The Black Key’s Tighten Up, like most of their songs, is a very straight forward blues rock song. But there are a couple of oddities. The first is a rogue bar of 3/4 in bar 38.
The second starts at bar 48 when the song, ironically, loosens up and the tempo slows. I think you could switch the 3/4 bar to 4/4 and no one would notice. But the tempo change feels integral to the song.
Here’s a fun version of Blink-182’s infectious (in the good sense and the bad sense) earworm All the Small Things.
Intro: All strums. I’m using my index finger a bit like a pick here (and in most of the song).
For all the strumming parts in the song, don’t worry about hitting the exact strings so long as you’re holding down the chord.
Verses: I’m using a bit of palm muting on the strings during the strums (i.e. resting the side of my strumming hand lightly on the strings). That allows the melody to stand out more.
The only tricky part here is in bar 17. I like the harmony on “At my show” so I’ve included that with the lower note picked by the thumb and the higher note by the index finger.
Pre-Chorus, Chorus and Outro: All very simple strumming on standard chords.
Solo: Similar to the intro but with a little melody on the g-string. So try to emphasise that as much as you can.
Break: Starts of with strumming then switches to fingerpicking which builds into the outro. The picking isn’t complicated but it is fast. If you’re only it for the strumming, you can skip this bit entirely and just play the first four bars of the break.
I can’t say Hozier’s massive hit Take Me to Church fits nicely on the uke. But it is well worth learning if you’re up for a challenge.
Verse: No mucking around with an intro. The verse starts in 3/4 time and switches to 4/4 at the end. If you know the song, it shouldn’t trip you up.
Pre-Chorus: Back to 3/4 for the “Amen” section. And again switching to 4/4 at the end.
This is the most sparse section of the song. Creating contrast with the chorus.
Chorus: Staying in 4/4 for the most challenging section of the song played high up the neck. Reaching the 14th fret for the falsetto on “death”.
Bridge: Some movement up and down the neck in this section, but it’s still easier than the chorus. And it stays in 4/4 time but with a cheeky bar of 2/4 that threw me off when I was first learning the song.
Intro: Starting off with an incongruous country lick. Then moving into a descending line played on the g- and C-strings with the thumb. Set against static notes on the E- and A-strings (plucked by the index and middle fingers respectively).
It fits nicely on the uke and sounds more intricate than it actually is.
Verse: Carrying on the descending line but now played with one finger per string picking.
Pre-Chorus: Building up the tension with a strum each time there’s a chord change.
Chorus: Bringing in more strums, slides and ventures up the neck. Stepping things up in terms of intensity and difficulty.
Break: This little acoustic break is my favourite part to play. It’s a challenge to play at speed but it suits the ukulele very well.
Solo: The big electric solo is less suited to the uke but still fun to play. I haven’t been particularly faithful to the original, so feel free to adjust it to your own taste.
Coda: The coda is just like the end of the chorus, but there are an extra couple of beats on the F chord that add a little suspense.
Here’s a quick version of my favourite boygenius song: Ketchum, ID. It’s straightforward to play on uke and uses one finger per string picking the whole way through.
Intro: This is my own noodling over the C-F-C-G chord progression. A good place to pick out your own version.
Verses: Both verses (I’ve gone with the Phoebe Bridgers verse and Lucy Dacus verse) are simple melodies that are just played in the first position.
Choruses: The choruses move up and down the neck as I do my best to recreate the harmonies on uke. But the pace is stately so it’s not too tricky.
There are small differences between the choruses. Notably an Am chord in bar 49 for the final chorus.
Bridge: Another place you can introduce your own ideas. I’ve stuck fairly close to the original.
At first, I thought there’s no way Cherub Rock would work on the uke. But I found it a fun song to play that you can blast out with strums.
Intro: Starting out at full pelt building up a C chord and breaking into the intro riff.
If you don’t have the space on your uke to play the riff high up the neck, you can move the E-string notes on the A-string. Just lower each note five frets and let the E-string ring open. You can do the same with the melody in the verse.
Verse: Staying high up the neck for the verse and continuing to blast out the strums with just a few picked notes.
Chorus: All strums here too. Be sure to mute the g-string with your thumb for everything but the Eb chord.
Bridge: Adding a C chord to the chord progression from the chorus.
Solo: The trickiest part of the song. I’ve changed it significantly from the original. So feel free to make adjustments of your own.
Bridge 2: Similar to the chorus, but watch out for the A-string, 5th fret at the start of the F chord (first in bar 39).
Originally by Wilson Pickett, Mustang Sally has been covered by acts including The Commitments, Buddy Guy and Barry from Eastenders. I based this arrangement on the Wilson Pickett version but there’s elements of the Commitments version in there. As well as a few bits of my own I’ve thrown in.
This is another song where it’s more important to keep the propulsive rhythm of the song going than hit every string exactly as they are tabbed.
The arrangement is all up and down the neck. But there’s nothing too difficult to handle. Just a couple of stretches up to the 12th fret in bars 36 and 45.
This is a rare occasion where I didn’t get tilted trying to record the video. It’s a straightforward and fun song to play on uke. There are many moves up and down the neck but you have plenty of time for them.
The only challenge I had was playing the open C note on the offbeats in the verse (e.g. bar 13). I’m so used to plodding out the thumb-picked notes on the beats it took a bit of practice to rewire my brain.
Tom Odell’s Another Love managed to amass 900 million views on YouTube without me ever having heard it. Luckily, my Patreons are more on the ball than I am and requested it. And it’s a catchy song that fits nicely on ukulele in the original key.
Technique-wise, it’s a song of two halves. For the first half, it’s all fingerpicking. The intensity picks up in the first midtro with the strums coming in during bar 42. Don’t worry about hitting every note exactly as it’s tabbed in the strumming section. It’s more important to keep up the intensity and the feel.
Possibly because of Eddie Vedder’s affection for the uke, the mandolin song from the Into the Wild soundtrack, Rise fits nicely on the uke without changing the key.
After a fingerpicking intro, the song is almost all strums. With just a few notes picked out. The verses and choruses are straightforward. It’s just the solo and that outro that have a few stretches and jumps up and down the neck.
I’ve kept the solo and the outro fairly faithful to the original, but there’s plenty of space in those to throw in your own ideas.