Ukulele Guy

I got an e-mail from a "Joe" about 9:31 this morning. He turned me onto this video of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra doing "Livin' Thing" by ELO. Check it out, it's pretty damn great, plus it's got Bret from Flight of the Conchords in there!

Joe asked if I could post tabs for this song. I typically try not to disappoint, so here ya go. The chords repeat the same pattern on the 2nd and 3rd verses. Sorry I didn't write them out, but I'm technically supposed to be working right now. Shh.... don't tell my boss.

Livin' thing
Electric Light Orchestra
C   - 0003
Am  - 2000
Ab  - 5343
Fm  - 1013
Em  - 4432
Dm  - 2210
F   - 2010
G   - 0232
D7  - 2223
G+  - 0332
Bbm - 3111
   C	                                           Am
   Sailin' away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic
   Ab	                                            Fm
   Rollin' and ridin' and slippin' & slidin', it's magic
    Em	                    Dm
And you, and your sweet desire,
         Em     Dm  Em	       F	   G
You took me, oh-oh, higher and higher, baby   

 	C C C        Am           F 
 	      It's a livin' thing,
        D7      G+       C
It's a terrible thing to lose
       Am         F       
It's a given thing
       D7       G+       C 
What a terrible thing to lose.

 	Bbm             F              G
 	(Taking a dive) (halt the slide)  	 

Making believe this is what you've conceived
From your worst day,
Moving in line then you look back in time
To your first day

Takin' a dive 'cos you can't halt the slide
Floating downstream,
So let her go don't start spoiling the show
It's a bad dream

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Alright, so I'm sure y'all have seen the Bed Intruder auto-tune song like a bajillion times (hell, you can buy it on freaking itunes), but just in case you haven't:

Ahh... damn, that's good stuff. I had to snap myself out of it just now because I was starting it for the 4th time. I think I have a problem. I've also been trying to seek out alternate versions and covers because there's loads of em out there. Here's two of my other favorites.

Bed Intruder Shamisen Cover:

Bed Intruder Mario Paint Cover:

Ok. I think I got enough of a fix to move on with the post now. Sorry, I can't stop myself. Anyway, I wanted to do a ukulele cover of Bed Intruder, but a quick search showed that like 10,000 people already had that idea. So... hmm... what does that leave? Well, how about a perky Edwardian-era interpretation? Imagine this version booming out of your Victrola. Oh hells yah!

If, for some crazy reason, you want to play my version, here's the chords:

Bed Intruder - a perky interpretation by Ukulele Guy
G - 0232
A7 - 0100
D - 2220
D7 - 2223
B7 -2322
B - 4322
Em - 4432

     G               A7
he's climbin in your windows
     D             B7
he's snatchin your people up
      E7-4445    A7
tryna rape em so y'all need to
D                         B
hide your kids, hide your wife
Em                        A7
hide your kids, hide your wife
B
hide your kids, hide your wife
       G             A7  D
and it wouldn't be a bad idea
             D
to hide your husband
     Em           A7          B7
cuz they're rapin errbody out here
     Em           A7          D
cuz they're rapin errbody out here
G                 A7       D
you don't have to come and confess
       B7
we're lookin for you
E7-4445         A7
we gon find you
D           B
we gon find you
Em                 A7
so you can run and tell that,
B
run and tell that
Em    A7    D
home, home, homeboy

            E7
we got your t-shirt
              A7               D-2225  C#-6544 B7
you done left fingerprints and all
           E7
you are so dumb
               A7          D-2225  C#-6544 B7
you are really dumb--for real
        G                       A7
the man got away leaving behind evidence
D-2225                     B7
i was attacked by some idiot in the projects
G           A7       D
so dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so
G           A7       D
so dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so

     G               A7
he's climbin in your windows
     D             B7
he's snatchin your people up
      E7-4445    A7
tryna rape em so y'all need to
D                         B
hide your kids, hide your wife
Em                        A7
hide your kids, hide your wife
B
hide your kids, hide your wife
       G             A7  D
and it wouldn't be a bad idea
             D
to hide your husband
     Em           A7          D7
cuz they're rapin errbody out here

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Oh boy. Where to begin? You know, they say you should never start a performance with an apology. But, "they" weren't recording impromptu Billy Joel jams during a drunken birthday weekend. So, they can eat it. But, instead of moaning I'll just offer some explanations that hopefully give you some context on the video to follow.

Explanations:

1. This video took place on my drunken camping birthday celebration.
2. Soft Trombone (the name of our band, apparently) didn't have a name until the video started
3. Soft Trombone also had never played together before this day.
4. Soft Trombone isn't, by the Webster's definition anyway, a real band.
5. Soft Trombone had just played about 20 other random songs and pretty much blown my voice to smithereens
6. By this point in the evening, I had already enjoyed one of my birthday presents, which was a 24 ounce can of 4Loco..... and some beers.... and a shot or two of bourbon.
7. My lovely wife is recording the video with two Flip camcorders, the recording from the second camera has yet to surface.  Based on the angle, I believe that Bryan Ramirez's "rock face" at the end of the video will be zoomed in and awesome.
8. I have no idea who was watching any of the four children who were also present at the camping extravaganza.  I assume it was wood sprites or forest gnomes.

I suppose if I had any pride or any pretension at being a ukulele authority, I would never let this video see the light of day.  But, thankfully, I don't really care.  I was having a blast with some of my best friends and I think that definitely comes through.  Heh.  So, get out there kids, have fun and make fun of yourself because then you don't have to worry about someone doing it for you.

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Ok.  It's shocking admission time.  Brace yourself.  It turns out that this isn't my only blog.  I'm sorry baby, I've been seeing other blog readers.  Do you think you can still love me?  Heh.  What's more shocking is that my other blog has been around since 1996, if you can believe that.

You see, friend, I have an unhealthy appetite for post-apocalyptic movies.  So, I made Post Apocalyptic Movie Mania when I was in college and it's still around, if you can believe that.  I haven't brought it up before because Ukuleles don't really factor into the the apocalypse, zombies and plagues too frequently.

That is... until now!  Boo-yah!  Zombies and Ukes!  You all have Kirby Krackle to thank for this.  Cause, you see, now I'm not going to shut up about Dawn of the Dead, 12 Monkeys, etc, etc.  In fact, I think it's time to revamp my old Volumen song "The Dawn of the Day of the Night of the Return of the Living Dead".  This time it will be an all ukulele arrangement.

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Well, I must have listened to Pretty Good Musician's ukulele songs about two dozen times today. The end result was that I really, really, really want to get my ukulele novelty band off of the ground. But, today I had to settle for recording a version of "Help me scrape the mucus off my brain", by Ween. I played this one with my Kala Pocket Ukulele because it's been awhile since I used it in a video and because I look pretty ridiculous playing it.  It's just sooo damn tiny.

Anyway, this song is off of the Ween record 12 Golden Country Greats.  It's definitely one of their better records and songs.

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Well, I'm finally back from the whirlwind Volumen Mini-tour of the northwest.  I feel like I'm still recovering, though.  This morning Simon (my five-year-old) asked me when I was getting my normal voice back.  I wish I knew kid.  I wish I knew.  Anyway, we played 4 shows in 4 days and after the 2nd show I had already lost my pillow and my voice.  After the 3rd show I had lost my credit card and any dignity and sanity I used to have.

The tour was awesome!  We had really great turn-outs and we sold buckets of CDs and shirts and whatnot.  Actually, the t-shirt sales weren't all good news.  We discovered after the Seattle show that we had sold at least one shirt that still had the security tag on it.  Whoops.  Sorry about that folks.  Just drive to Montana and we'll unlock it for ya.

Anyway, this is all leading up to a Ukulele video, right?  Umm... yup.  Here's the story.  We played at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard (Seattle-ish).  We played with Summer Babes (who are awesome) and two other bands who were fine, I guess?  I was a little grouchy on stage because we weren't allowed to drink on stage.  It's apparently against the law.  But, for some reason $37 white belts and tight pants are totally legal.  I'll let you figure that one out.  So, after our set we all made up for lost time with something I like to call "Extra Beers".  Then we loaded up our gear and drove to the afterhours at Jeff's house (Jeff is in Summer Babes and The Lights).

After arriving safe and sound we went across the street to The Buckaroo and had $2 cans of Olympia, pickled eggs and Misfits played super loud.   They ran us out of there by bringing a motorcycle inside the bar and peeling out inside the bar.  It was nuts.

So, we ran back to Jeff's house and decided to chill out.  This started the impromptu Girl From Ipanema session you are about to witness.  Keep in mind, Bob is our drummer and we'd never seen that keytar before.  K.  Here goes.

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So, a few weeks (months?) ago a good friend of mine (and Missoula's award-winning bartender), Al Pils, sent me a Youtube video of the great Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters song from the 1979 movie, The Jerk.  I decided I had to learn it.  Especially because if you want Steve's fingers it seems like the sound is especially fancy for what he's doing.  Wait... what?  You mean movies aren't always real?  Huh.  I'm not buying it.  Anyway, take a peak at the video first to get some context:

Anyway, I went looking for tabs but everything I found was in the wrong key or too simplified or both. Then I found the following video from mbrenne72.  I feel like he pretty much nailed it.  Although, some other folks seem to think you should tune your C string down a full step and every other string down 1/2 step, but that seemed much too difficult.  Anyway, if you tune your uke down 1/2 step and play it like I do then it sounds pretty good with the movie.  And, no, I didn't tab the coronet solo.

So... here's my video:

And for those of you who want to do this from the comfort of your own home, here's the tabs:
Tonight You Belong to Me
Tabs: Ukulele Guy – http://ukuleleguy.com
Based almost entirely on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6-FxuHTwo
If playing along with the movie, tune your ukulele down ½ step.
NOTE: I'm Ukulele Guy, not Music Theory Guy or Ukulele Expert

G	 = 0232
Gsus4	 = 0233
G6	 = 0202
G#6	 = 1313
G7	 = 0212
G7sus2   = 0210
G+5	 = 0332
A7	 = 0100
D7	 = 2223
D#-5	 = 0330
Cmaj7	 = 0002
C6	 = 0000
Cm6 	 = 2333
E9	 = 1222
E7	 = 1202
F#maj	 = x121 (3121)
Walk Part:
Dmaj-D7-D6-D =  2225-2223-2222-2220

Intro:
G6 G#6 G6 plucked G string
G6 G#6 G6 D7

G
I know (I know)
      G7-G7sus2   Cmaj7-C6  G+5-D#-5
You belong     to somebody  new
      G         D   D7    G  Gsus4 G Dmaj-D7-D6-D
But Tonight you belong to me
G
Although (although)
      G7-G7sus2
we're apart
     Cmaj7-C6   G+5-D#5
Your part of my heart
      G         D   D7    G   Riff Part
And Tonight you belong to me

    Cm6     E9  Cm6
Way down by the stream
             E9   Cm6
How sweet it will seem
     G         F#maj  E7
Once more just to     dream
       A7
In the moonlight
D7
My honey
  G
I know (I know)
         G7-G7sus2  Cmaj7-C6    G+5-D#-5
With the dawn  that you will be gone
    G           D  D7     G
But tonight you belong to me
        D          G       77710
Just to little old me

There ya have it. Now, get out there and have fun and don't let anyone give you hard time. Ukulele elitism isn't good for anyone... plus, it's silly.

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I wanted to keep my momentum going, so I recorded this little video today.  Before I get into the song, I wanted to bring something up.  See, I guess when it comes to music and art, I'm sort of a Marxist.  By that I mean, if you are telling someone they can't appreciate art correctly unless they know Art History then you are basically saying, "You can't appreciate art because you are poor and didn't go to college".  That's lame.  By the same token, sure if all you can afford is a $20 ukulele, then that shouldn't mean you can't make art with it!

Now, let me get off of my soapbox because I'm pretty sure I just called my song "art".  Heh.  It isn't.  It is, however, a goofy novelty song and that's plenty good enough for me.  I wrote this song for a project with my brothers Colin and Bryan and we were going to call it "Those Damned Hickey Brothers".  But we never practice, so I'm not sure if we're really a band or not.  You know how sometimes you get drunk with your friends and talk about ridiculous things like road trips to Mexico that you are never going to take?  Well, I guess our band is like that.

I'm playing my wife's purple Mahalo ukulele in this video.  I bought it for her because I was already buying two Mahalos for my little boys and she expressed an interest.  For $20, it's pretty much the best Ukulele you can get, if you ask me.  This is especially true if you are buying a ukulele for a younger kid.  Sure, in a perfect world you'd buy Jr. a Kala, Ohana, Pono or other bitchin' ukulele.  But, let's be honest, they are going to break it in like 6 weeks... tops.

So, get them a Mahalo because it's inexpensive and totally playable.

Now... on to the song and possible offensiveness.

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So, I'm actually cruising down the road at 70mph right now (thank god my wife is doing the driving) but I really wanted to do a post because it's been for-freaking-ever. Somehow, real life (especially work) got insanely busy. So, here I am in the car and I don't quite have enough room to actually play the ukulele and record myself so I need to use something I've already recorded. After a quick search I came across this crazy-ass video footage of a bachelor party I was at last week.

I'll set the stage for you here.  Imagine, if you will, roughly a dozen dudes decked out in their finest Bavarian attire (think Oktoberfest).  The groom-to-be has already been tied up in the middle of the farmer's market and pelted by water balloons (that were sold to passersby).   Then there were at least three stop-offs at various breweries for refueling.  By the time we got to our campsite there was just enough time to shoot about 3 bags of potatoes, through one of the 4 potato canons onsite, and then enjoy the campfire.

I had my Lanikai CK-TEQ Ukulele, Doug played guitar, Bryan (my brother) had his acoustic bass, I think there were some makeshift drums and Greg had a squeeze box.  So, we were pretty set for merriment.  Well, at least, we thought we were.

Then Greg whipped out his Roland Micro Cube amp and we realized what was missing.  Loudness and total effects insanity, that's what.  Ahhh yeah!  There's just something a little surreal (and totally fucking awesome) about playing through a loud amp with tons of sick effects in the middle of the forest.  It was like if there were such a thing as bad hobbits.  You know, using their magic and whatnot to make bourbon from corn and make their music creepy and slightly evil.

After dicking around with the various effects, we launched into an impromptu version of Captain Fantasy by Ween.  Here's the video:

I didn't know anything about these Micro Cube amp before, but I'm totally getting one.  They're like $129 and you can power them with freaking batteries!  The night in question is a little bit foggy (*cough* Bourbon *cough*) but I remember there were quite a few built-in effects.  Delay, Chorus, Tremalo, Phaser and more, I believe.

Looks like they actually come in Red and White as well, if you'd prefer that over the normal black.  Here's a picture:

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Two weeks ago I was running pretty much ragged with work and family visiting, etc.   I pretty much didn't know which direction I was headed.  But, sometime during the two weeks window of insanity, I had the clarity of mind to order some new Aquila Ukulele Strings and then pack them into my ukulele case (for my Lanikai CK-TEQ).  Then I surprised myself even further by remembering to pack my Ukulele and my flipVideo when I had to leave town for a week-long job.  Long story short?  I had new strings and the means to make a before and after video in my lonely hotel room.  Boo-yah!

Hopefully you can tell a difference from that video, but I think it's definitely more clear during the single note stuff.  On the Aquila Strings it's just so much more percussive and it really rings out.  I'm totally loving these strings!

I mention Musicguymic in this video.  He's a big eBay seller and I would consider him a great resource for any ukulele-related purchase.  Hell, he's got almost 600 ukulele-related items up for auction right now.  I'll include a few sample items at the bottom of this post, or you can check out Musicguymic's eBay Store.

I was going to make a video showing everyone how to string their Ukulele, but I'm not a big fan of re-inventing the wheel and Aldrine from UkuleleUnderground.com already made this great video:

So, if you need to re-string your uke (and if it's been so long since you've done it that you can't remember, then it's time), I would highly recommend Aquila strings!

As promised, here's some listings from Musicguymic!