Instrumental Only Recommendations!

Sorry if there is a thread for this but I did search and, honestly, I just want to hear what people suggest.

Can anyone give me good recommendations of purely instrumental versions of songs I can play? I can't sing and really don't want to!

I can play the titanic theme, fur elise, minuet in g, zelda melody (all on uu) and a few other riffs. Any more on here on or in the uu song library that are not super difficult? Let's just say I spent an hour trying to play some of 'My Guitar Gently Weeps' and it humbled me quickly!

Recommend whatever you want, of course, but I'd love to find some that are not too difficult/ intermediate(?) like the titanic theme. Something to keep me progressing.

Thanks

There are quite a few tutorial videos on You Tube, just type in Ukulele Tutorial. I learned Bye Bye Blues, Spanish Fandango, and TAmmy thataway.
Also, Chordie has a few.
I'm sure some other members will chime in with better stuff
There is also a section here called "Tabs"....

The Blarney Pilgrim
A nice version here done by a UU member who offers notation and tab
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...The-Blarney-Pilgrim&highlight=blarney+pilgrim

ubulele said:

https://pdfminstrel.wordpress.com/

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That site is amazing.

http://www.fingerstyle-rules.de/ukulele-tabs/
The above site has a variety of arrangements for chord melody

and there are a few places to look at listed on this webpage:
http://ukenut.com/fingerstyle-ukulele-resources/

You might also want to check out:
Ukulele Hunt (dot) com
Live Ukulele (dot) com
Uke of Carl (dot) com
they each have"tab" sections (tab means music notation)

Live Ukulele (dot) com marks its tabs for three different skill levels I think Blue is easiest and Red is the hardest and they are also divided into types of music.

On Ukulele Hunt and Live Ukulele there will be a few songs that are just chords and words... if you find these you can click on others to find what you are looking for.

Irish Uke Tom said:

...I'd love to find some that are not too difficult/ intermediate(?) like the titanic theme. Something to keep me progressing.

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In addition to Fur Elise, these are the melodies/songs I am working on.

Wildwood Flower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNLg1suc77Y
This is a simplified version taught by Jon Gonzalez of Fan Guitar and Ukulele. He has created other tutorials you can explore by clicking on the Fan Guitar and Ukulele link when viewing the video.

Pineapple Mango
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3swnvoHa4U
This tutorial does not include the intro, but is broken down very nicely by Brad Bordessa. There are several other tutorials for this song as it was taught across the world. Search for a thread here on Ukulele Underground. Daniel Ho sells the tab.

Wipe Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMFXTqPYMrg
Tutorial from Ukulele Mike. He has created many other tutorials.

La Bamba
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_TTS6Ar9nU
tutorial by Roy Kronenfeld

In the Hall of the Mountain King
http://www.muffin.net.nz/muffin/Uke_Tab_files/In%20the%20hall%20of%20mountain%20king%20long.pdf
This is a link to the tab, not to a video.

I haven't yet tackled Minuet in G, but would like to. Which tab did you work with?
There is an interesting entry about Minuet in G in Wikipedia…

We have links to some of our favorite sites for instrumentals here:
http://www.westsideukes.com/favorite-ukulele-web-links/
Have fun!
–Lori

If you want to learn one of Jake's songs, Blue Roses Falling is pretty simple. That is where I started years ago. I have never relied on tab and have found that YouTube is a great way to learn instrumentals. Years ago there were no tutorials, but now they are pretty easy to find.

John

Irish Uke Tom said:

Sorry if there is a thread for this but I did search and, honestly, I just want to hear what people suggest.

Can anyone give me good recommendations of purely instrumental versions of songs I can play? I can't sing and really don't want to!

Recommend whatever you want, of course, but I'd love to find some that are not too difficult/ intermediate(?) like the titanic theme. Something to keep me progressing.

Thanks

Click to expand...

If you don't (yet) read music this'll be a good opportunity to learn. For someone who's "basically adept" at moving around the fret-board, learning where the notes are for a few easy keys, C, D, F and G, for starters, should take about a fortnight of consistent practice ... an hour or so a day, in several smaller sessions.

Having achieved that, there's a whole world of music out there, arranged for a variety of instruments, recorder and whistle spring to mind initially, that will fit neatly on the ukulele in the first position, that is from the open C string up to the 5th or seventh fret on the A string ... a little over an octave.

If you stick to tabs and tutorials, (which can be very helpful as well), you're effectively limiting yourself to music that other people want to play on the ukulele, read from sheet music and you can make your own choices

Good luck !!

thanks Doug W - really going to enjoy that suggestion.
Also Thanks Cactus Wren. Never heard of that site and it is awesome.
I think i'll leave Blue Roses falling for a bit unless I find a really good tutorial.
Thanks Lori...also a great site.
Exactly what I wanted!!

Kypfer - Can you suggest a good place online (or maybe a book?) that would be a good place to start if I wanted to learn to read music?

hall of the mountain king is fun! Thanks Futurethink.
Actually so is Wipe out..just checked it out.
I used Aldrine's video for minuet in g. I think it's a UU+ one so it's not open to everyone.

Think I'll give mountain king a go because I'm so familiar with it and blarney pilgrim a go for the craic because it has a nice Irish feel and I am irish afterall.

Thanks

Irish Uke Tom said:

Sorry if there is a thread for this but I did search and, honestly, I just want to hear what people suggest.

Can anyone give me good recommendations of purely instrumental versions of songs I can play? I can't sing and really don't want to!

I can play the titanic theme, fur elise, minuet in g, zelda melody (all on uu) and a few other riffs. Any more on here on or in the uu song library that are not super difficult? Let's just say I spent an hour trying to play some of 'My Guitar Gently Weeps' and it humbled me quickly!

Recommend whatever you want, of course, but I'd love to find some that are not too difficult/ intermediate(?) like the titanic theme. Something to keep me progressing.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi Tom!
Check out Aaron Keim's site for old-time type stuff: http://quietamericanmusic.com/ukuleletabsandvideos/

I have found it very educational to try to work out melodies on my own. Take the chords of a simple song, and try to pick out the melody from there. Often, alternate 2nd position fingerings are necessary to get in the correct fretboard neighborhood to find the melody notes in or adjacent to the chord. It can be an interesting puzzle that will take you down a different path than reading and executing already existing tabs. enjoy

You ever have a light bulb moment peewee?
You just gave me one. I've been chording melodies (not very many and with a mighty struggle) but I never thought of doing it the other way round. This will be really good practice! Thanks for the tip.

peewee said:

I have found it very educational to try to work out melodies on my own. Take the chords of a simple song, and try to pick out the melody from there. Often, alternate 2nd position fingerings are necessary to get in the correct fretboard neighborhood to find the melody notes in or adjacent to the chord. It can be an interesting puzzle that will take you down a different path than reading and executing already existing tabs. enjoy

Click to expand...

^ +1

John

Edit added: I will say that learning some of the way Jake uses semi-open chords and some stretches has helped me as I have moved on from copying a performance to trying to figure out an instrumental from chords. I still need to figure out how to incorporate some of the additional flair (interpretation) in the compositions and not just play the melodies.

Irish Uke Tom said:

Kypfer - Can you suggest a good place online (or maybe a book?) that would be a good place to start if I wanted to learn to read music?

Click to expand...

http://www.mammothgardens.com/books/NBBailyPracticalMethod.pdf is an "old fashioned" ukulele method that'll serve to give you the basics. How far you progress into the book will depend on your tastes, but the basics will serve you fine

Once you can find your way around in a couple of the basic keys, Jack Campin's "Nine Note Tune Book" http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Chalumeau.abc has over 500 tunes in it within the range C-d .

An ABC file is effectively source code for an interpreter program which will (usually) allow you to display and/or print out any (or all) of the tunes within it. You're not expected to learn to "read" ABC source code as an alternative notation ... though some people can!! Very often you can play a midi representation of the tune as well, to get an idea of what you're getting yourself into. ABC interpreters are available for most platforms as free downloads. I use ABC Explorer on my PC. There is at least one (commercial) program, TablEdit, that will import ABC code and produce tab for many instruments, including ukulele, if you're interested.

Learning to "read for the ukulele" significantly increased my enjoyment of the instrument. I have a small library of folk music, old dance tunes and similar, arranged for the recorder. Being able to play some of my favourite melodies on the ukulele without having to bother "tabbing it out" or learning it note-by-note was a major break-through for me ... and it really didn't take very much effort at all, once I sat down and "got started" ... a lot easier than learning to claw-hammer, for instance!!

As I often say, YMMV, but enjoy the journey

Good luck!

I learned Pachabel's Canon from this video and tab...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qph-9fBxU8

If you like hymns this page has many melody tabs I would consider beginner level.
http://www.music-folk-play-hymns.com/Ukulele-Hymn-Tab.html

I found this thread though googling ukulele instrumental music.
Check out yolandamusic.net This is my own book of original multi-part instrumental pieces. There are easy to tricky parts, so everyone can play.