Led Zeppelin – Kashmir (Riff Tab)

led zeppelin ukulele tab


MP3

I don’t know why this is only the third time I’ve featured the Mighty Zeppelin (Whole Lotta Love, Stairway to Heaven) they’re quite clearly the greatest band in history. Perhaps because all their songs are heroically unsuited to the ukulele. This one certainly is. It took a fair bit of fudging and key changing, but I think this version just about works.

I’m using a pick in the MP3 but that’s just because I recorded this right after Master of Puppets and forgot to put it down.

Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.

Requested by Jennifer.

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45 Comments

  1. mictoboy November 3rd, 2009 4:19 pm

    As soon as I saw the title of this entry I burst out laughing. As you put it: ‘heroically unsuited’ :D

    I can’t wait to give this a bash tonight!

  2. laipaz November 3rd, 2009 9:14 pm

    sounds very suitable to me.
    high class arrangement!!!

  3. Jim D'Ville November 3rd, 2009 9:20 pm

    Love it, Al!

  4. JCMcGee November 3rd, 2009 10:19 pm

    mad!

    You’re a nutter…you must spend literally 24hrs a day playing uke!

  5. JCMcGee November 3rd, 2009 10:20 pm

    ….oops, forgot to say; It’s brilliant!

  6. howtoplalone - alec November 4th, 2009 9:37 am

    Sounds spot on, and heroically unsuited to the ukulele.

  7. LonnaB November 4th, 2009 12:30 pm

    That’s classic. A must learn. You’ve outdone yourself, again, Al.

  8. me November 4th, 2009 12:37 pm

    what can i say!,

    posterity is a richer fool because of this one action,

    i commend and salute…..

  9. Rob NY November 4th, 2009 3:30 pm

    NICE!

  10. Mcnilly November 4th, 2009 6:19 pm

    Wow, that is great, i never thought it would sound so great on uke!

  11. Orac November 4th, 2009 6:51 pm

    Has anyone covered “When The Levee Breaks”?
    I’m new to the Uke, and would be interested.

  12. Jeff November 4th, 2009 8:16 pm

    Very fun!!!

  13. Warren Bowman November 5th, 2009 5:32 am

    total noob here. How does one decipher these riff charts?

  14. Mcnilly November 5th, 2009 6:20 pm

    Woodshed, i have decided i actually love you for tabbing this! its not as hard as i thought and it sounds so amazing!

  15. LonnaB November 5th, 2009 9:14 pm

    Mcnilly- I had a similar reaction when I sat down to play this thru.

    Woodshed’s tabs are always so well written- easy enough to play with some practice and always spot on.

    This is some of his best work, in my opinion.

  16. Woodshed November 5th, 2009 9:26 pm

    mictoboy: All the most enjoyable ones are heroically unsuited to the uke.

    laipaz: Thanks.

    Jim: Glad you like it.

    Jimmy: I wish I could play 24 hours a day.

    alec: Thanks. It’s not quite right, but close enough.

    Lonna: Thanks. Some of them take me ages to play right – so not that easy… or I’m not much cop.

    Rob: Ta!

    Mcnilly: I love you too!

    Orac: Not that I know of.

    Warren Bowman: How to Read Ukulele Tab

  17. LonnaB November 6th, 2009 3:34 pm

    Woodshed- I guess it gets a lot easier when you have someone else doing the tabs and also providing an MP3 example! I’m sure that there’s a lot more work put into the tabs you provide than some of us can even imagine. Thank you for all you do for the rest of us. You are like my real life Santa Claus!

  18. Darrin December 28th, 2009 5:37 am

    Finally! A simplified arrangement that still manages to capture the full sound. No need to drop down tuning for this one! Thanks a mill! -D

  19. Jill January 1st, 2010 4:29 am

    This might simply be the coolest riff ever. Thank you.

  20. Darrin January 2nd, 2010 3:32 am

    Jill, as a 6-stringer, there have been many intricate tries at tabbing this for the electric guitar. Yours is the 1st that I have come upon that is simple and to the point, and can be applied to the guitar.

  21. Dan June 3rd, 2010 2:17 am

    I’ve had a ukulele for a year but I finally decided to pick it up 3 days ago. This was the first song I tried. Sure I’m playing a $20 Mahalo thats probably not even tuned right, but I don’t think it was that bad. Great tab. :)

  22. UkePeas June 25th, 2010 6:34 pm

    So whens the SRV coming then? :P
    No i joke nice one for this its another little lick to pull out of the bag to keep your friends interested :) keep them coming

  23. Ukulele Bartt June 26th, 2010 6:51 pm

    “Heroicially unsuited for ukulele?”
    I gently disagree, Al. James Hill and I did this as a duet at the Lone Star Ukefest in Texas (USA) last month. When I get back from Europe next month I’ll post some video, unless anyone else has some vid to put up.

  24. Woodshed June 27th, 2010 8:52 pm

    UkePeas: I’m working on a version of Wham (technically not SRV). But it may take quite a while.

    Bartt: Look forward to seeing that video.

  25. Gilli April 29th, 2011 4:22 pm

    haha this is brilliant :D question though; what’s the best way of not playing the other strings? or do you just have to be tres careful?!

  26. Woodshed April 30th, 2011 9:13 am

    Gilli: Being careful is the main thing. A bit of strum blocking would help too.

  27. Tom Smith June 24th, 2011 6:01 pm

    Love it, except for the last 3 notes I’d play

    4-3-1 on the 2nd highest string… rather than 3-2-0 on the 3rd.

    Now trying to work out the dad-da-de-diddle-iddle-um bit that slots between the main riff…

  28. FlammyMcFlammy October 6th, 2011 9:40 pm

    Hey how did he tune his uke. Because with the 3-2-0 part my uke sounds slightly different.

  29. Dan October 6th, 2011 9:55 pm

    Sounds just fine on standard GCEA for me.

    Are you sure your ukuelele is ‘perfectly’ tuned? Being off by a bit can be trouble.

  30. FlammyMcFlammy October 7th, 2011 1:59 am

    re-tuned still sounds the same. It seems like I am not getting enough response out of the string, or maybe too much reverb. Concert Uke?

  31. Woodshed October 9th, 2011 10:16 am

    Flammy: Yep, it’s just standard tuning. It was played on a tenor but should be fine on a concert.

  32. FlammyMcFlammy October 9th, 2011 2:35 pm

    Ok that makes sense. Thanks!

  33. Sunshine January 18th, 2014 6:02 am

    I just got an electric ukulele and playing this with the overdrive turned up makes me feel absolutely epic. It’s an uplifting feeling during finals week. Thanks for the tab, Al!

  34. Woodshed January 18th, 2014 11:16 am

    Sunshine: You’re welome!

  35. Kyle Johnson October 29th, 2014 12:44 am

    Amazing once again!!!!!

  36. Kyle Johnson October 29th, 2014 12:44 am

    Amazing super easy and it’s chocking to be playing led zeppelin on ukulele but super awesome and fun great job once again!!!!

  37. Woodshed October 29th, 2014 12:42 pm

    Kyle: Thanks so much!

  38. Bob February 15th, 2015 10:46 pm

    This is pretty cool! Hopefully this is not too much of a noob question: I have read the “How to read a tab” article, but how do I know which finger to use for each note? There was something about circled numbers representing the fingers, but I do not see them here.

  39. Woodshed February 16th, 2015 9:50 am

    Bob: I don’t usually include fingering unless there’s something unusual going on. I’d recommend finding out which way of playing it suits you best.

  40. Bob February 16th, 2015 10:46 am

    Thanks for the quick answer! So it is just a matter of experience – since everything would classify as unusual for me at the moment. :) Of course I would love some expert hints, but I will just try it. Thanks again for your work!

  41. Nicolas April 9th, 2015 11:17 pm

    totally brilliant, thanks. Works very well on a steelstring, low-G soprano. I can even let the G-string ring almost all the time.

  42. Mackinley November 15th, 2015 2:00 am

    STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!!!
    Please add Stairway To Heaven. Every time I try and find Stairway To Heaven it is different.

  43. kelly December 10th, 2015 7:34 pm

    i believe the riff tom smith is looking for, (\=slide, i dont know the right symbols)
    A——————-
    E-5\4-5-7\5-4\5-2
    C——————
    G——————
    but thats just single tones, i’m sure you could jazz it up more with some harmonies/chords
    (just in case you’re wondering, the notes are A-Ab-A-B-A-Ab-A-Gb if you wanted to just do those chords, i’m too lazy to figure out if it’ll sound right though haha)

  44. Charlie December 9th, 2017 5:18 am

    This used to be one of my favourite songs. Thanks for sharing! Your version sounds cool.. I really like the chords.

  45. Woodshed December 9th, 2017 2:33 pm

    Charlie: Thanks very much!

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