News
You’ve decided to pick up the ukulele and start learning some of your favorite songs on this small, four-stringed instrument. If you’re just starting on your ukulele journey, we’re here to help!
If you’ve never played an instrument before, the ukulele is a good first choice. You can find a fairly good ukulele at a reasonable price, whereas many other instruments can cost quite a pretty penny. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the ukulele. It’s a versatile instrument, and you can do some truly magical things with it — as long as you know how to play it.
“So how do I get started then?” you might be asking. Before getting to some more advanced playing techniques, such as fingerpicking and playing with tabs, you’ll have to learn how to play some basic ukulele chords. These are the ones you’ll be using in most popular songs. Even the most advanced ukulele players started their playing career learning these chords.
Don’t worry if you don’t know what a ukulele chord is or if you don’t understand the difference between a minor chord and a major chord. We’ll walk you through some of the best basic chords and teach you how to read ukulele chord diagrams. Soon you’ll understand the basic ukulele chords and be strumming them like a pro.
Table of contents
What are ukulele chords?
Like with guitar chords, playing a ukulele chord requires you to play more than one string at the same time. With ukulele chords, this means playing three or more notes simultaneously.
Let’s learn how to strum the ukulele’s four strings (starting from the thickest string at the bottom, these are G-C-E-A). Just use the thumb on your strumming hand (your right hand if you’re right-handed, your left hand if you’re a leftie) and strum downward across all four strings.
If you strum a string without pressing it down, you’re playing the string “open.” Before introducing any complex strumming patterns, try playing all four strings of the ukulele open and strum upward.
Next, you can start to finger some basic ukulele chords and learn simple chord shapes. Let’s look at how to read ukulele chord diagrams, also known as chord charts. Chord diagrams are a valuable tool when learning new ukulele chords, so it’s worth spending some time to understand them.
How to read a ukulele chord chart
Let’s look at the ukulele chord diagram (or a chord chart) for the C chord.
On top, you can see the name of the chord (that’s C). The four horizontal lines represent the four strings of the ukulele; the one on the bottom is G, the thickest string. The G string is also the one closest to your face when holding the ukulele. Moving upward, we have the rest of the strings: C, E, and A. Here, we’re assuming that you’re playing a standard four-string ukulele and using the standard G-C-E-A tuning.
In this chord diagram, you’ll notice that there is a thicker line on the left. This line represents the ukulele’s nut. The nut is the part that helps align the strings to the tuning pegs. In the C chord diagram above, you’ll also notice some small circles, or the letter “o,” on the left side of the chart. These are used to represent open strings.
As we already learned, an open string is one that rings freely without you pressing down with your fingers. If the chord diagram has a cross (“x”) instead of an “o,” the string shouldn’t be played at all.
The vertical lines on the ukulele chord chart represent individual frets. The first fret is the space between the nut and the first vertical line of the ukulele fretboard, while the second fret is the one next to that, and so forth. When playing the C chord, you’ll have to finger the third fret of the A string. To finger the string, use your index finger to hold down the third fret.
How to play a ukulele chord
Now that you have the chord shape ready, it’s time to strum all four strings and play the C chord on your ukulele. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? If you hear something odd, it could be that you are either pressing the strings down too forcefully or not applying enough force on the A string.
Remember to make sure you’re not obstructing (or “muting”) any of the strings that should be played open with your fretting hand. This is a common problem that can be fixed by bending your fingers into a more claw-like shape.
What are major and minor chords?
When reading different ukulele chord charts, you might notice that some of the chord names include a lowercase “m” at the end. One such chord is the Am chord.
We called the previous chord the major C chord. The one pictured above is the minor A chord (Am). As you might have guessed, the small “m” indicates that the chord in question is a minor chord.
So what’s the difference between minor and major ukulele chords? Try playing the two chords we’ve looked at so far, and see if you can hear the difference. How does the minor chord sound compared to the major chord?
To put it simply, major chords sound happy and bright. Minor chords, on the other hand, are moodier and sound a bit sad. Just like major chords, you can use minor ukulele chords to evoke an emotion (although a different one than major chords). A major chord consists of a root note that gives the chord its name, a major third, and a perfect fifth. For example, in the C major chord, the notes are C, E, and G.
Minor chords also contain a root note and a perfect fifth. However, they have a minor third instead of a major third note. For example, the Cm chord consists of the C, Eb, and G notes. Because of this difference, the two chord types sound different and evoke different emotions.
You’ll learn more about the music theory behind minor and major chords, especially once you start exploring the world of scales, but we’ll dig into that on another occasion.
Basic ukulele chords
We’ve already looked at the C chord and Am chord on the ukulele. Now, let’s look at some other easy ukulele chords that all beginners should know. Don’t worry if you find some of these hard at first. No one’s a master of any instrument when they start out.
C chord
The C major chord is perfect for beginners, as it only requires you to fret a single string with your fretting hand (the third fret of the A string). Once you do this, just strum all four strings.
We already looked at the C chord above for an example of a chord diagram. If you want to hear the ukulele C chord, check out the video lesson below.
G chord
The G major chord uses three fingers. Use your index finger to play the second fret of the C string, your ring finger on the third fret of the E string, and your middle finger to press down the second fret of the highest A string. If you’re familiar with guitar chords, the shape you’ll make here is similar to the one used to play the D chord on the guitar. For the ukulele G chord, leave the lowest G string open.
F chord
The F major chord uses two fingers: the middle finger on the second fret of G and the index finger on the first fret of E. Leave both the C and A strings open while making sure that the fingers on your fretting hand don’t accidentally mute any of the other strings.
Check out our video tutorial below to learn how to play the F chord.
A chord
The A major chord is another one that uses two fingers and two open strings. Looking at the chord chart below and comparing it to the F chord, you might notice that the two look quite similar, making it easy to transition between them. To play the A major chord, press the first fret of the C string down with your index finger, and place your middle finger on the second fret of the G string.
A major chord (Am)
Finally, let’s take a look at another minor chord we already encountered above: the Am chord. This one’s easy to play, as you only have to use one finger. Simply use your middle finger to play the second fret of the lowest G string. Play the rest of the strings open.
Playing basic chords on the ukulele
Congratulations! You’ve just taken your first steps to playing the ukulele by learning some of the most important chords every beginner should know. Keep practicing these easy ukulele chords, as this will allow you to proceed to some more advanced techniques and expand your repertoire.
Make sure you’re using the correct position when playing different chords on the ukulele. This way, you can build muscle memory and recall the correct chord shapes more easily. Practicing the position of your fingers and building muscle memory will also make it simpler to transition between chords.
As you get the hang of the ukulele chords we have introduced today, you can start looking into fingerpicking, playing songs from tabs, and learning more advanced chords. One such chord is the barre chord, which we’ll look at next.
Barre chords on the ukulele
So far, we’ve looked at so-called open chords, where your finger frets only a single string at a time. To challenge yourself, try barre chords. Looking at the ukulele chord charts below, you can see that barre chords require pressing down multiple strings with a single finger on your fretting hand. Knowing how to barre the strings helps, especially if you play chords lower on the ukulele fretboard.
Let’s look at two barre chord shapes that can be moved up and down the ukulele fretboard. This allows you to transition between chords without needing to change the chord shape. Although barre chords may seem like a technique for advanced ukulele players, learning how to play them actually makes it simpler to move between chords.
Starting with a barre chord based on the basic C chord, lay your index finger across all four strings on the second fret to play D major as a barre chord.
Another common barre chord shape can be built on the A chord. Barre the third fret with your index finger and create the A chord shape with your middle and ring fingers. This is the barre shape to play the C chord on the ukulele.
Key takeaways from this guide
- In standard tuning, the strings of a ukulele are G-C-E-A.
- Notice which strings are played open when reading ukulele chord diagrams and chord charts. Use the chord chart and its numbers to see which fret should be fingered and which fingers to use.
- If the chord name is followed by a small “m,” this means the chord is minor.
- Make sure your fingers don’t accidentally mute strings that should be played when strumming a chord. Listen closely to the chord to make sure everything sounds correct. Adjust the position of your fretting hand if something sounds off.
- To make chord transitions easier, learn how to play barre chords. With just a few chord shapes, you can play different chords by moving up and down the ukulele fretboard.
If you keep these things in mind, you’ll be able to learn new chords and improve with time. Don’t forget to have fun and enjoy the journey! For even more motivation, try Yousician and the interactive ukulele lessons it offers. In addition to teaching you chords, Yousician helps you learn to play your favorite songs on the ukulele. Download Yousician for free and start learning today!