Starship Trooper (Yes cover)

It's been a couple of months now since my favorite open mic shut down. To fill the time, I've been working on learning some more Yes and Genesis songs. This is one that I played on my Kiwaya K-Wave baby Telecaster for the Ukeeku.com Acoustic Challenge.

Wow, man - this is pretty impressive playing...... well done! Tunes like this are an athletic event, you have to train...... I dig that K-Wave, sounds and looks great.....

What an epic!!

Thanks. The trick to this is to keep yourself from assuming that it's impossible to do.

I have a friend who a year ago said we should work up some uke duets of Yes songs. She went on to other projects instead, but I've spent some time since thinking about various Yes songs. Some, like "Close to the Edge", "Siberian Khatru", "Long Distance Runaround", I think with two people you could do a decent arrangement. And it would definitely help to have her aboard, because she can hit the notes Jon Anderson sings. But for now I'm working on a few things I think can be done solo. I've been playing "Roundabout" on uke for about 30 years, but I'm trying to improve my arrangement before I do a video.

difficult song to tackle but you did a superb job mate, great playing and singing, more than did it justice. Hmmm...looking forward to 'Roundabout'

Now do the bass part!
As a long-time Yes fan, I'm very impressed. What Genesis songs do you do?

Ok I just watched your "Supper's Ready/Close To The Edge" medley. Wow! Genesis is my favorite "prog" band, and one I regret never seeing in their heyday (I was 10 when Peter Gabriel left!). Great job!

Chris Tarman said:

Ok I just watched your "Supper's Ready/Close To The Edge" medley. Wow! Genesis is my favorite "prog" band, and one I regret never seeing in their heyday (I was 10 when Peter Gabriel left!). Great job!

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Let's see. I also have videos up of live versions of "Blood on the Rooftops" and "Willow Farm", and home recordings of "Ripples" and "Follow You Follow Me". I can play "Heathaze", "Afterglow", and "Throwing It All Away". "Squonk" is a lot of fun to play on uke, but I can't sing it at all. I'm making serious headway on "Eleventh Earl of Mar", though I have to drop most of the vocals an octave. "Carpet Crawlers" and "That's All" look very doable. There are several other songs that I know bits and pieces of, so this summer I may make a medley out of all the pieces.

Well, that was pretty impressive. I don't know why, but for some reason I just assumed that most Yes songs (no, not Yessongs) would be too complex (for lack of a better word) for the uke. By that I mean I just thought there would be too many vital bass notes to pin the song down.

Shows just how little I know.

Now, if you ever manage to crank out a version of La Villa Strangiato, or Peaches en Regalia, I think any doubt of the uke's capabilities would be well and truly flushed down the loo.

Very well done.

Peaches en Regalia definitely can be done on uke. And I'm sure there's guys who play both guitar and uke who've already done it -- last summer, there was a guy on the "Welcome New Members" board who was a Zappa specialist. I got halfway through learning Peaches last year before I found sheet music for ELP's "Pirates" and got sidetracked. I have sheet music for Peaches that includes tablature. The big thing I didn't get down yet was those two fast staccato runs, and they're all high on the top four strings. It's a matter of subtracting five frets from everything on the tab, and then playing it a few hundred times to get it memorized. I don't know when or if I'll get back to it, but I got far enough to know it can be done. I'm not enough of a Rush fan to ever try La Villa Strangiato. I'd be more likely to try a song from more obscure bands I like, like PFM, Camel, or Caravan.

With most of the Genesis stuff and pretty much all of the Yes, I'm starting from sheet music. Prog rock bands use a lot of unusual chords, so it's a lot easier if someone has already worked those out for you. Some of the lead lines you can figure out by using shareware like Audacity to slow the tracks down without altering the pitch.

The one thing I have sheet music for that I don't think I can ever hope to play is the Dixie Dregs. I have a Steve Morse songbook with 8 or 10 Dregs songs in it.

PoiDog said:

Well, that was pretty impressive. I don't know why, but for some reason I just assumed that most Yes songs (no, not Yessongs) would be too complex (for lack of a better word) for the uke. By that I mean I just thought there would be too many vital bass notes to pin the song down.

Shows just how little I know.

Now, if you ever manage to crank out a version of La Villa Strangiato, or Peaches en Regalia, I think any doubt of the uke's capabilities would be well and truly flushed down the loo.

Very well done.

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"La Villa Strangiato" would be awesome!

Hey, uke4ia,
Speaking of obscure, one song that I thought might work both on uke and with your voice: "On Tuesdays She Used to do Yoga" by Peter Hammill from Vandergraf Generator. It's on his solo album "Over" (which Marillion fans will recognize as one of the albums lying scattered on the floor on the back cover of the album "Fugazi").
You should give it a go!