Beginner - basic chords
Playing chords is the backbone of ukulele technique. This is for the beginner, so you may be asking "what is a chord?" A chord, simply put, is playing 3 or more notes at the same time. On the ukulele there are four strings, so you can play a maximum of 4 notes at once (one note per string). As you go through this lesson, I recommend you open up our
ukulele chord finder to show you exactly how to play each chord.
You should be at our chord finder page. If you click on C, then "maj," you will see that one green circle shows up on the ukulele. That is where your finger goes. Put one finger in that spot - the third fret of the A string. The A string is string closest to your lap, if you are playing sitting down. Anyway, get your finger on that fret, and press hard in that space between the frets. Now play all 4 strings at once. This is a C chord!
Again, it is helpful to have our
chord finder page in a separate window. Click on G, then "maj," and you'll see the basic G chord shape. This requires holding down three frets, rather than just one like in the C chord. There are several different ways to position your fingers to achieve this position. You could use three fingers, one for each fret. Or, if your hands are too big to comfortably do that, you could hold down all three strings at the second fret using your pointer finger, and then use one other finger to hit the third fret on the E string.
