Learning Ukulele with Curt

Published:
2010-12-28
Updated:
2023-01-23

A - Open Position and Movable Forms

Open position A chords and its movable form and variations.

Publisher: Curt Sheller Publications Authors(s): Curt Sheller

Category: Chords Instrument: Ukulele Subjects(s): Chords • Beginner • Intermediate • Core

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12 October 2025

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Videos Lessons Lesson Series Books & Charts Resources & Assets

LESSONSeries : Open Position Chords and Their Movable Forms

Series

A C D E F G Am Cm Dm Em Fm Gm A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 F7 G7

A - Open Position and Movable Forms

Open position A and its movable form and variations.

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Open Position

Movable Form

* An open position, A major chord, can be played with any finger combination. All depends on the context of its use. Typically played with either fingers two and one, three and two, or rarely fingers four and three.

Checkout the Learn a Chord a Day lessons for Open Position A for all the information you can get from a chord.

Movable Form

Transposing Chords

These lessons use the root of a chord to transpose to different keys.

Root and Perceived Root

Determine what string the root is on or would be on if not present (perceived root) in the chord's voicing.

Chord Transposition Chart

This transposition chart can be used for any chord where the root, or letter name of the chord is on the A string .

The root is on string 1, the A string.

Use the Root or perceived root of the chord to transpose to different keys.

A larger sized transposition chart is available in the Ukulele Chords book. This is the book these expanded chord lessons are based on.

Chord Tones – A C# E

The chord tones, the notes of an A major chord are the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale degrees of the A Major Scale ( A B C# D E F# G# A' ) .

1 – the Root or letter name of A is A
3 – the third of A is C#
5 – the fifth of A is E

Two Roots?

In the open position and movable forms of this chord there are two possible locations for the root or letter of the chord.

When using a High G tuning these two roots are the exact same notes. String four and string one both contain the root of the chord and can used for transposition purposes.

Movable Chord Forms

Movable chord forms are chords containing no open strings. These chords can be transposed to different keys by moving each note of the chord the same number of frets up and down the neck.

Movable form chords allow you to play in any key and transpose chords, progressions, and songs to any key. From basic movable form chords, more advanced chords can be created.

The functional range of a movable chord depends on the ukulele's size (soprano, concert, or tenor), the number of frets to the body (10, 12, 14, etc.) and whether you have a cut-away for access to higher frets. Not all chords can be transposed a complete octave (12 frets).

Movable form chords can be used along with open-position chords. As you learn more movable form chords, you'll have a variety of alternate voicings for any given chord.

Movable form chords can be transposed up and down the fingerboard using the root of the chord and a transposition chart, or through knowledge of the names of the notes on the fingerboard.

Chord Fingering

Chord fingering is dependent on several factors. The chord you're currently on, the previous chord, the next chord, your hand, and fingers. All chord fingerings shown are recommended fingerings and not mandatory. Most chords have alternate fingerings dependent on the context. The same chord might even be fingered one way in one part of a song or progression and an alternate fingering in another part.

Derived Chords

sus or suspended Chords

A sus chord implies the suspension of the third of a major, minor or seventh chord. The most common and historical use of this suspension involves raising the third of a major or seventh chord to the fourth for a sus4, or 7sus4. In some contemporary music, the suspension can also be accomplished by lowering the third of a major or minor chord to a second for a sus2 chord.

A a sus or suspension displaces the third of a chord. An Am sus4 or Am sus2 would be the same as the sus4 and sus2 chords in lesson one's A major chord.

The term is borrowed from the contrapuntal technique of suspension, where a note from a previous chord is carried over to the next chord, and then resolved down to the third or tonic, suspending a note from the previous chord. However, in modern usage, the term concerns only the notes played at a given time; in a suspended chord, the added tone does not necessarily resolve and is not necessarily "prepared" (i.e., held over) from the prior chord.

Technically a sus2 is not really chord as in traditional harmony a sus or suspension only referred to the third of the chords. So, really a sus2 is most likely a power 5 without a third and with an added 2. And, another chord that, at its foundation is not a chord but a DYAD.

add2/add9 Chords

Technically the add 2 and add 9 are different chords.

Both the 2 and the 9 are the same letters but in different octaves of the scale. On ukulele, for all practical purposes, you can treat both the add2 and add9 chords as the same. Depending on whether you are using a low "G" or high "G", C tuning the added ninth might be a second. Whether you call it an add9 or add2 depends on whether the added note is in the same octave as the root of the chord.

Related to a C Major Scale a D is both a 2nd and a 9th (shown to the right). All depends on where the root is.

Power Five Chords

A Power 5 chord contains the root and fifth of a major scale with an optional octave of the root added for a three note power 5 chord. A power 5 chord is technically not a chord in the traditional sense but a dyad or interval. It's more of an implied chord sometimes major and sometimes minor.

7th (pronounced Seventh)

A partial seventh chord can be created by lowering the Root of a major triad two frets.

A seventh chord as a 4-part chord ( 1 3 5 b7 ) and one of the Big Six core chords used to derive other contemporary and jazz chords.

A Seventh chord along with your basic major and minor chords are the msot common chord you will encounter.

NOTE: A Seventh chord is very often referred to as a Dominant Seventh . This is not always accurate as Dominant — is a chord function and not actually part of a chord name, which is a capital letter and chord type information – not it's harmonic function. We don't call a seventh functioning as a I (one) chord in a Blues a Tonic Seventh or the IV (four) chord a Sub-Dominant Seventh chord, etc...

Major Seventh Chords, maj7

A major 7 chord is created by raising the flat seven of a seventh chord one fret.

A major 7 can also be created from a major triad by lowering the root one fret.

Major Sixth Chord, (6 or maj6)

The major 6 or 6th chord is created by lowering the b7 of a seventh chord one fret. An example would be from C7 ( C E G Bb ) lower the Bb one fret to A for C6 ( C E G A ).

The major 6 can also be created from a major seventh chord by lower the seventh two frets. An example would be from Cmaj7 ( C E G B ) lower the B two frets to to A for C6 ( C E G A ).

Chord Progressions

If your ukulele does not allow access to the higher frets for a particular chord, then substitute another movable form chord lower down the neck or an open position chord.

PRACTICE NOTE: To gain the most from these chord lessons and the practice progressions, memorize the location of each chord and the name of the chord.

I've pulled this trick question on a few of my private students after they have played a chord in a lesson. Typically this happens at the beginning of a lesson before we actually get into the lesson. I'll ask them to play a chord that I just saw them play. I'll say; "Play a D chord." Some will say they don't know chord so and so and yet it's a chord they just played. Don't let a chord get lost in a particular song or progression. Know its name and it belongs to you for using elsewhere.

* A A7 Am B7 C C7 Cm D D7 Dm E E7 Em F F7 Fm G G7 Gm

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Related Lessons, Videos, Lesson Series, Songs, Books & Reference Charts, Resources & Assets, Workshops are below.

Videos

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Related Lesson Series

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Related Books & Charts

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Reference Charts

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G - G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G – G C E A

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