March of the Spiders – Easy Ukulele Chord Solo by M Ryan Taylor

From my ‘work in progress’
entitled The Giant’s Heart:

• March of the Spiders (PDF Tablature)

Back story: I’d been working on a new opera entitled The Giant’s Heart, but when I got to the scene about the giant spiders I knew I wanted the spiders to be represented musically by fretted string instruments, but beyond that I was stuck. I halted work on the opera and the next Winter got into the ukulele. Some time later I was messing around and thought, “That’s the march of the spiders” (when they go up the mountain to chase away the she eagle that is sitting on the giant’s heart).

Its taken me a while to get it down on paper, as I use Finale and it is not really that tablature friendly, but I’ve decided to bite the bullet and just push through the learning curve and the hurdles the program makes you go through.

Hope you enjoy!

‘O Sole Mio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrv1OGtkUFw

One of the most famous Italian (Neapolitan) songs of all time and sung by everyone from the Three Tenors to Elvis Presley (as It’s Now or Never):

• ‘O Sole Mio (for Voice and Ukulele)

The Stars and Stripes Forever : Ukulele Chords with Words by John Phillip Sousa (3 keys available)

The original cover art for "the stars and stripes forever" with words penned by Sousa himself.

Here is John Phillip Sousa’s famous march, The Stars and Stripes Forever, with words he penned himself. I originally started singing this with an old recording of Sousa’s own band, but don’t always want to haul sound equipment around and I love singing it. The melody covers a two-octave range, so you do need some pipes, but if you’re ukulele is strung with a low-g, you can play the melody solo while having another player fill in on the chords.

• Stars and Stripes Forever – Eb (Original Key) : With this key you could actually sing along with a recording of the march, but I’ve always found a couple of spots high for my voice.
• Stars and Stripes Forever – D (Easier)
• Stars and Stripes Forever – C (Easiest) : Now that I’ve transposed it down, I’m loving how this key feels in my voice (I’m a baritone), and the key makes it super easy to play.

Have fun with it!

Ex amore victoria!
Ryan

We Wish You a Merry Christmas Sheet Music for Ukulele and Voice

Ukulele Ornament on Amazon

First off, the music:

• We Wish You a Merry Christmas (PDF)

I love this song and I love the fact as a teacher that it cycles you through so many useful chords in a progression that will ‘bless your life’ for use with future songs. This one page PDF of We Wish You a Merry Christmas for Ukulele (and Voice) also contains a nice-sounding fingerpicking pattern that shows off the cool chord progression of this song. Here’s a basic roadmap of the song:

• The Thumb (T) alternates between the 3rd and 4th strings while the Index and Middle fingers (I/M) work together as a unit to pluck the 1st and 2nd strings at the same time. The pattern has three beats: T on 3rd string, I/M on 1st/2nd, and T on 4th string – the pattern then repeats.
• See the score for a slight alteration of the pattern on the words “Happy New Year.”
• An alternate strum pattern is provided for the middle verses of the song. I think it’s a fun contrast to play this part really fast (it brings out the humor of this section).
• On the final chorus you return to the fingerpicking pattern.

It’s all there in the instructions on the sheet music.

This arrangement was created for the Utah Ukulele Circle which meets in American Fork on Tuesday nights. We performed it twice in 2011; Christmas in the Rotunda at American Fork Library and at Heritage Care Center a couple of days later for the old folks there.

Merry Christmas!

O Holy Night for Ukulele, Voice and optional Bass

Ukulele Angel Ornament on Amazon

First off, here is a free version of “O Holy Night” with the words, melody, and ukulele chords:

• O Holy Night – Voice & Ukulele Chords (Free Version)

A premium version of this ukulele arrangement (for advanced beginners and intermediate players) with suggested fingerpicking and strumming patterns in tab and traditional notation, as well as melody, words and chords can be downloaded through tradebit. There is also an optional bass part for duos or ukulele ensembles. A preview is available on these pages:

• O Holy Night – Premium Version $2.95
• O Holy Night – Bass Part $1.50

This arrangement was created for the Utah Ukulele Circle which meets in American Fork on Tuesday nights. We performed it twice in 2011; Christmas in the Rotunda at American Fork Library and at Heritage Care Center a couple of days later for the old folks there. I added the Bass Part for future use, as I’m also a bass player.

Merry Christmas!