Monthly Archives: October 2020

Desperado – The Eagles

The wistful notes of this melancholic cry for a wanderer to come home work well on the uke, and we can even play it in the original key (harder to sing than play). Most of the chords should be familiar, and even the unfamiliar ones aren’t too hard – the Cm6 sounds scary, but is just two fingers, and the rhythms are fairly straightforward. The chords are mostly G, G7, C, Em, and D – and although they change a lot, it’s really not as hard as it might seem… You can skip out the B7 and the quick Ds if preferred.

I’ve even tabbed out the intro and outro as played on piano – they can really sound good on the uke. Keep it steady and not too fast, and even the quick chord changes at the end should prove doable. It’s often voted one of the finest songs of all time (494th in the All Time List according to Rolling Stone – I think it should be higher).

A gem of a song to play around a campfire when the mood is right.

I’ve added tab for the verse and chorus in case you fancy having a go at the fingerpicked twiddles I put in on the performance…

If you don’t want to sing – then Ukulele Hunt have an excellent instrumental arrangement (I borrowed the intro from here!) – it’ll stretch your fingers more than your vocal chords https://ukulelehunt.com/2020/09/29/eagles-desperado-tab/

Desperado Chord Chart and Tab Download

The Bare Necessities – The Jungle Book

Everyone knows this song – even if you haven’t seen the film. It works well on the uke too. I’m struggling to think of another song that has 5 different major chords (7 if you count the 7ths!) in the chorus and no minor chords at all… it must be a happy song!

We do get a sneaky F->Fm in the verse, and some classic jazz ii V I progressions too, but it’s not too difficult to play. Make sure you get a good solid swing on the quavers/eighth notes to properly get the feel.

My old friend Chris got me to play this with him at his wedding – and he’s reprised the favour for the performance video – thanks Chris!

Bare Necessities Chord Chart Download

Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran

A smooth love song from the star of the early 21st century singer/songwriter world, Ed Sheeran (and co-written by Amy Wadge), Thinking Out Loud is a romantic pop tune, played on electric guitar originally.

Actually, it’s perhaps not written entirely by Ed or Amy, as he was sued by the owners of Marvin Gaye’s classic – Let’s Get It On – which has an undoubtedly familiar bass line and groove to it – but what the heck – you can’t copyright a chord sequence! (can you?)

I’ve moved it down to our favourite key of C (from the original in D), and even tabbed out the solo for you – aren’t I nice? There aren’t too many challenges technically in this piece, although the last line of the chorus might give you a wobble when suddenly you get all 7 chords of the song in quick succession!

The key thing here is to get the 1 (and 2 ) AND (3 and 4 and) groove right, and to not over play it. The twiddle at the end of each line of the verse is optional but a good exercise in hammer-ons for the more adventurous.

Thinking Out Loud – Chord Chart and Solo Download