Ukulele Hunt

Tag: 2020s

  • KPop Demon Hunters – Golden (Tabs)

    KPop Demon Hunters – Golden (Tab)Download

    For a parody song from a movie, they really went all out with Golden from KPop Demon Hunters.

    Intro: The technical wizardry starts right away. The song starts in 3/4 time and shifts both time signature and tempo seamlessly into 12/8. This is done by having one eighth note in 3/4 be the same duration as two eighth notes in 12/8. This is a technique known as metric modulation. I recommend watching David Bruce’s video on the topic if you want to understand it. And I recommend listening to this section of Stray Kids’ Side Effects to hear some time signature fuckery you don’t get much in pop.

    Verse: From here on, the song is in 12/8. This time signature crops up fairly often in K-Pop such as GFRIEND’s Apple and Fifty Fifty’s Lovin’ Me. In 12/8 the beats are arranged into four groups of three (so you can count each bar 1-2-3-4 with each beat being divided into triplets). But they sometimes go against this grouping. So, for example, in bar 15 (“Now that’s how I’m getting paid”) it’s divided into six evenly spaced notes.

    Pre-Chorus: This is where the vocals start to make big leaps and we head up the neck. But this section is slow and minimal. So it’s straightforward to play.

    Chorus: This is where things get very tricky. In the first half of the chorus, there are lots of rapid repeated notes. And in the second half, we’re leaping up and down the neck. With the melody stretching from the open E-string up to the 12th fret on the A-string.

    Outro: Similar to the chorus, we have a first half with rapid notes and a second half with big shifts. For the rapid notes, I’m doing a modified triplet strum. So I’m strumming down with my index and middle fingers together. Then plucking the A-string with my index finger, followed by a pluck with my middle finger.

    Links

    BlackPink’s Kill This Love (Tab)
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • 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.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Severance Main Theme (Tabs)

    Severance Main Theme (Tab)Download

    The Severance Theme minimalist, making it relatively easy to play. It can feel sparse on the ukulele, but it still retains the original’s eerie atmosphere.

    A Section: Played with thumb and two finger picking. The one exception is the Abm chord. I pluck that with index and middle fingers to keep the same timbre as the other notes at the start of the bar. But you can stick with thumb and index here if you prefer.

    B Section: Switching to one finger per string picking for the B section. This section is trickier but still very manageable. Start by barring at the fifth fret, then gradually move the note on the C-string down a fret each bar. In bar 11, switch to fretting the A-string,5th fret with your pinkie to prepare for the Eb on the C-string, 3rd fret.

    For the giltchy outro, I used Cryogen by Glitchmachines. I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it. I picked it up for £3 in a sale.

    Links

    More TV theme tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For? (Tabs)

    Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For? (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Billie Eilish’s contribution to the Barbie soundtrack: What Was I Made For?

    Intro: I went with a few spicy chords for the intro to emphasise the melancholy mood of the song. If you prefer, you can just pick through the standard C – Em – F chord pattern.

    Verse: I’ve kept the arrangement for this simple and sparse. It’s a great melody, so doing that gives it plenty of room to breathe.

    Chorus: Things get a bit more involved in the chorus with pull-offs, slides and a few trips up the neck to deal with.

    Break: This section is only loosely based on the original. So there’s plenty of room to play about here.

    Outro: The song is in C but it ends on a G chord (i.e. the V chord). That leaves the song hanging on a tense, uncertain note.

    Links

    More 2020s tabs
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  • Chappell Roan – Picture You (Tabs)

    Chappell Roan – Picture You (Tab)Download

    Chappell Roan seems unavoidable at the moment. And Uke Hunt is no exception with a tab of Picture You.

    Intro: I took some inspiration from the Tiny Desk version in the intro. I like the way that lazy slide down from G to F# sets up the rest of the song.

    Verse: The awkwardness of the F# chord comes into play in the verse. I’d recommend trying out my favourite way to play the D chord here. I like to fret the g and C-strings with the tip of my index finger. Then fret the E with my middle finger. Playing it that way means your middle finger is already in position for the F# and the index finger is already half way to barreing the strings.

    The other tricky part is the long slide up to the ninth fret in bar 13.

    Pre-Chorus: There’s a shift down in the octave in bar 16. It is a little clunky but it’s necessary to keep things from going way up the fretboard.

    Chorus: Nothing new in the chorus. The transition from D to F# felt more natural here.

    Bridge: There are some very long hammer-on and pull-off bits in the “you-ou-ou-ou” bits that are tricky to get down.

    Links

    More 2020s tabs
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  • Only Murders in the Building Theme (Tabs)

    Only Murders in the Building Theme (Tab)Download

    I’ve just around to watching the first season of Only Murders in the Building so it’s time for a tab of the theme tune by Siddhartha Khosla.

    The big challenge with this piece is getting it up to speed. The first challenge I had was switching the fingers from the D in bar 6 back to the D minor in bar 1. I ended up changing positions at the start of the bar. But I played around with playing the D chord with middle, ring and pinkie fingers. And with not switching until halfway through bar 1. So I recommend testing each and finding which you like the most.

    The other big challenge is keeping the arpeggiated chords (bar 5 onwards) even. Particularly in the long final section. I don’t do a good job of it myself.

    Links

    More TV theme tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Bon Iver – Speyside (Tabs)

    Bon Iver – Speyside (Tab)Download

    Bon Iver’s long-awaited return Speyside is a return to the stripped down sound of For Emma, Forever Ago. Which makes it very uke-suitable.

    I’m playing it with a capo on the second fret. But that’s just to make it in the same key as the original. You can play it without the capo if you prefer.

    There’s nothing physically difficult about the arrangement. The real challenge is keeping track of the time signature changes. If there’s any rhyme or reason to the time signature, I couldn’t find it. So I’ve just tabbed it how I felt it. Which means a new time signature each bar until it settles into 4/4 for the last few bars of each section.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Taylor Swift – august (Tabs)

    Taylor Swift – august (Tab)Download

    Verse: These are nice and simple. Standard chords in the first position.

    Chorus: There aren’t many songs that get more gentle in the chorus. But it’s very effective here. This section is slightly more difficult. It moves up the neck for a bit of campanella action and there’s some swift picking required.

    The second chorus starts with an A minor chord rather than a C. If you prefer, you can just stick with C since that’s what she did on the Long Pond version.

    Bridge: The song changes character here and it gets much trickier to play. The melody is less structured than in the verse and chorus, with a bunch of words crammed in.

    Outro: I tried to mimic the way the song drops out for the first bar of this section the second time it crops up. Then blasting in with full on strumming.

    Links

    More 2020s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Stephen Sanchez – Until I Found You (Tabs)

    Stephen Sanchez – Until I Found You (Tab)Download

    In a rare case of being almost up to date, here’s a tab of Stephen Sanchez’s retro ballad and TikTok smash Until I Found You.

    Intro: The retro touches start in the intro with a classic IV to minor iv chord change (C to Cm) in this case. Which shows up in a million Beatles songs as well as Creep and Wake Me Up When September Ends.

    Verse: The verse starts with the unmistakeable interval from the Crazy melody. The verse melody has a very lazy, slurred timing to it. I’ve kept some of that but I have straightened it up a little.

    Chorus: The chorus is more straight forward in terms of timing. The slide up to the seventh fret is the only bump.

    Solo: A very simple solo. Just bashing out the chords and doing a little slide. But doing that accurately and quickly is challenging.

    Links

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  • Brandi Carlile – You and Me on the Rock (Tabs)

    Brandi Carlile – You and Me on the Rock (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Brandi Carlile’s Joni Mitchell influenced and very catchy You and Me on the Rock.

    Intro: The Mitchell influence kicks in right away with a Big Yellow Taxi-esque strumming riff.

    Verse: And continues with a wordy verse. It’s tricky to hit every note in the melody. So I’ve taken a few liberties. Don’t stress to much about hitting every note and string exactly.

    Chorus: Things calm down a bit in the chorus. And I move from strumming only to include more picking. Even with the picking I’m doing a bit of “flick up” motion so I stroke the next string along. Making the note softer but still supporting the main melody.

    The chorus ends with a bar of 2/4 but it flows naturally.

    Bridge: There’s a short bluesy lick leading into the bridge introducing the more minor feel with the addition of Eb (the first chord outside the bog-standard I-IV-V in the rest of the song).

    Outro: The outro is cut down from the original so it’s just the second half of the chorus.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon