Ukulele Tutorial: Neon Trees "Everybody Talks"

I consider myself to be a mainstream, pop-punk listener. I feel that I should have shame in mentioning this, because the whole reason to like punk music is to be counter-cultural, against all authority, etcetera, etcetera. Popular punk is an oxy-moron. It's true.

Spoiler alert, I'm a pop-punk fan. The fact is, I like music that's rockin', but I also like music that follows a formula, has good singers, etc, and today's song definitely fits that mold. 

Neon Trees is a fun band; their songs are great, they have a lot of character and I'm going to be honest, I've got a thing for female drummers. She is fantastic.

Today's song tutorial is "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees, although everyone probably recognizes this song from "...It started with a whisper!!!" 

Take a look at the tutorial video.



Structure of the song:

Count is 4/4, which means that a bar is four counts (yeah, like that makes sense). I will describe a bar as |----|. So if I say |D---|, that means play D for one bar. Simple. D for two bars is |D---|----|.

Strum pattern: up, down/up, chuck, up, down/up, chuck. Down strums are on the odd count (1 and 3) and up strums are on the even count (2 and 4). If this is too complicated, stick to a shuffle strum: down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up.

Intro: |D---|D---|D---|----| for 3 bars, then hold for one bar.

Verse: D 2 bars, G 2 bars; repeat three times. A for three bars then hold one bar.
|D---|----|G---|----|
|D---|----|G---|----|
|D---|----|G---|----|
|A---|A---|A---|Hold---|

Chorus:
|D---|----|G---|----|
|A---|G---|D---|----|
|F#m---|----|G---|A---|
|D---|----|


Second verse: Same as first, only two rounds of D and G.
|D---|----|G---|----|
|D---|----|G---|----|
|A---|A---|A---|Hold---|

Chorus

Bridge:
|G---|----|D---|----|
|G---|----|A---|----|

Solo:  Hold D for 8 bars.
|D---|----|----|----|
|D---|----|----|----|

Third verse:
|D---|----|G---|----|
|D---|----|Hold---|

Chorus

Outro: (everybody talks, everybody talks)
|D---|----|G---|----|
|A---|G---|D---|----|

|D---|----|G---|----|
|A---|G---|D---|----|

I'm confident this makes no sense. I'm also confident if you're in my brain, it does. Good luck and hope this helps!

Side note: this follows a very common song formula, not only in the progression, but the entire formula of the song. If you figure out how these chords interact, you'll conquer many, many songs out there.

Ukulele Tutorial - Del Shannon "Hats off to Larry"

Who has even heard of "Hats Off To Larry "? It was popular a long time ago, and is not so much now. But it's a super fun song to play and sing, so you're welcome.

Of course, Del Shannon was better known for his song "Runaway", but this one is pretty good too. The message is rather bitter, but sometimes that's how break-ups feel.

To play along with the actual song, a capo is necessary on the second fret. But for my own purposes, I don't worry about it.

Am           G
Once I had a pretty girl,
    F               E
her name it doesn't matter
    Am              G
She went away with another guy,
F                      E
now he won't even look at her

E

A                  C#m
Hats off to Larry, he broke your heart
D                                  Dm
Just like you broke mine, when you said we must part
A           A7             D            Dm
He told you lies, now it's your turn to cry cry cry
A              E               A  D A E
Now that Larry said goodbye to you

E
I know this may sound strange
F
I want you back, I think you'll change
G                             C   E
But there's one thing I gotta say

A                     C#m
Hats off to Larry, it may sound cruel
D                               Dm
But you laughed at me, when you said we were through
A           A7             D            Dm
You told me lies, now it's your turn to cry cry cry
A              E               A  D A E
Now that Larry said goodbye to you

Am G F E  Am G F E

A                     C#m
Hats off to Larry, it may sound cruel
D                               Dm
But you laughed at me, when you said we were through
A           A7             D            Dm
You told me lies, now it's your turn to cry cry cry
A              E               A  D A E      A
Now that Larry said goodbye to you. . . . to you

Fun duet - It ain't me babe

For anyone aspiring to become a good ukulele player, the biggest piece of advice I can offer is play with others! You can only go so far by watching other people play songs on Youtube, or taking video lessons, etc. In my opinion which is based on personal experience, the best way to learn and improve is to sit down with someone else and play. You seriously don't know what you're missing until you do it, and then you'll know.

However, if you're like me and don't have someone to play with on a regular basis, your next best option is to play with yourself.

Crap, this is beginning to sound like something very different than a music lesson.

Since I've been wanting to play a duet lately, but don't have the "du", I've had to clone myself. Here's my imperfect version of "It ain't me babe", originally written by Bob Dylan. My version is closer to Johnny Cash's take on the song.

Now you're thinking, "I want to play that."

Step one of course is to get a ukulele: "Liana Soprano Ukulele LU132".

Step two - chords and lyrics: http://www.azchords.com/

G               C      G             D          G
Go 'way from my window leave at your own chosen speed
G                   C               G       D       G
I'm not the one you want, Babe, I'm not the one you need.
    Bm                 Am                Bm              Am
You say you're looking for someone never weak but always strong
      Bm             Am               Bm               Am
To protect you and defend you whether you are right or wrong
    C                          D
Someone to open each and every door
             G
But it ain't me, Babe,
C       D            G
No, no, no, it ain't me, Babe,
         C         D       G
It ain't me you're looking for, Babe. 


Go lightly from the ledge, Babe, go lightly on the ground,
I'm not the one you want, Babe, I will only let you down.
You say you're looking for someone 
who will promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you, someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you and more 
But it ain't me, Babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, Babe,
It ain't me you're looking for, Babe.


Go melt back in the night, Babe, 
everything inside is made of stone,
There's nothing in here moving and anyway I'm not alone
You say you're looking for someone 
Who'll pick you up each time you fall,
To gather flowers constantly and to come each time you call
A love of your life and nothing more 
But it ain't me, Babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, Babe,
It ain't me you're looking for, Babe.