Music

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban)

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At last count, there’s over 125 official cover versions of You Raise Me Up. This song was basically new lyrics written for the old Danny Boy tune. That was, in turn, ripped off from the lyric lacking Irish anthem, Londonderry Air. However, Londonderry Air has had many other incarnations with other sets of lyrics, some of which, I must say, are pretty epicly elaborate.

You interpret what all that means in whatever way you like, but this is a very beautiful and uplifting song.

I’ve chosen to tab the version of You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban because I knew it best and was introduced to the song by his cover.

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Josh Groban

I’ve replaced the intro violin with just a hum and strum of a verse. The rest should be fairly simple to follow. I’ve included notes of the tune because there are some crazy interval jumps in there. That’s about the only challenging part to the song. The strum should be a very slow strum to suit the speed of the song.

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

You Raise Me Up, Josh Groban Ukulele Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

These tabs all fit on one page to avoid the inconvenience of page turns. However, the letter size tabs (8.5″ x 11″) may be too small for your eyes. If so, you can either enlarge to tabloid size (11″ x 17″) using an automatic enlarge feature on many photocopiers, or download the tabloid sized versions for printing. The tabloid size tabs can be inserted into a typical letter sized binder on the 11″ size, and folded almost in half to fit. You just open each tab to use it.

If you’re going to play this on a traditional soprano, concert or tenor ukulele with a high G string as the first string, you’re going to have to “dig deep” to find your first note because it is an octave below that. That’s if you don’t capo it to get it in the same key as it should be, but that’s not necessary. You might want to capo it quite a few notches if you don’t sing so low, even if you sing it all an octave higher.

I hope you enjoy the tabs because it is a gorgeous song, indeed!

Please click here for guitar and ukulele tabs and chords to other songs on this blog.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 7.5

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for My Back Pages (Bob Dylan)

Digital Citizen 2 Comments

This is just a great song, especially the version performed at Columbia Records’ 30th Anniversary Tribute for Bob Dylan that seems to have been ripped off the Net, but here’s a close version in rehearsal.

It is also the version I tabbed. I never thought I’d say it but thank goodness for Chinese video sites that still holds videos like the one above as YouTube has grown up and wimped out to copyright threats.

My Back Pages, Bob Dylan Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

My Back Pages, Bob Dylan Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

My Back Pages, Bob Dylan Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

My Back Pages, Bob Dylan Ukulele Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

Bob Dylan

These tabs all fit on one page to avoid the inconvenience of page turns. However, the letter size tabs (8.5″ x 11″) may be too small for your eyes. If so, you can either enlarge to tabloid size (11″ x 17″) using an automatic enlarge feature on many photocopiers, or download the tabloid sized versions for printing. The tabloid size tabs can be inserted into a typical letter sized binder on the 11″ size, and folded almost in half to fit. You just open each tab to use it.

Just a few notes to the tabs. In verses 4-6, there is a slight change in one of the lines from the same line for verses 1-3, so I have highlighted the note in red. It’s a little thing, but gives the song a little “ooomph” after 3 go arounds of the verse and chorus. Despite having 6 verses, a great song doesn’t get boring with repetition. You just find ways to lift it even more, like with that little note in red.

On the ukulele tab, I have added a little chord modification for that note. I have labeled the chord with an asterisk and denoted it as basically a C chord but with the finger on the bottom A string to be on the 5th fret instead of the 3rd fret. Written out in fret and string numbers, it is 0005 (fifth fret fourth string from top down) rather 0003 for a regular C chord. The labeling is in the tab sheet. I have not done this for the guitar tabs because there isn’t anything similar and the C chord on the guitar handles the slight disharmony (C chord, D note) just fine.

Please click here for guitar and ukulele tabs and chords to other songs on this blog.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 8.1

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for You Ain’t Going Nowhere (Bob Dylan)

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Bob Dylan

This Bob Dylan classic is a favourite of mine for warming up. It has a nice lilt to it and doesn’t require a great vocal range to sing it, when your voice isn’t necessarily ready if it hasn’t yet warmed up.

I tabbed this to the version done at Columbia Records’ 30th Anniversary Tribute to Bob Dylan, as performed by Shawn Colvin, Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Rosanne Cash. You can get a 30 second sample of it here. Unfortunately, the Bob Dylan empire seemed to have exercised its rights over the wimpier by the day crumbling YouTube empire and those videos have been removed for copyright purposes. The closest performance I can find to the one I tabbed is by the Byrds in the video below. However, you’ll be able tell soon enough there are some subtle differences. Good thing I tabbed notes with my chords. Just pic out the notes and you’ll get the version I had in mind.

Man, I need to set up my recording mics soon so I can just record the tabs for users to hear rather than rely on “similar” versions!

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Bob Dylan Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Bob Dylan Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Bob Dylan Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Bob Dylan Ukulele Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

These tabs all fit on one page to avoid the inconvenience of page turns. However, the letter size tabs (8.5″ x 11″) may be too small for your eyes. If so, you can either enlarge to tabloid size (11″ x 17″) using an automatic enlarge feature on many photocopiers, or download the tabloid sized versions for printing. The tabloid size tabs can be inserted into a typical letter sized binder on the 11″ size, and folded almost in half to fit. You just open each tab to use it.

Please click here for guitar and ukulele tabs and chords to other songs on this blog.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 8.2

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (Pete Seeger)

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If I had to choose one song which I thought best exemplified great songwriting, I might well choose Where Have All the Flowers Gone? by Pete Seeger.

It is a simple song to learn or teach for chords and catchy tune. Not a lot of vocal range or skills required. One true verse with a few interchangeable parts. Very meaningful lyrics with a lot of symbolism to say more than just words can say. Very vivid imagery. Tells a story based on a simple concept and closes it all off. Works great with just the singing, one instrument, without drums, or any number of instruments, and in pretty much any style you’d like to perform it. Sounds even better performed in a group. I’m not sure what else you’d want in a song.

My tabbed version is closest to the version by the Kingston Trio in the video below (minus all the picking as I try to keep things simple).

Pete Seeger

Otherwise, I’d have posted a version sung by Pete Seeger himself like this one

This one by Peter, Paul and Mary, with instructions to the audience as they sing it is nice, too.

I hope you will give the song a try if you haven’t already played it.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Pete Seeger Ukulele Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

These tabs all fit on one page to avoid the inconvenience of page turns. However, the letter size tabs (8.5″ x 11″) may be too small for your eyes. If so, you can either enlarge to tabloid size (11″ x 17″) using an automatic enlarge feature on many photocopiers, or download the tabloid sized versions for printing. The tabloid size tabs can be inserted into a typical letter sized binder on the 11″ size, and folded almost in half to fit. You just open each tab to use it.

Please click here for guitar and ukulele tabs and chords to other songs on this blog.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Readability Level: 5.3

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for The Comparison Song (by me)

Digital Citizen 3 Comments

This was the first song I ever wrote, with a friend named Lis Soderberg singing it in the recording above. I’m posting the chords and tabs to share with friends who play guitar and ukulele.

The song requires an octave range to sing, and you actually have numerous opportunities to practice your octave singing jumps in the song. Sure beats scales! 🙂

The song came from a sonnet I wrote in 1995. It was inspired by my reaction to Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet XVIII (18) – Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Shakespeare dwells on this, comparing the subject to various aspects of a summer’s day. By nature, I’m a concepts person and not one for details. I can do details if I need to, but it’s not my natural mode. I’m all over the place. So instead of asking shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, I generally said I could do that, or compare you to this and that and those and these things. The kicker, or closing couplet that sums things up, is that I can compare you to all these lovely things, but that none compared to you.

It’s as simple as that.

So if you liked the song and want to learn to play it on guitar or ukulele, please click on one of the links below. Chords and notes are included.

Comparison Song, Minh Tan Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Comparison Song, Minh Tan Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

Comparison Song, Minh Tan Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Comparison Song, Minh Tan Ukulele Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

These tabs all fit on one page to avoid the inconvenience of page turns. However, the letter size tabs (8.5″ x 11″) may be too small for your eyes. If so, you can either enlarge to tabloid size (11″ x 17″) using an automatic enlarge feature on many photocopiers, or download the tabloid sized versions for printing. The tabloid size tabs can be inserted into a typical letter sized binder on the 11″ size, and folded almost in half to fit. You just open each tab to use it.

Please RIGHT click here and choose Save Target As (or Save Link As) if you would like to download the MP3 of my “Comparison” song.

It’s free! 🙂

Please click here for guitar and ukulele tabs and chords to other songs on this blog.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 5.3