Song Help Request Barred chords vs. open ones (Dylan: The man in me)

Hi UU,

This my first post besides introduction-post, so bear over with me if I am doing it wrong, or posting in a wrong board.

I am practicing to play Bob Dylans "The man in me", which many may know from the movie The Big Lebowski. It is on youtube if you look, even with a few ukulele covers.

I have a question regarding what is the best way to play the chords.
I might be too serious about choosing how to play this song. After all, it is "just" ukulele. But I would like to get some feedback on how much thought the more seasoned Uke-players give this subject.

Sorry for the long post to follow.

I managed to find some sheet music with what i believe to be the original chords listed along with the melody and piano arrangement:

|Ab . . . |Db Cm Bbm . |
|Eb . Db . | . . Ab . |
| . . . . |Db . Eb9sus4 . |

Tranposing this down halv a key would lead to:

|G . . . |C Bm Am . |
|D . C . | . . G .|
|. . . . |C . D9sus4 .|

Most guitar chords I could find suggests this:
|G . . . |C/b . Am . |
|D . C . | . . G . |
| . . . . |C . C/d . |

I realize of course, that the easiest way to play this on a ukulele would be to simply play the open chords:

|G . . . |C . Am . |
|D . C . | . . G . |
| . . . . |C . . . |

I just feel like something is missing.
Particularly the last change from C to D9sus4 or C/d, walking down to begin at G again, seems to play a role for the dynamic of the song. The change is just when you sing the "man" in "get trough to the man in me."
The walkdown earlier in the tune is also a bit sad to leave out, though the more frequent chord changes in that part takes the focus off of it.

I am currently struggling with playing some barred chords in stead of the open ones, to be able to get kind of walkdown-feeling by adding the chords transposed from the piano arrangement.

Thus rather than using:

G C Am D

2 . 3 . 0 . 0
3 . 0 . 0 . 2
2 . 0 . 0 . 2
0 . 0 . 2 . 2

I try to play the chords like this, with the second or third fret barred most of the time:

G C Bm Am D D9sus4

2 . 3 . 2 . 0 . 3 . 5
3 . 3 . 2 . 0 . 2 . 3
2 . 4 . 2 . 0 . 2 . 4
4 . 5 . 4 . 2 . 2 . 2

I am not sure about the last chord, it was not in my chord-app - and I might change it for D7sus4.

Now my questions are:

A: Am I totally off when I think it sounds better that way?
B: If it does sound slightly better - is it enough that it is worth the practice?
C: How often do you guys and girl use barred chords to get a "walking" effect?
D: How often do you guys and girls change the key of a song completely when switching from guitar to ukulele, to make the chord-changes sound better?
E: Is this overthinking ukulele too much?

Do you play the guitar usually?

Because if you do then you will notice immediately the change of tone and lack of bass , this will make the uke seem to be "missing" something.

What size uke are you playing ?


Picking or strumming , combination of both ?

Low G or Re-entrant ?


Aminor can also be played:

3
5
4
2

If you are trying to avoid open strings.


A. If it sounds better to you then that's the way to play it.

B. It's always worth practise ...or you don't learn it

C. Me , very often ...I play a lot of strummed and picked bluesy rock and blues and stuff.....Barres are magic .So are bars come to think of it (hic)

D. When it needs it ,a lot of players like to put it back to C as that has the more manageable chords...although of course A and G are quite agreeable in the first position as well ,nice gritty keys for blues and rock.

E. No. That's how we get stuff that doesn't typically get played on a uke . Or played in a different way. Go for it.

Thanks for your reply.

I also have a guitar, which I have had for way longer than my uke. I only play very little though, so usually is a strong word.

I play a concert-uke, with the standard tuning, it has a high G.
Should have mentioned that in my post of course.

I would like to combine strumming and picking. I only played for 6 months or so, and I havent gotten around all of it.
For this song I am strumming for now, and I might add some picking intro, fill or the like when i get around to it.

It is not crucial for me to avoid the open strings totally.
What i want to achieve is the "walking" effect. If the melody goes "deeper", and the original piano chords go "deeper", I don't want my ukulele chords to "go higher" because the easiest way to take that chord was by rearranging the notes of the chord and go up the frets. Rather start even further up the frets with a barred chord then.
And i wonder how often people go through these thoughts. But I guess it is normal

When I want a walking bass line, I use a low G. Tenor

Thanks for your input.

For a real walking bass line, I should probably get a low G.
As I am a newbie, I will start exploring the standard high G though.

Perhaps using the word "walking" was a mistake on my side - "progression of the chords" might fit my intention better.
I just want the one cord to sound lower than the previous on my uke, if it does in the original instrumentation for a given song.

Hmm ,because of the re-entrant nature that doesn't always work,unless you play some of those chords at around the 7th fret and work down the neck.....it's a strange little instrument.

G you can play

10
7
7
7

C

7
8
7
0 (you get away with the open G because it's part of the C chord it hould strictly be the one below....but I don't worry about convention:rulezah)

Or barre an F shape.

7
8
7
9

D- The full Fat C shape

5
5
6
7

C

3
3
4
5

D7 sus 4 looks easier to play than D9 ...on a uke you may need sharper ears than my knackered old lugs to hear the diff , but that's up to you ....


But that gives you a high to low selection....an of course you can mix 'em up.