Once you’re comfortable with chord shapes and how to play them, it’s time to start strumming some songs! Remember that solid circles on these chord charts represent frets while open ones represent strings meant for open playing.
Chords that contain a major third sound joyful and bright, while minor chords tend to produce moodier emotions such as sadness. To create a major chord on a ukulele, place your index finger on the first fret of C string, with middle finger at second fret of G string – this creates a major chord.
C Major
C is one of the first chords you’ll learn on the ukulele, and is an ideal starting point as it uses only one finger and offers several ways to play it – full barre or partial barring just two strings at first fret are both viable approaches to master.
Once you have mastered one chord, move up the fretboard a bit – this is great exercise for your fingers and will help improve intonation. Also make sure each chord sounds clear and crisp before practicing them again – remember, however, that a ukulele is an delicate instrument which may easily be damaged through improper strumming techniques.
A Major
The A major ukulele chord is one of the easiest chords to learn and play, thanks to its moveable shape that you can use as the basis of more complex chord sequences up and down the neck. Think of this chord shape as one part of CAGED progression (C-A-G-E-D).
Chords consist of only three notes. Major chords consist of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes from any given major scale.
A major chord is an ideal power chord and works especially well when used with short riffs or tension-filled music. Additionally, it pairs nicely with other chords as part of an orchestrated soundscape. If you want to know more about power chords check out this post!
E Major
E Major is one of the more beloved major chords and can be found in numerous songs. Though its higher pitch can make it tricky to play on a Ukulele, with great intonation along its neck this chord should sound fantastic!
To play this chord, place your pointer finger (1st finger) on the 4th string at its 9th fret and press the 3rd string at 11th fret with your middle finger (2nd finger), before pushing down on 1st string at 13th fret with your ring finger (3rd finger). This forms the E Major chord; there are many ways of doing it depending on what sounds good to you!
G Major
G Major chord is one of the most useful and versatile chords to learn on any instrument, used across a wide variety of genres and often simply called G. You can play this chord from different positions on a baritone ukulele!
G is a major triad, a three-note chord composed of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale degrees of a major key. These scale degrees (or intervals) are known in music theory terms such as tonic, supertonic, dominant subdominant and leading tone/note/tone.
With these major triad shapes, you can quickly play any G major chord on any fretboard position – and also use these same shapes for other major triads in different keys.
B Major
B major is an easy chord to learn; all it requires are two fingers: your index finger on the 1st fret of C string and middle finger on G string’s 2nd fret; all other strings (G, C, and E) remain open runging openly.
As with other major chords, minor ukulele chords feature a root note that gives it its name and an adjacent perfect fifth note that completes it. But unlike major chords, minor ukulele chords produce different tones and emotions than their major counterparts.
On a chord chart, small circles (o) at the top of a thick line representing the nut on an ukulele neck indicate open strings that should not be fretted with your fingers. Continue reading to discover how to play the B major chord in its first and second inversions.