I recently got in touch with Mike from the Ukulele Underground forums AKA Fourbladeknife. I found Mike’s ukulele arrangements on YouTube and he very kindly allowed me to post one of them here for you. I’ve picked his rather fantastic arrangement of Blue Moon (a song that will always make me think of werewolves)…
This is a great one for those that think they’ve moved beyond simply strumming through 5 or 6 chords. What I like about this arrangement is that there is still a lot of strumming going on and the chords aren’t particularly difficult. In fact, even the timing is pretty kind as it’s mostly all quarter and eighth notes. That said, it’s still going to take a little practice.
Playing Tips
The real challenge here comes from getting the melody out nice and clear whilst keeping the strumming moving steadily along. I’d suggest playing it really slowly to help with that. I’m a big fan of playing with a metronome (Google has useful metronome) or alternatively you could slow down Mike’s video (click on the cog icon on the video above and change the speed to 0.5) to help you get to grips with it.
Blue Moon Tab
Here’s an example of the tab from Mike’s arrangement. To get the full tab you can hit the button below. If you need some help understanding what this means check out my page on reading ukulele tab.
You can check out more of Mike’s arrangements over on his YouTube channel.
If you want some further help with fingerpicking then I’d recommend taking a look at the ebook Fingerstyle Classics. Over 70 solo fingerstyle arrangements to get your teeth into that will really help you improve your skills. For just $18 I think it’s a a great book if you’re looking to get better quickly.
View Comments (11)
Wonderful!
Yep, American ones in London.
Good one!
Ow I'm already having trouble with the first chord. No way of putting down the ring finger on the 3rd fret without everything else going wonky. A good start I must say!
Any tips?
Yeah I can give you a tip - use your pinkie on the 3rd fret of the A string. That should help!
Wow that rocked! And I love that movie Dave :)
I love that, amazing song !
Thx
Great. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely a goal for this 'new-ish' uke lover!
So wonderful to find you, I just love you and can't wait to work on the finger style....thanks so much!
What a beautiful arrangement! Thank you for sharing!
Hello
I'm so happy i found your website it helps me a lot with my new ukulele.
But I'm struggling with the strumming, i played the classical guitar before but I don't get how Mike plays it in the video.
Is it a strumming pattern which i can find the beginners pack?
Sorry, for bothering, i just need some help