beginner’s

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.

https://youtu.be/F-mtEml1coo?t=3m00s

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

Guitar and Ukulele Tabs for Four Strong Winds (Ian Tyson)

Digital Citizen 3 Comments

Happy Canada Day! On the day I am writing, that is. You know, for a small population nation, we can compete with anybody when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll and other popular music!

Four Strong Winds is a timeless Canadian song that was written by Ian Tyson in 1960. It was voted the most essential songs in English language Canadian pop music history in a 10 week poll by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 2005 (top 50 list). I doubt it will ever leave that chart, whether or not it would hold on to top spot as time goes by.

The song is based on the life of transient farm workers, forced to move where work can be found, but its theme is the sometimes temporary nature of human relationships. That’s about as nice a summary as I could find. You listen to the song and read the lyrics in the great fan video below and see/hear for yourself. The song even has subtle horse hoof running sounds! Love it!!!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Four Strong Winds, Ian Tyson Guitar Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Four Strong Winds, Ian Tyson Guitar Tabs Tabloid Sized PDF

Four Strong Winds, Ian Tyson Ukulele Tabs Letter Sized PDF

Four Strong Winds, Ian Tyson 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.

This song is very singable, in most people voice ranges without requiring a huge range. There are only a handful of chords, and easy ones at that. Nothing complicated about the strumming, either.

The arrangement I have chosen for the tabs include the tune as Neil Young sang it in the video above, without the guitar break. Note the fine differences between the last notes of the third and sixth lines of both verse and chorus. It’s a very fine difference, but that’s why I have included the notes in my tabs. You can pic out the notes to know what I had in mind to go with the chords listed rather than guess, as you often have to do with most online tabs. In some of those cases, there are actual errors people make in singing out of tune, then putting a wrong chord to it, but I’m not going to go further down that road.

However, I have left the verses and chorus in the order Ian Tyson originally wrote them. It starts out with the chorus, then verse, chorus, verse and ending with that beautiful chorus again. Ian and his wife Sylvia sing the song below. It’s a nice version, just a tad harder to tab and sing than Neil’s version with all the country style nuances.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Between the two videos and tune notes left on the tabs, I hope you’ll be able to figure it all out.

Oh, for the ukulele tabs, I left out the D7 transition chord compared to the guitar version. The ukulele D7 didn’t sound right without much of a bass set of notes.

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

Other notes about Four Strong Winds:

Ian and Sylvia Tyson

This folk classic has been recorded by many artists including Neil Young on his 1978 album Comes a Time (Young also performed the song with The Band at the famous The Last Waltz concert, and in his 2005 documentary Neil Young: Heart of Gold), Sarah McLachlan, Hank Snow, The Seekers, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Marianne Faithfull, The Searchers, Teenage Fanclub, John Denver, Bobby Bare, The Brothers Four (in an album by the same name), The Kingston Trio, Trini Lopez, Waylon Jennings, Chad and Jeremy, Ulf Lundell, The Tragically Hip, Joan Baez, and most recently, Johnny Cash. It was a hit by Bobby Bare in 1964. It was also a big hit in Norway in 1966 in a Norwegian version: “Mot ukjent sted” by The Vanguards and a big hit in Sweden in 1967 in a Swedish version: “Mot okänt land” recorded by The Hep Stars.

The mentioning of Alberta in the lyrics led it to be considered in a contest to choose a provincial song, which it did not win. Additionally, the song is sung on the last night of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival each year.

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Flesch-Kincaid Grade Reading Level: 7.4