UPDATED
Nov 29, 2019
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 • VIEWS: 1149 • LESSON CODE: UL700a •
Instruments: ukulele Subjects: chords • progressions • basics • core
This Download is NOT part of your LearningUkulele.com membership level. Sign-up for a Site Access or Upgrade your current access level to download this PDF or your can purchase a copy for download.
Each PDF file is a formatted high resolution file that prints out great. You'll need Adobe Reader or a PDF viewing application to view your PDF file.
Basic Open Position `Ukulele Chord Chart
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 has creeped up a bit to get the shot - which is not efficient or recommended.
This chord chart is also available for Lefties.
End of Lesson - Thanks, Hope You Enjoyed It!
Download the lesson's PDF file for the latest, complete, and most up-to-date version of the lesson. As well as additional information not presented on-line.
Members and Active Students need to sign-in
to download this lesson's PDF for the complete lesson.
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 1st - C
What better way than to start the new year off with learning a new ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 1st is C.
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 7th - Am
Learn a new Ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 6th is Am. The 'm' is pronounced 'minor'.
The original, first “Am” chord was discover deep in the Consolidation Coal Company mine in Butcher Holler, Van Lear, Kentucky USA - by . . . . . . . . . . . “A minor”
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 5th - Dm
Learn a new Ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 5th******** is Dm. The 'm' is pronounced 'minor'.
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 3rd - G
Learn a new Ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 3rd is G.
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 2nd - F
What better way than to start the new year off with learning a new ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 2nd is F.
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page
Ukulele Chord a Day, January 6th - Em
Learn a new Ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for January 6th is Em. The 'm' is pronounced 'minor'.
Additional Content Available for Premium Site Access Plans Only
This content requires a Basic Access Plan and or enrolled in the Study with Curt - On-line or Private Lesson Program.
To view additional content for this page you'll need to either Sign In or Register for Premium Site Access or upgrade your current access level.
Login or SignUp to View Complete Page

Basic `Ukulele Chord Fingering • Updated: Nov 15, 2019
The art and science of chord fingering. Learning your basic open position chords in common keys. We have four fingers and there're all not equal. Some shorter then others and some stronger that others. Everybody's hand is a little different. This does play a role in fingering chords.

Key Signatures - C Major and A Minor • Updated: Sep 21, 2011
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.

Chord Shapes and Learning `Ukulele Chords • Updated: Jan 11, 2020
Pick up any chord dictionary, and one thought that should go through your mind is - TOO MANY CHORDS 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.

A Guide to Ukulele Chords for Lefties
Updated: Jan 10, 2020
Covering basic ukulele chords that ALL uke players MUST know, movable chord forms, rock uke chords, how to transpose chords, learning the ukulele fingerboard and an introduction to 4-part jazz chords and more... FOR LEFTIES - Tunings: C, G, or D Tunings. Low or high string four variations.

A Guide to Ukulele Chords, 2nd Edition
Updated: Jan 10, 2020
A Guide to Ukulele Chords, Second Edition is designed as a guide to ukulele chords. Covering the basic ukulele chords that ALL ukulele players SHOULD know. A Guide to Ukulele Chords covers movable chord forms, rock chords, how to transpose chords, learning the ukulele fingerboard and includes an introduction to 4-part, a.k.a jazz chords and more...
Bingo Updated: Dec 6, 2015
Bingo, also known as Bingo Was His Name-Oand There Was a Farmer Who Had a Dog, is an English language children's song of obscure origin. In most modern forms, the song involves spelling the name of a dog, and with increasing letters replaced with handclaps on each repetition.
Brown Eyed Girl Updated: Feb 5, 2016
Brown Eyed Girl is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Written and recorded in 1967 by Van Morrison and produced by Bang Records chief Bert Berns, it was first released in May 1967 on the album Blowin' Your Mind!. When released as a single, it rose to number eight on the Cashbox charts, and reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
Happy Birthday Updated: Jan 27, 2020
Happy Birthday to You, also known more simply as Happy Birthday, is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth. According to the 1998 Guinness Book of World Records, "Happy Birthday to You" is the most recognized song in the English language, followed by "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and "Auld Lang Syne".
Oh! Susanna Updated: Feb 7, 2020
Oh! Susanna is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826-1864). It was published by W. C. Peters & Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1848. The song was introduced by a local quintette at a concert in Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1847. Foster was said to have written the song for his men's social club.
Old MacDonald Had a Farm Updated: Oct 1, 2011
Old MacDonald Had a Farm is a children's song and nursery rhyme about a farmer named MacDonald (or McDonald, Macdonald) and the various animals he keeps on his farm. Each verse of the song changes the name of the animal and its respective noise. In many versions, the song is cumulative, with the noises from all the earlier verses added to each subsequent verse. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 745.
Red River Valley Updated: Mar 19, 2020
Red River Valley is a folk song and cowboy music standard of controversial origins that has gone by different names—e.g., "Cowboy Love Song", "Bright Sherman Valley", "Bright Laurel Valley", "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", and "Bright Little Valley" — depending on where it has been sung.
Sailors Hornpipe Updated: Mar 13, 2017
The Sailor's Hornpipe (also known as The College Hornpipe and Jack's the Lad) is a traditional hornpipe melody. The tune was played in the animated Popeye cartoons beginning in the 1930s, usually as the first part of the opening credits theme, which then segued into an instrumental of "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man".
Site Access Plans for LearningUkulele.com
Forever Access - With Forever Premium Access, you get Unlimited 24/7 access to ALL lessons, downloads, songs, play-along jam tracks, videos, email access to Curt, resources, related assets, and ALL books by Curt as FREE downloads. Pretty much everything on the site and NEVER worry about a subscription or surprise payment again. And jump the queue for responding to any questions.
If your anything like me (Curt) and getting Subscription overload with everything on-line wanting money from you once a month — I'm with you. For like-minded individuals, this forever plan is a pay once and your done.
The price for Unlimited Forever access is right around the cost of a few months of private lessons. I can guarantee that is more material on-line to keep you busy for a long, long time. And, you get all of my books for FREE. That along is more than the cost of this plan.
Basic Access - A limited selection of basic lessons — ( currently over 140 ) and 100+ songs for ukulele as well as basic general music reference material — Completely FREE — Simply Register/Signup. HOWEVER - I've been doing ukulele and LearningUkulele.com since 2003 and probably have given too much away already - as reflected in my income from the site in relationship to the time spent on the site. So help support this site and its continued development by signing up for one of the below Premium Access Plans or buy a few of my books. - Thanks, Curt
NOTE: Each higher access level includes ALL the benefits of the lower levels. Private Lessons include all the benefits of a Premium Access Plans as long as you remain a student on the schedule.
Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books! — Peter Rhee
Aloha, Curt, All I can say is WOW! What you have accomplished is simply incredible! All the best — Glen Hirabayashi, The Aloha Boys
Folks, if you haven't stopped by Curt's site, do so right now! ..And get his books, they are fantastic. This guy knows his stuff and is able to pass it along too. — Alan Johnson Proprietor, The 4th Peg
I can highly recommend Curt's Uke books — I have four of them and they are excellent. — fatveg — Portland
Thanks for visiting and checking out the site!

Original Curtie Animation from 1987 for my first web site on a Macintosh II. 34 years ago. Man, does time fly.
“Built for myself (Curt), and sharing with the `Ukulele community!”
LearningUkulele.com has one of the largest collections of lessons, songs, and TABS, luthiers, ukulele builders, ukulele festival and club information, and, ukulele links on the web. I’ve been on the ®Internet since the early 1990's and This site just never stops growing!!!
Content is added and updated almost daily - so check back often. I really do need to get out more ;-)