Ukulele Hunt

Tag: Tricky

  • The Temptations – My Girl (Tabs)

    The Temptations – My Girl (Tab)Download

    My Girl is a Motown classic written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White. And first performed by The Temptations. A bit of the Otis Redding version might have slipped into this arrangement, too.

    The riff in My Girl (first played in bar 3) shows how effective a very simple riff can be. It just goes up the major pentatonic scale in C and later in F. Things get a little more complicated when you try to mix the melody in. Make sure you play the riff more softly because the notes are in the same range as the melody. For example, in bar 8 the first time you play the A-string, 3rd fret it’s part of the riff and the second time it’s part of the melody. So you need to distinguish the two or it’ll all blur into one.

    I’ve used a couple of artificial harmonics in the chorus. If you haven’t got those down yet, you can play those notes at the 15th fret or just keep them at the third fret and play them softly.

    There’s a key change in the original version. But it’s pretty tricky to play in D so I’ve cut the solo section before the change to keep things simple.

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  • Bernstein and Sondheim – Somewhere (Tabs)

    Somewhere from West Side Story (Tab)Download

    A little tribute Stephen Sondheim who passed away last week.

    Like the original, the arrangement is sparse. Which lets the melody shine all the more. It also makes it fairly simple to play. There’s a stretch with the pinkie finger in bars 13 and 29. But otherwise not much to trip you up.

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  • 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.

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  • Earle Hagen – Andy Griffith Show Theme (Tabs)

    Earle Hagen – Andy Griffith Show Theme (Tab)Download

    Andy Griffith never made it to this side of the Atlantic, but I was still very familiar with the Andy Griffith Show theme tune somehow.

    The bouncy tune and chord stabs make this one a lot of fun to play. Although it’s tricky to play up to speed. Definitely one to play very slowly until you’ve got it under your fingers.

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  • Childish Gambino – Redbone (Tabs)

    Childish Gambino – Redbone (Tab)Download

    Helpfully, Genius has a video of Redbone producer Ludwig Göransson breaking down all the parts in the song. Including a chord chart and sheet music. As well as being useful for learning the song, it’s interesting to see how the song grew. Well worth a watch. 

    One of the things he mentions in the video is the oddity of an extra bar in the second pre-chorus. To avoid making the tab unnecessarily long, I’ve tabbed the alternative bars next to each other. So first time around you play just bar 22 then skip to the chorus. And second time, you skip bar 22 and play bars 23 and 24 instead. 

    The picking in this is one-finger-per-string right up until the solo where I switch to strumming. 

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  • 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.

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  • Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (Tabs)

    Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (Tab)Download

    I Will Always Love You is one of those songs where a cover version has completely obliterated the original. But Dolly’s version is still my favourite. Specifically, the 70s countrified version rather than the syrupy 80s version. So I used that one as the basis for this arrangement. Although some of the phrasing might be closer to the Whitney Houston version.

    The intro is the trickiest part of the arrangement with a couple of bends and a bar of 2/4 to navigate.

    The arrangement uses a lot of arpeggios. So you really need to emphasise the melody notes so it doesn’t just become a mush. But you can rely on most people being familiar with the melody, so they’ll do some of the work for you.

    You do need to prepare a bit for the high vocal trills in bars 15 and 19. There are open strings either side of those to give you a bit more time to move.

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  • Tenacious D – Fuck Her Gently (Tabs)

    Tenacious D – Fuck Her Gently (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Jack Black and Kyle Gass’s lewd ode to soft loving. But if you don’t tell anyone what the title is, it functions nicely as a pleasant tune. The jump up the neck at the start of the chorus (bars 19 and 20) is particularly sweet.

    And there are a few jumps up the neck to deal with. But the trickiest part is the rapid pull-on and hammer-on section in bar 26. If you struggling with that, you can replace the whole 10-12-10-8 with the A-string, 10th fret.

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  • Frank and Nancy Sinatra – Something Stupid (Tabs)

    Frank and Nancy Sinatra – Something Stupid (Tab)Download

    Something Stupid was made famous by Frank and Nancy Sinatra and written by C Carson Parks (who I just learned is brother of Van Dyke Parks). More recently, Lola Marsh recorded a ukulele version for Better Call Saul.

    There’s plenty of scope for your own noodles if you want to take them. I stuck close to the original in the intro but you can let loose as much as you like here. After that, I’ve thrown in a lot of my own twiddles. Keeping them nice and cheesy to match the rest of the song. I using the C major scale and throw in a few chromatic notes.

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  • David Bowie – Space Oddity (Tabs)

    David Bowie – Space Oddity (Tab)Download

    I’ve used some artificial harmonics in the intro because they’re the spaciest sound you can get on a ukulele. But you can play this section without them and it won’t be a problem. Or you could come up with your own intro.

    The first verse is the simplest part of the song. Then comes the “Lift Off” section. Pretty much any rising figure will work here. You can go as simple as grabbing a note and sliding up the neck. I took the opportunity to have a bit of fun with effects.

    The second verse is more much of a challenge. There are a lot of moves up and down the neck and a few finger-twisting bits. On the upside, it has the strange change from F major to F minor that mirrors the shift in the song from triumph to tragedy.

    After some quick chord changes, the solo starts up. I’ve stayed fairly close to the original here. Just adapting bits for uke. But I couldn’t resist throwing in a Day Tripper reference on the A chord (bar 44) as the original comes so close to it.

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