Hope And Social – Sunrise Laughing
Coi Leray x Einer Bankz – Do Better
Kawika Kahiapo – Na Puna Lei Ilima
TANA & THE POCKET PHILHARMONIC – The Pirate's Son
RIO with Carl Herring – Bluesette
Tiffany Topol – Heart Throbbing Heart
EatMyUke – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
KimaMusic – Pretty Venom (Interlude)
Herman Vandecauter – Dance of the Bear
Ra/Laura Currie – Treehouse
Tyrone – Beautiful Cosmos
In these divided times it’s comforting to know that Kanye lovers and Kanye haters can unite in hating Kanye.
Like James Brown and Duke Ellington, one of Kanye’s under-appreciated skills is finding talented collaborators and pushing them to make their best work. For the first piece in this little medley, he worked with arranger Rosie Danvers. Who until that point had mostly worked with British artists and recently worked on Dave’s showstopping performance at the BRITS.
Kanye had a whole raft of collaborators on Violent Crimes (including an unexpected writing credit for the drummer form Pond). But the standout collaborator here is 070 Shake who was signed to Kanye’s label from nowhere and was immediately phenomenal on this album.
The two songs tackle the subject of loss of innocence in two different ways. Lyrically and musically. All of the Lights uses basic chords and a simple, emotional melody. Violent Crimes uses a maze of complex jazz chords. But I think they work together very nicely.
Violent Crimes on Amazon
All of the Lights (Interlude) on Amazon
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Today’s tab comes courtesy of Nicolas Fingerstyle Ukulele. He has a great channel and I highly recommend checking it out.
This arrangement uses low-G tuning. And it’ll need some readjustments to transfer to high-g. But in either tuning the chord changes are tasty. Particularly bars 17-18 (the fourth row on page 2).
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Follow Nicolas on YouTube
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Thanks to Patron Jeff for suggesting this one. It transfers to ukulele very nicely and is in the same key as the original.
It’s mostly played with thumb and two finger picking. But there’s strumming when things get rowdy in the second verse and at the end of the solo.
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Finishing off this bonus Patreon week with a request from Taras. A fitting request since this week sees the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks.
Other than some thumb action in bars 27 and 28, I’m using one finger per string picking all the way through. And thanks to the slow pace, it’s mostly easy going.
There are some big stretches in section C. So here’s an alternative version of bars 21 to 24:
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It was so sad to hear of the death of Bill Withers last weekend. He always filled with such warmth it’s hard not to love him.
For my little tribute I went with Lean On Me. It has such a strong melody that I kept the arrangement very simple. For the first verse and the choruses I’m picking out the melody with one finger per string picking including some fake strums where the chords and melody intersect. There are also a bunch of supporting chords to keep the tune going that are just strummed in the normal fashion.
The middle section is picked mainly with my index finger. But it’s just one note at a time so you can play it however you like. And then the second verse breaks it down to just the melody (on the E-string) harmonised with thirds (on the g-string).
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Use Me is my favourite Bill Withers song. It’s not as well suited to uke as Lean On Me, but that riff is funky.
Starting up the Uke Hunt Patreon has really lit a fire under me to do some tabs. So much so, this is an extra week of tabs to ease the backlog a little. Starting with a request from Patron Daniel who wanted a Lizzobanger.
This arrangement uses a few elements from the SNL version of the tune featuring Celisse Henderson wailing on the guitar. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw her. Celisse is a uker and a Uke Hunt favourite from way back.
Firstly, the arrangement starts off with a lick adapted from Celisse’s intro. And, secondly, the bridge is also follows the SNL version. Other than that, it sticks pretty closely to the original.
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Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (Chords)
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Tracklist
Vinícius Vivas – There Will Be Some Changes Made
Bridge City Sinners – Song of the Siren
Desirée Dawson – All In
Del Rey – Be Sweet To Me
Ukulollo – Once Upon A Time In The West
BananaCactus – Cherry
Elisabetta e Alessandro – Nina si voi dormite
Choan Gálvez – Jota's Blues
Herman Vandecauter – T'Soude Een Meijsken Gaen Om Wijn!
Annier Lee – Indifference
SeattleUke – Second Star
Live ‘Ukulele has a collection of “80 easy ‘ukulele songs for beginners with 3 or 4 chords”.
Vinícius Vivas has started a series of finger-twisting licks in his Toca aí! series that you can see demonstrated on his Instagram.
Lil Rev is doing a series of free online ukulele classes on Mead Public Library’s Facebook. You can watch the first class here.
Taimane played NPR’s Tiny Desk.
A nurse gives some corona advise with her ukulele.
Boxer, Joe Louis playing ukulele in 1937.
A combination of Patreon support and global lockdown has lit a fire under me to work on tabs recently. So next week I’m planning a bonus week of tabs requested by Patrons. So a big thanks to all the backers. Particular thanks go to March’s Tenor backers:
– Douglas.
– Denise Ghalebi.
– Joseph Freeman.
– Nancy.
– Pauline Leblanc.
– Trevor Mccravy.
Patreon posts in the last month include:
– Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up.
– Kanye West’s All of the Lights (Interlude)/Violent Crimes.
– The Fantasy theme from One Night Ultimate Werewolf.
– Lizzo’s Truth Hurts.
– And March’s exclusive for Concert level and up backers: Prince’s Purple Rain.
I was inspired to do a version of this Ross Parker and Hughie Charles classic after hearing Sophie Madeleine’s ukulele cover being used as the backing for a COVID-19 video that’s been doing the rounds.
The arrangement isn’t very taxing but there are a few jazz chords you may not be familiar with in there. And there’s plenty of space for you to add your own little runs and ideas if that’s your bag.
Buy the Vera Lynn version
Buy the Sophie Madeleine version
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