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  • Sleater Kinney – Modern Girl (Tabs)

    Sleater Kinney – Modern Girl (Tab)Download

    Sleater Kinney’s Modern Girl has a straightforwardness and sarcastic cheeriness that makes this one their most uke-able songs.

    Intro: The intro is a very simple bit of fingerpicking. It’s a good piece to try if you’re new to fingericking. The thumb picks everything on the C- and E-strings. And the middle finger picks the A-string. Then the index finger picks the E-string in bar 5 and from bar 10 onwards.

    Verse: The picking gets trickier in this section. I’m mostly using one finger per string picking. But I play the rapid notes in bar 22 with alternate picking.

    Chorus: A lot more strums in this section. But some more quick alternate picking in bar 26.

    Solo: The harmonic solo is my favourite part of the song. And it’s pretty simple to play. The tricky part is the quick transition into the next verse.

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  • Bob Dylan – Buckets of Rain (Tabs)

    Bob Dylan – Buckets of Rain (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Buckets of Rain from Bob Dylan’s incredible album Blood on the Tracks.

    This one gets a little fiddly in places. But there are only really two sections. So it’s not a lot to get down.

    I’m using one finger per string picking all the way through. But there are a couple of places with quick repetition of notes on the same string where you might want to do a bit of alternate picking e.g. bar 8.

    There’s a slight variation in the intro/solo section. In bar 20 and 21, you have to head up the neck for a slide.

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  • Weezer – Island in the Sun (Tabs)

    Weezer – Island in the Sun (Tab)Download

    In a shocking turn of events, it’s raining in England. So here’s  Island in the Sun for some sunny vibes.

    Intro: Just strumming out the chords. Be sure to make the “hip hip” bits stand out.

    Verse and Chorus: Other than a slide up to the fifth fret in bars 5 and 9, this is all stays in the first position. It does get a little fiddly in places.

    Bridge: Very straightforward. You can just bash this section out.

    Solo: The solo in the original just follows the verse melody. For my version, I’ve beefed up the melody with a few harmonies. You could just play this section like the verses. Or you could go your own way entirely.

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  • Howlin Wolf – Smokestack Lightning (Tabs)

    Howlin Wolf – Smokestack Lightning (Tab)Download

    Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning is inspired by a train. So, the number one priority is keeping a propulsive rhythm up.

    Intro: Starting off with the riff, which is fun to play. Well worth learning, even if you’re not bothered about the rest.

    The intro is a bit off-kilter. You’d expect the riff to repeat twice or four times. Instead, it repeats three times.

    Verse: The verses combine the melody with little bits of the riff. I’ve tried to distinguish them by having the riff played in the open position (e.g. bar 9) and the melody played up the neck.

    Solo: I’ve kept this simple to match the vibe of the original harmonica solo. But you can always fancy it up if you feel like it.

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  • In the Pines/Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Tabs)

    In the Pines/Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Tab)Download

    In the Pines is a traditional song but the most famous versions are by Lead Belly and Nirvana. I mostly worked from the Nirvana version for this arrangement and I’ve kept it very simple.

    The arrangement kicks off with a short intro. There’s lots more you can do here if you’re in the mood.

    The first verse is very simple fingerpicking. The melody is all played on the C-string with just the open E and A-strings for backing. There are a couple of exceptions. In bars 7 and 15, I add a bit of dissonance with the E-string, 6th fret. And in bar 17 the open A-string is part of the melody.

    The second verse stays with the fingerpicking but adds chords. The the third verse switches to strums. After that, it’s a re-run of the first verse.

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  • Oh Shenandoah (Tabs)

    Oh Shenandoah (Tab)Download

    Loads of people have covered Oh Shenandoah, but the Tom Waits and Keith Richards version is the one I’m most familiar with.

    I’ve arranged it three different ways. In order of easiest to trickiest. I’d recommend using this version as a springboard for your own. You can mix and match sections and add your own ideas.

    Intro: Just a short intro to establish the harmony.

    Verse 1: A very simple way of playing it. There are a few grace notes and an Fmaj7 chord in bar 6. But that’s as fancy as it gets.

    Verse 2: This verse harmonises the melody. It’s starts using thirds. Then switches to using a pedal at the end of bar 15 (around the open g-string and A-string, 7th fret). Then, bars 16-17 switch to sixths. After that, it goes back to using thirds.

    Verse 3: This one throws around all sorts of curlicues and filigree. There’s a lot of jumping up and down the fretboard and rapid hammer-ons and pull-offs. By far the hardest section, but still not too bad. You can add more frills here if you like. Or pare it back and make it more tasteful.

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  • The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize?? (Tabs)

    The Flaming Lips – Do You Realize?? (Tab)Download

    There’s nothing too difficult to play in Do You Realize?? . But it is constantly shifting. There are slight changes in chord progressions, melodies and time signatures. Not much is a direct repeat. I found keeping track of everything a bit taxing on the noggin.

    Intro: I’ve tabbed the emphasised strums (the little arrows above the tab) for the first two bars. But the same pattern continues.

    Verse: This is a good example of what I was talking about. It feels like the chord progression should repeat in the first verse. But it’s slightly different every time. Although the two verse fragments later in the song are direct repeats.

    Chorus: Two entirely different choruses. The first has a lot of strums and is in G. The second is more delicate and is in Em.

    Break: A brief key change to Bb before heading back to G.

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  • Yusuf/Cat Stevens – The Wind (Tabs)

    Yusuf/Cat Stevens – The Wind (Tab)Download

    The Wind comes across as a gentle little ditty. But there are some fiendish time signature changes in the chorus to deal with. This version is slowed down to about 90% of the original which makes it easier to handle.

    Intro: A very simple start using one-finger-per-string picking. Which is used here and in the verses.

    That’s followed by the main guitar riff. You could play this all in the first position. But I moved it up the neck to differentiate it from the melody.

    Verse: Nothing much to deal with here. Just alternating between the guitar riff and the melody.

    Chorus: Here’s where the trouble starts. There are bars of 5/4 and 2/4 thrown in along with irregularly spaced chord changes. The second chorus has an additional bar of 5/4 as well.

    I found it hard to keep track of. My approach was to break it down. I started by counting out the bars. When I had that down, I tried playing just the chords. Then adding the melody part in starting at a very slow tempo.

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  • Blur – The Universal (Tabs)

    Blur – The Universal (Tab)Download

    Here’s a tab of Blur’s The Universal. Real horrorshow.

    Intro: Thumb and two finger picking for the intro. PARKLIFE

    Verse: Switching to one finger per string picking in the verse (with a few strummed chord stabs thrown in). PARKLIFE

    Chorus: And full on strumming for the chorus. The action moves high up the neck in this section and it gets fiddly. PARKLIFE

    Solo: Still high up but not as frantic. I found the phrasing here a little difficult to get the hang of. PARKLIFE

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  • Aphex Twin – Avril 14th (Tabs)

    Aphex Twin – Avril 14th (Tab)Download

    If I’m going to tab an Aphex Twin song, there’s only one choice: Avril 14th. Which was interpolated by Kanye West on Blame Game.

    A Section: By far the hardest part of the song is the artificial harmonics that start in bar 5. In these bits, I’m picking the C-string with my thumb and playing artificial harmonics on the other strings.

    Take a look at 4stringboy if you want to see artificial harmonics done right. If you’re as bad at them as me, you can just skip the harmonics part and play the standard and it’ll sound fine.

    B Section: AKA the section that goes on twice as long as it should. Just a jump up to the 7th fret to deal with here.

    C Section: The easiest section of the song. A bit of campanella picking while holding down a single chord shape.

    D Section: This is the oddest section of the piece. It’s simplified from the original. But it bounces all over the fretboard.

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