With the return of The Walking Dead this Sunday what better way than to fill the small void by learning to play the theme tune on ukulele?
The tab comes courtesy of David Lawson who has a rather brilliant YouTube channel on which he posts his own ukulele fingerstyle arrangements (sometimes with tab).
The Tab
There are only 3 main hand positions to learn to play this one and it repeats an awful lot which gives it a level of simplicity. That said it does tear along at a rapid speed so you’ll need quick fingers and there’s some slightly tricky changes of position mid bar that take a little bit of getting used to.
Walking Dead Playing Tips
Bars 1-6
The first 6 bars all use the same position. I fret the D note on the C string (2nd fret) with my index finger and stretch up with my pinky to the sixth fret of the E string (D#). It’s a bit of a stretch but with a bit of practice you’ll soon get used to it.
In terms of the picking hand, I let my thumb pick up the G and C strings leaving my index and middle finger to pluck the E and A strings. Alternatively you could use a 4 finger approach but I think it’s a little easier to play using just 3.
Bars 7-10
Things heat up a little in bars 7-10. To get your fingers into position you simply need to slide your index finger up one fret. Keep your pinky where it was for the first 6 bars. For these bars we’re going to pick using just our thumb and index finger.
The tricky part in this bar is getting the 5th and 6th fret notes of the C string on and off quickly enough. To do this I drop my 3rd finger in place on the 5th fret and slide it up for the note on the 6th, then quickly back down again for the F note at the 5th fret. It’s a little tricky because despite the slide, you need to keep your pinky on that 6th fret throughout.
Bars 11-16
Bars 11 to 16 are relatively easy. You can slide your hand right down so your pinky now rests on the 3rd fret. Similar to bars 7 and 10 I use my 3rd finger to pick up the fretted notes on the C string (David uses his 2nd and 3rd fingers here). You may feel more comfortable switching your hand position completely here but I’d recommend against it. Using your pinky on the E string throughout leaves you able to slide between each position really easy and the changes need to happen pretty quickly.
Massive thanks to David Lawson for the arrangement on this one. If you are a fan of David’s arrangements then it’s worth stopping by his website – he sells a huge collection of tabs (around 200) for the bargain price of $25 (you can use the donate button at the bottom right of his page).