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.
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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.
Here’s my take on Buckets of Rain from Bob Dylan’s incredible album Blood on the Tracks.
This one gets a little fiddly in places. But there are only really two sections. So it’s not a lot to get down.
I’m using one finger per string picking all the way through. But there are a couple of places with quick repetition of notes on the same string where you might want to do a bit of alternate picking e.g. bar 8.
There’s a slight variation in the intro/solo section. In bar 20 and 21, you have to head up the neck for a slide.
In a shocking turn of events, it’s raining in England. So here’s Weezer’s Island in the Sun for some sunny vibes.
Intro: Just strumming out the chords. Be sure to make the “hip hip” bits stand out.
Verse and Chorus: Other than a slide up to the fifth fret in bars 5 and 9, this is all stays in the first position. It does get a little fiddly in places.
Bridge: Very straightforward. You can just bash this section out.
Solo: The solo in the original just follows the verse melody. For my version, I’ve beefed up the melody with a few harmonies. You could just play this section like the verses. Or you could go your own way entirely.