Ukulele Hunt

Category: Tabs

  • Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer (Tabs)

    Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer (Tabs)Download

    Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer is full of hair-rock bravado, so I wasn’t sure if it’d work on uke. But it has a very strong melody, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed playing it.

    Intro: I had to change the talk-box riff a fair amount to get it onto uke. This version runs more smoothly than the original. And it doesn’t go on for 45 seconds.

    Verse: The verses don’t have anything too challenging. It’s all Am – F – G in open position.

    Pre-Chorus: Things build in intensity here but don’t get any more difficult.

    The second pre-chorus is cut short. As well as reducing the number of bars, they also cut a beat out of bar 44 (making it a bar of 3/4). This combined with the lack of any preparation in the chords, means the key change really hits you in the face.

    Chorus: The first chorus is challenging enough. But changing to C minor for the second chorus makes it even trickier. I originally arranged it to replay the chorus in the original key. And I think that’s a perfectly reasonable way to play it if you want to avoid the added difficulty. Even Jon Bon Jovi seems in two minds about it. But it’s such a moment in the song I decided it’s worth tackling.

    Solo: The solo has a few tricky moves too. But, once everything is octave shifted, it plays nicely on the uke. The one thing worth skipping would be the very fast lick in bar 40. It’s very difficult to play (I certainly didn’t get it cleanly in the video) and I think something simpler could be just as effective.

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  • Sixpence None the Richer – Kiss Me (Tabs)

    Sixpence None the Richer – Kiss Me (Tab)Download

    Here’s the ultimate 90s one hit wonder: Sixpence None the Richer’s Kiss Me.

    Intro: A simple start. Just strumming out a G chord with the note on the E-string moving down and back up chromatically.

    Verse: That chord progression continues into the verse. The melody here is very contained. It’s almost all going between the open g-string and open A-string until bar 12 , which builds into the chorus.

    Chorus: The chords get busy in the chorus. I found it a bit of a challenge to memorise all the changes. But once it’s under your fingers, it’s not hard to play.

    Solo: The first half of the solo is very relaxed. But there’s a lot more to do in the second half. This arrangement is only loosely based on the original. So feel free to change it however you like.

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  • Al Green – Let’s Stay Together (Tabs)

    Al Green – Let’s Stay Together (Tab)Download

    Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together is a buttery-smooth track, a laid-back feel, and has an earworm melody and tasty chords. All of which mean it suits the ukulele well.

    Intro: The intro nicely sets up the harmony for the piece. And prepares you for plenty of movement up and down the neck. Keep the notes (except the C-string bass notes) staccato to mimic the horns.

    Verse: The first verse has a more minimal arrangement. The second and third verses are heavier and have a bit of filigree. You can mix and match these elements as you like. Or include some of your own ideas.

    Pre-Chorus: A tasty Am9 in this section. Which is fretted like an Em chord but with the g-string played at the second fret.

    Chorus: A lot of moving up and down here. But if you plan ahead, you can use the passing notes to get into position for the next chord. For example, if you play the A-string, 3rd fret in bar 40 with your pinkie, you’ll be set up for the Dm7 chord in bar 41.

    Solo: The string solo is the hardest part of the song. I’ve kept this arrangement as close to the original as possible. But I think there’s room for a more uke-friendly version if you want to try. Or, I don’t think anyone would notice if you just skipped this section.

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  • KPop Demon Hunters – Golden (Tabs)

    KPop Demon Hunters – Golden (Tab)Download

    For a parody song from a movie, they really went all out with Golden from KPop Demon Hunters.

    Intro: The technical wizardry starts right away. The song starts in 3/4 time and shifts both time signature and tempo seamlessly into 12/8. This is done by having one eighth note in 3/4 be the same duration as two eighth notes in 12/8. This is a technique known as metric modulation. I recommend watching David Bruce’s video on the topic if you want to understand it. And I recommend listening to this section of Stray Kids’ Side Effects to hear some time signature fuckery you don’t get much in pop.

    Verse: From here on, the song is in 12/8. This time signature crops up fairly often in K-Pop such as GFRIEND’s Apple and Fifty Fifty’s Lovin’ Me. In 12/8 the beats are arranged into four groups of three (so you can count each bar 1-2-3-4 with each beat being divided into triplets). But they sometimes go against this grouping. So, for example, in bar 15 (“Now that’s how I’m getting paid”) it’s divided into six evenly spaced notes.

    Pre-Chorus: This is where the vocals start to make big leaps and we head up the neck. But this section is slow and minimal. So it’s straightforward to play.

    Chorus: This is where things get very tricky. In the first half of the chorus, there are lots of rapid repeated notes. And in the second half, we’re leaping up and down the neck. With the melody stretching from the open E-string up to the 12th fret on the A-string.

    Outro: Similar to the chorus, we have a first half with rapid notes and a second half with big shifts. For the rapid notes, I’m doing a modified triplet strum. So I’m strumming down with my index and middle fingers together. Then plucking the A-string with my index finger, followed by a pluck with my middle finger.

    Links

    BlackPink’s Kill This Love (Tab)
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  • Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Tabs)

    Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Phil Collins’ Against All Odds.

    Intro: A quick intro with the thumb picking the C-string with index and middle on the higher strings.

    Verse: Switching to one finger per string picking from here up to the outro. That allows the g-string to get in on the melody in bars 3 and 4. You can take advantage of the open strings in bar 2 to give yourself time to move up to the fifth fret.

    Chorus: This is the trickiest section, with lots of movement up and down the neck, some campanella playing, and a stretch for the Gm chord in bar 11.. To prepare for that stretch, make sure you’re playing the E-string, 6th fret with your index finger. That’ll put your hand in the right place for the chord.

    The chorus includes a couple of bars of 2/4. The original only has the second one. But it felt much more natural to me to play it both times. If you don’t want to do that, you can skip the first half of bars 13 and 19.

    Outro: A repeat of the intro with another, “Take a look at me now.” Then a series of chords that leave the song on a cliffhanger.

    Links

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  • Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds (Tabs)

    Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds (Tabs)Download

    Here’s my take on Elvis’s Suspicious Minds.

    Intro: A nifty little riff to start with.

    Verse: The verses are nice and simple. A straightforward G-C-D chord progression with a simple but effective melody.

    The verse at the end (bar 40 onwards) is a beefed-up version of the first half of the earlier verse pattern.

    Chorus: Here’s where things get challenging. There’s a lot of bouncing up and down the neck. And things get fiddly at the top end. I found the high Bm section (bar 24) the most challenging bit of the song.

    Bridge: This section has a big drop in tempo and a time signature change to 6/8. Like the chorus, there are some challenging moves here. But the slower tempo makes it more manageable.

    Outro: Closing off with a descending G minor pentatonic inspired by the live ending of the song.

    Links

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  • Waxahatchee – Right Back to It (Tabs)

    Waxahatchee – Right Back to It (Tab)Download

    This arrangement of Waxahatchee’s Right Back to It is a rare outing in the key of Bb, which keeps all the melodies comfortably within the first few frets.

    But there’s still plenty of movement up and down the neck in the song’s instrumental sections. And there are many of those with an intro and two solos. I’ve kept the intro close to the original. And I recommend you do the same. But the solos have plenty of room for your own ideas. For mine, I’m following the chord shapes and adding in notes from the Bb major scale (plus a C# in bars 42 and 54 for a bluesy edge). And I use lots of slides and bends to imitate a lap steel guitar. The lick in bar 53 in particular is a classic lap steel move.

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  • Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash (Tabs)

    Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash (Tab)Download

    I’ve covered a lot of Halloween songs over the years and I’ve always avoided Monster Mash. It’s delivered in a talk-singing voice, so there’s no real melody to transport to uke. So the melody in this arrangement is largely fictional. I’ve tried to follow the contours of the vocals and match the vibe of the original. But feel free to change anything you don’t like. Either way, I’m sure Pam would hate it.

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  • The White Stripes – Fell in Love with a Girl (Tabs)

    The White Stripes – Fell in Love with a Girl (Tabs)Download

    The White Stripes’ Fell in Love with a Girl is a simple song but the tempo is high. I’ve slowed it down in my version (from 180BPM-ish in the original to 170) but it’s still a challenge to keep up. To make things easier, the arrangement moves across the strings rather than up and down the neck. Which means there’s a lot of open strings and use of the g-string in the melody.

    Even more than usual, this one rewards practicing slowly. Let your fingers learn the patterns before building up speed . Because once it’s up to tempo, there’s no time to think.

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  • Creedence Clearwater Revival/Wednesday – Bad Moon Rising (Tabs)

    Creedence Clearwater Revival/Wednesday – Bad Moon Rising (Tab)Download

    We’re kicking off Halloween season with CCR’s Bad Moon Rising. For extra spook, I’ve worked from the minor key version of the song that cropped up in Wednesday. I always like the way dark songs sound on the uke. So this minor version works well.

    I’m using Travis picking all the way through the tune. So the thumb is alternating between the g- and C-strings while the index and middle fingers cover the E- and A-strings, respectively. This technique sounds intricate and hard to play. But, once you’ve got it under your fingers, it flows very easily. So practice nice and slow before you attempt it at higher speed.

    If you’re in the mood, you can find more Halloween tabs and chords here

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