Choan Gálvez has a new album coming out this week: Lullabies for Astronauts. Like his last record, the album comes with uke tabs for all the tunes.
And Choan was kind enough to let me post the tab to one of the pieces here. I enjoyed the tune so much I recorded my own version:
Buy/pre-order Lullabies for Astronautson Bandcamp
Choan’s Jiga de los Buenos Dias tab
Choan’s If I Had You tab
With the release of the latest game in the Life is Strange series, they continue to pander to my musical taste. Making it time to add a couple more to my collection of songs from the series.
I have covered the intro for LiSztomania. But I wanted to expand that out into the full song. Which was more of a challenge than I expected. With each instrument adding their own little part to the arrangement is difficult to capture that in straight chords. I’ve used some less common chord inversions in the chart to try to capture the sound of the original better. But feel free to experiment with your own inversions and find what you prefer.
Even better would be an arrangement for a ukulele group. There are so many textures in this song with the intro riffs snaking in and out I think it’d work very well.
With this arrangement I’ve matched the the original track as closely as possible.
And here’s a version trying to pack all of them onto one uke. Which involves switching between C5, C and C9 chords.
Buy it on iTunes
More Life is Strange tabs and chords
I’m not sure how many of these they can justify an eight year old listening to with the, “I know it from Rock Band,” excuse but I’m very happy to see classic Bloc Party crop up.
Playlist
Andy Eastwood – Korobeiniki (Tetris Theme)
Tricity Vogue’s All Girl Swing Band – Don’t Bring Lulu
Natasha Ghosh – Fake Love / I Need U
The Croonaders – Blue Grass
Chas & Dave- Wonder Where He Is Now?
Julián Rodríguez – Tinta Roja (Via @ukeist
Doctor Guapo – 12th St. Rag & When You’re Smiling
Emblues Beer Band – Queijo e Pão
I screwed up the t-shirt launch earlier this week. I managed to launch the US campaign with only the women’s tee. I’ve got it fixed and you can pre-order the men’s/unisex tee from US here. And you can still get the shirt distributed from the US here.
Kala has filed a UBass trademark lawsuit.
The Ukulele Festival of Hawaii have opened applications for their 2019 scholarship.
On Video
– Manitoba Hal explains the Nashville number system.
– 0.8 seconds of ukulele action in the trailer for Stan and Ollie.
– Feng E appears on Ellen.
Window Shopping
– Romero Creations uke following the tiny head trend and make me oddly uncomfortable.
– 1928 Washburn 5319.
– Gibson custom shop tenor.
I decided to write up this song after it cropped up in my post on augmented chords. And it quickly became obvious it would have to be a group arrangement. It’s impressively constructed. For most arrangements I can remove a few bits without losing too much. But all the parts here seem essential to the song.
Nothing too challenging in the vocal part (top left of the video). I’m using fingerpicking but you could easily use a pick for the same arrangement. And a pick would help this part stand out if you’re playing in a group.
This is the most challenging part (top right of the video) and uses both fingerpicking and strumming. You fingerpick in the quieter sections and switch to strumming in the loud bits. Tip: if all four strings are played at once it’s strummed, if it’s three or less it’s picked.
My favourite part to play (bottom left of the video). As well as the great lick in the intro, it gives you a chance to rock out on the big chords in bridge section. To fill out the sound, I’ve used different inversions of the chords.
This part (bottom right of the video) starts and ends harmonizing the opening guitar riff. Between that it’s based on the marimba part in the song. Playing the piano riff an octave higher in the bridge and partially following the vocals in the chorus. There’s a lot of empty space in this part. So if you’re playing as part of a group this part could join in with the chords in the bridge section.
I’m playing this part on guitar because my place is too small to contain a bass. But you can play this part exactly as written on bass.
Just to add some percussive sounds I’m playing a uke with all the strings muted. At the start of the verse I use this strumming pattern:
d u D U d u D U
That part drops out for chorus and follows the rhythm of the strummed chords for the big chords in the bridge.
For those – like me – who have no friends, here’s a backing track you can play the melody along with.
It’s Uke Hunt t-shirt season again! Every year around this time I do a run of t-shirts. This year you can buy them from either the US or the UK:
I’m using Teespring again this year. It is sort of a Kickstart for t-shirts. So you put in an order for your shirt, if there are enough orders by the end of the campaign the shirts are made and sent out. You’re not charged anything until the end of the campaign (and you’re not charged at all if the shirt doesn’t reach its goal). This way of doing it means all the shirts are printed at once and exactly the right shirts and sizes are made.
So if you want one of the shirts they’ll only be available until 18th October.
I’ve been using Teespring for many years now and it’s always worked well. My shirt came here (the UK) quickly and without any hassle. It’s nice quality. The one I have is five years old and it’s still in good shape. You can see it on a devastatingly handsome model in my recent videos.
In the US there are two different styles: the standard fit American Apparel crew-neck (at the top of the post) and the v-neck Bella Missy slim fit (directly above). Both are $22 plus shipping from the US.
The UK shirts are described as “Unisex Organic T-Shirt”. They’re both £22 from the UK including VAT (if you’re in a different EU country VAT should be charged at your local rate).
For more information on the shirts and the system take a look at Teespring’s FAQ.
Last week’s Better Call Saul had an excellent ukulele version of Something Stupid by Lola Marsh. They discussed the track at length on the Insider Podcast and revealed it was commissioned for the show. Explaining why it fits so well. Down to the stereo split of the vocals matching the split screen.
For this sheet, I’ve written up Frank and Nancy Sinatra’s version and used a capo on the fourth fret. That makes most of the chords much more straightforward. But there’s still the Ab that may need some practice.
You can keep the strumming very simple and use this as your main strum:
d u d u
Intro and Solo: Main strum once per chord.
Verses: Main strum once per chord until the C7. Main strum four times on C7, twice each on F and Ab. Then back to the main strum once per chord for the rest.
Middle: Main strum four times per chord.
Here’s a version of the opening lick played without a capo.
The solo fits very nicely on the uke with a capo on the fourth fret. So I arranged this version that includes both the chords and the melody line. Here’s a version with just the melody line if you prefer that.
Buy it on iTunes
More Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad tabs and chords
A new arrangement by David Beckingham. This time a tune originally recorded by King Oliver’s Jazz Band in 1923. But David’s version leans more towards Stefan Grossman’s
Buy Stefan Grossman’s version
David Beckingham on YouTube
More David Beckingham tabs
Tracklist
Feng E – Silence in the Storm
Victoria Vox – Sound of Silence
João Tostes & Vinícius Vivas – Brasileirinho
Molly Lewis – Pantsuit Sasquatch
Aerosmith, The Roots & Jimmy Fallon – Walk This Way
MARLOWE and MATTHEW – My Favorite Part
Eden Kai – Imagination
Herman Vandecauter – Valse nr.1 Luigi Sagrini
Skippa Da Flippa x Einer Bankz – Faze Me
Choan Gálvez – Nana para Greta
On Video
– I’m back doing seven second ukulele lessons on Instagram (that are rarely seven seconds long). Tabs so far include Sweet Child O’ Mine, Anyone Who Knows What Love Is and the new ones from You Me At Six and Rodrigo Y Gabriela.
– George Formby Society president bungees off Tees Transporter Bridge.
– Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick celebrate 30 years of marriage by ukeing together.
Listening
– Buke and Gase are back after a long hiatus with their heavily modified bariton uke and two new songs: Pink Boots and No Land.
– Recent additions to the Ukulele 2018 Spotify playlist include Spiritualized, Amanda Shires, twenty one pilots, Mt Joy and Molly Lewis.
Window Shopping
– Kamaka ukulele celebrating their 100th anniversary.
– Little River ukulele with humuhumunukunuku?pua’a fish inlay.
– KoAloha Naupaka Tenor.
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