Loudon Wainwright – The Swimming Song (Tab)
A song from one of my favourite singer-songwriters (and occasional uker). With a hat-tip to Vetiver’s cover.
The song is a lot of fun to play. The arrangement is mostly bashing out the chords with a few hammer-ons and single notes thrown in. There are only two sections in the song and they’re virtually identical.
Buy the Loudon version
More Loudon Wainwright tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon
I must admit, I’d never heard of Agnes Obel until it was requested on Patreon. I looked it up expecting to find a niche artist and found the video had 35 million views. No doubt helped by the long list of TV shows it’s appeared in.
After the opening twiddle, the arrangement starts out with campanella playing. Let these notes ring into each other to build up the sound.
The trickiest bit comes in bar 15 with three open A-string notes played in quick succession. If you’re struggling with that, you can substitute the middle note with the g-string, 2nd fret. Or miss it out entirely.
The only other bits that might throw you are the slight finger-twister in bar 38 and the switch to 3/8 time for bar 42.
Playlist
Tyrone and Lesley – No Words
Ember Knight – The Carousel Song
Raelyn Nelson Band – Friend
The Sonder Bombs – k.
Vivian Kim – Chopin waltz in Am
Jonathan Lewis – Arpeggios From Heaven
Erlend Øye & La Comitiva – Lockdown Blues Thanks to Phredd.
The O’Pears – Stay Warm
Giovanni Albini – El Noi de la Mare
Louis Phipps – Berry Bushes
A massive thanks as always to the Uke Hunt Patreon backers. And double thanks to January’s Tenor backers:
– Alina Morosanu.
– Arthur Foley.
– Colleen Petticrew.
– Dan.
– Elizabeth Beardsley.
– Fiona Keane.
– Katherine Penney.
– Kie77.
– Leia-lee Doran.
– Lisa Johnson.
– Mr Daniel Barclay.
– Nick Parsons.
– Olga deSanctis.
– Pat Weikle.
– Pauline LeBlanc.
– Sandi Clement.
– Thorsten Neff.
– Thaun.
– Trevor Mccravy.
When Toploader’s cover of Dancing in the Moonlight (originally by King Harvest) turned out to be the most liked request on Patreon this month, I was unsure about taking it on. It was played to death when it came out and I inevitably ended up loathing up. But I had a lot of fun playing it. And it’s as much of an ear-worm as it ever was.
My version is heavily based on Toploader’s. But it does take a few elements from the King Harvest version in the solo. And it steers very clear of Liza Minelli’s nutso take.
John Williams proved he’s still got it with this theme. His best since Harry Potter, in my estimation. Give Sideways’ video a watch for an overview of why.
The theme has three sections. I play the first theme in two different ways. A single-note version in the intro (picked with thumb and two fingers) and a beefed-up version starting in bar 11 (picked one finger per string). This is my favourite section to play. Like the Imperial March, the rhythm alone is powerful and immediately Star Wars-y. And varying the dynamics is very effective.
The second part starts in bar 7 is slower and more stately. It’s also the easiest section to play.
The third part (starting in bar 15) is the most melodic. In the original version, the first theme pops up in the background orchestration. I’ve included this in bar 18. It’s a little tricky to play. If you want to skip it, you can just pluck a few notes from the C5 chord in that bar.
A very obvious choice for the first tab of 2021.
It’s a short and sweet tune from Vampire Weekend’s latest album with a lovely melody and a laid-back solo. The biggest challenge is some rapid melody notes. I’ve dropped a few notes to make it easier to play.
Buy the original
More Vampire Weekend tabs and chords
Uke Hunt Patreon
When I got my first ukulele, I was completely clueless. This was in those dark, long forgotten days before the internet had been discovered. I didn’t even realise that the strings weren’t supposed to go thickest to thinnest and restrung it.
But you can save yourself from the social disgrace I experienced. I’ve put together a free mini-ebook covering the basics that every first time uke owner needs to know. Here’s what it contains:
Five Things to Know
Five Chords to Learn
Five Patterns to Strum
Five Songs to Play
Five Websites to Visit
Five Things to Get Free
Five Things to Buy
Five Videos to Watch
Five YouTube Channels to Subscribe to
You can download it free by clicking here:
And get playing by following the beginner ukulele lessons.
If you’re not new to ukulele but know someone who is feel free to pass it along. It has a Creative Commons license so distribute it as you wish.
Merry Christmas, Chanukah Sameach, Io Saturnalia, Feliz Natal and Happy Holidays! (If you can be arsed with it this year.)
That’s it from me for this year (other than the ebook for new ukers). I’ll be back at the end of January 2021 (year of the Daug7 chord, nice).
If you’re after some Christmas music and you’re as Spotify user here’s my Christmas Ukulele playlist. Or, if you’re sick of Christmas music, my playlist of ukulele selections from 2020.
If you can’t stand to be without a steady stream of uke, I’ll be posting on Instagram, on Twitter and Patreon. Speaking of which…
I’ve been blown away by the amount of support I’ve received since starting the Uke Hunt Patreon in February. The amount of support has far exceeded my expectations and I’m overwhelmingly grateful to everyone who has supported the site.
All that support means I’ve been able to up the amount of tabs I’m putting out. By my count, I added 59 full tabs to the site this year compared to 34 last year. And that’s not including the monthly Patreon-only tabs.
And extra thanks to December’s Tenor backers:
– Alina Morosanu.
– Arthur Foley.
– Colleen Petticrew.
– Dan.
– Douglas.
– Elizabeth Beardsley.
– Fiona Keane.
– Joseph Freeman.
– Katherine Penney.
– Kie77.
– Leia-lee Doran.
– Lisa Johnson.
– Mr Daniel Barclay.
– Nick Parsons.
– Olga deSanctis.
– Pat Weikle.
– Pauline LeBlanc.
– Sandi Clement.
– Thorsten Neff.
– Trevor Mccravy.
Last month’s Patreon-only tab for concert level backers and up was November Rain by Guns N’ Roses.
It’s here. With cheer. It’s the same every year. It’s the Christmas UkeTube.
Tracklist
Tripping Lily – Santa Will Find You
The Mad Tea Party – Oh Shit, It’s Christmastime!
Eliel Carvalho – Jingle Bells
The O’Pears – Bleak Midwinter / River
Vinícius Vivas – White Christmas
Memphis Ukulele Band – Holidays Ain’t the Same (Without You)
Allison Young – The Christmas Waltz
Kamakakehau Fernandez – Christmas Luau
Leftover Cuties – Christmas Time Is Here
Ukulele Solos – Fairytale of New York
I was a massive Oasis fan around the time of Definitely Maybe. So it’s a surprise it’s taken me this long to get around to doing one of their songs. Don’t Look Back in Anger took on a new significance after the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 when it was spontaneously sung at the memorial.
The song is standard Oasis fare with heavy references/blatant pilfering from the Beatles in both the lyrics and the music. Plus a bunch of major pentatonic noodling. I skipped the guitar solo (since it’s meandering and not particularly memorable). But I have included the widdles at the end of the pre-chorus and chorus, which add to the song and are fun to play.
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