Check Out Fred Sokolow’s Chord-Melody Ukulele Arrangement of “Remember Me,” from Disney’s ‘Coco’
BY FRED SOKOLOW | FROM THE WINTER 2023 ISSUE OF UKULELE
My latest book, Movie Songs for Solo Fingerstyle Ukulele (Hal Leonard), features 25 arrangements of great tunes from the big screen, including “Remember Me,” from the 2017 animated fantasy film Coco. Inspired by traditional Mexican music, this beautiful ballad was written by the husband-and-wife team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (who also composed the music for the movie Frozen), and it earned them an Oscar for best original song.
The arrangement here is played chord-melody style, a sophisticated, jazzy approach in which the melody is generally stated in the highest note of each chord. To fill the space between melody notes, and to lend a bit of rhythmic drive, I’ve added several strums on full or partial chords.
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If you peruse the chord diagrams, you might find some unfamiliar shapes, but they’re all situated in the first few frets and easy to play—that is, until you get to the last few bars of the tune. But thankfully these up-the-neck chords can be played rubato (out of tempo and slowly), and in the penultimate measure, keeping your first finger barred at the eighth fret across strings 1–3 will make it easier to switch between the different chord shapes.
I suggest you strum the chords shown above the staff while humming or singing the song before attempting to read the notation.
Listening carefully to the accompanying video will also help. Then, have at it! It’s a beautiful song, and I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I enjoyed arranging it.
Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to post notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the Winter 2023 issue of Ukulele magazine you will find the music on page 34.
