Ukulele Hunt

Tag: Ireland

  • 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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  • Hozier – Take Me to Church (Tabs)

    Hozier – Take Me to Church (Tab)Download

    I can’t say Hozier’s massive hit Take Me to Church fits nicely on the uke. But it is well worth learning if you’re up for a challenge.

    Verse: No mucking around with an intro. The verse starts in 3/4 time and switches to 4/4 at the end. If you know the song, it shouldn’t trip you up.

    Pre-Chorus: Back to 3/4 for the “Amen” section. And again switching to 4/4 at the end.

    This is the most sparse section of the song. Creating contrast with the chorus.

    Chorus: Staying in 4/4 for the most challenging section of the song played high up the neck. Reaching the 14th fret for the falsetto on “death”.

    Bridge: Some movement up and down the neck in this section, but it’s still easier than the chorus. And it stays in 4/4 time but with a cheeky bar of 2/4 that threw me off when I was first learning the song.

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  • The Pogues – Sally MacLennane (Tabs)

    The Pogues – Sally MacLennane (Tab)Download

    Shane MacGowan was one of the greatest songwriters of all time. He’s most famous for Fairytale of New York but his back catalogue is full of incredible songs. Many of which I’ve covered in the past.

    To commemorate his passing, I’ve chosen the typically riotous Sally MacLennane to tab. I slowed it down a fair amount from the original but it’s still very challenging.

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  • U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Tabs)

    U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Tab)Download

    U2’s song against violence and occupation, Sunday Bloody Sunday, is depressingly relevant again. So time for a tab.

    Intro: The perfect example of how simple but effective The Edge’s riffs can be. It’s the easiest bit of the song and worth learning even if you’re not tackling the rest of the song.

    Verse: The song has an odd structure at the beginning. There’s just half a verse before it dives into the bridge. This short verse is just fingerpicking. Whereas later verses are fuller with more strums.

    Bridge: The first bridge starts out fingerpicked before switching to strums at the end of bar 12. Second time around, the whole bridge uses strums.

    Chorus: The first chorus features a Bb chord, which you wouldn’t expect in the key of E minor. That short section (bars 30-33) provides a brief respite before the militaristic muted strums come back in.

    Solo: A typically jingle-jangle Edge solo. The first half of the solo in this arrangement is faithful to the original. But the second half is faithful to the spirit rather than the exact notes. So long as you keep all the strings rattling, there’s plenty of scope for your own ideas here.

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  • The Pogues – Dirty Old Town (Tabs)

    The Pogues – Dirty Old Town (Tab)Download

    To celebratre St Patrick’s Day on Friday, I thought I’d cover a song written by an American about a place in England. But it has become thouroughly Irish-ised through versions by The Dubliners and the Pogues version. For this arrangement, I worked from The Pogues version.

    Intro: A quick couple of bars then into the thumb-and-strum pattern which carries on through the song i.e. the thumb alternates between picking the g- and C-strings with a couple of strums in between.

    Verse: The first verse is the most straightforward. The second and third have a couple of extra bits of filigree.

    Solo: I like The Pogues version, this arrangement modulates to C for the solo. It’s heavily based on the melody with a few extra twiddles. I particularly like the campanella run in bar 48. As always, feel free to add your own ideas and adapt it to your own style.

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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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