The Lumineers – Ho Hey (Chords)

The Lumineers – Ho Hey (Chords)

I’m slightly worried about the influence all this indie folk is having on my mental wellbeing. First it was the ukulele, then the flat caps, then the beard. Now those braces are looking very snazzy. This can’t be right. Nevertheless, indie folk provides a lot of ukulele-friendly songs (and it’s far too late to be worried about my mental health anyway).

As well as holding the fort until the 24th September, The Lumineers’ Ho Hey provides some excellent ukulele group fodder with its shouts, stomps, singalong chorus and simple chords.

The one downside is the tricky strumming.

Suggested Strumming

It’s so tricky I’m going to have to use slash notation to write it up.

Here’s the main strum from the intro and verses:

Which sounds like this slowed down:


Main Strum

The end of the verse goes like this:


Verse end strum

But if you find that a bit tricky you can get away with playing it like this:


Easier Strum

The chorus strumming is a lot more straight forward. Use this strum until you head back to the main strum:

d – d d u d u


Chorus Strum

In the middle section use that chorus strum once for the F. Then two down strums each on F and C. Then back to the chorus strum.

View Comments

28 Comments

  1. okszyk June 19th, 2012 10:12 pm

    I follow your blog ever since i got my uke, and I just want to say THANK YOU for all tabs and chords, and especially for strumming patter to this song because I love it and I wanted to play it properly but could’t figure it out.
    Greeting from Poland

  2. krabbers June 20th, 2012 8:58 am

    i think my beard came first, then the ukes, then the cap, i will never wear braces!

  3. Chae June 20th, 2012 10:34 pm

    This song was on a Bing commercial!

  4. pepamahina June 22nd, 2012 5:10 am

    Braces first. Then the uke. Beard not possible. Can I wear a cowboy hat instead? Definitely taking this one to my uke group. Never heard of these guys. Thanks for digging it up!

  5. Woodshed June 25th, 2012 11:37 am

    okszyk: Very glad I could help!

    krabbers: They’re on the way. It’s inevitable.

    Chae: This song is all over the place! I heard it on Planet Money.

    pepamahina: I think a cowboy hat is an acceptable substitute for a beard.

  6. Judy June 29th, 2012 4:42 pm

    Love this song!!! thanks for getting it thru to me…

    You’re the best!

  7. marilla June 30th, 2012 10:30 pm

    This is a great song! Thanks! I ended up fiddling with the strumming a bit to make it easier to play (d-dud-du-udududu for the verses and duDuduDu for the chorus), but this is still a really fun one.

  8. Woodshed July 2nd, 2012 4:20 pm

    Judy: Glad you liked it!

    marilla: Thanks.

  9. sophie July 7th, 2012 9:26 am

    Excellent! Thank you for this one, the more I play it the more I like it. I have been following you for a few years now and this blog has served as a great inspiration to me all the way over in New Zealand. I’m wondering, do you know where I can find the chords for The Lumineer’s song ‘Morning Song’? I have searched high and low and can’t find a trace of it! Thanks again :)

  10. Woodshed July 9th, 2012 10:31 pm

    sophie: Thanks! Glad you like it. Sorry, no idea.

  11. UkeGirl July 19th, 2012 9:53 pm

    Hi!
    This is so helpful. Do you have an audio clip of the whole song on uke? I’d love to hear all the sections together.
    Thanks for all that you do for uke players!
    C

  12. Woodshed July 23rd, 2012 8:18 pm

    UkeGirl: Sorry, no.

  13. Double T September 3rd, 2012 5:14 am

    So happy to find you’ve tabbed this! These guys have been my favorites for a few months now! Keep it up!

  14. Woodshed September 3rd, 2012 12:21 pm

    Double T: Glad you like!

  15. Livvie November 20th, 2012 9:03 pm

    ah, cheers buddy. so helpfull. you got my school music project sorted. I love the Lumineers. love your site too man, its awesome, only just discovered it, its going in my favourites.
    Cheers.

  16. Woodshed November 20th, 2012 10:33 pm

    Livvie: You’re welcome. Glad to help.

  17. Sarah January 1st, 2013 2:03 am

    The audios are so useful. Thankyou!!!

  18. Woodshed January 1st, 2013 10:47 am

    Sarah: Thanks!

  19. HighCotton January 2nd, 2013 2:49 am

    Just bought a cheap starter uke and your site is sooooo helpful. Loving this song and can’t wait to learn so much more. thank you so much!

  20. Woodshed January 2nd, 2013 2:11 pm

    HighCotton: Very glad you found it helpful!

  21. JC February 20th, 2013 1:00 am

    The audio clips are great. Very helpful.

    Thanks!

  22. Woodshed February 20th, 2013 8:15 am

    JC: Thanks!

  23. msb February 21st, 2013 3:38 pm

    Am I missing something or are there not enough d’s and u’s in the main strum pattern to match up with the “sounds like this” mp3 ?

  24. msb February 21st, 2013 3:50 pm

    Ah nevermind, I figured it out.

  25. anna August 23rd, 2013 12:17 am

    @msb….i haven’t figured it out yet…i even slowed it down and it’s not matching up for me. it seems like there should be one more strum than the d’s and u’s indicate…

  26. Dylan Quiroga September 5th, 2013 3:16 pm

    please if you get time could you tab the song dead sea, also by the lumineers. It’s so good and so hard to find.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2yTiDlr8Mc
    And thanks for everything

  27. Beckie October 18th, 2013 3:52 am

    My daughter wants me to learn to play this one! Thanks for sharing!!

  28. Woodshed October 18th, 2013 6:09 am

    Beckie: I hope your daughter enjoys it!

Sorry, Comments Are Broken Right Now

You must be logged in to post a comment.