Oldies

Cat’s Ukulele Songbook #4

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Sorry, this one took a bit longer to put together. I usually spend the time over the Christmas break compiling all the songs and formatting them but this year I was busier than usual.

Last year, we compiled a huge file of 80’s songs for a theme song night we held in Delhi at the Music Cafe. I also compiled Legion jam songs into two formats: one set of just lyrics with chord letters (so guitar players would feel comfortable) and an original set of song sheets with ukulele chords. I ALSO compiled a binder of Christmas songs of sheet music so my sister and her friend could play along with me for a “sing along” party that she held at her house. Co-ordinating their sheet music in the same key as my ukulele songs was a nightmare. I finally had to concede on some and just re-write mine in the same key as the sheet music. Sheet music, by the way, is hard to find on the internet for free. So remember that the next time you’re surfing around trying to find a song in a particular key: just get off yer duff and transpose it yourself, lazybones!

So the influence for this year’s songbook comes from the 80’s theme song night and the Legion jam songs. I posted hardly any contemporary or modern ukulele songs this year. I had gone back and revisited 2 songs that I had promised to the Colbie Callait category, so that’s what I contributed to that genre.

Cat’s Ukulele Songbook 4

The traditional Christmas ukulele songbook is still in the works. I think I have 7 songs out of 18 formatted. It will be coming out in the fall.

You can find all the other songbooks I compiled on the Songs tab. Scroll down to the bottom to the Songbooks section.

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Cat’s Ukulele Songbook #3

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It took me a while, but I finally got all of my 2016 and 2017 song arrangements into one big PDF. This does not include any internet songs that are already out there that I had made links to in various posts in those two years.

In the upcoming year I am working on some songs that I call “Oldies”, that are not played on our modern radio stations these days. One in particular I am fond of is Buttons & Bows. I have already looked at some Oldies that offer some really sweet chords that I enjoy playing, even if it meant that I had to go to Youtube and listen to how the song goes. Some of these are Autumn Leaves, The Summer Wind and We’ll Meet Again. When examining older songs you get to learn what sweet chords compliment those Keys and they stick with you. You end up carrying them with you into other songs that are in the same Key.

For example, one of my friends enjoys Bill Bailey, Don’t Fence Me In, Hello Ma Baby, Shine on Harvest Moon, and Wait til the Sun Shines Nellie, to name just a few. Some of these songs have tricky chords, as anyone who has ever tried I’ve Been Working on the Railroad will probably agree. If you have an interest in these and more, you can download this little PDF doc called “Fleabag Music”, which was produced by some volunteer uke players and made available at the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum website, the 4th Peg and at EX Folk dot com, but here it is for your convenience: Fleabag Songbook.

Image result for bicycle built for two

I also like these older songs because they harken back to a different historical time. Some of them are a real glimpse into what life was like at that time. I mean, how often do you see a bicycle built for two?

Cat’s Ukulele Song Book 2017:  Cat’s Ukulele Songbook 3