Ukulele Hunt

Tag: Tricky

  • Dusty Springfield – Spooky (Tabs)

    Dusty Springfield – Spooky (Tab)Download

    Apologies to anyone who tried to use the site in the last couple of weeks and couldn’t. I’ve been having some tech problems. It should be fixed now. Just in time for a Halloween themed tab. Spooky was originally by The Classics IV, but best known for Dusty Springfield’s version. And it’s the Dusty version I based this arrangement on.

    Intro: Just a two chord vamp with a bit of a 60s bossa feel to it.

    Verses: The biggest challenge in the verses is quickly getting down from the A-string 5th fret to the C-string second fret. Other than that, it’s fairly smooth sailing. I love the discordance of the A7#9 at the end of each verse. The chord has both the major third (C#) and the minor third (C) of the chord. Which is the spookiest part of the song.

    Solo: The first bar is the only one that is based on the solo in the Dusty version. Everything else is just me noodling on the D blues scale. So I recommend building your own solo here.

    Links

    More Halloween tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Bon Iver – Speyside (Tabs)

    Bon Iver – Speyside (Tab)Download

    Bon Iver’s long-awaited return Speyside is a return to the stripped down sound of For Emma, Forever Ago. Which makes it very uke-suitable.

    I’m playing it with a capo on the second fret. But that’s just to make it in the same key as the original. You can play it without the capo if you prefer.

    There’s nothing physically difficult about the arrangement. The real challenge is keeping track of the time signature changes. If there’s any rhyme or reason to the time signature, I couldn’t find it. So I’ve just tabbed it how I felt it. Which means a new time signature each bar until it settles into 4/4 for the last few bars of each section.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Irving Berlin – Blue Skies (Tabs)

    Irving Berlin – Blue Skies (Tab)Download

    Versions of Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies range widely in their approach. There are uptempo takes, such as the Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole versions, which lean into the suspiciously joyful “we’ll never have problems again“-ness of it. And there are slow, mournful takes like Dinah Washington’s.

    This arrangement lands somewhere near the Willie Nelson version with a lot of bluesy touches.

    Intro: Starting of with an E minor chord set against chromatically descending notes on the C-string. This bit is mostly picking out notes from the chords with some short licks thrown in. It’s all fingerpicked until the strums leading into the verse in bars 7 and 8.

    Verse: Nice and easy to play. The melody is contained and the chords are simple to play. Here I’m picking the melody and strumming everything else.

    Chorus: The chorus is more of a challenge. Be sure to keep this section staccato (i.e. short notes) to set it against the more legato verses.

    Solo: For the solo, I stuck closely to the chords and melody notes. Throwing in a few bluesy bends here and there. I get a bit more adventurous in the second half, throwing in some chromatic notes in bar 43 and an E minor pentatonic lick in bar 45. I’d recommend building your own solo using any ideas from this solo you like and playing in your own style.

    Links

    More jazz tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • David Gray – Babylon (Tabs)

    David Gray – Babylon (Tab)Download

    Intro: The intro in the album version is much better than the single version. And suits the uke more. So that’s the version I went with.

    Verse: The trickiest part of the song comes in bar 18 with a big jump up to the top of the neck. But there’s not much happening in the bar before it, so you have plenty of time.

    Then you jump down in bar 17. You could make the jump sooner and change the 6-7-6 to 2-3-2 on the E-string (as it’s played in the rest of the song).

    Chorus: Increasing the amount of strumming and picking harder in this section. In the second chorus, from “Let go of your heart” the melody is harmonised.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Lou Reed – Perfect Day (Tabs)

    Lou Reed – Perfect Day (Tab)Download

    Here’s Lou Reed’s Perfect Day in tribute to Herbie Flowers who passed away last week.

    As well as Lou Reed, Herbie played bass for David Bowie, Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and many others. He contributed iconic bass lines to Walk on the Wild Side (which you can hear him talk about here), Space Oddity and Rock On. And, to top it off, he played tuba on Perfect Day.

    Links

    More 70s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird (Tabs)

    Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird (Tab)Download

    For my arrangement of Nelly Furtado’s I’m Like a Bird, I’ve slowed things down a little. Which emphasises the song’s melancholy feel. And makes it easier to play. Which is helpful, as this one is challenging.

    Intro: The start is nice and easy. Just fingerpicked chords with a slow melody on top.

    Verse: The verse sticks with fingerpicking. There are a couple of quick hammer-ons to deal with. Then some alternate picked notes leading into the pre-chorus.

    Pre-Chorus: The pre-chorus builds up with some strumming. And my favourite version of the Fmaj7 chord: 5500.

    Chorus: Another step up in difficulty here. There’s a long series of hammer-ons and pull-offs in bar 24. You can make these really sound out by pulling downwards with your finger slightly for the pull-off. Almost as if you’re plucking the string with your fretting finger.

    Bridge: I had a really hard time getting the phrasing right in bars 29-30. And I didn’t really manage it in the video. Listen to the original rather than mine to get it right. The odd phrasing continues through this section and into the modified pre-chorus that follows.

    Links

    More 90s tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Bob Dylan – Buckets of Rain (Tabs)

    Bob Dylan – Buckets of Rain (Tab)Download

    Here’s my take on Buckets of Rain from Bob Dylan’s incredible album Blood on the Tracks.

    This one gets a little fiddly in places. But there are only really two sections. So it’s not a lot to get down.

    I’m using one finger per string picking all the way through. But there are a couple of places with quick repetition of notes on the same string where you might want to do a bit of alternate picking e.g. bar 8.

    There’s a slight variation in the intro/solo section. In bar 20 and 21, you have to head up the neck for a slide.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Weezer – Island in the Sun (Tabs)

    Weezer – Island in the Sun (Tab)Download

    In a shocking turn of events, it’s raining in England. So here’s  Island in the Sun for some sunny vibes.

    Intro: Just strumming out the chords. Be sure to make the “hip hip” bits stand out.

    Verse and Chorus: Other than a slide up to the fifth fret in bars 5 and 9, this is all stays in the first position. It does get a little fiddly in places.

    Bridge: Very straightforward. You can just bash this section out.

    Solo: The solo in the original just follows the verse melody. For my version, I’ve beefed up the melody with a few harmonies. You could just play this section like the verses. Or you could go your own way entirely.

    Links

    More rock tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • Howlin Wolf – Smokestack Lightning (Tabs)

    Howlin Wolf – Smokestack Lightning (Tab)Download

    Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning is inspired by a train. So, the number one priority is keeping a propulsive rhythm up.

    Intro: Starting off with the riff, which is fun to play. Well worth learning, even if you’re not bothered about the rest.

    The intro is a bit off-kilter. You’d expect the riff to repeat twice or four times. Instead, it repeats three times.

    Verse: The verses combine the melody with little bits of the riff. I’ve tried to distinguish them by having the riff played in the open position (e.g. bar 9) and the melody played up the neck.

    Solo: I’ve kept this simple to match the vibe of the original harmonica solo. But you can always fancy it up if you feel like it.

    Links

    More blues tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon

  • In the Pines/Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Tabs)

    In the Pines/Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Tab)Download

    In the Pines is a traditional song but the most famous versions are by Lead Belly and Nirvana. I mostly worked from the Nirvana version for this arrangement and I’ve kept it very simple.

    The arrangement kicks off with a short intro. There’s lots more you can do here if you’re in the mood.

    The first verse is very simple fingerpicking. The melody is all played on the C-string with just the open E and A-strings for backing. There are a couple of exceptions. In bars 7 and 15, I add a bit of dissonance with the E-string, 6th fret. And in bar 17 the open A-string is part of the melody.

    The second verse stays with the fingerpicking but adds chords. The the third verse switches to strums. After that, it’s a re-run of the first verse.

    Links

    More folk tabs
    Uke Hunt Patreon