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  • Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds (Tabs)

    Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds (Tabs)Download

    Here’s my take on Elvis’s Suspicious Minds.

    Intro: A nifty little riff to start with.

    Verse: The verses are nice and simple. A straightforward G-C-D chord progression with a simple but effective melody.

    The verse at the end (bar 40 onwards) is a beefed-up version of the first half of the earlier verse pattern.

    Chorus: Here’s where things get challenging. There’s a lot of bouncing up and down the neck. And things get fiddly at the top end. I found the high Bm section (bar 24) the most challenging bit of the song.

    Bridge: This section has a big drop in tempo and a time signature change to 6/8. Like the chorus, there are some challenging moves here. But the slower tempo makes it more manageable.

    Outro: Closing off with a descending G minor pentatonic inspired by the live ending of the song.

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  • Waxahatchee – Right Back to It (Tabs)

    Waxahatchee – Right Back to It (Tab)Download

    This arrangement of Waxahatchee’s Right Back to It is a rare outing in the key of Bb, which keeps all the melodies comfortably within the first few frets.

    But there’s still plenty of movement up and down the neck in the song’s instrumental sections. And there are many of those with an intro and two solos. I’ve kept the intro close to the original. And I recommend you do the same. But the solos have plenty of room for your own ideas. For mine, I’m following the chord shapes and adding in notes from the Bb major scale (plus a C# in bars 42 and 54 for a bluesy edge). And I use lots of slides and bends to imitate a lap steel guitar. The lick in bar 53 in particular is a classic lap steel move.

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  • Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash (Tabs)

    Bobby “Boris” Pickett – Monster Mash (Tab)Download

    I’ve covered a lot of Halloween songs over the years and I’ve always avoided Monster Mash. It’s delivered in a talk-singing voice, so there’s no real melody to transport to uke. So the melody in this arrangement is largely fictional. I’ve tried to follow the contours of the vocals and match the vibe of the original. But feel free to change anything you don’t like. Either way, I’m sure Pam would hate it.

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  • The White Stripes – Fell in Love with a Girl (Tabs)

    The White Stripes – Fell in Love with a Girl (Tabs)Download

    The White Stripes’ Fell in Love with a Girl is a simple song but the tempo is high. I’ve slowed it down in my version (from 180BPM-ish in the original to 170) but it’s still a challenge to keep up. To make things easier, the arrangement moves across the strings rather than up and down the neck. Which means there’s a lot of open strings and use of the g-string in the melody.

    Even more than usual, this one rewards practicing slowly. Let your fingers learn the patterns before building up speed . Because once it’s up to tempo, there’s no time to think.

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  • Creedence Clearwater Revival/Wednesday – Bad Moon Rising (Tabs)

    Creedence Clearwater Revival/Wednesday – Bad Moon Rising (Tab)Download

    We’re kicking off Halloween season with CCR’s Bad Moon Rising. For extra spook, I’ve worked from the minor key version of the song that cropped up in Wednesday. I always like the way dark songs sound on the uke. So this minor version works well.

    I’m using Travis picking all the way through the tune. So the thumb is alternating between the g- and C-strings while the index and middle fingers cover the E- and A-strings, respectively. This technique sounds intricate and hard to play. But, once you’ve got it under your fingers, it flows very easily. So practice nice and slow before you attempt it at higher speed.

    If you’re in the mood, you can find more Halloween tabs and chords here

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  • Minnie Riperton – Lovin’ You (Tabs)

    Minnie Riperton – Lovin’ You (Tabs)Download

    Today we’re taking on Minnie Riperton’s sweet lullaby and notoriously bad karaoke choice Lovin’ You.

    I’ve kept the arrangement sparse to match the original and to focus on the melody. But it’s still a challenge to play due to the amount of movement up and down the neck. The trickiest bits being the jumps up to the 12th fret. I found bar 19 particularly challenging.

    Of course, Minnie Riperton’s famed vocal range far outstrips the range of the ukulele. So the ultra-high “ah-ah-ah…” section is shifted down an octave.

    It’s played with one finger per string picking all the way through.

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  • Nena – 99 Red Balloons (Tabs)

    Nena – 99 Red Balloons (Tab)Download

    Today’s tab is Nena’s 99 Red Balloons. Originally 99 Luftballons. I worked from the English version for this arrangement, but there’s not a lot of difference between them.

    Intro/Outro: The song closes with a slow, fingerpicked version of the melody. Nothing troubling to tackle here. It’s all basic chords in the first position. The g-string does some of the melody work, so make sure those notes are prominent.

    Bridge: The song speeds up for the riff section. I’m fingerpicking the notes here with muted strums (plus a muted note on the g-string that’s picked with the thumb). Keep this section staccato to match the original.

    Verse: The increased tempo and use of strums makes this section trickier than the first. But, as compensation, it’s more repetitive so it’s simple once you get it under your fingers.

    Solo: The keyboard solo doesn’t seem any trickier than the verse, but I found it much more of a challenge.

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  • Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (Tabs)

    Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on the most 90s song there is: STP’s Plush.

    Intro: Starting off with a simple chord riff with chromatically descending notes on the C and A-strings.

    Verse: Nothing too tricky in the verse. The transition between bars 7 and 8 was the bit I needed to practice most. Once you get to the, “And I feeeeeeel it,” section, you can just blast it out.

    Pre-Chorus: More of challenge. It’s all barre chords until the last few notes. And so is the chorus, so you’ll need some finger stamina to get through it. There are also some big stretches in bars 19 and 21.

    Chorus: The trickiest part. There’s some quick moving around the neck. I’ve included a fingering suggestion in bar 23 to make the transition easier.

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  • Amy Winehouse – You Know I’m No Good (Tabs)

    Amy Winehouse – You Know I’m No Good (Tab)Download

    This arrangement of Amy Winehouse’s You Know I’m No Good. The chords are simple but effective. The move from Gm to Cm6 (a Cm chord with an open A-string) to D has such a melancholic and resigned feel to it.

    Nothing goes above the fourth fret (and even that is only in the solo), so there’s not much movement to deal with.

    The only challenging technique is the use of grace notes. A grace note is a quick note you play just before the main note. For example, in bar 8 you play the open A-string then immediately hammer-on at the first fret. This gives the melody more of human touch.

    When grace notes happen inside a chord, they’re written before the chord in the tab, but you play them as part of the chord itself. For example, in bar 2 you play 021X, then immediately hammer-on the third fret of the E-string.

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  • Don McLean – American Pie (Tabs)

    Don McLean – American Pie (Tab)Download

    Inevitably, I’ve trimmed this one down from its 8 1/2 minute runtime. This arrangement includes the opening slow verse, then speeds up for the first chorus, then speeds up again for the second verse and chorus.

    There’s nothing too tricky to play until the second half of the second verse. As well as the increased tempo, there’s a lot of jumping up and down the neck to handle.

    But the hardest part for me was memorising the verses. The chorus has a very catchy melody and a clear chord structure. But the verses are meandering and wordy. The chord progression never settles into a pattern. And even changes slightly between the two verses.

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