Jan/24/12
30comments

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Chords)

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Chords)

I’ve had a bunch of requests for Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know since the five people on one guitar version went viral. Inspired by the success of that they attempted the same thing with a ukulele. And they do successfully play ukuleles sometimes.

Suggested Strumming

Use this once for every chord:

D – D U

The only exception is the C5 in the last verse. Play the same pattern loads of times (16 at my count).

Pay attention to the dynamics in this one. Start quietly and bash it out in the choruses.

Twiddly Bits

You can play the ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ intro like this:

And the bridge bit like this:

Pre-order the album
Buy the Walk Off the Earth version.

You are reading Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Chords) - permalink
View Comments

30 Comments

  1. Nic V January 24th, 2012 8:16 pm

    Love this song, but I had totally forgotten about it. Pumped to try it out.

  2. pepamahina January 24th, 2012 8:43 pm

    Happy January, and thanks for this, it looks like good clean fun. You need to check your “attempted the same thing with a ukulele” link though, I get a “The URL contained a malformed video ID” error message when I try it.

  3. LilHelper January 24th, 2012 8:46 pm

    I think he meant to link this video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ9xgrUqbgs

  4. pepamahina January 24th, 2012 11:08 pm

    Hey, you really are a “LilHelper”, thanks!

  5. cardboardfrog January 26th, 2012 10:56 am

    thanks a lot woodshed, really enjoying this one

  6. Kelly January 26th, 2012 12:13 pm

    This song was just voted no.1 on Australia’s triple j Hottest 100 (:
    So happy the tabs look simple enough I’ll be able to pick it p (:

  7. Woodshed January 26th, 2012 12:37 pm

    Nic: Have fun with it!

    pepamahina and LilHelper: Thanks for the heads-up. Fixed it.

    cbf: Glad you like.

    Kelly: Thanks for the info. I didn’t realise it was so popular over there.

  8. L.Bo Marie January 26th, 2012 4:16 pm

    oh good!

    thanks Al, I’m so glad you have the patience to figure these things out!

  9. Woodshed January 26th, 2012 10:36 pm

    L.Bo: Thanks for suggesting it!

  10. Hamish January 28th, 2012 10:11 am

    funnily enough i didn’t know that gotye had done well overseas, as with most australian independent artists i thought he was only enjoying his deserved glory here. fantastic job, by the way, hopefully i can get it down without getting frustrated at myself and stopping halfway through. you should totally check out busby marou, they’re a fantastic australian band and the ukulele in it is so awesome.

  11. Ginny January 30th, 2012 3:54 am

    Thanks, I’ve just arranged this song for uke too, looks like a similar riff pattern. I’m planning to perform it with my uke buddies in crime (one of whom tipped me off about this Uke Hunt arrangement!) at our monthly uke night here in Fremantle.

    I also really like the Eskimo Joe version, which is popular in Australia at the moment and getting a lot of airplay on Triple J Radio’s ‘Like a Version’ series of covers:

    http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s3304777.htm

  12. Ginny January 30th, 2012 3:56 am

    …check out Fred the Robot in the Eskimo Joe audio- cute!

  13. Jessica January 30th, 2012 4:25 am

    THIS IS FANTASTIC!! Thanks, Woodshed. Easy and fun; good confidence booster for me.

    Hamish: Just gave a listen to Busby Marou, and I’m a fan! Thanks for the suggestion.

  14. Woodshed January 30th, 2012 10:32 am

    Hamish: Thanks. I actually featured Busby Marou a couple of weeks back.

    Ginny: Good luck with the performance!

    Jessica: Thanks! Glad you liked it.

  15. Sharon February 4th, 2012 8:45 am

    Thanks for this. One of the few songs that my kids listen to that I actually enjoy.

  16. kimberly February 4th, 2012 3:11 pm

    i suggested this! i’m so happy the whole song is up now :)

  17. kimberly February 4th, 2012 3:17 pm

    i suggested this! i’m so happy the whole song is up now :) thank you!!

  18. Kempo February 15th, 2012 5:53 pm

    I love this song, brilliant illustration of two sides of a relationship and the only song I can think of about this particular brand of relationship screw up.

    Can anyone put their finger on why I think it sounds 80’s? I don’t think it’s the production, there’s a tune (a one hit wonder maybe?) that has a similar chorus, but which one???

  19. Woodshed February 16th, 2012 2:04 pm

    Sharon and Kimberly: You’re both welcome!

    Kempo: Thanks to Crocodile Dundee and Neighbours everything Australian reminds me of the 80s.

  20. Anna March 1st, 2012 12:40 am

    It’s fate I have to get better at playing Bb. Every song I pick has it in it. Lol

  21. Woodshed March 2nd, 2012 11:49 am

    Anna: It’s well worth working on. Good luck with it.

  22. Sophie March 23rd, 2012 6:12 pm

    seriously look at the walk off the earth version, and youtube it, i can’t believe what i have just seen :)

  23. Woodshed March 24th, 2012 11:03 am

    Sophie: Hey! That guy stole my having a beard and hat and staring into space thing.

  24. Cate44 April 19th, 2012 5:42 pm

    This is an awesome song and you did an awesome job with the arrangement of this song! It’s super fun and simple to play. Thanks for doing such a great job!! =]

  25. Woodshed April 20th, 2012 7:08 am

    Cate44: Thanks very much!

  26. Janet November 6th, 2012 11:17 am

    Someone asked why this song reminded them of the 80s – it reminds me of the 80s too. I think it’s because the singer sounds like Sting? I’ve only been playing the Uke for 12 months, but even I can play this arrangement! (I’m even working on the twiddly bits too!) Thanks very much for this, Woodshed – and for ‘Ukulele for Dummies’, without which I wouldn’t have even got this far!

  27. Woodshed November 6th, 2012 11:40 am

    Janet: I put it down to the fad for all things Australian that kicked off in the 80s. He does sound a lot like Sting though.

    Thanks for reading my book! I’m really glad you found it helpful.

  28. ellco February 1st, 2013 12:59 am

    how do you read this music? its confusing!! i just got a ukulele! HELP!

  29. Woodshed February 1st, 2013 9:03 am

    ellco: There’s a guide to reading tab here.

  30. Rhonda February 28th, 2013 11:33 pm

    The Waffle Stompers figured it out on one uke – and soprano, no less: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BluOKxCvb1I

Sorry, Comments Are Broken Right Now

You must be logged in to post a comment.