While writing up Sweet Victory earlier this year, I decided I had to do a tab of this classic SpongeBob ukulele song.
I’ve kept the arrangement very simple. There are just three underlying chords: F, Bb and C. And I’m only using my thumb for picking. Although you could very easily use fingerpicking or a pick. Using those might help with the quick thumb work in bars 5 and 6.
There’s a long history of murder ballads in folk music. But they’re all set comfortably in the past. It’s a very different experience listening to a song about murders set in your own lifetime.
The Shankill Butchers were loyalist gang in 1970s Northern Ireland who viciously murdered 19 people (possibly with police turning a blind eye). Hearing a song mythologising them is an uncomfortable experience. But it brings home how fresh the events in old murder ballads were to those who originated them.
Shankill Butchers is in the key of C#m. My first instinct was to rearrange it into a more uke-friendly key like Cm or Dm. But it turned out to work best in C#m. The intro riff (played with the thumb alternating between picking the g- and C-strings) works particularly well.
Dick Gaughan’s Handful of Earth is an absolute powerhouse folk album. One of the best records of the 80s. Probably the best that didn’t come out of Manchester (okay, maybe Minnesota too). The highlight of the album is his galvanising take on Leon Rosselson’s The World Turned Upside Down
The original version is curiously mild-mannered for a song about an uprising. But Dick Gaughan packed his version with a fierce sense of resistance. His arrangement became the default and was an obvious influence on Billy Bragg’s cover (seen here performing it with Amanda Palmer and her ukulele) and on mine.
I tried to capture the force and relentlessness of Gaughan’s version in my arrangement. I’ve done that by having my thumb hammering out eighth notes on the g-string the whole way through.
Then on top of that you have the middle finger and the ring finger picking the melody on the E and C-strings respectively.
Since immigrants invented the ukulele, it’s only right to have a song celebrating immigrants on here. And what a celebration it is. Idles turned in a barnstorming performance of it in their already legendary Glastonbury set. And, along with Fontaines D.C., have convinced me that punk isn’t dead yet.
Idles are masters of playing with tension and release. The opener on their latest album, Colossus builds tension for four minutes then releases it for a riotous two minutes. Danny Nedelko is more traditional in its structure. The verse, pre-chorus and bridge are just a C chord all the way through with some 7th notes to increase the tension. Then they break into a bright, singalong chorus with the cheesiest chord progression going.
As I mentioned, there’s no getting away from the I’m Yours chords these days. It’s even in the punk songs. But at least Idles mix it up a little. Rather than I V vi IV (C-G-Am-F), it’s I vi V I IV V (C Am G C F G).
Matt Berry is best known for his roles in The IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace plus my favourite sketch of all time: Snuff Box‘s guitar instruction DVD. But he’s also a prolific musician releasing seven studio albums including an entire album of TV theme covers.
The theme tune to Toast of London is a shortened version of his 2011 tune Take My Hand.
I’ve raved about Hitman before on here. But I haven’t given enough praise for how much the music adds to the experience. The music works to subtly differentiate different areas of the maps and set the mood for each one.
This excellent little guitar piece is used to evoke a small Columbian fishing village which is relaxed on the surface but houses a huge drug operation. Similarly, the tune is relaxed and easy-going with a few little hints of darkness peaking through.
Hi, How are you?
Yesterday brought the very sad news of the death of lo-fi legend Daniel Johnston. Johnston was the darling of indie musicians in the 90s. True Love Will Find You in the End alone has been covered by Beck, Flaming Lips, Wilco, Spiritualized, Kula Shaker and Jeff Mangum. And now I’ve had a go at it.
I’ve kept my version very simple. I’m only using the top three strings picked thumb and two finger style. The most important thing is to give the melody notes a little extra umph so they stand out against the backing notes.
I Remember You is heartbreaking beautiful song from 1941 by Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer. My favourite versions of this are by Ella Fitzgerald and Bjork. But, bafflingly, Frank Ifield’s bizarre yodelling cowboy version is the most well known. You won’t be surprised to learn my arrangement is based on the former two.
This song is part of my
jazz odyssey series where I’m trying to increase my understand of jazz theory and putting it into practice. Instead of focussing on jazz licks like I did in Ja-Da and Summertime, this time I’m focussing on chords. So there are many 7, maj7, 6, and b5 notes thrown in. Hopefully, in a way that they flow together and don’t sound contrived.
Christmas came early for depressed weirdos last week with the surprise release of Bon Iver’s new album i,i. The record is a perfect blend of his previous three albums. The acoustic track Marion is the most like his debut album and so obviously suited for a ukulele cover I started working it out during my first hearing of it.
I’m playing it with a capo on the third fret to keep it in the original key of Eb. But it does stray high up the neck so you might want to ditch it if you’re using a soprano uke.
It’s not too difficult to play. The only big stretch comes in bars 10-11. Everything else is plain sailing. I’m very loose with the timing in the song. Spreading out and compressing notes to add feeling to the song. So I encourage you to do the same.