Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don’t forget your booties ’cause it’s cooooold out there today.
Like Tuesday’s post, this one uses the slightly unusual 6/8 time signature. That means each bar is two sets of three beats. I like to count the bars 1,2,3,2,2,3. But 1,2,3,1,2,3 and 1,2,3,4,5,6 will also work. Or you could just clap along in an awkward, flat-handed manner.
This arrangement starts out with one finger per string. Then switches to thumb and two finger from bar 17. Then as the song builds you start strumming in bar 23 with occasional picked notes.
To keep things simple, I’ve skipped the key change in the song. If you’re feeling ambitious you can do it by moving everything from bar 37 onwards up a fret. You’ll also need to rejigger bars 41, 45 and 46 to 10-8-9-11.
I’ve been putting up little tab videos on Instagram and Twitter for a while now. Here’s a collection of the rap & hip hop tunes I’ve done since I started.
Chris Stapleton must have taken a chunk of inspiration from I’d Rather Go Blind for Tennessee Whiskey. It’s the same two chords, same time signature, similar tempo and uses similar guitar lines.
Suggested Strumming
For the strumming I like to use:
d – d u d –
Do that four times for each chord written (the chord chart shows Bm then Bm again and A then A again so really you’re doing the pattern eight times).
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An update on my capo post from a few weeks back. My clamp capo (the one I recommended) snapped in two this week. I still recommend that style of capo but perhaps go with a less junky brand.
This is a follow on from the Hanging Tree tab in a few ways. As well as the Hunger Games connection, I’ve tried to keep the arrangement as minimal and easy to play as possible.
The arrangement draws heavily on Lorde’s sparse, minor key version. But it also includes elements of the Tears for Fears original since I couldn’t get that version out of my head.
I use thumb and two finger picking for my version but it’s arranged so you can play it all just using your thumb.
Time to test your chord knowledge and musical ear. It’s pretty low tech:
– Grab a pen and paper.
– Answer the questions (using a ukulele to help you is entirely allowed and encouraged).
– There might be spoilers in the comments.
– Check the answers here (no peeking).
– Return in triumph or despair and share you score in the comments(some of these questions are pretty tricky, so not too much despair). And I’d be interested to know which rounds you found easy and which were hard.
If you’re reading by email or feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see everything.
Chord Diagrams
Name the minor chord from the chord diagram.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Chord Flavour: Diagrams
All these are C chords but are they C, Cm, C7, Cm7, or C9?
Each of these triads of notes makes up a major chord (e.g. the notes of a G chord are G, B and D). Which one? (The notes are listed in alphabetical order starting at C to make it harder.)
16. C, E and G.
17. C#, E and A
18. E, G# and B
19. C, F and A
20. D, F and Bb
Chord Progression
Match the MP3 to the chord sequence:
a) A – C – D – A
b) A – E7 – D – E7
c) A – D – E7 – A
d) A – Bm – D – E7
e) A – G – D – A
Johnny Cash is a big favourite for ukulele groups and jams. And The Poor Boys of Worcester’s version of I Got Stripes has me convinced that song should be added to Ring of Fire and Folsom Prison Blues in the repertoire.
There are a couple of weirdnesses that make the original a bit less appealing on ukulele. Firstly, it’s in C# so a capo on the first fret is needed to make things straightforward. And there’s a strange Bb chord at the start of the song which makes it feel like the song is in F.
The original version also has a key change to contend with.
Two Chord Version
I Got Stripes (Two Chord Version)
To make it really beginner friendly, here’s a two chord, no capo version based on The Poor Boys of Worcester’s version and the version from Walk the Line.
Suggested Strumming
This pattern should get you through the whole song:
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