February 18, 2016

Ukulele lesson for 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters' by Elton John

Notes

Here’s my ukulele arrangement of this song. Since you only have four strings to work with, I’m forsaking a lot of the interesting bass-note work he does the piano. I just wanted to state that in case you apply these chords to another instrument (in which case they may be frustrating abbreviated). Just the same, enjoy!

Verse, part 1

Here’s the chords I play for the first part of the verse:

       "Now I know...... Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say..."
A --3---3-----3------2-----------3------2-------0-----------3---------0-----
E --0---1-----0------0-----------0------0-------1-----------0---------1-----
C --0---0-----0------2-----------0------2-------0-----------0---------2-----
G --0---2-----0------1-----------2------0-------2-----------0---------2-----
    C  C/F    C      E7          Am     G6      F           C         Dm    
     
     ...play this whole thing twice.

Note, the second time you play it, try ending on a Dm chord on the 5h fret. This sets you up nice for the pre-chorus.

"......in New York City..."
A --3---------------5------
E --0---------------5------
C --0---------------5------
G --0---------------7------
    C               Dm

Verse, part 2

Play this 3 times…

   "...Until  you see, this trash can dream come true..."
A --0----3---/5---3---------5-----(7)-------(5)---3-----
E --1----1---/5---3---------5---------(8)---------3-----
C --0----0---/5---4---------5---------------------4-----   play 3x...
G --2----2--------0--------(7)--------------------0-----
    F       (Dm)  C         Dm                    C

And on the fourth time, resolve to a G instead of a C….

   "...I thank the lord there are people out there like you..."
A --0--------------  ...  --------3---------------------5-----------5------
E --1--------------  ...  --------3---------------------5-----------7------
C --0--------------  ...  --------4---------------------5-----------7------
G --2--------------  ...  --------0---------------------7-----------7------
    F                             C                     Dm          C

Chorus

Finally, the chorus.

   "Mona Lisas, and Mad Hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers..."
A -------7--------------5---------------(3)---------------3--------------
E -------8--------------6----------------5----------------3--------------
C -------7--------------5----------------5----------------4--------------
G -------0-------------------------------5----------------5--------------
         C              Bb               G                C

     "Turn around and say good morning to the night..."
A ----------7---------------------------------8----------------------------
E ----------8---------------------------------8----------------------------
C ----------7---------------------------------9----------------------------
G ----------0---------------------------------0----------------------------
            C                                 F

    "For unless they see the sky....... they don't so that is why..."
A ---------7-----------------7------------------------3-------5------
E ---------7-----------------8-------7-------5--------3-------5------
C ---------8-----------------9-------7-------5--------4-------6------
G ---------9-------------------------7-------5--------5-------7------
           B7                Am      G       F        C       D

    "They know not if it's dark outside or light..."
A --------3----------------5---------------3-----------3-------
E --------5----------------7---------------5-----------3-------
C --------5----------------7---------------5-----------4-------
G --------5----------------7---------------5-----------0-------
          F                G               F           C