Intro and Verse: Based on a descending chord progression and a simple melody line. Nothing challenging here.
Chorus: Here’s where the challenge starts. There’s an ascending riff on the C-string going along side the busier melody. I’ve used a bit of campanella style playing to deal with the quick notes.
Solo: Heavily based on the verse with a few extra twiddles. A good place to play around with your own ideas.
I started the Uke Hunt Patreon three years ago and the support of Patreons has made a massive difference for the site. A huge thank you to all the backers. It’s tough times for everyone at the moment and I deeply appreciate you choosing to support the site. With the UK currently circling the drain of history, Patreon supporters have been what’s keeping me and the site up and running.
As a bonus for backers, all Patreons get tabs as soon as the video goes up. And there’s a monthly tab request thread with most tabs now being requests from Patreon. There are also more rewards for higher tiers:
Finally, Tenor level backers ($10 per month and up) get their names immortalised as Medicean-level patrons of the arts along with these exceptional folks:
– Arthur Foley
– Dan
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ivo
– Jameson Gagnepain
– Jeff K
– Jeff Otto
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Kie77
– Lisa Johnson
– Monika Kolodziejczyk
– Moses Kamai
– Nevylle Carroll
– Nick Parsons
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– T S
– Thorsten Neff
I’m back and I’m starting the year how I intend to carry on: with pessimistic miserablism in the form of Garbage’s Only Happy When It Rains.
Verse: Not wasting any time with an intro. Since the melody does a lot of switching between A and G, I’m taking advantage of the re-entrant string and using the open A and G notes. I love how well the bent notes at the fifth fret work here.
Chorus: Switching to a major key for a fairly jaunty chorus melody.
Solo: Nothing too flashy here. If you do want to get flashy, you could replace some of the notes at the third fret at the start of the bars in the second half with notes bent at the second fret. That’s more true to the original but tricky to pull off (particularly on the E chord).
Outro: A bit of stretch here when you’re playing Am then hitting the A-string, 5th fret.
If you can’t stand to be without a steady stream of uke, I’ll be posting on Instagram, on Twitter (if I can stomach it – Mastodon if I can’t) and Patreon. Speaking of which…
Patreon
I’ve been blown away by the amount of support I’ve received since starting the Uke Hunt Patreon. The amount of support has far exceeded my expectations and I’m overwhelmingly grateful to everyone who has supported the site. Your support has meant that, by my count, there have been 52 full tabs added to the site this year. Plus 12 more Patreon-only tabs.
And extra thanks to December’s Tenor backers:
– Arthur Foley
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dan
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ivo
– Jameson Gagnepain
– Jeff K
– Jeff Otto
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Kie77
– Lisa Johnson
– Monika Kolodziejczyk
– Moses Kamai
– Nevylle Carroll
– Nick Parsons
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– T S
– Thorsten Neff
Intro: I did an extended intro based on the verse chords. It’s a little tricky so feel free to adapt it however you like. Or just replace the whole thing with one bar of G like the original.
Verse: First time around, this section is picked (using one finger per string picking). Second time is more loose and strummed with a few notes picked out.
Chorus: The funnest part of the song with a big G chord on the “HEY!”
Solo: Lots of room for your own ideas here too. You could make it as simple as strumming the chords and throwing in a few sus2 and sus4 chords.
Intro: Starting off in usual fashion with Eb leading into G major. The Bb note (A-string, 1st fret) suggests G minor so the G major chord is a little surprising.
Verse: I’m fingerpicking this section the first two times it’s played. The third I’m using some strumming particularly on the Gsus4-G bit. You can do that every time if you prefer.
Chorus: The Eb chord crops up again creating discord under the line, “Everybody’s having fun,” and suggesting the Christmas isn’t as merry as claimed. If that was intentional, Noddy Holder is a more nuanced songwriter than I gave him credit for.
Bridge: I had forgotten this section existed. But it does give us the Gm that has been hinted at since the intro.
A massive thanks to all 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:
– Alana Fiala
– Arthur Foley
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dan
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ivo
– Jameson Gagnepain
– Jeff K
– Jeff Otto
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Kie77
– Lisa Johnson
– Monika Kolodziejczyk
– Moses Kamai
– Nevylle Carroll
– Nick Parsons
– Olga deSanctis
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– T S
– Thorsten Neff
Intro and Verse: It starts off straightforwardly in G minor.
Chorus: A switch to G major and a busier melody make for an upbeat chorus. The octaves in 20 and 24 are tricky to play. If you’re struggling, you can play either the top or bottom line alone.
Solo: My version of the solo is only loosely based on the original. There’s plenty of room for making it your own. Bars 37-38 are a pain in the arse to play. But also the best bars in the whole song.
