Train – Sing Together (Chords)

I’ve had a few requests for this ukulele song from Train’s new album already. So I thought I best get this one done before it turns into another Hey Soul Sister stand-off. Plus I like this one more than Hey Soul Sister.

If you want to play along with the original, shove a capo on the first fret or tune up half a step. But if you don’t mind playing in a different key you can just play it in standard tuning.

Suggested Strumming

You can use this pattern almost all the way through:

d – d u d u d u

Which sounds like this slowed down:

Main Strum

Do that once each time you see a chord name.

The only exception is the end of the bridge. There do d – d u for the G7 and G7sus4 and a long down strum for the G7′. Which sounds like this:

Bridge Strum

(If you prefer a chart without the chord repetitions here you go).

Twiddly Bits

If you can’t be arsed with the extra twiddles you can replace both Am’ and Am9 with the standard Am chord. And you can replace G7sus4 and G7′ with the usual G7 chord.

Buy the MP3

Leftover Cuties – Places to Go (Chords)

I thought I’d posted this one months ago but there it was in my drafts. And it deserves posting because the Leftover Cuties album puts a grin on my face every time I hear it. It’s an effective poppy updating of the 30s uke sound. And it’s a good time for it to crop up because the Cuties have a new collection of covers coming out soon. You can preorder it here and get two tracks straight away.

Suggested Strumming

In the verses you can keep it dead simple with:

d – d – d – d u

And in the choruses you can use:

d – d u – u d -

Easy Version

Leftover Cuties – Places to Go (Easy Version)

If you’re not into barre chords, you can play this version with a capo on the first fret.

Twiddly Bits

The song has a great blues outro that goes like this in the original key:

And you can play the stylophone intro like this:

Move both of those down a fret if you want to play it in the easy key.

Buy the MP3

Walk off the Earth/Malvina Reynolds – Little Boxes

Now that Netflix has made its way to the UK, I’ve been binging on episodes of the middle-class meth-dealer show Breaking Bad. I’m slightly concerned about what I’m going to do when I’ve watched them all. The plan is to take the edge off by watching the middle-class pot-dealer show Weeds.

Which brings us to this song which was used as the Weeds theme tune.

Suggested Strumming

I’ve done it slightly differently this time. Instead of say ‘play this twice for blah blah…’ I’ve set it out so you can just do this pattern once each time you see a chord:

d – d u d u

Strum

The only exception is at the end of each verse. There do two downs on the F and one on the C7 before going back to the pattern. (Let me know in the comments if you want me to do that more in the future or never again.)

Or you could just do one strum each and follow it with some box slamming like they do in the video.

Twiddly Bits

You can play a version of the slide lick at the end like this:

Which sounds like this:

Outro

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The Magnetic Fields – Andrew in Drag (Chords)

It’s official. Being a bearded, bald, chubby ukulelist is the height of itness.

I’ve written up Stephin Merritt’s solo ukulele version for this chord sheet. The album version is in the key of C (so the chords are C, Am, F and G)

Suggested Strumming

The strumming isn’t very straight forward.

In the verse, for the F:

d – d u – u d u
d u d u

Then 2 down strums for the Dm or one each for the Bb – C.

In the chorus, if you want to keep it simple you can do this for each chord:

d – d u – u d -

But if you want to be more accurate you have to have one extra strum on the first chord in each line. So you can do this for the Bb and Cs:

d – d u – u d – d

And then this for the F and Bbs:

u d u d u d u

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OK Go – Needing/Getting (Chords)

I’ve had quite a few requests for the ukulele bit in this OK Go video. So I went ahead and did that and the chords to go along with the slappy-tubes and dildo-piano (dildano?). The chords are actually based on the studio version but works perfectly well with this version (and we’re spared the extended outro).

Suggested Strumming

You can use this strum all the way through.

d – d u d -

Twice for each chord. Except for the long D chords in the intro riff.

Twiddly Bit

Here’s the intro ukulele bit:

All down strums for this bit.

Buy the MP3

A Banda Mais Bonita da Cidade – Oração (Chords)

No surprises that I got a few requests for the chords to the ukulele video of the year.

It’s a very simple song. Just one section repeating. And I’ve written up the simple chords as Rodrigo left them in the comments. But you can fancy up the G chord part by switching between the the fourth and fifth fret on the A-string (make that a bit easier to play by just playing the g-string open).

Suggested Strumming

Rodrigo is doing all down strums for his section but with the off-beats emphasised.

d D d D d D d D

Or you can follow the mandola part which goes like this:

d u d u – u d u

Download their album free on their website.

Zooey Deschanel – You Forgot About Valentine’s Day (Chords)

It’s not hard to work out the musical inspiration for Zooey Deschanel’s Saturday Night Live song. The intro and verse chords are almost identical to her version of What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?.

But after that the swirly, hotel-lobby piano makes it tricky to work out what to do on a ukulele. I had my best shot at doing those parts in the write up. But I’m not entirely happy with it so feel free to make changes.

Related thought: what is it with ukers and skinny moons?

Suggested Strumming

While she’s playing the uke the strumming is pretty straight forward. You can just do down strums – two for each chord – most of the time. For a fuller pattern try:

d – d u

In the middle section I like to do just down strums but cutting them short by releasing the pressure on them. Then follow with this little bit.

Which sounds like this:

Middle

Twiddly Bits

If you want to play the big band outro you can do it like this:

Outro

Buy She & Him Volume 2
Buy Saturday Night Live stuff

LP – Into the Wild (Chords)

For the first time ever, all my nominations have made it through to the vote for Ukulele Video of the Year. Which means either everyone who reads this blog now has impeccable taste or I’ve successfully alienated everyone that disagrees with me.

I only added LP’s Into the Wild to my nominations at the last minute. I was checking through the ‘Other Videos You Might Like’ list and realised that this song is pretty magnificent. Dead simple too. Only three chords in it: G, Em and C.

Whoever you want to vote for you can cast your vote here.

Suggested Strumming

She’s doing mostly down-up:

d u d u d u d u

Do that twice for every chord in the verse and chorus. Once for every chord in the pre-chorus.

Download it for free on her website.

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (Chords)

I’ve had a bunch of requests for Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know since the five people on one guitar version went viral. Inspired by the success of that they attempted the same thing with a ukulele. And they do successfully play ukuleles sometimes.

Suggested Strumming

Use this once for every chord:

D – D U

The only exception is the C5 in the last verse. Play the same pattern loads of times (16 at my count).

Pay attention to the dynamics in this one. Start quietly and bash it out in the choruses.

Twiddly Bits

You can play the ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ intro like this:

And the bridge bit like this:

Pre-order the album
Buy the Walk Off the Earth version.

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (Chords)

This video went up yesterday and I’ve already had a deluge of requests. Including three from one person. So I’ve set aside my holiday shenanigans (and my irrationally intense dislike of JGL) and put it up in time for New Year’s.

It is a really lovely song with some nice jazzy touches. Like the I-II7-iv-V7 turnaround and the G#7 leading into the middle.

If you don’t fancy dashing up to the 6th fret for the F#7 you can play it this way.

Suggested Strumming

For intro you can do this for the first three chords:

d – d u

And a down strum for the E7.

And you can do just down strums for the main bit of the song too.

In the verse: four down strums for the A and G7. Two each until the B chord (four for that) then back to two each.

In the middle: four down strums for the C#m and two each for the others in the first two lines. In the third line, six down strums for the C#m and two for the F#7. Then four each in the last line.

Buy the Ella Fitzgerald version