Blind Willie Johnson – The Soul of a Man (Tab)

Today’s post was prompted by Douglas and Stephen who requested a bit of slide ukulele. I was trying to think of which song to do when I watched the new Assassin’s Creed trailer that features a cover of Blind Willie Johnson’s Soul of a Man and immediately got to work on it.

Slide playing is noisy at the best of times. I wrote a whole ebook about playing slide, but the number one tip for slide playing is to mute everything you’re not playing. Mute everything behind the slide with your index or middle finger (or, even better, both). And mute any string you don’t want to hear with your picking hand.

It’s mostly standard slide playing. But there is a little trick in bar 4. There, you need to angle the slide so you’re playing the A-string at the 10th fret and the C-string at the 11th. Mercifully, the vibrato there means you’ve got a bit of leeway in hitting the notes.

Links

Buy the song
How to Play Blues Ukulele
More blues tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

Alan Parsons Project – Sirius (Tab)

The third and final tab for Game Day. The Last Dance, the documentary on the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, had some great 90s music in it. The closing sequence with Pearl Jam’s Present Tense absolutely floored me. But instead of covering any of that, I dusted off my cricket bat RISA ukulele and have a go at this delicious slice of 80s cheese.

The grunt work of the chords is done on guitar (since my IQ drops 30 points every time I play one). That starts with C5 (x355xx) – Abmaj7 (4x55xx) – F5 (x335xx) – C5 with the first chord switching to Cm7 (x3534x) half way through.

I’ve tabbed up the two ukulele riffs and the solo. The first riff is a dead simple one bar riff repeated through the whole thing. The second is a more challenging set of arpeggios. The solo is a blast to play. I kept the half step bend in (A-string 5th fret) but I’ve replaced all the whole step bends with slides.

Links

Buy the song
More Game Theme tabs
Uke Hunt Patreon

Darren Korb – Vagrant Song (Tab)

Part two of Game Day and this time it’s a song from the video game Pyre suggested by patron Xavier. I’m using a capo on the 4th fret to keep it in the same key as the original. But there’s no reason you can’t play it without one if you prefer.

The arrangement has three main sections. It starts with just the melody. I’m using one finger per string picking here but you can pick it in whatever way suits you. The second section adds chord backing to the melody. I would recommend using one finger per string picking here but you could use thumb strumming. The final section has the C-string plucked and a strum with a few little twiddles. I’m using whatever finger comes to hand here so go hog wild.

Links

Buy the song
Buy the game
More Game Theme tabs
Uke Hunt Patreon

One Night Ultimate Werewolf – Fantasy Theme (Tab)

It’s game day on Uke Hunt. I’m covered music connected to three types of games. Starting with the tabletop hidden-role game One Night Ultimate Werewolf. A game I haven’t played but have spent a lot of time watching charming nerds play while practicing. So inevitably I worked up a version of the song from the game.

As I understand it, the tune uses tracks form the Logic Pro library. So you might recognise elements from elsewhere.

Links

One Night Ultimate Werewolf
More Game Theme tabs
Uke Hunt Patreon

John Denver – Take Me Home, Country Roads (Tab)

Another bonus week of tabs courtesy of the Uke Hunt patrons. Kicking off with this John Denver classic suggested by Litespeed. It seems many people have it on their minds at the moment. Just in the time I’ve been working on the song covers by Whitney with Waxahatchee and The Petersens have popped up.

The backbone of this arrangement is the old thumb-and-strum. You pluck the g-string with your thumb then strum the other strings (it doesn’t matter exactly which strings you hit, so long as you’re holding down the chord shape). With the high-g, it gives a bit of banjo feel to the song.

From the intro to the end of the second chorus, that pattern crops up everywhere you’re not playing the melody (or that little lick in the intro). In the bridge, it switches to a plain strum of the chord each time it changes. Then there’s a final chorus played in that style. Which means the song starts at the tricky part and gets gradually easier.

Links

Buy it on Amazon
More 70s tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

Watch on YouTube

Tracklist
Andy Eastwood – Rockin’ the Uke
Bobby Alu – Lavalava Samoa
Dani Joy – There, There
Jason Mraz with the BBC Concert Orchestra – Look For The Good
viosus – The Battle of Aughrim
Eva & the Vagabond Tales- Tomorrow Comes Too Soon Thanks to @ukeist
LOCUM – I Wish
Craig Robertson – Takin' My Hat for a Walk

Hawaiian ukulele legend, Willie K dies at age 59 after 2-year battle with cancer. Willie was a consumate musician who was as at home playing the blues and shredding with Steven Tyler as he was performing classical music using his startling operatic voice.

– An auction of Formby banjoleles and memorabilia turned out nice again once the Andy Eastwood helped the BBC fix their cockup. Particularly curious was the sale of a note from Formby complaining the songs written for him were too rude.
– Ukulele raffle halted by New York State Gaming Commission.

On Video
– Zoë Bestel popped onto BBC Alba’s ALT show to perform a couple of songs and chat about ukuleles (UK only, I think). Zoë’s bit starts at 34:40 but the Futureheads are well worth a watch too.
– Clem Snide and Scott Avett do a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.
– Kid asks the real questions.

Patreon

A big shoutout to Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers. Thanks to their support, I’ll be doing another bonus week of tabs next week. And double thanks go to April’s Tenor backers:

– Dan.
– Fiona Keane.
– Joseph Freeman.
– Katherine Penney.
– Nancy.
– Pauline Leblanc.
– Potatoemagic.
– Sandi Clement.
– Trevor Mccravy.

Patreon posts in the last month include:

– Tiny Tim – Tiptoe Through the Tulips
– CCR/Wilson Pickett – Proud Mary/Midnight Hour.
– Blind Willie Johnson – The Soul of a Man
– And May’s exclusive for Concert level and up backers: Chris Isaak – Wicked Game

John Prine – Fish and Whistle/In Spite of Ourselves (Tab)

A little tribute to John Prine who passed away last month.

Both these pieces use Cotten picking (named after Elizabeth Cotten) where the thumb alternates between the g- and C-strings and the index and middle fingers play the melody on the E- and A-strings respectively.

It’s a bit of a finger-twister and it’s pretty fast. So it’s well worth slowing right down when you’re learning it.

Links

Buy it on Amazon
More country tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

Uke Hunt turned 13 this month. According to WebMD a 13 year olds will, “speak in longer, more complex sentences [and] use sarcasm and humor.” Fascinating.

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

May 2019

In tabs: The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year, Ukulele Ike – Ja-Da (Tab) and K-Pop riffs.
In chords: Lesley Gore – You Don’t Own Me and Queen – Somebody to Love.

June 2019

In tabs: Sinead O’Connor/Prince – Nothing Compares 2 U and Smash Mouth – All Star.
In chords: Dr John – Such a Night and The Who – Won’t Get Fooled Again.

July 2019

– 6 easy blues outros in C.
– I reviewed the chord and scale software Fretspace.
– The Big Chord Quiz.

In tabs: Billie Eilish – you should see me in a crown and BLACKPINK – Kill This Love.
In chords: Fontaines D.C. – Boys in the Better Land and Twenty One Pilots – Cut My Lip.

August 2019

– I tried to play two songs at once for reasons I can’t recall.
– Some acoustic riffs.

In tabs: Ella Fitzgerald/Bjork – I Remember You, Bon Iver – Marion and The Office Theme and Dunder Mifflin Jingle.
In chords: Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved and Jimi Hendrix – The Wind Cries Mary.

September 2019

– Some pop riffs.

In tabs: IDLES – Danny Nedelko, Daniel Johnston – True Love Will Find You, Hitman 2 – Santa Fortuna Town Theme, Matt Berry – Toast of London Theme and Only Connect Theme
In chords: Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello – Señorita, The Band – The Weight, They Might Be Giants – It Could Be Worse and Memphis Kansas Breeze – Human Skin Truck Baby.

October 2019

– Some Halloween riffs and a list of Halloween tabs and chords.

In tabs: Dick Gaughan – The World Turned Upside Down and The Decemberists – Shankill Butchers
In chords: Lizzo – Cuz I Love You and Nina Simone – I Put a Spell on You

November 2019

In tabs: They Might Be Giants Medley, The Princess Royal, DuckTales Theme and F.U.N. Song from SpongeBob SquarePants.
In chords: Splendora – You’re Standing On My Neck (Daria Theme) and The Clash – Spanish Bombs.

December 2019

– The 2019 Ukulele Christmas Quiz.

In tabs: Billie Eilish – idontwannabeyouanymore and Santa Baby.
In chords: Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal.

February 2020

– I launched a Patreon.
– Live ‘Ukulele’s 1234 Rule.

In tabs: BoJack Horseman Medley and Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.
In chords: Monty Python – Brave Sir Robin and The Rembrandts – I’ll Be There for You.

March 2020

– Tunes You Know But Can’t Name

In tabs: Warren Zevon – Don’t Let Us Get Sick, The Parting Glass and Chicken Reel.
In chords: The Strokes – Hard to Explain and Dexys Midnight Runners – Come on Eileen.

April 2020

– Five Free Tab eBooks.

In tabs: Bill Withers – Lean On Me, Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends, Al Green – Let’s Stay Together, Twin Peaks Theme, Lizzo – Truth Hurts, Kanye West – All of the Lights/Violent Crimes, The Beatles – Let It Be and The Lumineers – Gloria.

Gary Jules – Mad World (Tab)

This month’s most popular request on Patreon was Joern’s suggestion of Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World by Tears for Fears. Which is understandable in the current situation. But, boy, is it gloomy. I like some dour music but this one is a little too bleak for me.

On the upside, the melody is very easy to play. Other than the little trill at the end of the verse, every note is part of the chord it’s played over. So your fretting hand just has to play the chords. In the verses and the first part of the chorus I’m picking with the thumb on C, index on E and middle on A.

The tricky part is the riff in the intro and at the end of the chorus. Those parts use one finger per string picking and took me a bit of practice to get reliably down. And be sure to play the “maaaaad world” notes with a little extra force to make them stand out.

Links

Buy the Gary Jules version
More tabs and chords of songs from movies
Uke Hunt Patreon