In this ukulele lesson you will learn to play a popular song with chords on your ukulele. I will show you with easy ukulele tablature notation how to play the chords. Let us start with the C-major chord!

First of all, we will use the C-tuning in this ukulele lesson. This means that your first string will be tuned to an A, your second string to an E, the third string to C and the fourth string to G.

The first string is the string with the highest pitch, that is, the bottom string when you play.

I will use a form of ukulele tab notation that tells you how to put your fingers in order to play the chords. Every number pair tells you which fret to press down and which string to play. Here is the C-major chord:

C: 04 03 02 31

These four number pairs indicate where you are to put your fingers on your four strings to strum the C-major chord on your ukulele. 04 means, play the open fourth string. An open string is a string you play without pressing down a fret. 31 means, press down the third fret on the first string.

I will put the chord names in bracket before the syllable where you are to change to the new chord. Time to take a look at the lyrics and start to sing!

You will sing the song in the key of C. In this song it means that the song starts with a C. Play your third string, the C string, to find your starting tone.

Time for the first line of lyrics:

Morning has (C)bro(Dm)ken, (D7)like the first (F)mor(C)ning

As you can see you will need more ukulele chords to sing and play the song. Let us take a look at the D-minor chord:

Dm: 04 23 32 11

Now it is time to take a look at the G7 chord and F-major chord:

G7: 04 23 12 21

F: 24 03 12 01

Let us continue with the song:

(C)Blackbird has (Em)spo(Am)ken, (D7)like the first (G7)bird

Yes, I am sorry, but it is time for three more ukulele chords, E-minor, A-minor and D7:

Em: 04 43 32 21

Am: 24 03 02 01

D7: 24 03 22 01

Now it is time to finish the first verse:

(C)Praise for the (F)singing, (C)praise for the (Am)mor(D7))ning

(G7)Praise for the (C)sprin(F)ging (G7)fresh from the (C)word

I admit that it is a lot of chords to learn on your ukulele and many chord changes. I suggest that you learn the song one line at a time. You can also devout a bit of your practicing time to changing between chords the way they appear in the song. For example:

C – Dm, Dm – G7, G7 – F, F – C and so on!

Here are two more verses of the song to practice when you have mastered the first verse:

Sweet the rain’s (C)new (Dm)fall, (G7)sunlit from (F)hea(C)ven
Like the first (Em)dew(Am)fall, (D7)on the first (G7)grass
(C)Praise for the (F)sweetness (C)of the wet (Am)gar(D7)den
(G7)Sprung in com(C)plete(F)ness (G7)where his feet (C)pass

Mine is the (C)sun(Dm)light, (G7)mine is the (F)mor(C)ning
Born of the (Em)one (Am)light, (D7)Eden saw (G7)play
(C)Praise with e(F)lation, (C)praise every (Am)mor(D7)ning
(G7)God’s recre(C)a(F)tion (G7)of the new (C)day

Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your free ukulele songs at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Have you ever tried to play chords on an ukulele? Today I will show you how combine the most common chords to so called chord progressions that sound good.

The names of the chords we will play are dependent upon the tuning of the uke. In this ukulele lesson we will use the common tuning in C. This means that the first string of the ukukule is tuned to A. The first string of your uke is the bottom string when you play.

The second string is tuned to an E, the third string to C and the fourth string to G. All these notes can be found in the middle octave of a piano.

A chord progression consists of a series of chords played in a sequence. We will start with three common chords on ukulele. It will be the C-major chord, the F-major chord and the chord G7:

C: 04 03 02 31

F: 24 03 12 01

G7: 04 23 12 21

Every note to play in the chord is notated with two numbers. The first number tells you which fret to press down and the next number indicates the string. 31 for example means, press down the third fret on the first string. 04 means that you play the open fourth string, that is, without pressing down a fret.

The important skill when playing chords on an ukulele is to be able to change chords smoothly. To make it easier to change between chords i suggest the following:

1. Be careful how you finger the individual chords. For example, I suggest that you use your ring finger to press down the third fret of the chord C-major which will facilitate the movement from C to G7.

2. Take advantage of the fact that many chords share some notes. For example, when moving from F to G7 you can let your index finger remain on the first fret of the second string.

We will start to play an easy progression with the chords C and G7:

C / / / G7 / / / C / / / G7 / / /

To make it simple, strum once on every note name and then once using the same chord on every following slash.

When you move from the C chord to the G7 chord I suggest that you slide your left hand ring finger from the third to the second fret and then just add the index finger on the second string and middle finger on the third string. When you move back to the C chord again you just repeat this sequence the opposite way.

We will now add the F-major chord to make the following chord sequence:

C / / / G7 / / / F / / / G7 / / /

As you probably notice you you have the note 12 in common in the chords F and G7. That means that you can hold your index finger on this note as you change between the two chords making for a smoother chord change.

In the last chord sequence we will add the chord A-minor:

Am: 24 03 02 01

Here you have a very common chord progression:

C / Am / F / G7 / C / Am / F / G7 /

As you can see in this chord sequence you have one note in common in the A-minor chord and the F-major chord. I suggest that you keep your left hand middle finger down on the second fret on the fourth string as you move from Am to F.

As you learn the chords to a song on your ukulele it is very effective to practice the chord changes by concentrating on two chords at a time trying to move as effectively as possible between the chords.

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. He invites you to download your free ukulele tablature at http://www.capotastomusic.com

Something which will become simpler with time, practice and as your hand increases with strength, is the infamous Barre chords. Barre chords are the next level up from power chords. They use the same root notes as our friends that play heavy metal. Barre chords, or to use the less ostentatious spelling of bar chords, are named this due to the fact that the index finger is held across all of the strings, consequently being “barred”. And purely to make matters more puzzling, as you move your fret and string positions, the name of the chord alters.

When the positions of Barre chords are practiced, the first or index finger will need to be significantly strengthened. To accomplish the Barre chord position, the side of the index finger that is neighboring the thumb needs to be lying across all six strings. Place your index finger across all six strings at the second fret and strum in order to carry out this chord. Then proceed to use your thumb for the purposes of holding down that index finger. It can take rather a long time to build up sufficient strength to achieve this successfully. Six months is approximately the average time it will take, practice is the simple answer to achieving this, so patience is needed. Once you have succeeded this, pursue to learn Barre chords.

When commencing Barre chords, utilize your left knee to stabilize your guitar holding the neck at a 45 degree angle. Undertaking this position will assist you in placing your hand in the accurate position for allowing your index finger to be strongly placed across all six strings. Avoid wrapping your thumb around the neck of the guitar, but rather place it across the back. Envisage that you are squeezing the neck of the guitar amid your finger and thumb, whilst at the same time, ensuring that your index finger is flat on the strings.

One thing which will assist you in achieving this chord, is to use the large knuckle at the base of the index finger when using it to Barre with. That knuckle has strength which can be used in order to fret the first and second strings. By doing this you will find it a great deal easier. Undertaking small modifications such as this will make all the difference between accomplishment and disappointment as well as pain and pleasure.

To accomplish a Major Root 6 Barre Chord, all of the strings need to be barred with your index or first finger. The second finger needs to be placed on the G-strings, and the third and fourth fingers need to be on D and A strings. Until you have received sufficient strength in your hand, the strings may not ring as clearly as they would when such strength has been achieved. In order to achieve a Minor Root Barre 6 Chord, all you need to do is simply take your finger off the G-string.

Once you have practiced sufficiently and become accustomed to Barre chords, they are straightforward and effortless to memorize. There are only three forms that need to be learned in order to work out many others, because frets are simply moved. One way in which you can correctly and easily learn them, is to download a diagram of the chords which can be completed free of charge. You can then follow the diagram to see exactly where your fingers need to be placed.

Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.