It’s the feel-good hit of the previous century this time folks. It might seem easy peasy, with just four chords making up the bulk of the song – but there are a few subtleties in this one. That riff for a start… I’ve finally found a way to play it on the uke that I’m happy with. And then you have the bridge – whatever key you play this song in, either the verse or the bridge will use chords that you don’t like…
However, it’s a lot of fun to play!
Consistently voted best guitar solo of all time, this was harder than I thought to adapt for the uke. The chords work better by stepping everything down a whole tone to Am, and the solo is possible on the uke with a few modifications – but the harmony parts really suffer from lack of sustain – and you need a large group of ukesters to pull this one off live!
Keane’s nostalgic hit, from a piano based band, works actually pretty well on the uke. The original key of A might force you to learn a few chords that we don’t use all that often on the uke, and you’re gonna have to make peace with some barre chords to play this.
You can follow the chords in the chord chart if you want a slightly simplified chord progression, but if you listen to the piano in the original, almost none of these chords stay in one play for long, there are sus4s and maj7ths all over the shop. Check out the tab for the full progression details.
Here’s hoping the sun is on it’s way!
I’ve based this arrangement on the original Cyndi Lauper version, but there are numerous other excellent versions out there. I’ve moved the key to Em, in an attempt to find a way to play the opening piano riff on the uke. That’s the trickiest bit of the song, although the strumming patterns might give you a few hesitations, as there’s lots of anticipated chords in the chorus.
I arranged this 2 years ago for the 25th Anniversary of Macclesfield Music Centre – for ukulele, french horn, piano and choir – it worked surprisingly well – so here’s a homemade version.
A gem of a melody and chord sequence from 1954, originally in 3/4 but put into 4/4 for Frank Sinatra’s version. This arrangement of mine puts it into Dm (it just fitted my voice better!) and will give you a few new chord shapes to think about…
Well that was more work than I thought… This one was a lot of fun but took a long time to record. It’s definitely a challenge for a beginner uke player – with lots of chords, an unpredictable structure, and some little riffs and rhythms that take a bit of practice. Worth it though…
Here’s the chord chart and some tabs for the tricky bits:
I saw Josh Turner’s video of this song, and spent nearly a month figuring it out… here’s my attempt – and a tab that is approximately correct. Josh’s video is below for inspiration / despair…
Edit: I’ve updated my video by combining it with a clarinet take from my old friend Chris! Enjoy!
Jan 2021: I’ve updated the tab with lyrics and chords…