Tab Time: Getting it down! - ukulelerocks.co.ukukulelerocks.co.uk/lesson_pdf/Teaching Book 2/Teaching book2.pdf · ‘German Dance’ 15. ‘Wonderful Tonight (intro)’ ... bright

Tab Time: Getting it down!

Jam

es H

ill -

Can

adia

n U

kule

le V

irtu

oso

Name:

Teacher; Mr J . Cockshott

2

All of the content of this book can be found online at www.ukulelerocks.co.uk and www.ukulelerocksmore.co.uk

There are examples of the pieces being played there and downloadable backing tracks as well as supplementary pieces

surrounding each new learning.

If you have any questions regarding the learning of the ukulele please do feel free to contact myself at

[email protected] or by using the form on the ‘Contact’ page on the web site.

There is also a busy and active Facebook group that all people are encouraged to join. However this is not open to children

and is a ‘Closed’ group to protect its members from unsolicited content.

UkuleleRocks! Also tweets @ukulelerocksUK

Enjoy your playing and learning as you work your way through ‘Teaching Book 1: The Road to the 12 Bar Blues!’

Best wishes, Mr C.

Contents:

Page:

3. Ukulele—it’s a matter of size!

4. Reading Tab Notation

5. Reading Treble Clef music notation

6. The ‘O’pen Strings

7. Tab Time 1

‘Gently Falling’

‘Showdown’

8. Tab Time 2...fingers

9. 3 to Play

‘Relax at Three’

‘Slide Charlie Brown-Slide!’

‘There’s No One Here Today?’

10. ‘Tropical Wave’

11. ‘Merrily We Roll Along’

12. ‘Twinkle Twinkle’

13. ‘This Old Man’

14. ‘German Dance’

15. ‘Wonderful Tonight (intro)’

16. Guitar Riffs - ‘Iron Man’

17. Guitar Riffs - ’Whole Lotta Love’

18. Guitar Riffs - ‘Smoke on the Water’

19. The Simpsons Theme

20. ‘Seven Nation Army’ - The White Stripes

21. ‘Seven Nation Army’ - full song

22. ‘Sunshine of your Love’ - cream

23. Certificate of Completion

If you have a copy of the backing track CD then the

track numbers are in the CD on each page.

1


3 www.ukulelerocks.co.uk

Ukulele—It’s a matter of size!

Ukuleles come in 4 main different sizes;

The beautiful, bright Makala Dolphin ukuleles are soprano

size. Soprano ukuleles are NOT just for children however!

Lots of famous people enjoy playing the ukulele...


Reading ‘Tab’ notation… Tab is short for ‘Tablature’ - but ‘Tab’ is a lot easier to say! It is a way of writing down music for fretted instruments like

the ukulele, and the guitar and bass guitar. Think of it as a ‘code’ that needs cracking so that you know

which strings to play and where to put your Left Hand fingers!

HOWEVER there is one large confusion with Tab notation - it’s upside down! The top line of writing on the page is NOT your top string!

Treble clef line

with standard

music notation

Ukulele Tab line

with string names

on the four lines

These are ‘Oh’s ( not zero, noughts, circles

or anything else!)

They remind us to play an ‘O’pen string

with no fingers on it.

In this example the ‘A’string


Reading ‘Treble Clef’ music notation… In this book we won’t be using, or reading, the treble clef

music notation. But because its always fun to learn new things why not have

a go at learning the notes on the lines or stave? They both spell out life-long, easy to remember phrases and

words!

In this book we won’t be looking at note values (how many beats each note lasts for) in great detail.

In general terms within tab notation the closer the numbers are to each other in the tab, the quicker you play the notes.

So, If two notes are far apart then you would play them slowly (Ex.1) and if they are close together (Ex.2) then you would play them quickly.

Ex.1

A --0----1----2----3----||

Ex.2

A --0-1-2-3-4-3-2-1-0---||


The ‘0’pen Strings… Try using your open strings to play these simple examples

below - there may be one you recognise! Ex.1 Ex.2

A –0-0-----|----------|---------|----------

E -----0-0-|-----0----|-0-0-0---|-0-0------

C ---------|----------|-------0-|----------

G ---------|-0-0------|---------|-----0----

Ex.3 Ex.4

A ---------|-0-0------|---0---0-|-----0----

E ---------|----------|---------|-0-0------

C –0-0-----|----------|---------|----------

G -----0-0-|-----0----|-0---0---|----------


Tab Time 1… ‘Gently Falling’ Watch out for the strings/ notes that you DON’T have to play

twice! Take care with the ending - finish on the right string/ note!

‘Showdown’ This is slightly quicker than ‘Gently Falling’ Again, count the strings/ notes carefully that you play so that

you get the right amount.

1

2


Tab Time 2...fingers We need to use the fingers on the Left Hand (L.H.) to change

the pitch or sound of the note being played. Tab notation tells us to do this by using numbers. The numbers are for the spaces/ frets that you need to place

your finger in NOT for the number of finger you own!

Try playing the piece below...you may recognise it from lessons past?

A –0-0-0-0-|-1-1-1-1-|-2-2-2-2-|-3-3-3-3-|-

E ---------|---------|---------|---------|-

C ---------|---------|---------|---------|-

G ---------|---------|---------|---------|-

A –2-2-2-2-|-1-1-1-1-|-0-—-----||

E ---------|---------|---------||

C ---------|---------|---------||

G ---------|---------|---------||

It’s the ‘Chill Out Walk?’ (On one string!) This is what it looks

like written in tab.

0 1 2 3 5 7


3 to Play...

3

4

5


‘Tropical Wave’ This piece has a lovely gentle backing track. To play

along with it you will need to repeat the first section.

6


‘Merrily We Roll Along’

Amazingly you will only need to use one finger in this well known Nursery Rhyme! You will need finger number 2 on the 'C' (3rd) string in the second fret (space) The rest of the piece is played using open strings - bargain!

7


Twinkle Twinkle ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star’ sounds really good on the

ukulele when you play the melody line! Playing on the ‘C’ string is a little more

challenging to get a clean sounding note. Remember to press the pad of your finger

down firmly on the string in the fret/ space NOT on top of the bar (fret).

If you’re making a sound like a chicken then life your finger off and try again with the above advice!

NO CHICKENS!! C F C F C G7 C

A ---------------|--0--0--------|--------------|-------------|-

E ---------------|--------------|--1--1--0--0--|-------------|-

C --0--0---------|--------------|--------------|--2--2--0----|-

G ---------0--0--|---------0----|--------------|-------------|-

C F C G7 C F C G7

A ---------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|-

E ---------1--1--|--0--0--------|--------1--1--|--0--0--------|-

C ---------------|---------2----|--------------|---------2----|-

G --0--0---------|--------------|--0--0--------|--------------|-

C F C F C G7 C

A ---------------|--0--0--------|--------------|-------------||

E ---------------|--------------|--1--1--0--0--|-------------||

C --0--0---------|--------------|--------------|--2--2--0----||

G ---------0--0--|---------0----|--------------|-------------||

8


‘This Old Man’ This well known nursery rhyme is a lot of fun to play

with all the 0pen strings. Try singing the tune to yourself as you play and then you will

get the timing and rhythm of the piece correct. C C F G7

A -------------|-------------|--0-----------|---------------|-

E -----0-------|-----0-------|--------1--0--|-----0--1--0-1-|-

C -------------|-------------|--------------|--2------------|-

G --0-----0----|--0-----0----|-----0--------|---------------|-

C C G7 C G7 C

A ---------------|---------------|--------------|-------------||

E ---------------|------0-1------|-----------1--|--0----------||

C -----0--0-0-0--|--0-2----------|-----2--2-----|-----2--0----||

G --0------------|----------0----|--0-----------|-------------||

9


‘German Dance’ It seems like every instrument IN THE WORLD has an arrangement of this for beginners..........so why

shouldn't we?!

It is arranged so that you only use the second finger/ fret on the E (2nd) and C (3rd) strings; together with open strings elsewhere. It looks tricky but it's not soooooooo bad - honest!

10


‘Wonderful Tonight (intro) - Eric Clapton’ It seems like every instrument IN THE WORLD has

an arrangement of this for beginners..........so why shouldn't we?!

11


‘Guitar Riffs...’ A ‘Riff’ is a short repeating phrase often played by an

electric guitar But why should the guitarists keep all the great riffs to

themselves? Don’t we always say - ‘You can play ANYTHING on the

ukulele!?’ Play these iconic rock riffs and ROCK ON!! First Black Sabbath and ‘Iron Man!’

12

17

‘Guitar Riffs...2’ This riff uses a great new chord on the ukulele—C5 It’s called C5 as it means it has an extra 5th note and no 3rd

note. This makes the chord sound ‘hard’ and not very ‘sweet’ and ‘happy’ with the 3rd note of the scale in it. Very ROCK!!

13

www.ukule

lerocks.co.uk

18

‘Guitar Riffs...3’ Saving the VERY best for last ‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple is the riff that

EVERYONE learns when learning guitar. There is some tricky ‘doubling up’ to do on two strings...but it

does sound ROCK!

14

www.ukulelerocks.co.uk


‘The Simpsons Theme...’ This popular theme tune is actually quiet complicated in

timing! Below is an excerpt of the theme. Listen carefully to the backing

track to understand how the timing works.

15


‘Seven Nation Army— The White Stripes’ These are the basic riffs in the same key as Jack White and the White Stripes play it. Use your fret markers to make the playing a little easier. Try and use your first finger in fret 7 and your little finger (4th) or third finger to stop the note in fret 10. The rest of the notes/ frets can be played with your first finger.

Make sure you listen to the CD track for the correct timing

and rhythm

16

17

21

‘Seven Nation Army’ - full song The chord section goes from 'G' to 'A'...play these 8 times each! So when we put it all together the whole song goes a little like this...

(Riff 1) I'm gonna fight 'em off A seven nation army couldn't hold me back They're gonna rip it off Taking their time right behind my back And I'm talkin' to myself at night Because I can't forget Back and forth through my mind Behind a cigarette (Chords...) (Riff 2 + Chords) And the message comin' from my eyes says, "Leave it alone." (Riff 1) Don't wanna hear about it Every single one's got a story to tell Everyone knows about it From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell And if I catch it comin' back my way I'm gonna serve it to you And that ain't what you want to hear But that's what I'll do (Chords...) (Riff 2 + Chords) And the feeling coming from my bones says, "Find a home." (Riff 1) I'm going to Wichita Far from this opera for evermore I'm gonna work the straw Make the sweat drip out of every pore And I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding, and I'm bleeding Right before the lord All the words are gonna bleed from me And I will think no more (Chords...) (Riff 2 + Chords) And the stains comin' from my blood tell me, "Go back home." www.ukulelerocks.co.uk

18


‘Sunshine of your Love - Cream’ This is a special arrangement of this well known rock song. It is a little ‘challenging’ but practise carefully and you’ll get it! 19

23

Congratulations

on completing the

……………………….

Date: ………………………………………………………………..

Signed: …………………………………………………………… (Teacher)


Documents

Tab Time: Getting it down! - ukulelerocks.co.ukukulelerocks.co.uk/lesson_pdf/Teaching Book 2/Teaching book2.pdf · ‘German Dance’ 15. ‘Wonderful Tonight (intro)’ ... bright