Sufjan Stevens – Death with Dignity (Tab)

Death with Dignity is a beautiful song by Sufjan Stevens about the death of his mother (a subject that clearly resonates with Kanye West). The song is heavy with grief backed with sparse, shimmering ukulele. And idiots will still tell you it’s impossible to be sad when playing a ukulele.

Main Uke

Death with Dignity (Main Uke Tab)

I think he’s using open C-tuning for this which is gCEG (i.e. tune your A-string down so it’s the same pitch as the g-string). Then capo at the fourth fret.

The picking uses one finger per string in an AMIP pattern (going down the strings).

Baritone Uke

Death with Dignity (Baritone Uke Tab)

This part is really quiet on the record so I’m making it up about half the time. Take that as a free pass to mess around with this part and play it how you feel it. I’m guessing it’s played on a classical guitar but it works perfectly well on baritone.

Solo Ukulele

Death with Dignity (Solo Uke Tab)

Here’s a ukulele version of the piano solo from the song. It’s played in standard tuning without a capo.

DeathWithDignitySolo

Links

Buy it on iTunes
Sufjan Stevens – Lumberjack Christmas/Christmases Past Chords

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11 Comments

  1. Urbanmeister April 1st, 2016 11:04 am

    Stunning, thanks, Al.

  2. Sarah Stubbs April 1st, 2016 2:58 pm

    Thank you so much for this! I’ve been listening to this song for a couple of days now trying to work it out, and then you went and made a tab- brilliant :)

  3. Joshua April 1st, 2016 6:44 pm

    Once again….not to beat a dead horse….but you sir, are the best. What you put into your website is golden. Always helpful. Thanks for everything. I hope they’e paying you enough! HA!

    Joshua

  4. Woodshed April 1st, 2016 7:31 pm

    Urbanmeister: Thanks!

    Sarah: You’re very welcome!

    Joshua: Thanks so much! That’s very kind of you. I’m blushing!

  5. Rebekah April 2nd, 2016 9:28 pm

    I really appreciate how you shared a video of you playing the tabs as well as a video of the actual song. Thank you for this beautiful song!

  6. Woodshed April 2nd, 2016 10:32 pm

    Rebekah: Thanks! Glad you found it helpful.

  7. Sammi April 19th, 2016 8:57 pm

    Thanks for the tab, Al! However, when I try to open the Solo tab it gives me the Baritone tab!

  8. Woodshed April 19th, 2016 9:06 pm

    Sammi: Argh! It is the lead tab, I just forgot to change the title. I’ll get it fixed. Thanks for letting me know.

  9. tbone May 13th, 2016 2:32 pm

    This song is so affecting.

  10. Peter October 14th, 2016 6:15 pm

    Hey Woodshed! In the main uke tab the Em chord is reversed!

  11. Woodshed October 14th, 2016 8:28 pm

    Peter: Are you referring to 0234? Because of the tuning that’s actually a G chord.

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