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  • Dolly Parton – Jolene (Tabs)

    Dolly Parton – Jolene (Tab)Download

    Following on from I Will Always Love You with the song Dolly wrote on the same day. I don’t know how it’s possible to write two all-time classics in one day.

    The arrangement starts out with a very basic version of the chorus. You could play the verse in this style and create a nice arrangement.

    Next is an approximation of the intro riff from the original. The syncopated rhythm is tricky to get the hang of. Apparently, even the session musicians had trouble getting it down. I’ve made a close up video for just this section. If you want to play along to the original, you’ll have to tune down half a step to Gb B Eb Ab.

    The verse and chorus are based on an alternating thumb picking pattern (moving between the C and g-strings) like the original. Unfortunately, the melody sometimes strays onto the C-string which complicates matters. I found it a little tricky to switch in and out of the alternating pattern. But after starting super-low and gradually increasing the speed, it started to feel almost on autopilot after a while.

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  • Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (Tabs)

    Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (Tab)Download

    I Will Always Love You is one of those songs where a cover version has completely obliterated the original. But Dolly’s version is still my favourite. Specifically, the 70s countrified version rather than the syrupy 80s version. So I used that one as the basis for this arrangement. Although some of the phrasing might be closer to the Whitney Houston version.

    The intro is the trickiest part of the arrangement with a couple of bends and a bar of 2/4 to navigate.

    The arrangement uses a lot of arpeggios. So you really need to emphasise the melody notes so it doesn’t just become a mush. But you can rely on most people being familiar with the melody, so they’ll do some of the work for you.

    You do need to prepare a bit for the high vocal trills in bars 15 and 19. There are open strings either side of those to give you a bit more time to move.

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  • Tenacious D – Fuck Her Gently (Tabs)

    Tenacious D – Fuck Her Gently (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Jack Black and Kyle Gass’s lewd ode to soft loving. But if you don’t tell anyone what the title is, it functions nicely as a pleasant tune. The jump up the neck at the start of the chorus (bars 19 and 20) is particularly sweet.

    And there are a few jumps up the neck to deal with. But the trickiest part is the rapid pull-on and hammer-on section in bar 26. If you struggling with that, you can replace the whole 10-12-10-8 with the A-string, 10th fret.

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  • In Heaven (from Eraserhead) (Tabs)

    Peter Ivers & David Lynch – In Heaven (Tab)Download

    If you’re ever in the mood for a strange but hilarious movie, I highly recommend Eraserhead. One of the film’s many joys is the Lady in the Radiator song. The song has had a life outside the movie as In Heaven becoming a Pixies live favourite and a jazz odyssey by Julian Lage.

    I’ve arranged the tune in D minor for ease of playing. And with it being so slow and sparse, it’s a pretty simple one to play. The only oddity is Ab chord in bar 8. Ab isn’t a chord you expect to find in a song in D minor. So it adds a dissonant and unsettling edge to the song (to match the rest of the movie). I bend the notes on the E-string, 4th fret in that bar to accentuate the dissonant sound.

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  • Frank and Nancy Sinatra – Something Stupid (Tabs)

    Frank and Nancy Sinatra – Something Stupid (Tab)Download

    Something Stupid was made famous by Frank and Nancy Sinatra and written by C Carson Parks (who I just learned is brother of Van Dyke Parks). More recently, Lola Marsh recorded a ukulele version for Better Call Saul.

    There’s plenty of scope for your own noodles if you want to take them. I stuck close to the original in the intro but you can let loose as much as you like here. After that, I’ve thrown in a lot of my own twiddles. Keeping them nice and cheesy to match the rest of the song. I using the C major scale and throw in a few chromatic notes.

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  • David Bowie – Space Oddity (Tabs)

    David Bowie – Space Oddity (Tab)Download

    I’ve used some artificial harmonics in the intro because they’re the spaciest sound you can get on a ukulele. But you can play this section without them and it won’t be a problem. Or you could come up with your own intro.

    The first verse is the simplest part of the song. Then comes the “Lift Off” section. Pretty much any rising figure will work here. You can go as simple as grabbing a note and sliding up the neck. I took the opportunity to have a bit of fun with effects.

    The second verse is more much of a challenge. There are a lot of moves up and down the neck and a few finger-twisting bits. On the upside, it has the strange change from F major to F minor that mirrors the shift in the song from triumph to tragedy.

    After some quick chord changes, the solo starts up. I’ve stayed fairly close to the original here. Just adapting bits for uke. But I couldn’t resist throwing in a Day Tripper reference on the A chord (bar 44) as the original comes so close to it.

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  • Roy Orbison – Crying (Tabs)

    Roy Orbison – Crying (Tab)Download

    Here’s a version of Roy Orbison’s Crying. Which Rolling Stone declared the 69th greatest song of all time. Nice.

    Roy Orbison’s unmistakeable falsetto is in full effect in this song. So the big challenge here is jumping up and now the neck accurately.

    In the second chorus, the melody goes all the way up to the 15th fret. If you can’t access that fret on your uke, you can just play it the same as the first chorus. Or, if you really want to go for it, you could use artificial harmonics.

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  • Portishead – Glory Box (Tabs)

    Portishead – Glory Box (Tab)Download

    The song is built around a sample of Ike’s Rap by Isaac Hayes (the same sample used in Tricky’s Hell is Round the Corner). So the whole song is on an Em chord (Ebm in the original) with descending bass notes on the C-string of E, D, C#, C.

    By far the hardest part of the arrangement is the artificial harmonics in bars 21-22 (“A thousand flowers could bloom”) played at the same time as the bass notes. If, like me, you struggle with that bit, you can ignore the harmonics all together and just play it as written.

    The solo starts off like the original but I go off on my own from there. I suggest you do the same. I’m using notes from the melody plus a Bb (A-string, 1st fret) that lends some gritty dissonance to the solo.

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  • The Beatles – Till There Was You (Tabs)

    The Beatles – Till There Was You (Tab)Download

    Till There Was You was originally recorded by Meredith Wilson. But, of course, is much better known by The Beatles’ cover.

    This arrangement is heavily based on The Beatles’ version but is closer to the tempo of the original. I’ve taken a few liberties including adding my own intro and solo. Feel free to do the same for your version.

    I recommend one finger per string picking for everything but the solo. I just used whatever falls under my fingers in that section.

    There are a few fancy chords in the arrangement. Including my favourite chord: C7(#5). C7 is already an unsettled chord and adding that #5 creates even more tension that is released when you move back to the F chord.

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  • Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day (Tabs)

    Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on, part-time uker and full time Belieber, Sufjan Stevens’s heartbreaking Casimir Pulaski Day. I also love Mikaela Davis’s harp cover, so a bit of that has snuck into the arrangement too.

    The song gets much of its power from being blunt and straightforward. So I’ve kept the arrangement stark and tried to play it directly without too much emotion.

    The picking is mostly thumb on the g- and C-strings and the index and middle on E and A respectively. The big exception is the rapid notes on the C-string at the end of each stanza e.g. bars 9 and 17. For those, I recommend using alternate picking as it’s too quick to comfortably play with your thumb.

    The other big exception is the trumpet solo, where I switch to strumming to give things a lift.

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    Tab for Sufjan’s Death with Dignity

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