The little instrumental break in the original song sounds great on the uke. So I decided to use that as the intro. It is also the most difficult part of the arrangement to play, though. After that, the verse and pre-chorus are straightforward. The chorus does have a couple of trips up the neck to contend with.
I don’t think there’s a better instrument pairing than ukulele and double bass. They’re made for each other. And that pairing is shown off on Tyrone and Lesley’s beautiful record Have No Words. The album almost entirely forgoes vocals in favour of their perfectly crafted music (which has always been my favourite aspect of their releases). I highly recommend giving it a listen.
For the past few years Einer Bankz has been playing ukulele with a vast number of young rappers. As in all genres, a ukulele accompaniment really separates those with skills from those without.
In 2021 he teamed up with Polo G to create the instantly catchy RAPSTAR. The song went straight to the top of the charts and became the first ukulele record to hit number 1 since Hey Soul Sister.
Written by Mickey Ioane and made famous by IZ, Hawai’i ’78 is such a musically and emotionally powerful song. IZ’s version is so great most covers leave me cold (even those by people whose music I’m a fan of). But I found Kawehi’s version deeply touching.
These days, almost all tabs I do are requests from Patreon members. Which means I’m tackling a lot of songs I really should have done years ago. And Space Oddity is certainly one of those. I had a lot of fun putting in harmonics to suit the spacey setting and messing with the solo. A lot of fun to play.
Best Non-Ukulele Record of 2021: Kanye West – Donda
I was expecting this album to be a disaster. If it even came out at all. Kanye has been increasingly unhinged, the first listening party for the album was unimpressive and he decided to make the album in a football stadium he refused to leave. But it turned out to be one of the best albums of his career.
The record makes an honest account of his mistakes, moral failings, the breakdown of his marriage and the loss of his mother. Along with his attempts to create a more fulfilling and spiritual life. Culminating with the most cathartic moment on any album I’ve heard: Come to Life. The build up of shimmering pianos and distorted guitar at the end breaks me down every time I hear it.
Springsteen’s steamy I’m On Fire has to be the only seduction song that goes into detail about how wet the protagonist’s bed is.
The intro is my favourite part to play. It’s just and F chord and Dm7 both with the g-string open. But it’s very effective. I add a bit of palm muting here (i.e. resting the side of my picking hand very gently on the strings near the bridge).
The intro is picked thumb and two finger style. After that I go rogue. Throwing in alternate picking and a few strums where it suits.
I was interview by Lil’ Rev. There were in-depth questions and he did a great write-up. Including some very kind quotes from people who I thought had no idea I existed.
The ukuleles-in-schools debate seems to have resurfaced. As well as taking over the recorder (not a bad idea to move away from an instrument that involves inhaling the spittle of the previous player), the ukulele is now killing off the classical guitar. Even the UOGB’s George Hinchliffe has weighed in.
New Releases
– Jake Shimabukuro’s star-studded Jake and Friends.
– Craig Robertson’s Ukulele ’21 includes rerecordings of 9 previously released songs and a couple of new ones chord charts for all the tunes.
– Markus Rantanen’s instrumental Ukulele 2.
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
– Jeff K
– Katherine Penney
– Kelby Green
– Kie77
– Leia-lee Doran
– Lisa Johnson
– Mr Daniel Barclay
– Nick Parsons
– Olga deSanctis
– Pat Weikle
– Pauline LeBlanc
– Robert
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– Thorsten Neff
My Girl is a Motown classic written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White. And first performed by The Temptations. A bit of the Otis Redding version might have slipped into this arrangement, too.
The riff in My Girl (first played in bar 3) shows how effective a very simple riff can be. It just goes up the major pentatonic scale in C and later in F. Things get a little more complicated when you try to mix the melody in. Make sure you play the riff more softly because the notes are in the same range as the melody. For example, in bar 8 the first time you play the A-string, 3rd fret it’s part of the riff and the second time it’s part of the melody. So you need to distinguish the two or it’ll all blur into one.
I’ve used a couple of artificial harmonics in the chorus. If you haven’t got those down yet, you can play those notes at the 15th fret or just keep them at the third fret and play them softly.
There’s a key change in the original version. But it’s pretty tricky to play in D so I’ve cut the solo section before the change to keep things simple.
Verdi’s Triumphal March is one of those ubiquitous tunes you’ll know even if you don’t think you do. And Herman’s minimal and highly effective arrangement draws out those elements.
Like the original, the arrangement is sparse. Which lets the melody shine all the more. It also makes it fairly simple to play. There’s a stretch with the pinkie finger in bars 13 and 29. But otherwise not much to trip you up.
If you’re looking to entertain over the festive season, it’s time to start polishing up your holiday tunes and learning a few new ones. Here’s a rundown of everything Christmassy and seasonal on the site.
Blood Sugar Sex Magik is packed with great riffs and this one is no exception. It works nicely on the uke too. Well worth learning it even if you’re not learning the whole song.
The intro and the verse are all played with thumb and two finger picking. With the exception of the rapid notes on the E-string, 3rd fret in bar 10 where I’m using alternate picking to keep up the speed. The part I struggled with here is the pull-off between bars 10 and 11. It involves holding a note on the C-string while pulling off on the A-string. For an easier version, you can skip the note on the C-string.
The chorus is fairly straightforward with most of it being chord strums apart from the riff.
The solo uses a few elements from the original. But I’ve changed it up to suit my own playing and I suggest you do the same.
