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Ukulele tab books


randythoades
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Well, here's the thing. I am learning concert ukulele to take camping and impress everyone with my natural musical ability!!
Doing ok so far but at the stage of playing full songs now. When I try to play songs I know on ukulele they just sound wrong somehow. I think it because I am playing the songs as I know them in guitar keys.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good tab book specifically for ukulele with rock and pop songs for learning rather than Amazing Grace and Scarborough Fair?

I got a couple off Amazon (playlist series) but some of these also sound a little odd and a lot of the tracks are a little obscure. Others on Amazon get very mixed reviews so I would prefer t go with a recommendation.
I want to learn some good and easy campfire songs for people in their 40s.

Thanks in advance

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For camping, this series of books is great for guitar...

[url="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+big+guitar+chord+songbook&rh=n%3A266239%2Ck%3Athe+big+guitar+chord+songbook"]https://www.amazon.c...+chord+songbook[/url]

If you don't know the chords on uke yet, you can cheat by penciling in the guitar shapes a fourth down.

I don't play uke enough to remember the tenor/concert/soprano chord shapes, and I ruin what ability I have by playing baritone uke half of the time (tuned to the top 4 of the guitar). So I've learnt to transpose on the fly.

Edited by dlloyd
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Thanks Dlloyd. I have some of these books for guitar and agree they are great. Not tried these particularly with the uke but it was the key sounding appropriate that was the issue with other (actually uke specific books). I will give it another go though with transposing. Thanks

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Most of the time I can transpose directly, but occasionally I have to count back through the alphabet...

I have a really stupid mnemonic device for doing that quickly... rather than try to recite, "G F E D C B A" (which I can't do quickly), I say:

"Gee if he de-ceive B.A."

which is much quicker to recall.

It's part of a dumb rhyme I learnt as a kid to beat other kids saying the alphabet backwards:

"Said why eggs? Double your fee... your tee is our Q.P. Oh animal K.J., I hate Gee if he deceives B.A."

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[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1500570848' post='3338809']
Most of the time I can transpose directly, but occasionally I have to count back through the alphabet...

I have a really stupid mnemonic device for doing that quickly... rather than try to recite, "G F E D C B A" (which I can't do quickly), I say:

"Gee if he de-ceive B.A."

which is much quicker to recall.

It's part of a dumb rhyme I learnt as a kid to beat other kids saying the alphabet backwards:

"Said why eggs? Double your fee... your tee is our Q.P. Oh animal K.J., I hate Gee if he deceives B.A."
[/quote]

Hahahahaha. That's good! I like your style.

Edited by SpondonBassed
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[quote name='randythoades' timestamp='1500304653' post='3336793']
Well, here's the thing. I am learning concert ukulele to take camping and impress everyone with my natural musical ability!!
Doing ok so far but at the stage of playing full songs now. When I try to play songs I know on ukulele they just sound wrong somehow. I think it because I am playing the songs as I know them in guitar keys.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good tab book specifically for ukulele with rock and pop songs for learning rather than Amazing Grace and Scarborough Fair?

I got a couple off Amazon (playlist series) but some of these also sound a little odd and a lot of the tracks are a little obscure. Others on Amazon get very mixed reviews so I would prefer t go with a recommendation.
I want to learn some good and easy campfire songs for people in their 40s.

Thanks in advance
[/quote]

I have a house-mate who dabbles with uke. I'll see what he recommends out of the books he has bought. Do you tune to a high g (gCEA) or low G (GCEA)?

He has strung his home-built baritone ukulele with a low g to get a guitar like sound.

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[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1500620967' post='3339082']
Reverse alphabet champion 1982-1986. Never beaten.
[/quote]

Great!

Now put a funky bass line to it and audition for Sesame Street.

Heeheehee. I love to play with stuff like that. It's fitness training for the mind. I sometimes play difficult sections backwards to try and understand the more complex lines

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[quote name='randythoades' timestamp='1500304653' post='3336793']
...Does anyone have any recommendations for a good tab book specifically for ukulele with rock and pop songs for learning rather than Amazing Grace and Scarborough Fair?...
[/quote]

As promised, out of my mate Jack's collection there are two books to fit the bill, both from the Ukulele Playlist series;

[b]The Ukulele Playlist Red Book[/b]
32 Rock and Pop Classics arranged for ukulele!
Featuring:[list]
[*][i]Queen[/i]
[*][i]Oasis[/i]
[*][i]Rihanna[/i]
[*][i]Green Day[/i]
[*][i]Amy Whitehouse[/i]
[*][i]Sonny & Cher[/i]
[/list]
And many more...
[b]ISBN10: 0-571-53390-6[/b]

and

[b]The Ukulele Playlist White Book[/b]
33 Rock and Pop Classics arranged for ukulele!
Featuring:[list]
[*][i]Bob Dylan[/i]
[*][i]Kylie Minogue[/i]
[*][i]Ian Dury & the Blockheads[/i]
[*][i]Robbie Williams[/i]
[*][i]Michael Jackson[/i]
[*][i]Red Hot Chili Peppers[/i]
[/list]
And many more...
[b]ISBN10: 0-571-53391-4[/b]

There is also

[b]The Ukulele Playlist Purple Book[/b]
Over 30 Jazz Classics arranged for ukulele!
Featuring:[list]
[*][i]Fly me to the Moon[/i]
[*][i]Let There be Love[/i]
[*][i]Lullaby of Birdland[/i]
[*][i]Moondance[/i]
[*][i]Stormy Weather[/i]
[/list]
And many more...
[b]ISBN10: 0-571-53566-6[/b]

I hope these help. Looks like you'll have a lot of fun.

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[quote name='dlloyd' timestamp='1500571438' post='3338814']
There's also the tab collections at uke hunt

[url="http://ukulelehunt.com/tab-chords/chords-genre/"]http://ukulelehunt.c...s/chords-genre/[/url]
[/quote]

I've just passed that onto my mate, thanks for the pointer. I am glad they didn't register it as Uke Hunt dot com though.

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On ‎21‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 09:37, randythoades said:

Brilliant, love that rhyme! I will have to teach the children...

Uke is tuned with high G. Thanks SpondonBassed, it would be appreciated. And thanks again Dlloyd, I will check out that website over the weekend.
Much appreciated chaps.

I play a little bit of tenor uke and to get the songs sounding a bit more like guitar, I string it with a LOW G..... try it !!

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