Tab Time: Getting it down!

Transcription

1 James Hill - Canadian Ukulele Virtuoso Name: Teacher; Mr J. Cockshott Tab Time: Getting it down!

2 Tab Time: Getting it down! 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 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 Gently Falling Showdown 19. The Simpsons Theme 20. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes 8. Tab Time 2...fingers 9. 3 to Play 21. Seven Nation Army - full song 22. Sunshine of your Love - cream Relax at Three Slide Charlie Brown-Slide! 23. Certificate of Completion There s No One Here Today? 10. Tropical Wave 11. Merrily We Roll Along If you have a copy of the backing track CD then the track numbers are in the CD on each page Twinkle Twinkle All of the content of this book can be found online at and 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 ukulelerocks@hotmail.co.uk 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 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. 2

3 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

4 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 4

5 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 Ex.2 A

6 The 0 pen Strings Try using your open strings to play these simple examples below - there may be one you recognise! Ex.1 A E C G Ex.2 Ex.3 A E C G Ex.4 6

7 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! 1 Showdown 2 This is slightly quicker than Gently Falling Again, count the strings/ notes carefully that you play so that you get the right amount. 7

8 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 E C G A E C G It s the Chill Out Walk? (On one string!) This is what it looks like written in tab. 8

9 3 to Play

10 Tropical Wave This piece has a lovely gentle backing track. To play along with it you will need to repeat the first section

11 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!

12 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!! 8 C F C F C G7 C A E C G C F C G7 C F C G7 A E C G C F C F C G7 C A E C G

13 This Old Man This well known nursery rhyme is a lot of fun to play 9 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 E C G C C G7 C G7 C A E C G

14 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!

15 Wonderful Tonight (intro) - Eric Clapton It seems like every instrument IN THE WORLD has 11 an arrangement of this for beginners...so why shouldn't we?! 15

16 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!

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 lerocks.co.uk 17

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!

19 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

20 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. 16 Make sure you listen to the CD track for the correct timing and rhythm

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." 18 (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." 21

22 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!

23 Congratulations. on completing the Tab Time: Getting it down! Date:.. Signed: (Teacher) 23