I’ve always hated Smells Like Teen Spirit. It’s an incredibly boring riff. I find this one much more interesting.
I had considered tabbing the acoustic version of this before I realised it was incredibly dull in comparison. In the original version, there are a few screaming string bends. String bends tend not to work too well on the uke, so I’d suggest you use slides instead (and plenty of vibrato to keep the string ringing).
I’m going to get sued for putting this one up, just as you will be if you ever play an E chord followed by an F chord. Oh well, it has to be in the list.
I couldn’t decide whether playing the penultimate note of the riff at the eighth or fifth fret was better, so I’ve tabbed both and you can make your own mind up.
Part of the Guitar Riffs for Ukulele series.
Seeso
I Shot the Sheriff (Bob Marley)
Santeria (Sublime)
I Got A Name (Jim Croce)
Waterfalls (TLC)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
What A Wonderful World
Rubber Ducky (I’m wearin’ my Oakland A’s cap too!!)
Daniel McF
Daniel is someone I found on You Tube some time ago. He’s a nutter and a talent. Love his songwriting.
Dive On In (Just a little naughty)“If you were my woman and I was your man. I would be all over you just like Godzilla on Japan”(You gotta love that Metranome solo)
God
Sweet Life
Christmas Beau
Lyle Ritz & Bill Tapia
Go Back to the Little Grass Shack (Partial)
Victoria Vox
Ukulele Lady (Partial)
Lil’ Rev
One Meatball (Portland Uke Fest 2006)
St. Louis Blues
Ukulele Polka
Angelina Baker
Boots and Saddle Anacortes 2007
Wild About It
Finjeta
Harmonica Anacortes 2007
To play this riff, it’s important you follow the example of Europe and spend ten times longer getting big hair than practicing.
It’s a bit disheartening that the most innovative, eclectic and enjoyable music around at them moment is made by a pop band put together on a reality TV show. Even the Arctic Monkeys had to face the fact that this song was better than anything they could come up with and cover it.
This song was originally written by Richard Berry who also came up with Louie, Louie. It has been covered many times by the likes of The Blues Brothers, Bruce Springsteen and, most recently, The Black Keys.
I’ve cheated a note in this tab so that it will fit on the uke in the original key of C.
I’m away from the computer this week, so I thought I’d launch into the next series of posts in the top guitar riffs for ukulele. These aren’t the riffs that work best on the uke but those that are most recognisable, fun and catchy. You probably wouldn’t want to use these to play the full song, but to throw in Taimane style to keep the audience on their toes. For this round of guitar riffs I thought I’d throw in a few less expected ones. I’m even going all out and including a few riffs from the decade that not-being-dreadful forgot, the 80’s.
Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes is insanely catchy and has been picked up for use in film (Grosse Point Blank) and TV (Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place>. The riff is chord based which makes it well suited to the uke and – unlike most of the rest of the riffs in the series – suitable to play all the way through relatively unchanged on the uke. So, I’ve tabbed it in the original key of G.
The chords for the chorus are:
Em – C – Em – C – D
Suggested by Edegoly
On Monday, I’ll be kicking off numbers 20 to 11 in my series of guitar riffs for the ukulele. I’d tabbed this out for inclusion but decided it wasn’t really a riff. It is, however, fun to play while wearing too much denim and a perm.
British readers might recognise this as the theme tune to the most morally bankrupt show on TV, Top Gear.
Pretty soon, your clueless relatives will be searching the intertubes trying to come up with something to buy you for Christmas. To help them out, I’m going to be doing a series of posts of suggestions of gifts for ukulele players. If you want to avoid getting socks that play jingle bells, leave a comment letting everyone know what you’re hoping to find under the tree (uke-wise obviously). Or if there’s something you have that any uke player would love to get, tell us about it.
Update: Christmas gifts for ukulele players.
