Stereophonics – Handbags and Gladrags (Tab)

Handbags and Gladrags was written by, lead singer of Manfred Mann, Mike d’Abo in the sixties. But it wasn’t until the song was used as the theme to The Office (UK) and Stereophonics released a version that it became a hit. And it’s that version I based this arrangement on.

Intro: The first four bars are the sweet oboe melody. Then the bluesier piano riff comes in bar 5 (which is my favourite part).

Verse: The verse melody itself is very simple. The tricky part is quickly moving all the way up the neck for the piano riff. If you don’t fancy that, you can always sub in the oboe line for the piano line.

Chorus: Also needs a few jumps around the neck but they’re not so big and quick. There’s a big stretch at the start of bar 16 to watch out for.

Solo: The big brass solo is just three notes played over and over again.

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 double thanks go to these legendary patrons of the arts:

And extra thanks to March’s Tenor level backers:

– Arthur Foley
– Brian
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dennis Boutsikaris
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Ely Fletcher
– Ivo
– Jeff K
– Jon Kenniston
– Kelby Green
– Leia-lee Doran
– Mary
– Nevylle Carroll
– 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 62 previous exclusive tabs including March’s War Pigs by Black Sabbath

R.E.M. – Nightswimming (Tab)

Today I’m talkin’ REM RE:you and doing a version of Nigthswimming.

The chords for this one are very simple, and the melody fits nicely on the fretboard. But the way the vocals shift unevenly against the chords made this tricky for me to get my head around.

The other challenge is to keep the vocal melody distinct from the backing (both the chords and the piano runs e.g. bar 8) by giving the melody notes an extra-hard pluck.

Links

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Green Day – American Idiot (Tab)

Green Day’s American Idiot doesn’t require a whole lot finesse. Just blasting out the strums all the way through. The hardest bit is making sure the strum blocking is effective in the parts where there’s just a vocal melody.

The solo is just messing around with the chorus melody and chords. Lots of scope for you to come up with your own set of chord inversions here.

Links

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Watch on YouTube

Tracklist
Kingside – Shake
UkuleleJarmo – Billie’s Bounce
Lil Rev w/ Jim Eannelli – Sandy Boys
Kawehi – Seven Nation Army/Rumour Has It
Summer Williams – Promises
Ryo Natoyama – Follow Your Heart
Jan Laurenz – Ukulele suite in D minor
Nora Fox – As the Sky Unfolds

Pinky & the Brain Theme (Tab)

The Pinky and the Brain theme is a lot of fun to play. I always love a bit of strum blocking on the riff, i.e. strumming all the strings and muting all but one. It gives the tune a forceful, percussive sound that you can’t get from just picking.

Links

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The Smiths – There is a Light That Never Goes Out (Tab)

Keeping it Manchester themed after Joy Division, here’s The Smiths’ There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

Intro: A quick intro previously used by Marvin Gaye, The Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground. It uses one of Marr’s favourite tricks: letting open strings ring through chord changes.

Verse: The verse is all in the first position. Mostly just switching between Dm and Csus4. There’s a little lick in bars 25-26 which I play first time round but not second time (where I substitute in bars 9-10).

Chorus: The chorus is a step up in difficulty. In bars 39 and 47, there’s a big stretch to the fifth fret while playing Bb. If you want to make it easier, you could just play the A-string, 5th fret by itself. Or play the C-string open if you want a fuller sound.

In bar 43 of the second chorus (“heavenly way to dieeeee”), I accidentally played bar 51 (“Pleasure and the privilege is mine”). So play what’s written rather than my screw up.

Outro: A nice, easy strummed outro.

Links

Buy the original
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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 double thanks go to these legendary patrons of the arts:

And extra thanks to February’s Tenor level backers:

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

If you join Patreon at the Concert level or higher, you’ll get access to all 61 previous exclusive tabs including February’s The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart (Tab)

Don your Joy Division oven gloves for a round of Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Intro/Outro: This section ramps up the tension and anticipation. In the original, the bass plays an A power chord, and the guitar plays an Em chord. Combined, these produce an A9 chord.

This arrangement moves the song down a step. So the G5 and Dm create a G9 chord. The intro chord also includes a 4th (the C note on the A-string) for an extra bit of tension.

Chorus: This section flows so smoothly on ukulele. I love playing it. Which is handy because it makes up most of the song.

Verse: The verse I found less natural to play. The melody here fits more awkwardly against the chords to fit the song’s lyrical theme.

Links

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Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack (Tab)

Ray Charles’s Hit the Road Jack is tricky to play. Mostly because it’s so quick. I’ve slowed it slightly from the original. But it’s still a challenge.

Intro: This sets up two aspects that run through the whole song. First, the descending pattern of Dm-C-Bb-A7. And second, the liberal use of chnks.

Chorus: This continues the pattern from intro and adds the melody on top. There’s a trip up the neck for the “no more…” part that requires some quick and accurate jumps.

Verse: The melody here is quick and relentless. I’ve included a few bits of campanella playing to fit them all in. This is the section I had the most trouble with.

Solo: I went with a very ukulele-style solo. So it’s almost all chord strumming with a lot of movement all over the neck. Then finishing off with a quick run.

Links

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