terms I outlined. I had not re-examined his explanation until now. What I would say is this: music is anything you make of it. Any group of chords may sound OK to one but not another. It is OK by me as long as it sounds good – may we agree on that?

  33. Jacob January 3rd, 2012 1:55 pm

    Warwick: Of course – I love the jazzy chords, also love the theory side of it! Thanks for posting the suggestions

  34. jen January 4th, 2012 8:42 pm

    What are the notes/chord joseph is picking along to the uke?

  35. ukulele paradijs January 5th, 2012 12:28 pm

    Speaking about X-mas.. have a look at this and strum along as much as you can:

    http://www.youtube.com/v/JvgwMU-n9Ew?autoplay=1

  36. Woodshed January 6th, 2012 8:57 am

    jen: He’s using more or less the same chords and picking out notes from them.

    ukulele paradijs: Thanks for the link.

  37. Isabelle January 11th, 2012 8:12 am

    Nice!
    Do you know this lovely song, by Danish artist Aura Dione?
    http://youtu.be/2cT3bInuDhw

  38. Woodshed January 11th, 2012 12:50 pm

    Isabelle: Thanks. I did think I’d had that on the blog but it turns out I haven’t.

  39. Olivia October 9th, 2012 1:49 am

    joseph gordon levitts voice is sex.

  40. Woodshed October 9th, 2012 10:16 pm

    Olivia: Because he makes a queefing sound?

  41. Olivia October 10th, 2012 3:15 am

    Woodshed: possibly, also the fact that hes DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

  42. Jenny October 23rd, 2012 8:29 pm

    Hey, I was just looking at this and I noticed at the top there are two charts for Dm and none for D. Just letting you know (:

  43. Jenny October 23rd, 2012 8:38 pm

    And there’s no B chord!

  44. Woodshed October 23rd, 2012 10:16 pm

    Jenny: Thanks for letting me know.

  45. Sara January 26th, 2015 6:33 pm

    Thank you! I thought this song was going to be too hard for me, but lo and behold, when I gave it a try it wasn’t!! How fun!!! Thank you for the chords. :-)

  46. Woodshed January 27th, 2015 11:56 am

    Sara: You’re very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

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