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  • The Beautiful South – A Little Time (Tabs)

    The Beautiful South – A Little Time (Tab)Download

    The Beautiful South are one of those bands that are so British I can’t imagine them making it huge around the globe. Nevertheless, they have some great tunes so I wanted to tab A Little Time. Plus what remains of The Beautiful South recent toured with, Uke Hunt favourites, Keston Cobblers’ Club.

    There are a few tricky manoeuvers in this arrangement. But one simple thing is the chords. The intro, verse and solo all have just one chord: G.

    There are a few challenging aspects. First is the speed of some of the notes. I use a lot alternate picking to get up to speed. Plus my version is slightly slower than the original (I think you could go even slower and get away with it).

    The second bit that’s a challenge is using your pinkie to slide up from the 5th to the 7th fret. I definitely need more practice with that to be as confident as I am with other fingers.

    But the part I had most difficultly with was the switch between the verse and chorus. In the original, this is where Briana Corrigan interrupts David Rotheray mid-sentence. An effective way to represent an argument in a duet but challenging to create a separation on the uke.

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  • Johnny Cash/NIN – Hurt (Tabs)

    Johnny Cash/NIN – Hurt (Tab)Download

    This arrangement of Hurt is very much based on the Cash version. But I was a massive Nine Inch Nails fan as an angsty teen, so some of that version might have slipped through.

    The plodding pace of this song makes it pretty easy to play. Just make sure you give the strings some welly in the chorus to recreate the thundering, steady pianos.

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  • Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (Tabs)

    Marvin Gaye – Let’s Get It On (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On. Although you could just tell people it’s Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud and no one will notice.

    I recommend being relaxed and loose with the phrasing in this one. Being on the beat is not sexy! My phrasing is slightly different to Marvin’s and you should play it the way you feel it.

    The trickiest parts of this arrangement are where you’re holding a Bb chord and also bending the E-string at the third fret (e.g. at the end of bar 1). You have to make sure you’re only bending the E-string and not the g- or C-strings. The good news is you only have to bend it slightly sharp. This mimics the original giving it a yearning feeling.

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  • Radiohead – Karma Police (Tabs)

    Radiohead – Karma Police (Tab)Download

    I’ve written up quite a few Radiohead songs in the past. Now it’s time for the OK Computer track Karma Police.

    Intro: Mostly picking out the chords with the thumb on the C-string and the middle and index on the E and A, respectively.

    On the Eb chord there’s a nice addition of an F note making it an Ebsus2. To prepare for the change to that, fret the E-string, third fret in the first half of the bar with your little finger.

    Verse: Sticking with the same picking for the verse. The only slightly tricky part here is the run down from the fifth fret in bar 12.

    Bridge: I’m mostly using one-finger-per-string picking in this section until the last two bars. There’s a lot more moving around the neck in this section, with the transition between bars 17 and 18 being tricky (I flubbed that bit in the video). Which is the most Radioheady part of the song.

    Chorus: Even more moving around here, but it’s less intense.

    Solo: The solo takes its inspiration from the bass line. There’s lots of scope for your own ideas here.

    After that, it’s another run through the chorus and a fade out with a little of Freakshow Industries’ Backmask added.

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  • The White Stripes – We’re Going to Be Friends (Tabs)

    The White Stripes – We’re Going to Be Friends (Tab)Download

    Following on from These Days with another Cotten-picking arrangement: a rare White Stripes acoustic song We’re Going to Be Friends. But this is easier than These Days as the thumb alternating between the g- and C-strings through the whole song.

    The melody is very simple and repetitive almost like a nursery rhyme. But there are slight variations between the verses that you need to include to create at least a little variety.

    The only big variation comes in the bridge section where they go far out and include a fourth chord. But you’re still picking the same basic patterns.

    For a quick bonus, here’s another ditty Conan uses on his podcast arranged for low-G uke:

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  • TLC – Waterfalls (Tabs)

    TLC – Waterfalls (Tab)Download

    Here’s my attempt at TLC’s heartbreaking tale of Jason Waterfalls.

    The intro is by far the trickiest part of the song. There are a bunch of chord stabs and some tasty licks.

    The melody line is exceptionally straight-forward and easy to play. The only interesting part is the bluesy “Listen to me” at the end of the verse (bar 28). And I’ve thrown in a couple of licks inspired by the bass in bar 20 and at the end of the choruses.

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  • Bob Marley and the Wailers – One Love (Tabs)

    Bob Marley and the Wailers – One Love (Tab)Download

    One Love first came out in a ska version in 1965. But my arrangement is based on the later, more laid-back and more famous reggae version. You might have noticed that good-time island vibes and togetherness are not my métier. So I’m sure you can improve on my version.

    I love the mix of textures on this track. Particularly the sharp guitar stabs, the rinky-dink piano and Marley’s smooth vocals. I’ve tried to include those in this arrangement as much as I can.

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  • Nico/Jackson Browne – These Days (Tabs)

    Nico/Jackson Browne – These Days (Tab)Download

    This arrangement is based on Nico’s version rather the more laid-back Jackson Browne version. I couldn’t resist playing the Cotton picking guitar of the Nico version (played by Browne himself) on the ukulele.

    Intro: Setting up the cotton picking pattern along with the thumb alternating between the g- and C-strings, the index finger picking the E-string and the middle A.

    Except in bars 1 and 3 you start on the g-string and in the others you’re starting on the C-string. I’ve done to complete the descending line on the g-string. That run goes C-B-A-G in the first bar and needs the F on the C-string to finish it off.

    Verse: Some more switching of the pattern in this section. This time it’s because some of the melody notes go low enough to fall on the C-string e.g. the final C note in bar 6 and the C-string, second fret in bar 8.

    There’s a break from the alternating picking when you switch to one-finger-per-string picking in bar 12. That continues until you ease back into the alternating style in bar 16.

    Solo: My take on the solo is a bit more in the Jackson Browne style. Particularly with the country bend in bar 26. I’ve also taken a hint from the descending bass-line and used a descending line harmonised with thirds in bars 24 and 34. The rest is plucking the chords with a few references to the melody thrown in.

    Of course, you’re allowed and encourage to do whatever you fancy in this section and make it your own.

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  • R.E.M. – Man on the Moon (Tabs)

    R.E.M. – Man on the Moon (Tab)Download

    I tabbed R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion a while back. So high time I did a song from their follow-up Automatic for the People.

    Intro: Plenty of room to play around with ideas in the intro. I’m just picking out notes from a few chord inversions.

    Verse: Just two chords (C and D), a stately pace and a contained melody.

    Pre-Chorus: A classic pre-chorus, building up the energy into the chorus. So it starts at the same level as the verse, builds complexity and moves up the neck in bars 26 and 27. Then switches from picking to strumming in bar 28.

    Chorus: The trickiest part of the song with chord changes coming thick and fast.

    Solo: Another place you can introduce your own ideas. Mine is a similar idea to the intro with notes coming mostly from the chords. I’m also doing plenty of sliding around to emulate the slide guitar in the original.

    This arrangement goes straight from the solo in the chorus. So I’ve taken a hint from the pre-chorus and ending the solo with a move up the neck and then some strumming.

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  • Joe Hisaishi – Summer (from Kikujiro) (Tabs)

    Joe Hisaishi – Summer (from Kikujiro) (Tab)Download

    Joe Hisaishi is a prolific film composer (I only realised while researching this post that he scored a movie I watched while working on this piece). But he’s best known for his scores for the Studio Ghibli films and for Takeshi Kitano. Summer comes from one of Kitano’s gentler movies: Kikujiro.

    This arrangement starts with some palm muted arpeggios before moving into the main melody. In this section, I’ve used the open g-string as a melody note in a number of places. You can replace any of these with E-string, 3rd fret if you prefer.

    The arrangement goes full campanella mode in bar 18. Playing one note on each string means you don’t have to move your left hand at all for this quick section. Once you’ve got the picking pattern under your fingers it’s very easy.

    Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the rising bass line here to fit with the higher pattern. So I’ve divided them up. So you play the pattern in G, then the lower bass part in bars 20-21, the high pattern in C in bars 22-23 and the bass pattern in C in bars 24-25.

    After a reprise of the A section, the outro closes out with some notes up the neck. Which I manage to flub in bar 39. So play what’s written rather than my screw-up. I manage it second time around in bar 41 if you want to hear how it’s supposed to sound.

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