Summer of Music
Hey! I started playing ukulele a while ago and somehow i got away from the computer during most of the year. How is this even possible? Certainly, the standard ukulele tuning would not have helped me to break my programming habit:
(You can click on the notes or the chord tab to play it)
For some reason, the ukulele has a high G-string where i would expect a bass string. Represented by a root note and intervals from one string to the next, the standard ukulele tuning could be called G,-7,4,5.
I used another thick C-string to replace the high G with an octave deeper and the tuning became G,5,4,5:
The deep G sounds quite nice, a bit banjo-esque even, but the string was too loose on my instrument and the pitch bent too much when fingered, so i shifted all strings one tone up, except the highest:
It’s a D major with a bass A. And this effectively kept me away from laptop and instead led to countless hours of playing. Below is a collection of songs that came to life during this year. They have been recorded with a BOSS BR80, a little multi-track recorder with nice microphones and effects. Some recordings also have bass or percussion, some have 3 ukulele tracks and even a bit of mandolin. It’s basically just ideas that can get better when played together. There is not much of an arrangement, mostly the parts are repeated three or four times.
That’s the first piece that i recorded. Then developed it a bit further, recorded again, aso. It’s fun to play it solo as well.
The numbers show the current bar for each chord. All songs are 4/4 time. Some ‘special’ chords have been suffixed with x, y or 2 or something like that. I’m not really able to tell the official name in all cases. For example, the Bo below stands for an “open B” which is neither major nor minor. You can read the involved notes from the tabs which are listed in order of appearance below the bars or by hovering the mouse over the chord name.
(part I)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8F Dm7 F Dm7 F Dm7 F Dm7 D ('psychedelic' slides)(bridge)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Am Cx Dx Dx2 Am F D2(part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Dm7 Bo F Gx Dm7 Bo A7(bridge)1 2Cx Ao Gx D ...
One of the first records. I did have trouble with the F#m and other chords then, but trying to record the song helped. Not to play them good but at least in time. It’s a nice solo piece that i practiced a lot for a while.
(part I)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Ex E Ex E G Gx G Gx A7x A7 A7x A7 B B7(part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Cm7 Dm7 Cm7 Dm7 Cm7 Dm7 Cm7 Dm71 2 3 4 5 6 7 8D#x F Fx D#x Fx F D#x F Fx D#x Fx F(part III)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8F#m Ax E Ey F#m A7 B1 2 3 4 5 6F#m Ax E Ey F#m1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8D (slide) B7 D (slide) B
An idea developed with my friend Pepe, but it’s on D, not on P. An easy piece and good for singing a 60ies melody on top.
(verse)1 2 3 4Cx Dx Cx Dx Cx Dx Gx Cx(chorus)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9A7 Em A7 Em A7 Em A7 Cx Cy Cx Cy ...(bridge)1 2 3 4D1 D2 D1 D D1 D2 D1 D1 2 3 4D3 D D4 D3 D D4
A very simple piece, but it has some merry drive. At that time, i began to realize that most of my new songs are good-tempered.
You need to do a bit of extra fingering that is not written down, but it’s easy to find out.
(verse)1 2 3 4E D E D(chorus)1 2 3 4A7 Gx Cx D(bride)1 2 3 4D (slide on D-string)
Here i wrote down a specific scale that i sometimes played on the piano. I remember it being called “Phrygian” but nowadays i can not find the exact scale written down somewhere. There are very similar ones listed as “Phrygian”, though. The intervals are 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10. Rooted on A, the scale looks like this on the A543 tuning:
A |-------|--B --|--C --|-------|-------|--D# --|--E --|-------|--F# --|--G --|-------|--A --|
F# |--G --|-------|--A --|-------|--B --|--C --|-------|-------|--D# --|--E --|-------|--F# --|
|--D# --|--E --|-------|--F# --|--G --|-------|--A --|-------|--B --|--C --|-------|-------|
A |-------|--B --|--C --|-------|-------|--D# --|--E --|-------|--F# --|--G --|-------|--A --|
It ‘contains’ the chords B, Em, Am and C. So when only playing these chords, the scale does always fit. I missed it once or twice in the recording but that’s covered by creative freedom. It reminds me of Flamenco and a bit Santana. It’s fun to practice the above scale on different combinations of the chords. The recording is based on Em B Am B. Also try the more folky/union-ish Em Am Em B or a story-telling Am B Em.
(intro)B(part I)1 2 3 4Em B Am B(bridge)1 2 3 4B (with varying 2nd fret on D-string and 3rd fret on A-string)1 2 3 4C B C B
A riff that i also like practicing twice as fast ;) There is even a bit of arrangement in here and a solo at the end. Unfortunately, on the 1st ukulele track i did forget to come back to the chorus once more and so it ends in shards. (I’ve not yet used to come to the habit of recording pieces of a song separately.)
(part I)1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .D# Cm7 F Fx D# Cm7 Fx F(chorus)1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .G7 F A#7 G7 A#7 F1 . . . 2 . . .A#7 F G#7 D#1 . . . 2 . . .A# F G# D#(bridge)Gx(part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8C D#x D# F C D#x D#y F
A melancholic little piece on the swinging seat in the garden with a lot of raindrops on ukulele and drum channels. Sounds nice but was unpleasantly wet at times.
(part I)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Bm G Em Bm9 Bm(part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Em2 A7 Bm Em2 A7 D D71 2 3 4 5 6 7 8G F#m E G F#m Bm(bridge)1 2 3B- B- B-
Funky with a little Beatles-like harmonic drift. The last part just came up during recording and is badly played, but it remained for reference.
(part I)1 2 3 4 5 6Em7 A7 F Ex E1 2Dx Cx D Cx D(part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Dm7 C#7 E Dm7 G E Dm7 C#7 E Bm Bm9(part III)1 2 3 4F#m7 Em7 Bm Bm9
The harmonics have a nice drift and need the lead voice on top. One can whistle them when playing. I was insanely happy with the record, although there are still a lot of bad notes. I also spent a bit more time than usual for the bass and percussion and skipped kindergarten the next day.
1 2 3 4Am7(verse)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Am Dm Am F C D F1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Am Dm Am F C D F C Gm F(bridge/chorus)1 2 3 4Fx F7 Fx F71 2 3 4Em Dm Am Am7
Both recordings are based on the same chords. The lyrics are picked more or less randomly from an old book. They are from The H-Bomb’s Thunder by John Brunner, written for the Aldermaston March in 1958.
The important thing is the rhythmic tapping/release of the low A-string in the open B chord in the beginning. And a nice overdrive ;)
(intro)1 2 3 4Bo(verse/part I)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Bo A7 E Bo A7 E1 2 3 4 5 6G A7 E G A71 2 3 4 5 6B (and slide on low A-string)(verse/part II)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Bo A#7 E Bo A#7 E1 2 3 4 5 6G Ex G Ex G Ex(chorus)1 2 3 4B D A7 G
In the 90ies, David Hasselhoff had a huge commercial success with “Looking for Freedom”. It’s been written earlier though, and it also had not much to do with the Fall of the Wall in the GDR, although the beloved Hasselhoff played it in Berlin at that time. It’s actually the story of a young boy who is just too rich to be free. This is also not clear in the official german version “Auf der Straße nach Süden”. So here is my personal translation. I also added a C minor because that makes it sound a bit like an early Udo Lindenberg piece, and he also played in Berlin ;)
(intro)C Cx ..(verse I)C AmAn einem Morgen im Juni, vor über 20 JahrenF Cda wurde ich gebor'n.C AmHatte alles was man für Geld kaufen kannF Cdoch meine Freiheit die war verlor'n.(bridge)C Cm7Also zog ich los, mit ein bisschen ProviantF Cund ließ die Stadt weit zurück.C Cm7Die Staßen entlang, ohne Sinn und VerstandF Cauf der Suche nach dem eigenen Glück.(refrain)COh, ich suche nach Freiheit, und ich suche schon so lang.Am G C CxOh, ich suche nach Freiheit, doch ich komme nicht an.(verse II)Vater sagt, du wirst es bereu'nauf diese Weise fort zu gehen.Aufgrund der Freiheit die man sich für Geld kaufen kannwerden wir uns schon wieder seh'n.(bridge)Ich hab viel erlebt, habe vieles verlor'ndoch immer ging ich grade aus.War schaffen auf 'ner Farm, hab jetzt Muskeln im Armdoch immernoch kein eigenes Haus.(refrain)(verse III)Viele Jahre werd' ich weiter geh'nund klopfen an jeder Tür.Und irgendwann bin ich ein freier Mannund dann komme ich zurück zu dir.(Mit den Unterhaltsforderungen für 5 Kinder, ohahoo..)
Finally, an interpretation of “My Old Kentucky Home”, written by Stephen Foster in the 1850’s and inspired by Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Just found it in a book and somehow fell in love with the chords and the melody that came from it. I did not listen to other recordings of it, yet, and i can not really read sheet music. And i tried to sing it a bit higher and failed painfully. Certainly worth more practice.