Uke tab notes 1 – “Stop That Train” Riff

Because there are so many guitar tabs available on line, the comments below may be useful in trying to create ukulele tab from guitar tab. But honestly, this is no simple task.

My goal here is to make suggestions on how to get started, and to write a few simple tabs for ukulele that will spice up familiar ukulele songs with easy chords. The first example is the opening riff for Stop That Train (P. Tosh), as recorded by Bob Marley and the Wailers (1973)

Rule 1: Capo5 guitar = GCEA ukulele

Since the ukulele is tuned the same as a guitar with a capo at the 5th fret, almost any number on a guitar tab higher than 5 can be played on ukulele, simply by subtracting 5 from the guitar-tab number. For instance, if the guitar tab looks like this:

You could play it on ukulele as shown below; however, in this example, X (B note) is 2 semitones below the open note for the C string, so instead the “X” can be played on the 4th fret of a uke with low-G string.

The riff shown in example 2 (notes: e d b a g d g a g) can be played on a baritone uke (DGBE), where the low d note is played on the open the D string.  On a guitar, there are other ways to play this riff that involve playing the lowest tones on the A string.

However, the above tab is too low to play on a low G ukulele using the simple “capo 5” rule. As a result, on a standard uke (GCEA) the riff notes must be played an octave higher, using the capo 5 rule above.

The riff notes are played on the 7th and 5th frets in the following pattern.

The corresponding notes on a DGBE baritone ukulele for the “stop that train” riff (and precisely the same “box” fingering pattern) are located 5 frets higher, on frets 12 and 10 of the baritone. Try it!

As the above examples show, the baritone ukulele can be useful as an intermediate between guitar and GCEA ukulele. The four highest strings on the baritone are precisely the same as the corresponding guitar strings. But any guitar tab that includes notes on the A and E strings will have to be modified for ukulele, for example, by playing the tab an octave higher on the ukulele.

Video of this riff played on baritone ukulele is available on Instagram @Uropha (3/6/24 post).