Taylor Swift (ft. The Civil Wars) – Safe and Sound (Tab)

Some suggested I do an instrumental cover of this one and my immediate – and correct – reaction was, “Hell no!” But the more I thought about it the more I fancied the challenge of marrying the guitar and vocal parts together on the uke. Because of that, I didn’t make too many compromises in the arrangement. So it’s pretty tricky.

I’m using a few different picking-hand techniques:

Intro and verse: I’m picking with thumb on the C-string, index on the E and middle on the A.

Toni-i-i-i-ight bit: One finger per string with thumb on g, index on C etc.

Chorus: I’m using my thumb for the notes on the g and C; and flicking up with my index finger for the E and A strings.

Middle: Mostly flicking up with the index finger with some strumming on the full chords.

You also need a bit of thinking ahead on the fretting hand. I’ve included some fingering in suggestions in bar 5 and they apply to the similar moves that happen through the song.

Remember to the notes in brackets more softly so they fade into the background.

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