R.E.M. – Shiny Happy People (Tab)

It’s crazy it’s taken me this long to cover R.E.M.’s Shiny Happy People given how perfectly it captures my personality.

Intro: For such a light-hearted song, there’s a bunch going on musically. There are three key changes and a change of time signature before the vocals kick in.

The song starts in 6/8 time in the key of G# (G in the original) for a relaxed intro before it kicks into 4/4 in bar 4. That shifts into the riff in the key of Bb. The riff is very fun to play. Worth learning even if you’re not bothering with the rest of it.

Verse: The verse moves into the key of G minor. A less abrupt key change since Gm is the relative minor of Bb. The verse bounces up and down the fretboard. But it’s not too challenging to play.

Chorus: Things are a bit more difficult in the chorus with the three, slightly overlapping, voices covering a large range.

Outro: This is made up of the main riff and Kate Pierson’s “Happy peeepooooooole” bit. There’s room to play around with the chorus melody here if you fancy stretching out a bit.

Links

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A massive thanks once again to the generosity of Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers for keeping the site up and running this month.

And extra thanks to March’s Tenor level backers:

– Arthur Foley
– Brian
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ely Fletcher
– Ivo
– Jeff K
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Leia-lee Doran
– Margit Stadlmann
– Mary
– Noah
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Rick Wurster
– Robert
– Steven Pituch
– Ved

If you join Patreon at the Concert level or higher, you’ll get access to all 74 previous exclusive tabs including March’s: Kiss by Prince

Alice in Chains – Down in a Hole (Tab)

Down in a Hole by Alice in Chains fits on uke better than I was expecting. There’s a nice mix of fun bits and challenging bits.

Intro: This sets up the Gm – F – C chord progression that runs through the verse and pre-chorus. I’ve thrown in a few twiddles based on the acoustic and electric parts in the original. Definitely room for your own ideas here.

Verse: I played around with just doing one of the vocal parts here (first heard in bar 9). But I think the vocal harmony is too good to ditch.

Pre-Chorus: This is the hardest part of the song by some distance. It’s high up the neck and fiddly. You could get away with simplifying the section. Either by repeating parts or moving notes around. But I’d be reluctant to get rid of the dissonant C# (E-string, 9th fret).

Chorus: Mostly bashing out the chords in the chorus. Things get tricky towards the end though with a trip up the neck and a short lick.

Outro: A reprise of the intro but with the baffling choice of ending on an A major chord (despite the whole song being gloomy and minor).

Links

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Wii Shop Theme (Tab)

With Nirvanna the Band the Show back in action, I was inspired to put together a version of the Wii Shop theme It works well on uke. But there are a lot of unusual chord shapes that might take a while to get under your fingers.

Links

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Watch on YouTube

There are two new albums from UkeHunt favourites to check out:
– Tyrone and Lesley’s latest Keepers: Spotify|Bandcamp. Plus a companion EP Finders
– Phredd’s new collection of super-catchy kids’ songs The Lost Junkyard Parade: YouTube|Spotify|Apple

Playlist
Kris Fuchigami – Stayin’ Alive
SeattleUke – The Burren
Chipped Nail Polish – I’ve Already Dealt with My Savior Complex
Tyrone and Lesley – Queue
Hal Brolund – Gambling Man
UkuleleJarmo – Sunny
Adrian Demain – Is The Divide Too Wide
Charming Disaster – New Moon
PROMISE. – Anyday Now

Mumford & Sons – The Cave (Tabs)

The stomp-clap era has been receiving a sometimes unhinged level of vitriol recently. But I still enjoy it so here’s Mumford and Sons’s The Cave.

Intro: The intro works very nicely on uke. Well worth learning even if you’re not bothered about the rest of the song.

I’m using thumb-and-two-finger picking in this section. And switching to one finger per string in the other sections.

Verse: The verse melody is very similar to the riff. So, to distinguish them, I’m using fretted notes rather than open strings. There are slight variations in the verses. But I don’t think anyone would notice if you played them all the same.

Chorus: This section uses a mixture of strums and picking. With the strums getting more intense each time. The final chorus really ramps up the intensity and is the hardest part to play.

Instrumental: Here, you’re bashing out the verse chords and the riff. There are also some hammer-ons that give it a very Beirut feel.

Links

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The Beatles – Something (Tab)

Something has become particularly associated with the ukulele since Paul has been regularly playing it on uke in tribute to George Harrison. And it transfers over to one very nicely.

Intro: A brief, one-bar intro. Make sure you bend the note at the 7th fret before you pick it.

Verse: The verses are built on two chromatically descending lines. Firstly, descending notes on the A-string set against a C chord. Secondly, descending notes on the g-string set against an Am chord.

With the steady pace of the song, there’s nothing too challenging here.

Bridge: Things get a bit more challenging in the bridge. The action shifts up the fretboard and there are a couple of stretches to deal with.

Solo: The trickiest section. And it’s such a great solo, I’d advise against changing it too much.

Links

Buy the original
More 60s tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

A massive thanks once again to the generosity of Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers for keeping the site up and running this month.

And extra thanks to February’s Tenor level backers:

– Arthur Foley
– Brian
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ely Fletcher
– Ivo
– Jeff K
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Leia-lee Doran
– Margit Stadlmann
– Mary
– Noah
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Rick Wurster
– Robert
– Steven Pituch

If you join Patreon at the Concert level or higher, you’ll get access to all 73 previous exclusive tabs including February’s: Nina Simone’s Feeling Good.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow (Hey Oh) (Low G)

James Brown – The Boss

Geese – Au Pays du Cocaine

Alice DJ – Better Off Alone

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll

Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ (Low G)

Coldplay – Trouble (Tab)

Coldplay’s Trouble is a nice, simple one. Even the solo is just a fancy version of the chords.

Links

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Uke Hunt Patreon