Originally named "The Celebrated Chop Waltz," this melody was written in 1877 by a sixteen year old British girl, Euphemia Allen, under the pseudonym "Arthur de Lulli". It's not much harder on the uke than it is on the piano, and kids love it. (Okay, grownups too.) The tab shows the three parts that you'll hear played on the piano, plus an example of an improvisational line that you can add if you want to. More on that later. But now, get together with a couple of kids or kids-at-heart, and give it a go! The tab is a .pdf file, so you'll need an Adobe reader (it's free) to display and print it. Download the tab for Chopsticks Here are a couple of hints to make things easier. The tab is written for a ukulele with a high G string. If your uke has a low G string, it won't work for Chopsticks as tabbed out here. But the song is still there in your uke! Try working it out with the low G, if that's what you have. Or get two ukes -- one with a low G string, and the other with a high G string. You know you want 'em! This song sounds best when you have several players. One player takes Part 1, another takes Part 2, yet another takes Part 3, all playing at the same time. And then you switch off, with each player taking a different part for the next round. When you're playing Part 1, even though you're just plucking two strings
at a time, hold the full G7 chord or C chord with your left hand -- much
easier that way.
This is a song where you don't have to be too serious! This one's all about easy fun.
|