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  • Nico/Jackson Browne – These Days (Tabs)

    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)

    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 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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  • Keane – Somewhere Only We Know (Tabs)

    Intro: All down-strums here to give an authentic dad-rock feel.

    Verse and Pre-Chorus: Switching to fingerpicking using a one-finger-per-string set up.

    Chorus: Adding some strums here on the Em chord and picking more heavily than before. You can beef it up even further by strumming all the way through the final chorus but you’ll lose definition in the melody.

    Solo: A quick and easy solo. It’s one I made up myself so you’re welcome to change it however you like.

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  • The Monkees – Daydream Believer (Tabs)

    Daydream Believer by The Monkees is fairly straightforward to play. The biggest challenges are a few quick hops up the neck. The trickiest one coming in the shift between bars 8 and 9. Other than that, it’s all familiar chord shapes and a simple but insanely catchy melody.

    The original is in the key of G and that fits very nicely on the uke so I’ve kept it for this arrangement. The little piano riff in the intro works particularly well.

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  • Foo Fighters – My Hero (Tabs)

    In tribute to Taylor Hawkins.

    The song starts off with a bit of dissonance between the Ab on the E-string and the open A string. The Ab also provides dissonance as the first note in the chorus melody (bar 16).

    My first arrangement contained strumming almost all the way through. So in the intro I was strumming the second half of bars 1 and 2. And also strumming in the gaps at the end of every other bar in the verse. If you want to do it that way, go for it. But I decided to create a bit more of a contrast been the sections by picking adding picking to the quieter sections.

    For the “solo” section of the tab is more in keeping with the spirit of that section rather than the actual notes. It’s really just a breakdown cooling things off before bringing the rock back. So as long as you build up at the end, you’re free to do whatever you like with this section.

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  • David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (Tabs)

    The Man Who Sold the World starts off with that iconic riff playing over changing chords. It works nicely on uke and is well worth learning on its own.

    At the end of the intro, there’s an awkward bar of 2/4. I considered extending it to a bar of 4/4 (as Nirvana did in their Unplugged version). It certainly feels more natural that way. Even Bowie messed up and came in late sometimes. I’d recommend going with a bar of 4/4 if that feels more comfortable to you. There’s another bar of 2/4 in bar 20, but that one feels much more natural.

    The verse is a simple chord and melody affair. But things get a little tricky in the chorus where you’re playing the riff and the melody. Make sure you keep them as distinct as you can by giving extra emphasis to the melody notes and sustaining them as much as you can over the riff.

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  • Spandau Ballet – True (Tabs)

    Spandau Ballet’s True is a real new romantic cheese-fest. Despite (or maybe because of) that, I had a lot of fun playing this. There are some tasty chords and runs in there.

    Cheesiest and funnest of all is the sax solo. I’ve kept this as close to the original as I could manage. The chord progression switches to a simple Eb – Ab vamp. So there’s plenty of scope to throw your own ideas in there. The trickiest part of the whole song comes in bar 60 with a quick descending run at the climax.

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  • Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (Tabs)

    I’m still tied to the 90s but for once it’s not a one hit wonder but Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.

    Teen Spirit has Nirvana’s traditional quiet-loud-quiet-loud dynamics. In this arrangement, the loud bits are done with strumming and the quiet bits are fingerpicked.

    I’ve shortened a couple of sections to stop things getting too repetitive. The strumming part of the intro is halved. As is the pre-chorus. If you want to make it even tighter, you could also drop four bars of the chorus.

    In case you’re not familiar, the arrows above the notes in bars 5 and 7 are telling you to emphasise those notes. Those are intended to be the “bow-now” notes on the guitar in the quiet bit.

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  • Marcy Playground – Sex and Candy (Tabs)

    Following on from No Rain with another 90s one-hit wonder: Marcy Playgraound’s Sex and Candy.

    The song only has verses and choruses but they still manage to sneak in three key changes. The verses are in G and the choruses in Bb.

    The key change from the verse to the chorus is very smooth. Although the Bb note (A-string, 1st fret) isn’t in the key of G, we’ve heard it a lot in the Eb chord and the melody. So the transition that occurs during the “I smell sex and…” part is seamless.

    The key change back at the end of the chorus calls attention to itself though. In bar 20 the chords shift down half a step to D to set up the key of G. A bit of theory: the most common way to change key is to play the V chord of the key you’re changing to. This sets up the new key rather than diving straight into it. In this case, D is the V chord of G.

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