Basic Open Position `Ukulele Chord Chart
A core set of basic `ukulele chords* that ALL Ukulele players should know.
Published: Dec 8, 2011 Updated: Nov 29, 2019 Visits: 1
ukulele Subjects: chords • progressions • basics • core
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A core set of basic ukulele chords that ALL Ukulele players should know - at least - in the five common keys of C, G, D, A and E. As well as the seventh chords for common keys.
The chart is organized in common keys and covers basic chords in these keys. Of the 15 possible major and relative minor keys in music. There are five common keys to get started with: C, G, D, A, and E. These keys allow you to play quite a few popular songs. There's more in common between songs that your might think.
This chord chart is great for beginners and new members to ukulele clubs.
You'll play chords more than anything else on the ukulele.
Understandably this is one of the most popular and top lessons on the site. Chords are what we do the most on ukulele as you can't know too many chords. But, in the long run, there are far too many chord shapes to memorize all the possible chords. You need to learn a bit about how they are constructed and work to get beyond this basic chart.
Master the chords on this chord chart, and when you venture past the third fret, you'll see that it's not as foreign chord territory as you might have thought.
Here are direct links to the Key Signature lessons for the common keys covered in the chart with a lot more information. Each key is a series of lessons covering the primary and secondary chords of the key with common progressions and more!
Did I mention it's FREE!!!
Several years ago I created a series of lessons called **A Chord a Week**, where each week I took a basic open position chord, which happens to be one of the chords from this chart and went over the chords you can derive from your basic chords.
Here a lot of the chords that are in the first row of the chart and their seventh chords:
What NOT To Do!
Photo from WikipediA
This above photo is intended to show a guitar chord and inadvertently shows several points of bad technique (which equally apply to ukulkele):
- A – Thumb creeping above the neck and out of its support role.
- B – Palm touching the neck, which limits the range and dexterity of the fingers ability to finger the individual notes of a chord.
- C – The pinky on the frets and not right behind it. I'd be surprised if the C note on string five sounded when played. The same can be said for the other C note on string two and the index finger being on the frets and not behind it.
What TO Do!
Photo from Right Here on LearningUkulele.com
>Note: For a better camera angle my thumb creeped up - which is not efficient or recommended.
This chord chart is also available for Lefties.
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Key Signatures - C Major and A Minor
Learn the recognize the key signature for C Major and A Minor. Learn their corresponding Major and Natural Minor scales with basic ukulele chords for each scale. Sometimes called the learning key, the key of C Major is one of the easiest keys to memorize and begin using.
Key Signatures - G Major and E Minor
G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#. Its key signature has one sharp, F#.
Key Signatures - D Major and B Minor
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#. Its key signature consists of two sharps: F# and C#.
Key Signatures - A Major and F Sharp Minor
A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C#, D, E, F#, and G#. Its key signature has three sharps: F#, C# and G#.
Key Signatures - E Major and C Sharp Minor
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Chord Shapes and Learning `Ukulele Chords
Pick up any chord dictionary, and one thought that should go through your mind is. There is now way to memorize all those shapes. It would be better off learning how they came up with all those shapes. Most chord dictionaries are also just like pages transposed to all possible keys.
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Remembering songs is lot like remembering the directions for a road trip. There are the turn-by-turn directions, road maps, signs and landmarks. Turn here, turn there, remember this and remember that landmark. With a songs it's the chords, the harmonic cells and form of the song.
With a few music tools and an understanding of the principles of how chords and chords progressions work. You can start unraveling what's going on in a song. There's a lot more in common between songs than you might think. Each song has it's own direction, signs and landmarks.
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