Before beginning major chords, familiarize yourself with the fretboard layout. Your fretting hand’s thumb should rest against the back of the neck for balance and support while fingers curving round to press strings on the fretboard.
The long vertical lines represent the strings on an ukulele while its thin horizontal lines represent frets. Chord shapes usually don’t exceed four frets before playability becomes significantly compromised.
A Major
This chord is one of the most often seen in songs on ukulele and relatively straightforward to finger. Be sure to practice each note individually until it sounds clear and full when played with down strumming, particularly when played using downstrumming. Once you get used to playing it, practice switching between various chord shapes.
Your ukulele neck features a thick line known as the nut and four vertical lines representing frets; each string is tuned G-C-E-A from left to right; dot or number markings represent frets while solid circles indicate where to position your fingers.
Slurs (curved lines not to be confused with ties) connect two or more notes together, usually lower ones to higher ones and vice versa as pull-offs/hammer-ons.
C Major
Start out easy by learning this chord that only requires one finger: place your ring finger on the third fret of the A string and play. Remember that open circles represent open strings so avoid placing fingers directly onto G or C strings when practicing this chord.
Image 4 depicts how the scale ascends by whole steps until reaching C an octave higher, as evidenced in Image 2. This is because most major chords use only the first few notes from a scale to build major triads; when these tones are stacked in thirds as shown below, we have C major triad. It has an instantly recognisable sound, making it a popular choice in songs; particularly impressive when used with deep voiced, slow strumming guitar.
G Major
The G major chord is an essential element in any ukulele player’s repertoire. With its vibrant tone and standard tuning, its versatility makes it one of the easiest major chords to play.
Like other major chords, this chord is built using the G major scale, using G as its root note, B for major third and D for perfect fifth. All major chords use three notes that stack upon each other as triads – making up most major chords regardless of key.
To create this chord, begin with your index finger barred on the 7th fret of the A-string, before using your middle and ring fingers on respective frets of C and E strings respectively.
E Major
E major is a challenging chord to master for beginners on ukulele. Most tutorials show its shape by spreading four fingers over two frets – placing immense strain on fingers that might already be thinly stretched across an instrument neck.
The E major chord, composed of E, G# and B, can be found in many songs from across genres and is commonly utilized.
Whenever playing songs that use E as the key of E, it will be essential that you learn how to play an E major chord for best results. E major can help set a specific atmosphere or atmosphere within songs and works well when combined with minor and dominant chords.
F Major
F Major chord is composed of seven distinct notes and has its own special key signature, featuring one note flat (Bb). When playing this scale you need to add this Bb note on top of your keyboard or fretboard for maximum effect.
As with other major scales, this one allows you to compose some of the most commonly-played ukulele chords. Feel free to experiment by adding inversions for different sounds and emotions!
Note that, although triad chords consist of three separate tones, they can also be used to build other types of chords like 7ths (dominant and minor) with additional flattened notes that add tension beyond dominant or major 7th chords.