Ukulele Hunt

Tag: The Beatles

  • The Beatles – Help! (Tabs)

    The Beatles – Help! (Tab)Download

    Intro: This is the trickiest part of the song. You’ve got the thumb providing a descending bass line on the C-string. Meanwhile, the E and A-strings play the melody (plus one note on the g-string in bar 3).

    The guitar line that finishes the intro (bars 7-8) doesn’t fit well on the ukulele. So this arrangement is more in keeping with the vibe rather than the actual notes. Even so, it’s a bit of a stretch to play.

    Verse: Things ease off in the verse. Just use some alternating picking with your index and middle fingers on the A-string to get the notes up to speed.

    Chorus: This returns to the descending bass line idea from the intro. For the second chorus, I threw in a bit of the vocal harmony at the end of bar 41.

    Outro: A big jump up the neck to mimic the high harmonies.

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  • The Beatles – Something (Tabs)

    The Beatles – Something (Tabs)Download

    Something has become particularly associated with the ukulele since Paul has been regularly playing it on uke in tribute to George Harrison. And it transfers over to one very nicely.

    Intro: A brief, one-bar intro. Make sure you bend the note at the 7th fret before you pick it.

    Verse: The verses are built on two chromatically descending lines. Firstly, descending notes on the A-string set against a C chord. Secondly, descending notes on the g-string set against an Am chord.

    With the steady pace of the song, there’s nothing too challenging here.

    Bridge: Things get a bit more challenging in the bridge. The action shifts up the fretboard and there are a couple of stretches to deal with.

    Solo: The trickiest section. And it’s such a great solo, I’d advise against changing it too much.

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  • The Beatles – Now and Then (Tabs)

    The Beatles – Now and Then (Tab)Download

    The Beatles aren’t going to let a little thing like half the band being dead stop them making hits. And their latest is the earworm Now and Then.

    Intro: Some simple strumming to start with.

    Verse: There’s a lot of barreing going on in the verses. Which makes it a bit of stamina test for the fretting hand. But nothing difficult to play.

    Chorus: The “Now and then” bit is played on the g-string. So make sure you emphasise it enough for it to register as the melody.

    Watch out the second time around as the solo cuts the chorus short.

    Solo: For once, the solo is very easy. A few notes sliding around but mostly strumming chords.

    Outro: A change in time signature and descending chords against a pivot (A-string, 5th fret). My favourite part of the song.

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  • The Beatles – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Tabs)

    The Beatles – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Tab)Download

    Intro: I did an extended intro based on the verse chords. It’s a little tricky so feel free to adapt it however you like. Or just replace the whole thing with one bar of G like the original.

    Verse: First time around, this section is picked (using one finger per string picking). Second time is more loose and strummed with a few notes picked out.

    Chorus: The funnest part of the song with a big G chord on the “HEY!”

    Solo: Lots of room for your own ideas here too. You could make it as simple as strumming the chords and throwing in a few sus2 and sus4 chords.

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  • The Beatles – Oh! Darling (Tabs)

    The Beatles – Oh! Darling (Tab)Download

    It was a nice surprise to see Paul McCartney playing Oh! Darling live for the first time at the Taylor Hawkins memorial. It’s a nice blend of early-era R&B Beatles in the verses and the harder-edged, bluesier later Beatles in the chorus.

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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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  • John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War is Over)(Tab)

    John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War is Over)(Tab)Download

    This is my favourite of the post-Beatle Christmas songs. Easily beating out Ding Dong, Ding Dong and Wonderful Christmastime (which has the worst guitar solo ever committed to vinyl).

    My favourite aspect of War is Over is the usual way it uses key changes. Most commonly, you find key changes near the end of the song e.g. in Penny Lane. But here there’s a key change before the first chorus (in this arrangement change from F in the first verse to Bb in the second). But this wasn’t the first time Lennon pulled off an early key change. If I Fell starts in Db before switching to D for the first verse.

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  • The Beatles – Hey Jude (Tab)

    The Beatles – Hey Jude (Tab)Download

    Technically, I shouldn’t be posting this on White Album week. But it was recorded during the White Album sessions and it is one of the best (possibly the best) Beatles song. If you’re dying for a White Album song have a go at the Blackbird tab.

    I’ve kept the arrangement as simple as possible. It has such a strong (and well known) melody it doesn’t need much to back it up. I’m not following any strict pattern for the fingerpicking. For the most part the thumb plays the lowest string in the bar then letting the fingers fall on a string each from there.

    In the repeat of the chorus I play a slight variation on the, “And don’t you knowwwwww…” in bars 15 and 16.

    After all that I switch to strumming and the occasional finger flick for the boisterous sh-outro. I bash out a couple of adornments in this section. You don’t need to do anything complicated with these so long as you use the appropriate amount of gusto. Both mine are just based on the C7 chord.

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  • The Beatles – Across the Universe (Tab)

    The Beatles – Across the Universe (Tab)Download

    Since it’s Christmas, I’m breaking my no Beatles rule to do this one I’ve had a fair few requests for over the years.

    I’ve kept the arrangement as simple as possible. After the fingerpicking in the first bar it’s all strumming and lots of familiar chord shapes. And the melody is recognisable you don’t have to worry about emphasising it all that much. I’m using a capo at the first fret which puts it in the same key as the original. But you can just play it open if you prefer.

    The only thing that might trip you up are the extra beats that he throws in. There’s one extra beat in the middle of the verse and two extra at the end.

    In case you’re not familiar with the Italian repeats in the tab. You play through as normal up to the “D.S. al coda” in bar 29. Then you go back to the squiggle in bar 13. Play through to the “Da Coda” in bar 23. Then skip ahead to the target symbol in bar 30.

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