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  • Garbage – Only Happy When It Rains (Tabs)

    Garbage – Only Happy When It Rains (Tab)Download

    I’m back and I’m starting the year how I intend to carry on: with pessimistic miserablism in the form of Garbage’s Only Happy When It Rains.

    Verse: Not wasting any time with an intro. Since the melody does a lot of switching between A and G, I’m taking advantage of the re-entrant string and using the open A and G notes. I love how well the bent notes at the fifth fret work here.

    Chorus: Switching to a major key for a fairly jaunty chorus melody.

    Solo: Nothing too flashy here. If you do want to get flashy, you could replace some of the notes at the third fret at the start of the bars in the second half with notes bent at the second fret. That’s more true to the original but tricky to pull off (particularly on the E chord).

    Outro: A bit of stretch here when you’re playing Am then hitting the A-string, 5th fret.

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  • The Beatles – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Tabs)

    The Beatles – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Tab)Download

    Intro: I did an extended intro based on the verse chords. It’s a little tricky so feel free to adapt it however you like. Or just replace the whole thing with one bar of G like the original.

    Verse: First time around, this section is picked (using one finger per string picking). Second time is more loose and strummed with a few notes picked out.

    Chorus: The funnest part of the song with a big G chord on the “HEY!”

    Solo: Lots of room for your own ideas here too. You could make it as simple as strumming the chords and throwing in a few sus2 and sus4 chords.

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  • Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody (Tabs)

    Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody (Tab)Download

    Intro: Starting off in usual fashion with Eb leading into G major. The Bb note (A-string, 1st fret) suggests G minor so the G major chord is a little surprising.

    Verse: I’m fingerpicking this section the first two times it’s played. The third I’m using some strumming particularly on the Gsus4-G bit. You can do that every time if you prefer.

    Chorus: The Eb chord crops up again creating discord under the line, “Everybody’s having fun,” and suggesting the Christmas isn’t as merry as claimed. If that was intentional, Noddy Holder is a more nuanced songwriter than I gave him credit for.

    Bridge: I had forgotten this section existed. But it does give us the Gm that has been hinted at since the intro.

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  • Del Shannon – Runaway (Tabs)

    Del Shannon – Runaway (Tab)Download

    Del Shannon’s classic Runaway has been covered a heap of times. Most surprisingly by Kasabian. And mostly recently by me a few hours ago.

    Intro and Verse: It starts off straightforwardly in G minor.

    Chorus: A switch to G major and a busier melody make for an upbeat chorus. The octaves in 20 and 24 are tricky to play. If you’re struggling, you can play either the top or bottom line alone.

    Solo: My version of the solo is only loosely based on the original. There’s plenty of room for making it your own. Bars 37-38 are a pain in the arse to play. But also the best bars in the whole song.

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  • Harry Styles – As It Was (Tabs)

    Harry Styles – As It Was (Tab)Download

    I  hadn’t heard Harry Styles’s As It Was before it cropped up as a Patreon request and my hopes weren’t high. Turns out it’s a pretty great song. Very catchy with a melancholy edge.

    Intro: A bit of Take On Me action with this riff. Once the chords kick in at bar 2, prioritise keeping the energy up over hitting exactly the right strings. As long as you’re holding the chord, it’ll sound great.

    Verse: Mostly one finger per string picking here but I’m alternating index and middle finger to pick the C notes in bars 7 and 11.

    I snuck in a little lick at the end of bar 8 to fill up the bar. You’re welcome to use your own ideas here.

    Chorus: Just strumming for the chorus. The trickiest part is hitting the F chord just before the end of bars 15 and 19. Don’t worry if you hit some of the open strings when you play the A-string, 7th fret the note before.

    You could always extend that note at the 7th fret and hit the F chord at the start of bar 16/20. I doubt anyone will notice.

    Bridge: A whole mess of notes here. Definitely need some alternate picking to get through it.

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  • R.E.M. – Endgame (Tabs)

    R.E.M. – Endgame (Tab)Download

    An instrumental track from R.E.M.’s classic Out of Time.

    Intro: Starting off with thumb and two finger picking.

    I love the way this riff works with open strings on the uke. So much so, I considered inserting into the song itself. In the end, I saved it for the outro.

    Verse: By far the hardest part of the song comes with the big jumps down the fretboard in bars 13-16. Well worth practicing these bars by themselves until you’ve got them down.

    Chorus: Switching to one finger per string picking and moving into strums at the end of the chorus.

    Bridge: This section is just chord strumming.

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  • The Jesus and Mary Chain – Sometimes Always (Tabs)

    The Jesus and Mary Chain – Sometimes Always (Tab)Download

    Tabbing a Mazzy Star song inspired to me to bash together this Hope Sandoval featuring Jesus and Mary Chain song. And “bash” is an accurate description. It’s a route 1 arrangement with just strumming and melody.

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