Uke Hunt is Eleven

It’s Uke Hunt’s eleventh birthday this week. According to WebMD 11 year olds, “will likely be eating and sleeping more. He may complain of muscle cramps and growing pains. Some boys also start to get oily skin, peach fuzz on their upper lip”. Devastatingly accurate once again.

Here’s a round-up of the goings-on of the last year.

May 2017

– I paid tribute to Chris Cornell with Black Hole Sun and a collection of his riffs.

In tabs: Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang.
In chords: REM’s Nightswimming.

June 2017

– Celebrating the rerelease of OK Computer with chords for Lift, tabs for No Surprises and a UkeTube recreation of the album.
– Josh Walderman told us what it takes to be a good ukulele group leader.

In tabs: Alt-J’s Fitzpleasure.
In chords: The OCMS/Bob Dylan ukulele favourite Wagon Wheel.

July 2017

– In a huge loss to the ukulele world, founding Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain member Kitty Lux died. You can read my tribute to her here.
– Jonathan Lewis released a new ebook Classic Folk Songs for Fingerstyle Ukulele and was kind enough to let me post a tab from it on the blog.
– A tutorial on muted strums.

In tabs: My third version of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
In chords: Haim’s Want You Back and a Wainwright double bill with Loudon’s Swimming Song and Martha’s BMFA.

August 2017

– Uke Hunt readers’ favourite ukuleles.

In tabs: The Beatles’ Blackbird.
In chords: Woody Guthrie’s All You Fascists Bound to Lose.

September 2017

– The Survivor Girl Ukulele Band successfully Kickstarted their record.
– Burning Man’s emergency ukulele had a familiar looking logo.
– Tallest Man on Earth demoed a ukulele song.

In tabs: Dam Buster March group tab, Charles Bradley’s Dusty Blue and La Pas Ma La/Watermark.
In chords:Lou Reed’s Satellite of Love.

October 2017

In tabs: They Might Be Giants’ Birdhouse in Your Soul, five Halloween snippets and Sibelius’s Karelia Suite
In chords: Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ and My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade

November 2017

– What’s the deal with Sus4 and Sus2 chords?
– Ukulele Go spends a month playing blues ukulele and nothing else.

In tabs: Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill, a selection of game tabs including Cuphead, Life is Strange and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Elton John’s Song for Guy.
In chords: Arctic Monkey’s Mardy Bum and Lyle Lovett’s God Will.

December 2017

– Aloha Akademie guest posted a tribute to Malcolm Young’s unmistakeable groove.

In tabs: Camila Cabello’s smash hit Havana and The Beatles’ Across the Universe.
In chords: The SNL song reworked by Julian Casablancas I Wish It Was Christmas Today and Loudon Wainwright’s Suddenly It’s Christmas.

January 2018

– I collected my ukulele favourites of 2017.

In chords: Linger by The Cranberries.

February 2018

– “Ukulele Mike” Lynch passed away.

In tabs: Six songs from The Simpsons, Portugal. The Man’s Feel It Still and Bob Dylan/Adele’s To Make You Feel My Love
In chords: The Cure’s Lovecats.

March 2018

– Jonathan Lewis released another ebook minstrel banjo tunes arranged for ukulele and graced us with a tab of Lonesome Fiddle Blues.
– I cleared up some tab reading FAQs and reviewed the G7th Ultralight capo.
– Manitoba Hal had some practicing tips and Clifton Hicks shared some stretching exercises.

In tabs: The Lumineers’ Ho Hey, Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire and Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz.
In chords: The Pogues take on Waxie’s Dargle and INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart.

April 2018

– Ukulele Ray sadly died.
– Why bother using a capo?
– 2018 officially became the year of ukulele-rapper with Einer Bankz hooking up with Chance the Rapper and Jay Hollywood and MARLOWE connecting.

In tabs: Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose and One by U2.
In chords: Luis Fonsi’s Despacito and Billy Bragg’s Between the Wars.