Bon Iver’s long-awaited return Speyside is a return to the stripped down sound of For Emma, Forever Ago. Which makes it very uke-suitable.
I’m playing it with a capo on the second fret. But that’s just to make it in the same key as the original. You can play it without the capo if you prefer.
There’s nothing physically difficult about the arrangement. The real challenge is keeping track of the time signature changes. If there’s any rhyme or reason to the time signature, I couldn’t find it. So I’ve just tabbed it how I felt it. Which means a new time signature each bar until it settles into 4/4 for the last few bars of each section.
A massive thanks again to the massive generosity of Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers for keeping the site up and running this month. And double thanks go to these legendary patrons of the arts:
And extra thanks to September’s Tenor level backers:
– Arthur Foley
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ely Fletcher
– Ivo
– Jeff K
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Leia-lee Doran
– Mary
– Moses Kamai
– Noah
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– WIlliam Soriano, D.C.
This arrangement lands somewhere near the Willie Nelson version with a lot of bluesy touches.
Intro: Starting of with an E minor chord set against chromatically descending notes on the C-string. This bit is mostly picking out notes from the chords with some short licks thrown in. It’s all fingerpicked until the strums leading into the verse in bars 7 and 8.
Verse: Nice and easy to play. The melody is contained and the chords are simple to play. Here I’m picking the melody and strumming everything else.
Chorus: The chorus is more of a challenge. Be sure to keep this section staccato (i.e. short notes) to set it against the more legato verses.
Solo: For the solo, I stuck closely to the chords and melody notes. Throwing in a few bluesy bends here and there. I get a bit more adventurous in the second half, throwing in some chromatic notes in bar 43 and an E minor pentatonic lick in bar 45. I’d recommend building your own solo using any ideas from this solo you like and playing in your own style.
Intro: The intro in the album version is much better than the single version. And suits the uke more. So that’s the version I went with.
Verse: The trickiest part of the song comes in bar 18 with a big jump up to the top of the neck. But there’s not much happening in the bar before it, so you have plenty of time.
Then you jump down in bar 17. You could make the jump sooner and change the 6-7-6 to 2-3-2 on the E-string (as it’s played in the rest of the song).
Chorus: Increasing the amount of strumming and picking harder in this section. In the second chorus, from “Let go of your heart” the melody is harmonised.
As well as Lou Reed, Herbie played bass for David Bowie, Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and many others. He contributed iconic bass lines to Walk on the Wild Side (which you can hear him talk about here), Space Oddity and Rock On. And, to top it off, he played tuba on Perfect Day.
This might be the first time I’ve arranged a b-side. But with Oasis reforming and the country being mad for it, I’ve tabbed my favourite Oasis song: Acquiesce.
It’s a very simple song. You’re just bashing out chords for the most part. The only wrinkle is the stretch at the start of the chorus (and in the repeats of that line). If you prefer, you can play it x565. But that requires a quick drop down for the next note.
A massive thanks again to the massive generosity of Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers for keeping the site up and running this month. And double thanks go to these legendary patrons of the arts:
And extra thanks to August’s Tenor level backers:
– Arthur Foley
– BigHempin
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ely Fletcher
– Ivo
– Jeff K
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Leia-lee Doran
– Mary
– Moses Kamai
– Noah
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– WIlliam Soriano, D.C.
For my arrangement of Nelly Furtado’s I’m Like a Bird, I’ve slowed things down a little. Which emphasises the song’s melancholy feel. And makes it easier to play. Which is helpful, as this one is challenging.
Intro: The start is nice and easy. Just fingerpicked chords with a slow melody on top.
Verse: The verse sticks with fingerpicking. There are a couple of quick hammer-ons to deal with. Then some alternate picked notes leading into the pre-chorus.
Pre-Chorus: The pre-chorus builds up with some strumming. And my favourite version of the Fmaj7 chord: 5500.
Chorus: Another step up in difficulty here. There’s a long series of hammer-ons and pull-offs in bar 24. You can make these really sound out by pulling downwards with your finger slightly for the pull-off. Almost as if you’re plucking the string with your fretting finger.
Bridge: I had a really hard time getting the phrasing right in bars 29-30. And I didn’t really manage it in the video. Listen to the original rather than mine to get it right. The odd phrasing continues through this section and into the modified pre-chorus that follows.
Sleater Kinney’s Modern Girl has a straightforwardness and sarcastic cheeriness that makes this one their most uke-able song.
Intro: The intro is a very simple bit of fingerpicking. It’s a good piece to try if you’re new to fingericking. The thumb picks everything on the C- and E-strings. And the middle finger picks the A-string. Then the index finger picks the E-string in bar 5 and from bar 10 onwards.
Verse: The picking gets trickier in this section. I’m mostly using one finger per string picking. But I play the rapid notes in bar 22 with alternate picking.
Chorus: A lot more strums in this section. But some more quick alternate picking in bar 26.
Solo: The harmonic solo is my favourite part of the song. And it’s pretty simple to play. The tricky part is the quick transition into the next verse.
