Ukulele Hunt

Tag: Tricky

  • Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box (Tabs)

    Nirvana – Heart-Shaped Box (Tab)Download

    Nirvana’s ever-present quiet-loud-quit-loud dynamics are in full effect on Heart-Shaped Box. So using fingerpicking for the quiet bits and strumming for the loud bits is a must in this arrangement.

    All the picking is one-finger-per-string style. That means you’re picking consecutive notes on g- and C-strings (e.g. in bar 5). I’d usually avoid that as it’s less natural than using thumb then index finger. But it works out much better for the rest of the verse.

    There are a whole bunch of bends in the song. The trickiest of them are in the chorus where you’re playing chords on the 2nd/3rd fret then bending at the 9th fret. You’re also bending whilst fretting the C-string for an extra challenge.

    On the upside, the bends sound better if they’re a little out of tune so you don’t have to worry too much about that.

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  • Billie Eilish – ocean eyes (Tabs)

    Billie Eilish – ocean eyes (Tab)Download

    Here’s a tab for Billie Eilish’s song about Dwight: ocean eyes.

    Intro and Verse: Based on a descending chord progression and a simple melody line. Nothing challenging here.

    Chorus: Here’s where the challenge starts. There’s an ascending riff on the C-string going along side the busier melody. I’ve used a bit of campanella style playing to deal with the quick notes.

    Solo: Heavily based on the verse with a few extra twiddles. A good place to play around with your own ideas.

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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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  • Del Shannon – Runaway (Tabs)

    Del Shannon – Runaway (Tab)Download

    Del Shannon’s classic Runaway has been covered a heap of times. Most surprisingly by Kasabian. And mostly recently by me a few hours ago.

    Intro and Verse: It starts off straightforwardly in G minor.

    Chorus: A switch to G major and a busier melody make for an upbeat chorus. The octaves in 20 and 24 are tricky to play. If you’re struggling, you can play either the top or bottom line alone.

    Solo: My version of the solo is only loosely based on the original. There’s plenty of room for making it your own. Bars 37-38 are a pain in the arse to play. But also the best bars in the whole song.

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  • Harry Styles – As It Was (Tabs)

    Harry Styles – As It Was (Tab)Download

    I  hadn’t heard Harry Styles’s As It Was before it cropped up as a Patreon request and my hopes weren’t high. Turns out it’s a pretty great song. Very catchy with a melancholy edge.

    Intro: A bit of Take On Me action with this riff. Once the chords kick in at bar 2, prioritise keeping the energy up over hitting exactly the right strings. As long as you’re holding the chord, it’ll sound great.

    Verse: Mostly one finger per string picking here but I’m alternating index and middle finger to pick the C notes in bars 7 and 11.

    I snuck in a little lick at the end of bar 8 to fill up the bar. You’re welcome to use your own ideas here.

    Chorus: Just strumming for the chorus. The trickiest part is hitting the F chord just before the end of bars 15 and 19. Don’t worry if you hit some of the open strings when you play the A-string, 7th fret the note before.

    You could always extend that note at the 7th fret and hit the F chord at the start of bar 16/20. I doubt anyone will notice.

    Bridge: A whole mess of notes here. Definitely need some alternate picking to get through it.

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  • Mazzy Star – Fade Into You (Tabs)

    Mazzy Star – Fade Into You (Tab)Download

    By far the most challenging aspect of Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You is the timing of the melody. Thanks to Gen X disaffection, the melody keeps coming in later than you’d expect.

    In the verses, you’d expect the melody in bars 7, 11 and 19 to hit right at the start of the bar (as it does in bar 15). Instead, it comes in a quaver late (or eighth note if you prefer).

    In the chorus, it’s similar in bars 23, 27 and 31. But I found these even trickier to get the hang of.

    No such problems in the solo, though. Here you can mess around however you please using the chords as a basis for your twiddling.

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  • Norma Tanega – You’re Dead (What We Do in the Shadows) (Tabs)

    Norma Tanega – You’re Dead (What We Do in the Shadows) (Tab)Download

    For spooky season, Norma Tanega’s You’re Dead aka the What We Do in the Shadows theme.

    The biggest challenge with this piece is getting the rhythms right. There are a bunch of time signature changes and even within the bars things get weird.

    Intro: In straight 4/4 but the rhythmic weirdness starts right away. You’d expect the initial riff to be played four times but it’s only played three times before switching to the slightly different second riff.

    Verses: These are made up of three bars of 5/4 and one bar of 3/4. Tricky to get the hang of but once you do the rest is fairly easy. It’s just strumming and occasionally picking the g-string. Other than that, there’s just a little lick at the end to deal with.

    Breaks: After each verse there’s an instrumental section of varying length. You can do pretty much whatever you like in these sections. I’d recommend not following exactly what I’m doing and just use it for ideas for your own version.

    I’m using mostly notes from G major and G minor scales with a few extra notes for a discordant sound. The only rule is to keep up the propulsive force of the tune.

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  • Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay (Tabs)

    Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay (Tab)Download

    Intro: I love the whistled outro of this song. So I simplified it and used is as the intro too.

    Verse: I’ve tabbed these as repeats but there are slight differences in the timings of the notes that are pretty easy to pick out yourself. Or I’m sure no one will notice or care if you just repeat the first verse exactly each time.

    Chorus: Usually, I’ll emphasise the melody of the song over other elements. But the guitar part here is so great I’ve tried to incorporate that as much as possible.

    Bridge: The hardest part of the song. The melody gets a bit fiddly. Especially with it being high on the fretboard.

    Outro: What a great melody to just toss out in the outro.

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  • Dido – Thank You (Tabs)

    Dido – Thank You (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Dido’s very catchy but slightly annoying Thank You. Famously sampled in Eminem’s Stan.

    Intro: A nice little chord arpeggio section using one finger per string picking.

    Verse: From this point on, the picking is all over the place. There are a few tricky sections here. I found bars 7 and 8 required the most practice.

    Chorus: Things chill out a bit in the chorus. There’s a big slide up to the 8th fret to deal with. And some alternate picking required for the fast notes at the end of bars 12 and 16.

    Bridge: A slight variation on the verse with the Am-Gm ending from the chorus.

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  • The Foggy Dew (Tabs)

    The Foggy Dew (Tab)Download

    The Foggy Dew is a traditional Irish tune that gathered lyrics in 1919. It’s usually sung slowly but my version is closer to the tempo The Dubliners play it at.

    The arrangement starts of with a bit of campanella playing before beefing things up with chords. It’s also worth varying the dynamics of repeated sections so it doesn’t get same-y.

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