Ukulele Utopia

A Virtual Learning Experience

How to Play Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People on a Ukulele

Pumped Up Kicks

This is one of them songs that has gone on to become legendary. When it got released in 2010 it was blasted in all the indie clubs in my hometown. It’s still getting played to this day. Let’s take a look at how to play Pumped Up Kicks on the ukulele. 
 
This song is super straightforward to play and is playable for any level of player. Below is a video of what we are learning to play.

How to play it

To give the riff a little bit more texture you can palm mute the strings. This is a technique often reserved for guitar players but its totally doable on a ukulele too.
 
It involves resting the palm of your plucking hand just after the bridge. We are dampening the sound of the strings. This means the notes don’t ring out as much.

ukulele tab

A |-------------|-------------|-6---6---6---|-------------|
E |-------------|---------6-8-|-----------8-|-6---6---8-6-|
C |-5---5---5-7-|-8---8-------|-------------|-------------|
G |-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

A |-------------|-------------|-6---6---6h8p6---|-----------------| E |-------------|---------6-8-|---------------8-|-6---6---6h8p6---| C |-5---5---5-7-|-8---8-------|-----------------|---------------8-| G |-------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------------|

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The Basics

In this section, we will cover everything you need to know about starting to play the ukulele.