I released a new tab ebook this week: Songs of the States. It has a bunch of fun songs to play (particularly the Monty Python theme). A huge thanks to everyone who has already bought it for supporting the site. I massively appreciate it.
Ukuleles
– Kinnard baritone ukulele.
– Tin Guitar Ukelear Fusion.
– California series 5-string Kala UBass.
Pictures
– Portuguese ukulele factory c.1950
– Martin Style 3 on the beach c.1955
– Vivienne Myer, Chicago 1919
Ukulelist busks a Matisyahu song doesn’t realise Matisyahu is right in front of him.
Dear Points of View, When will the BBC realise I want to watch Great British Bake Off NOW?! Yours, Disgusted of Uke Hunt.
The Olympics has pushed back Great British Bake Off (which is the Olympics to us fat people). So that gives you time to practice this arrangement of the theme. And never say you can’t play it. You can and you will.
This arrangement is in five parts. All very simple. And all but Uke 3 are played with a pick. Although all could be managed perfectly well with fingers.
Uke 1
Uke 1 is just a two note stab played the whole way through.
Uke 2
Uke 2 acts as the bass so it’s played on a low-G ukulele. (All the others are in standard tuning.) The part is just eighth notes on the open G-string all the way through.
Uke 3
Uke 3 is the one fingerpicking part. Alternating between the g- and A-strings means you can let the notes ring into each other.
It kicks off in bar 5.
Uke 4
Uke 4 comes in at bar 9 and is what I think of as the, “It’s time for baking,” line.
Uke 5
Uke 5 Tab
Uke 5 also starts in bar 9 and is the most involved of the parts. Even so, it’s just a few easy chords and some open A-strings.
Links
TheGreatBritishBakeOff.co.uk
Ghostbusters group tab
More TV theme tabs
What’s in it?
Tab for:
Aura Lee (AKA Love Me Tender)
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Hail to the Chief
The Liberty Bell (AKA Monty Python Theme)
Reveille
Taps
Yankee Doodle
How Do I Buy It?
Buy it on Gumroad for $9 until the end of August when the price goes up to $12.
If you prefer, you can also buy it with PayPal for £6.50 on PayHip (PayPal should convert from whatever currency you’re using without any hassle).
After you pay you’ll get a link to the download page and an email with the link. There you can download the full ebook that contains the performance notes and the tabs. You can also download a zip file containing individual PDFs of the tabs if you want to work with them individually.
What’s It About?
I love taking tunes as far away from what you’d expect of ukulele music and transferring them. And you can’t get much further from a humble uke to a pompous marching band. So I thought it would be perfect to take on a collection of American patriotic marching band pieces, Civil War songs and songs generally full of fervour and Ameritude.
As well as being some corking tunes to play, I wanted this ebook to act as a guide to different techniques for performing tunes solo. The arrangements include a full on strumming chord-solo of Battle Hymn of the Republic, tunes you can play with just your thumb on the picking hand (Aura Lee and Hail to the Chief), fingerpicking tunes and a mixture of many techniques (Liberty Bell).
Practicing a new technique within a tune is more fun than dull exercises and you have a piece to show for it when you’re done. For example, if you wanted to get into campanella style fingerpicking you could start with the slow and easy Taps, move on to the quicker Reveille then onto the challenging arrangement of Yankee Doodle.
Difficulty: Mixed. Some tunes are perfect for people new to solo playing (Aura Lee and Taps) and some will be a challenge to even experienced players (Liberty Bell in particular)
Tuning: High-g gCEA tuning. Some of the tabs aren’t suitable for low-G or baritone (Reveille, Taps and Yankee Doodle wouldn’t work without changes).
Price: It’s going to be $12 but you can get it for $9 until the end of August. (If you’re in the EU VAT will be charged at the local rate.)
Videos: As well as videos of the full arrangements there are also close up, slowed down videos showing the techniques used.
Performance Notes: Tips for playing each tune and a brief history.
What if I buy it and it sucks?
As with all my ebooks, if you buy it and don’t like it just send me message with the email address you used to buy it and I’ll send a full refund. No questions asked.
Remind Me Again, How Do I Buy It?
If you prefer, you can also buy it with PayPal for £6.50 on PayHip (PayPal should convert from whatever currency you’re using without any hassle).
After you pay you’ll be taken to the download page and get an email with a link to your download.
After you pay you’ll get a link to the download page and an email with the link. There you can download the full ebook that contains the performance notes and the tabs. You can also download a zip file containing individual PDFs of the tabs if you want to work with them individually.
Rebecca Sugar – It’s Over, Isn’t It (Chords)
Another fantastic song from Rebecca Sugar. The songs seem to be getting more intricate each time. A pain in the arse for tabbing but a joy to listen to. But there are still plenty of Sugarisms you’ll recognise from other Steven Universe songs such as the prominent use of Cmaj7 and diminished chords.
As they often do, Sugar uploaded their ukulele demo to Tumblr and it’s that version I worked from. However, the finished version is in the same key and there aren’t too many changes.
Suggested Strumming
In verse one you can do just one down-strum with your thumb for each chord name.
The chorus is fingerpicked but you can strum it without losing too much. This pattern works well:
d – x u – u d –
For the second verse (I call it that but it’s completely different to the first verse) you can go back to one strum per chord.
Twiddly Bits
It’s Over, Isn’t It? (Picking Tab)
The picking gets a bit tricky. Particularly when she ups the tempo in bar 13 (something you don’t need to do in your own version). The tab starts at the first chorus and continues through the second verse. Then you repeat the chorus section.
I use one finger per string picking so the picking fingers are all in place when you have to pluck all the strings at once. In the video above I play through the tab once up to speed then once slowly.
Links
Steven Universe on Cartoon Network
More tabs and chords from Steven Universe
Everything Stays chords
Ukes
– Kala’s new twenty one pilots Cord Ukulele looks damn fine.
– 1920s Kumalae Koa Soprano Ukulele.
– RIGuitars ukulele based on Jerry Garcia’s guitar.
Photos
– Dorothy Mackaill in Safe in Hell (1931).
– Various ladies with ukes (1920s)
Garfunkel and Oates are up for an Emmy for their ukulele tune Frozen Lullaby. On a non-ukulele note, Kate Micucci is in the new Ira Glass/Mike Birbiglia movie (judging by the trailer she’s in it a bunch and they don’t let her say anything).
Jake Shimabukuro jams with his son (via Ukulelia).
I mentioned Helen Arney’s new radio show Domestic Science last time round and you can listen to the first episode on iPlayer now (wherever you are).
Sonny & Cher – I Got You Babe (Tab)
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.
Links
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.
Drake – Started from the Bottom
Dr Dre – The Next Episode
Kanye West – Power
Kanye West/Paul McCartney – All Day
Wiz Khalifa – Black and Yellow
Meek Mill – Ima Boss
Young Thug – With That
Fetty Wap – Trap Queen
Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind (Chords)
I became completely obsessed with hiking simulator Firewatch recently. And the game’s soundtrack is perfect. I already made a guitar tab of the main theme. And I had to write up the chords for I’d Rather Go Blind which features on the closing credits.
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).
Here’s how that sounds:
Twiddly Bits
Here’s a ukulele version of the guitar part in the intro:
Which sounds like this:
