Marcy Playground – Sex and Candy (Tab)

Following on from No Rain with another 90s one-hit wonder: Marcy Playgraound’s Sex and Candy.

The song only has verses and choruses but they still manage to sneak in three key changes. The verses are in G and the choruses in Bb.

The key change from the verse to the chorus is very smooth. Although the Bb note (A-string, 1st fret) isn’t in the key of G, we’ve heard it a lot in the Eb chord and the melody. So the transition that occurs during the “I smell sex and…” part is seamless.

The key change back at the end of the chorus calls attention to itself though. In bar 20 the chords shift down half a step to D to set up the key of G. A bit of theory: the most common way to change key is to play the V chord of the key you’re changing to. This sets up the new key rather than diving straight into it. In this case, D is the V chord of G.

Links

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Tracklist
Katy Carr – HEJ SOKO?Y
Vinícius Vivas – Apanhei-te
Alika Lyman, Elijah Oguma, Kalei Gamiao, Corey Fujimoto – Dean Town
Gerald Ross – Stop In The Name Of Love
SeattleUke – Groovin High
Ukulele Solos – Chasing Cars
Evan J De Silva – That’s What I Like
FlakeyMojo – The Immigrant Song

George Michael – Careless Whisper (Tab)

For this arrangement, I’ve stuck fairly closely to the George Michael original. But I’ve listened to the Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright version more often so some of that version has snuck into this arrangement. And, of course, the Sexy Sax Man version is definitive.

The chords are the same the whole way through: Dm – Gm7 – Bb – Am (the same key as the original). But things don’t get boring as you’ll be playing the chords in different inversions. And you can make things even more interesting by varying the dynamics as you’re playing.

There is a note played on the E-string, 13th fret in bar 14. If you playing a soprano and don’t have a 13th fret, you can replace that note with A-string, 8th fret.

Links

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Blind Melon – No Rain (Tab)

Here’s my take on Blind Melon’s massive 90s hit (at least partly thanks to Bee Girl).

The arrangement starts off with the iconic guitar riff. It’s a little challenging but sounds great on uke. I recommend learning this bit even if you don’t bother with the rest of the song.

The verse is nice and easy before the chorus moves things back up a notch.

But it’s the solo where things get lemon difficult. So I drop the chords all together for this arrangement. Which does leave things sounding a little sparse. But the solo does a great job of playing with tension so I think it just about works. The repeated pull-offs in bars 33 and 34 build up the tension which gets released with the slides down and up the neck in bar 35. That’s followed by a bluesy section with a rapid descending line finishing it off in bar 38.

Links

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When Johnny Comes Marching Home (Tab)

No one requested this one. I watched Dr Strangelove last week (for obvious reasons) and was inspired to knock up a quick version of this American Civil War tune from the soundtrack.

I’ve included a couple of fretting suggestions in the tab (the numbers underneath the tab). The trickiest bit is the fast move down the fretboard in bar 13. Originally I was playing all this bar in the fifth position (playing the E-string, 8th fret rather than A-string, 3rd fret). But I found this way made for a much more straightforward change to the F chord in bar 14.

Links

More traditional tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

On Video
– More evidence against the folks who say that if everyone played the ukulele the world would be a better place as Scott Morrison picks up the uke and makes a knob of himself. Not the only Slytherin uker.
– You can now get your ukulele delivered by drone.
– Kevin Bacon sings a song for a couple of goats (and Tom Brady).

New Releases
– Beirut have put out a retrospective album Artifacts including some old uke favourites and unreleased tracks.
– If you’ve been around here a while, you might remember Uke Hunt favourite Sanfordandsong. He’s back with a new duo The Incidentals. You can listen to and acquire their debut record on Bandcamp.

Window Shopping
– RIGuitars recreate Waylon Jennings’s guitar in uke form.
– KoAloha Koa Octapus.

Patreon

A massive thanks to all Uke Hunt’s Patreon backers for keeping the site up and running. And double thanks go to these legendary patrons of the arts:

– Arthur Foley
– Colleen Petticrew
– Dan
– Elizabeth Beardsley
– Fi Keane
– Izzy Gensel
– Jeff K
– Katherine Penney
– Kelby Green
– Kie77
– Leia-lee Doran
– Lisa Johnson
– Nevylle Carroll
– Nick Parsons
– Olga deSanctis
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
– Thorsten Neff

If you join Patreon at the Concert level or higher, you’ll get access to all previous exclusive tabs including February’s Jeremy by Pearl Jam

Curtis Mayfield – Move on Up

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Ritchie Valens – La Bamba

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Green Day – American Idiot

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Jack White – Lazaretto

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Maneskin – Zitti E Buoni

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Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now (Tab)

This has to be one of the most beautiful melodies of all time. Which makes for a perfect transition to the uke. The arrangement is based on the sublime acoustic version rather than the not so great later version.

Like many of Mitchell’s songs, the guitar part in Both Sides Now is a strummed open tuning with a few notes added on. That style doesn’t translate well to the uke. So I’ve taken it as licence to do whatever I like with the chords.

There’s nothing too challenging in the arrangement, so there’s plenty of room for interpretation. Be sure to play around with dynamics and timing to keep things interesting.

I came up with an intro/outro of my own so I encourage you to do likewise.

Links

Buy the original
More folk tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees (Tab)

A song from the more ukeable end of Radiohead’s career (although Dani Joy does a great There, There).

The arrangement is pretty straightforward. The trickiest part is the signature Jonny Greenwood ascending line in bars 24-25. Make sure you play the first verse nice and softly so you can create a juxtaposition with the second verse by blasting it out.

Links

Buy the original
More Radiohead tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon

Watch on YouTube

Tracklist
SeattleUke – Over The Top
Shinyribs – Bitch Better Have My Money Thanks to Phredd.
Keston Cobblers Club – Mrs Dixon
Bridge City Sinners – Pick Your Poison
Brittni Paiva – Easy On Me
Herman Vandecauter – Cacharera y Danza
Evan J De Silva – Volare
Diane Nalini Quartet – Agua de Beber
Nandy Sisters – Ai Giri Nandini