Here’s my take on The Jackson 5’s I’ll Be There.
Intro: It’s odd to hear a harpsichord on a Motown record. The song was recorded in Motown’s “Hitsville West” in LA rather than Detroit. So perhaps they were influenced by the scene that produced songs like Monday, Monday and When I Grow Up.
Verse: Nothing too difficult in the first verse. The only tricky bit is a quick flourish on the melody in bar 8. Which you can drop altogether if you don’t fancy it.
The second verse brings in some noodling higher up the fretboard that requires some fast shifting.
This section has my favourite part of the song: the tasty C7sus4 in bar 10.
Chorus: The chorus modulates from the key of F to Ab. This much less uke-friendly key does present some challenges. Particularly some awkward finger-shuffling between bars 15 and 16.
Outro: Probably the trickiest part of the song with the most shifting up and down the fretboard.
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