Ukulele Hunt

Author: ukulelehunt

  • Max and Chloe Theme (Life is Strange)(Tab)

    Max & Chloe Lead (Tab)Download

    I think I’m getting soft in my old age. Over the winter break I played two games that ended with me in floods of tears: Valiant Hearts and Life is Strange. Now I can’t even get through the Valiant Hearts trailer or Spanish Sahara without misting up.

    I’m a sucker for great music in games (obviously) and Life is Strange has both an excellent original score and tracks from some of my favourites like Jose Gonzalez, Alt-J, Mogawai plus some uke in the form of Amanda Palmer’s In My Mind.

    The melody line of the Max and Chloe theme is slow, simple and absolutely beautiful. There’s lots of room for you to add emotion to it so be sure to use plenty of vibrato.

    Backing

    Picking TabDownload

    This part – played on a standard tuned ukulele – is much trickier than the lead part. The thumb and two finger picking pattern is constant and rapid. So be sure to warm up well before tackling it.

    Baritone PartDownload

    The baritone part is much more simple. It starts out just some softly played low notes to fill out the sound. It breaks from that at the start of verse two to double the melody an octave down.

    Guitar PartDownload

    Judas! Yes, guitar on Uke Hunt. I think I lost about 170 brain cells just recording this guitar part.

    The part follows the ukulele chords closely. The only slight change is Cmaj7 in place of C. Just to give it an extra bit of melancholy.

    There is also a part playing the bass note of each chord on guitar pitch-shifted down an octave (because I still don’t own a bass of any kind).

    Here’s a backing track for you to play the lead part along with:


    Links

    LifeIsStrange.com
    More game tabs

  • Radiohead – Paranoid Android (Chords)

    Radiohead – Paranoid Android (Chords)Download

    EatMyUke’s cover of all the songs on OK Computer inspired me to write up the chords for Paranoid Android. The versions of the chords around the net I’ve seen are very simplified. So I’ve gone in the other direction and made them as true to the original as I could manage. Which means there are lots of unfamiliar chord shapes all over the neck.

    The song is split into three main sections so I’ve also split up the chords into three sections.

    Opening Section

    This section has the biggest leaps up and down the neck. So pay close attention to the fret numbers at the right of the chord diagrams.

    If you have trouble playing Gm6 (like I did) you can play it as 0767 and that’ll work just fine. And you can also play E7 as 4445. The only downside of those changes is you don’t get the constant drone on the g- and A-strings.

    Riff Section

    The least uke friendly section. For the riff I’m using mostly power chords. That means each chord only has two notes so I’m blocking the E- and A-strings from ringing with the underside of my index finger.

    It gets much easier when it switches to straight chords for C – G# – Bb. Except the time signature becomes and off-kilter 7/8. The strumming I use goes:

    C: d – d – d u d
    G#: u – u d u
    Bb: d

    Rain Down Section

    The third section is mercifully straightforward on uke. It’s all standard chord shapes and you can use this strum all the way through:

    d – d – d u d u

    Then it’s a return to the riff section for the extended outro.

    Links

    Buy it on iTunes
    More Radiohead tabs

  • Through the Valley from The Last of Us: Part II (Tab)

    LastOfUs2Download

    The trailer for The Last of Us: Part II has me very excited. Not least at the prospect of another outstanding score by the genius Gustavo Santaolalla. He plays the ronrocco which, like the ukulele, is petite and has a reentrant tuning making them very suitable for ukeing. I tabbed up the Last of Us theme here.

    The trailer itself provides another musically treat in the form of Ellie covering Through the Valley by Shawn James. The song is so perfect I assumed it had been written for the trailer.

    I cobbled my version together quickly. I started as soon as I saw the trailer and recorded the video the next day. So it is a bit all over the place. The plan was to put the melody firmly up front and put the picking in softly between melody notes. And it mostly works that way. The notes on the g- and C-strings are played with the thumb, the index finger handles the E-string and the middle finger the A. The only exception is when all the strings are plucked at once.

    Links

    Buy the Shawn James version
    More game tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon
    The Last of Us Theme (Tab)

  • Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why (Tab)

    Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why (Tab)Download

    What a great melody this is. And it’s matched with some juicy jazz chords. Making it perfect for a ukeing.

    In case you’re not familiar with the repeat markings I use, you play up to “D.S. al Coda” go back to the squiggle in bar five, play up to “Da Coda” then skip to the target in bar 23.

    Links

    Buy it on iTunes
    More jazz tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Nick Drake – Horn (Tab)

    Nick Drake – Horn (Tab)Download

    It’s not often I break with my schedule but Nick Drake’s Horn popped into my ears this morning and I felt compelled to get my own up.

    It also fits well with the real post today about pieces suitable for solo ukulele beginners. It’s the sparsest track on Drake’s sparsest album. For my version there’s just a droning open C-string (plucked with the thumb) and the slow melody mainly on the A-string (middle finger) and occasionally on the E-string (index finger).

    The only downside is that it requires a ukulele with at least fifteen frets. If you don’t have one you can play this version in G:

    Horn (Tab in G)Download

    This moves the drone to the g-string. Making it an octave higher (unless you’re using low-G tuning). So it doesn’t fit perfectly but it does still work.

    Links

    Buy it on iTunes
    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (Tabs)

    Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (Tabs)Download

    I wrote up the chords for Hallelujah way back in 2008. But, since it’s a huge hit with ukulelists, I wanted to do an instrumental version as a little tribute to Leonard Cohen. And a tribute to Jeff Buckley since the intro is completely ripped off from his incredible version.

    I try to keep most of my tabs fairly disciplined and work them up fully beforehand. It’s easier for people to read and learn that way. But be warned: this one I played pretty freely then tabbed out what I played. So the fingerpicking is all over the place.

    In the verse the melody is everything played on the A-string plus the third fret of the E-string. Everything else is backing so should be played a little more softly. The chorus is more strange since the melody notes are played on the g-, C- and E-strings. I’ve notated all the melody notes with an accent > above them.

    Links

    Buy it on iTunes
    More 80s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • The Walking Dead Theme (Tab)

    The Walking Dead Theme (Tab)Download

    The Walking Dead theme uses a technique I should have included in my spooky ukulele sounds post: unusual timings. Each bar has a pattern that rises and falls twice but then cuts off half way through the third time. The bars themselves are played an odd number of times. The first pattern is played three times at the beginning in my version (seven in the original) and five times at the end. Usually you see bars in powers of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8 etc.) or at least an even amount. Having an even number gives it a unsettling feeling.

    I went with low-G tuning here. It makes it so much easier to play. But I like the way it sounds even on high-g. Even spookier if you ask me.

    The tune is very simple. It’s just one pattern on three different locations on the neck. It’s great for practicing your thumb and two finger picking. I’ve been using it as a little warm up exercise. The great part is you can move the pattern up and down the neck and it always works.

    Links

    Buy the Walking Dead Soundtrack
    Bear McCreary talks about writing the theme
    More Halloween tabs

  • Sera Was Never (Dragon Age Inquisition)(Tab)

    Sera Was Never (Tab)Download

    I do enjoy a good fake-Celtic game tune like Gwent Flute Song from Witcher 3. So when I got a request for this tune I couldn’t resist. I might make it a trilogy and do the Hearthstone theme at some point. Until then I’ll keep brushing up on actual Celtic tunes.

    For my version I’ve kept the chords and melody separate. The melody is a good opportunity to use a pick to get a mandolin-ish tone. But I’m using my fingers mostly alternating picking with index and middle fingers.

    Here’s a backing track for you to play along with. There’s one bar of Am to count you in.

    For the backing strumming I’m using a touch strum then a full strum. There’s a full guide to touch strums in How to Play Ukulele Strums but the basics is you lightly hit just the g- and C-strings with your strum.

    Links

    DragonAge.com
    More game theme tabs

  • Gene Wilder – Pure Imagination (Tab)

    Gene Wilder – Pure Imagination (Tab)Download

    For my little tribute to Gene Wilder I had to do this beautiful tune by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

    It’s such an affecting tune it’s a great opportunity to play with emotion. I recommend experimenting with varying the tempo and volume and use vibrato when you play to get the most out of it.

    Links

    Buy it on iTunes
    More movie themes

  • Great British Bake Off Theme (Tab for Ukulele Group)

    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

    Uke5Download

    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

    More TV theme tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon