Ahoy there me ukey mates

Time for the April update and as you can sea from my greeting Dave and I completed our arrangement of The Wellerman, the old sea shanty that became a viral hit for Scottish (ex-) postman Nathan Evans.

There are three parts to it, the main melody arranged for standard high-G tuning, the noodling bit which adds a bit of harmony and counterpoint and for those of you that have a baritone, there's a bass part as well.

For my YouTube video I also added a bit of guitar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR2jolS01Gc

There's a full lesson and a printable tab on Patreon if you want to learn it.

Pavan: The Earl of Salisbury. I recorded this renaissance dance by William Byrd last year during lockdown but decided to do it again in a nicer setting. There are dozens of beautiful chateaux in the part of France where I live so it was nice to get out and shoot a video in the grounds of one them. I've also added a tutorial. It's seriously pretty and really shows how music started to progress harmonically during this period leading into the Baroque era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17V71YrwsiI

Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo. It took me ages to arrange this despite it being a fairly simple song. It's a song about teenage heartbreak so I tried to put a bit of feeling into it although I'm sure Miss Rodrigo would be horrified to hear it on a ukulele. There is a full tutorial after the demo, with onscreen tabs. I wouldn't ask you to pay for this, I have limits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vq5dAYyAZk

The Rip by Portishead Don't know if you're into this kind of trip hop, but Beth Gibbons has a beautiful voice and it's an interesting, if repetitive, song. I made this video as a fingerpicking exercise. I tried to sing it but found the original key was no good for my range. In the key of C, it starts with the third, Em and moves to the fourth, F. But it ends with an Am moving to Bb, so the third and fourth in the key of F. Interesting I thought. So I played that part again and transposed the whole song up a fourth to F. Then I did again, transposing it up a fourth to Bb. I did it nine times in all and still couldn't sing it. In the video, the chords are indicated on screen, so it's a great way to force yourself out of your comfort zone and learn some new shapes.

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62BGzDRPgSM

Don't forget that you can get tabs for The Wellerman and Earl of Salisbury plus walk-through tutorials for both songs on our Patreon, your support is much appreciated. Making music is what keeps me sane during these crazy times!

And tell me what you dig and don't dig. I haven't done any Celtic, old time or country tunes in a while, I'll get back to it if that's what you prefer.

All the best,

Jon

Get the tabs on Patreon

Jon's Ukulele: New Irish Jig! Plus loads more tunes to learn!

Jon's Ukulele: New tunes for you (Oct/Nov Update)

Jon's Ukulele: New tunes for you (September Update)

Jon's Ukulele: New Tunes to Learn (July / August update)

Jon's Ukulele: New Tabs and Videos (May/ June update)

See all posts from Jonathan Lewis