Ukulele Hunt

Tag: 90s

  • No Doubt – Don’t Speak (Tabs)

    No Doubt – Don’t Speak (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on the No Doubt mega-hit Don’t Speak. The second best song Gwen Stefani has been involved with. I wasn’t sure if this one would work on uke, but I like how mournful it sounds on the instrument.

    The chords in the verse are a little unusual. The first time around the Dm chord lasts one bar. The second time, it lasts half a bar and all the chords are moved half a bar earlier with an extra half a bar of Dm in bar 9.

    The pre-chorus introduces some strums to build up to the chorus. The chord progression in the chorus is great. Particularly moving between D and Cm.

    There’s a key change to Eb in the bridge. Which makes it tricky to play.

    Next is the solo, which also has a few tricky bits. Most notably the trip up the neck in bar 31.

    After that is a minimal version of the verse and a chorus with a slight variation at the end.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers – I Could Have Lied (Tabs)

    Red Hot Chili Peppers – I Could Have Lied (Tab)Download

    RHCP’s I Could Have Lied was written by Anthony Kiedis after Sinead O’Connor broke up with him. Who would have thought that relationship wouldn’t last?

    Blood Sugar Sex Magik is packed with great riffs and this one is no exception. It works nicely on the uke too. Well worth learning it even if you’re not learning the whole song.

    The intro and the verse are all played with thumb and two finger picking. With the exception of the rapid notes on the E-string, 3rd fret in bar 10 where I’m using alternate picking to keep up the speed. The part I struggled with here is the pull-off between bars 10 and 11. It involves holding a note on the C-string while pulling off on the A-string. For an easier version, you can skip the note on the C-string.

    The chorus is fairly straightforward with most of it being chord strums apart from the riff.

    The solo uses a few elements from the original. But I’ve changed it up to suit my own playing and I suggest you do the same.

    Links

    More RHCP tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Nerf Herder – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme (Tabs)

    Nerf Herder – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme (Tab)Download

    Shamefully, I’ve never seen an episode of Buffy. I couldn’t even have hummed the theme tune before it was requested on the Patreon. Even so, it’s such a 90s-fest it gave me nostalgia.

    And it’s dead simple. It’s mostly bashing out chords with a few single notes here and there.

    Links

    More TV theme tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • The Cranberries – Zombie (Tabs)

    The Cranberries – Zombie (Tab)Download

    Zombie has had a strange journey from song about the troubles in Northern Ireland to a halloween staple. A change that some people might be happy to see. I remember the band Therapy? (who, unlike The Cranberries, are from Northern Ireland) attacking the song for its over-the-top imagery.

    The chords for this arrangement are Em – C – G – D all the way through. Which is the same as the original (although the original is tuned slightly sharp).

    The trickiest bit is recreating the vocal crack she does in the chorus in bar 28 then in bars 32-34. You can duplicate the vocal effect by stopping the strings ringing right after the hammer-on.

    The solo is made up mostly of double stops on the E- and A-strings. That does create a few tricky sections (like 46) bit is more straightforward than most solos.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • 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.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Travis – Why Does It Always Rain on Me? (Tabs)

    Travis – Why Does It Always Rain on Me? (Tab)Download

    It’s always fascinating to see how bands deal with the death of musical fads and Travis are a prime example of it. Their debut album Good Feeling was full of Oasis-y rockers about good times and picking up girls. Which would have flown off the shelves if it had been released in the Britpop era rather than in 1997, the year Radiohead killed off the genre with OK Computer. After the lukewarm success of the album, they shamelessly reworked themselves into a Radiofriendlyhead sounding band on The Man Who (even slagging off Wonderwall on the first verse of the album) and had a breakthrough Why Does It Always Rain On Me?. Setting the scene for Coldplay who released their debut a year later.

    The chords for this one are very easy. The only challenge is some rapid picking (which you’ll need to do some alternate picking) and pull-offs.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • R.E.M. – Losing My Religion (Tabs)

    R.E.M. – Losing My Religion (Tab)Download

    The opening riff for REM’s Losing My Religion is a blast to play and fits nicely on the uke. I particularly like the riff on the G chord leading into the verse which I play campanella style.

    At first, I was playing the chords with strums. But I switched to fingerpicking for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it makes the chords sharper and more mandolin-like. Secondly, it means you can keep the chords very short (by immediately stopping the strings ringing with your picking fingers) making the sound punchier. Even so, strumming is a perfectly legitimate way to go and lends the tune a different feel.

    Things get a lot more miserable once Stipe turns up. I mostly play the verses and choruses with one finger per string picking. You can be fairly loose with these sections and don’t need to play everything note for note.

    My second favourite part is the riff right at the end. It’s ultra simple but very effective. Well worth learning even if you don’t bother with the rest of the song as it’ll fit in many situations.

    Links

    More R.E.M. tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Joan Osborne – One of Us (Tabs)

    Joan Osborne – One of Us (Tab)Download

    Back when I spent entire days watching MTV, this song and More Than Words made up a good 30% of the airtime. I got heartily sick of it at the time. But I’ve mellowed on it.

    The tune is very simple. Four chords and the melody doesn’t go higher than the third fret. The only slightly unusual part is on the “Yeah, yeah”s in bars 13, 15 and 17. If you want to make that super-simple, you can replace 5500 with 2000 and 543x with 003x and it won’t sound much different.

    The original starts with an instrumental version of the chorus. But, since we’re playing that later, I came up with an intro based on the chords. Feel free to ditch it and come up with your own.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone (Tab)

    Sonic the Hedgehog – Green Hill Zone (Tab)Download

    This Sega classic by Masato Nakamura starts off with the hardest bar in the entire arrangement. And it’s such an iconic run there’s not much scope to change it.

    The good news is that this is followed by a very easy section of just Em, Dm and F chords. And the rest of the tune isn’t too tricky. The most difficult bit are the little runs in the Em parts (e.g. bars 11 and 13).

    Links

    More game theme tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Iris Dement – Our Town (Tabs)

    Iris Dement – Our Town (Tab)Download

    Amazingly, Our Town was the first song that Iris Dement wrote and she came up with the lyrics from beginning to end with no editing. Another fact I learned researching this song: The Goo Goo Doll’s Iris was named after her.

    This arrangement is based on the original. But the first time I ever heard this song was Kate Rusby’s cover. So some of that version will have slipped in.

    The backbone of the song is baby’s first chord progression: C – F – C – G7. That runs all the way through the song. The melody is also straightforward. It’s all contained in the first few frets. Plus, I’m playing it loosely and throwing in strums wherever it feels right. So there’s nothing too challenging here.

    But if you want to stretch out, there’s plenty of room to do solo in the solos. The solos in my arrangement are of my own invention. So you’re welcome to ditch them and come up with your own. If you keep track of the chord changes and use the C major scale, you can’t go wrong.

    I would recommend approaching each solo with an idea or a plan to explore. So I based the intro solo on the melody and kept it within the first four frets. For the second solo (bars 21-24) I start off with a country bend, then focus on holding the chord shapes and adding notes onto those. And the final solo (bars 49-52) I wanted to use campanella style playing (so the notes are spread across the strings).

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon