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Ukulele Lessons: Basic Chord Shapes
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Ukulele with Craig Chee & Sarah Maisel
As a teaching pair, Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel cover all aspects of the ukulele. Craig has had the honor of working under Jake Shimabukuro and Troy Fernandez, and infuses his energetic and "fun" style into many genres of music. Sarah Maisel studied ukulele under Frank Leong, and her influence includes the jazz stylings of golden age Hawai'i songs and arrangements inspired by ukulele legends like Lyle Ritz, Benny Chong and Byron Yasui. Craig and Sarah are known throughout the world for their playing and are often featured at many music festivals around the world.
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[MUSIC] All right,
in this little snippet we're gonna be introducing
the different chords that you'll typically see in songs, and
how to play them with the correct fingers, or right shapes.
So again, we're gonna start off with the C chord.
The C chord, again, is gonna be open on the G, open on the C,
open on the E, and third fret on the A string.
So open, open, open, three.
Or zero, zero, zero, three.
[SOUND] Okay then we have C7.
The only thing that changes is the ring finger, the three, drops to a one.
So we have zero, zero, zero, one.
[SOUND] Again, open, open, open, one.
Now C minor, we're gonna bar the third fret with our index,
ring finger is gonna jump out to the fifth fret of the G string.
Again, this is where we talk about how the swivel will really help, and
reaching out with that ring finger.
So we have now 5, 3, 3, 3.
So again, I'm barring, you can either bar all four, or
you can bar just the bottom three strings.
Ring finger jumps out to the G string.
[SOUND] Okay so C major, let's try this together.
One, two, three, four.
C7 drops to the 1.
One, two, three, four,
C minor, barring the third fret.
Reaching out with the ring finger to the G string on the fifth fret.
One, two, three, four
[MUSIC] All right,
now the D chord.
The D chord is played a couple of different ways.
And again, it's gonna be whatever works for you.
The variation that I like to teach is using three fingers.
And you're gonna put your index on the G string second fret, middle finger on
second fret of the C string, ring finger on the second fret of the E string.
A string will be open, so it's gonna be two, two, two, open.
One more time, two, two, open.
Now, if you notice my fingers are again angling down that fretboard.
If they're up and down, straight up and and down like a piano,
they will be fighting over that fret for that space.
Again, I'm angling them, so I have a lot more room to squish those fingers down,
although you can still see I am still actually in this little notch here.
So again, reaching over my pointer on the second fret on the G,
second fret of the C with my middle, second fret of the E with my ring finger.
A is gonna be open.
Now these three guys will typically be
much easier to hold down than this A string being open.
Sometimes our finger will touch that A string because it's not flatted out.
We wanna make sure we have that nice curve, so that we leave space for
that A string to ring.
And again, if you notice, because I am starting from that notch there.
This diagonal is allowing my index finger to completely
skip that first fret of the A string, and allowing it to ring.
Good, now if you notice also, I am not straight across with these three fingers.
I actually do have them starting on the side of my fret here and
going diagonal across those frets.
So that I can really squish as much of my fingers in as possible.
Again, if you try to line them up too straight,
they will be fighting over that same space.
So even within that second fret of those three strings,
you'll see how they're nice and angled.
Just to give me as much space to play as possible.
So aain it is gonna be two, two, two, open.
Good, now the D minor, all I'm gonna do, I'm gonna take my
pointer finger off, bring my middle and ring, up one string.
So my middle is on the G string, second fret.
Ring finger on the C string, second fret.
And I'm gonna take my pointer finger and
place it on the first fret of the E string.
So it's gonna be two,
two, one, open.
[MUSIC] Now again,
you want these guys as flat as possible.
If you have this guy crunched up too high, you'll see how these fingers,
when they're up there like that they don't have as much support or power.
And they kinda freak out again, whether they should concave or not.
So again, just enough fingers to come over that fret board to have a nice solid top.
And it's gonna cause this nice arch to happen and give us space for
that A string to ring.
So again, from a D Major, two, two, two, zero.
To a D minor, pointer comes off, middle and
ring come up to the G and the C string.
Pointer finger would drop to the E string on the one.
So it'll be two, two, one, zero.
One, two, three, four, and we have a D7.
Now the D7, your typical D7 shape will consist of barring that second fret and
having a finger on the third fret on the A string.
Now some people prefer to play the D7 with their index barring and
having the middle finger on that third fret.
Again, you're gonna play whatever's easiest for you.
For me, I actually have an easier time barring with my middle finger,
which is my longest finger.
And use my ring finger on the A string on that third fret.
[MUSIC] Compared to taking my longest finger and
squishing it all the way up here.
But again in context sometimes, I'll play it this way,
it all depends on which corner I'm going to next or what shape I'm going to next.
So I want you to be able to play both ways just to give you that versatility.
But if you're struggling with the shape for now, I would suggest trying this in
the middle finger for the bar and ring finger on the third fret of the A.
[MUSIC] Again, I am pulling back quite a bit,
I can actually play this without my thumb.
[MUSIC] Because of how much I'm pulling back with
my left hand.
All right, so we have D major two, two, two, open.
D minor we're gonna bring these two guys up, pointer drops to the E string.
Two, two, one, open and
then the D 7 that we reference is gonna be barring the second fret.
Ring finger on the 3rd fret of the A.
[MUSIC] Now there is gonna be a Hawaiian in D7
that we're gonna reference later.
For the Hawaiian D7, there is such a thing,
it's gonna be the second fret of the G string, second fret of the E string.
So we're gonna stretch with our middle finger, G string 2nd fret,
open on the C, 2nd fret on the E string with the ring finger, and the open A.
So it's gonna be two, zero, two, zero.
And we're gonna talk about a little bit later,
why this is referenced as the Hawaiian D7.
But we will be using this shape a lot, so
I wanted to make sure we introduced it as early as possible.
So again D major, two, two, two, zero.
D minor, two, two one, zero.
D7, barred version two, two, two, three.
Hawaiian D7 two, zero, two, zero.
All right, so a variation for
the D major if these three guys aren't working for you.
There's two other ways, one is actually one of my hardest
ways of doing it is actually try [LAUGH] try to bar a finger on the 2nd fret,
but lifting off just to let that A string ring.
Lot of people had an easier time with this than I do,
but is gonna be two, two, two, zero.
But again, making sure that this finger does not touch the A string.
[MUSIC] For me, it's a little awkward, but
for some people that are sometimes double joints or
have more flexibility than I do, this is actually a very easy alternative for them.
But again, you can try it out.
One variation on that, well the third variation total is actually taken that
we're kind of a bar and squeezing your ring finger on the E string.
So we do have two, two, two, zero, and
this guy is only responsible for the G and C.
And ring finger is just responsible for that E string.
So again, it's a half bar, half [LAUGH] open A.
Again, for a lot of people, this is how they love to play the B chord.
Now for me, I'm gonna always recommend using this guy here,
because as we go along further we will have a lot of voicing variations
where we're gonna wanna manipulate that A string.
So we wanna be able to take it off, put it back down, or squeeze it up.
[MUSIC] So for me, I'd recommended
practicing with the three finger version.
But again, some of you might actually have an easier time doing it with a half bar or
with a full bar with that A ring open on top.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC].
Okay, and one of the most dreaded chords, the E chord, on the ukulele.
Just like the D chord, there are a couple of different variations on how to do this.
Now, the E chord is utilizing the fourth fret of the G [SOUND],
of the C [SOUND], and the E [SOUND], with the second fret on the A [SOUND].
So numbers wise, it’s gonna be four [SOUND], four [SOUND],
four [SOUND], two [SOUND].
Okay [SOUND], that's a lot of frets [LAUGH].
Now, you could be like me and I'm gonna push always for this four-finger version,
where we have one finger per string.
Four [SOUND], four [SOUND], four [SOUND], two [SOUND] using the middle [SOUND], ring
[SOUND], pinky [SOUND], and index will be on the A string on the second fret.
So four [SOUND], four [SOUND], four [SOUND], two [SOUND].
[SOUND] For me, this is a little bit easier,
because I do have one finger responsible for each string.
Now again, if this doesn't work, a lot of people will, just like that D major shape,
have that half bar with the ring finger on the E string [SOUND], and
letting go, just enough to let my A string ring on that second fret [SOUND].
Not the most comfortable shape for me,
some people actually will have an easier time.
Definitely [SOUND] it's one to try out if you're struggling with that initial shape.
Now, the last shape, again, referencing that D chord,
we're gonna take our ring finger, bar across all four frets.
Then lifting off, just enough, to let that A string ring,
and we're going to put that index finger on that second fret of the A.
So again, as I would start it with the bar,
slowly lifted off just enough on the A string to put my index on the two.
So I have four [SOUND], four [SOUND], four [SOUND], two [SOUND].
Again, the trick is lifting it up enough for that A string to ring.
Not my favorite shape but for some people, they love the shape, so
that's one way of doing it.
Again, I'm always gonna push using all four fingers, doing four [SOUND],
four [SOUND], four [SOUND], two [SOUND].
Okay, now, so let's do E major [SOUND], four, four, four, two [SOUND].
Then we have an E7, much easier, one, two, zero, two.
So put index on the one, on the G [SOUND].
Middle finger on the two, on the C [SOUND].
E string open, [SOUND].
A string, second fret.
A string, second fret, [SOUND].
Yep, [LAUGH] with the ring finger.
So one [SOUND], two [SOUND], zero [SOUND], two [SOUND].
[SOUND] Ahhh, it's so much easier [SOUND].
All right, now, E minor.
The easiest way to play E minor is gonna be open on the top,
on the G [SOUND], and then we're gonna think of stairs.
We're gonna use our ring finger, start on the fourth fret of the C string [SOUND].
And we're gonna complete the stairs by middle finger on the third fret [SOUND],
pointer on the second fret [SOUND].
So zero [SOUND], four [SOUND], three [SOUND], two [SOUND].
See the nice stairs going down?
[SOUND] All right, so of all the different voicings right now,
the E major is the hardest one.
E7 is not so bad, E minor is not so bad.
Let's try this one more time.
So E major, four, four, four, two.
So four [SOUND], four [SOUND], four [SOUND], two [SOUND].
E7, one, two, zero, two [SOUND], look like that.
Good, good, good.
It's a nice and straight wrist, thumb on the side.
One [SOUND], two [SOUND], zero [SOUND], two [SOUND].
[SOUND].
E minor, zero, four, three, two, or the stairs.
Zero [SOUND], four [SOUND], three [SOUND], two [SOUND].
Now, even for the E minor, you should be nice and rested on the side of your index.
And you should have these fingers pointed down or angled, toward that bridge there.
[SOUND] All right.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC]
All right, the F chord.
F chord is a lot easier on the ukulele than it is on guitar.
Now the F chord, again starting from the notch here.
We're gonna take our pointer finger, have a nice curl, and
we're gonna be on the first fret of the E string.
Middle finger reach all the way across to the A string.
Your thumb should be nice and rested on the side of the neck.
So we really wanna focus on having that nice, flat top.
Okay, so it's gonna cause us to have a nice opening and curl for the bottom.
[SOUND] So again, it's gonna be two on the top on the G.
[SOUND] Zero, [SOUND] one on the E, [SOUND] and zero [SOUND].
Two, zero, one, zero.
Really focusing on using the very tips of your finger.
That's gonna really help create that curve.
Again, if you're seeing too much finger over the fretboard and
having that point, that means it's too much in that little pocket there.
You want it to be where your index meets your palm.
So again, just enough finger over the fretboard to make that nice flat top.
[SOUND] All right, F7.
So F is two, zero, one, zero.
F7, we're gonna keep that major shape.
And we're gonna take our ring finger,
place it on the third fret of the C string.
And then pinky on the third fret of the A string.
So again, take your basic F shape.
Ring finger on the third fret of the C string,
which is the second string closest to your face.
Pinky on the third fret of the A string.
The A string is, again, closest to your feet.
[SOUND] So two, three, one, three.
Two, three, one, three.
[SOUND] Okay, so we have F major, [SOUND] F7.
[SOUND] Good, now does that look familiar?
That's part of the spider exercise, the three and four versus one and two.
All right, same kinda deal.
[SOUND] All right, so F to F7.
Then we have F minor.
Now F minor, our pinky will be on the third fret of the A string.
And we're gonna take our pointer finger, put it on the one on the G string.
Open C, middle finger, one on the E.
So if we're going from the G string, it's gonna be one, [SOUND] zero, or open,
then one [SOUND] and three [SOUND].
One, zero, one, three.
[SOUND] Again, it should be nice in this notch, right up there, nice curve.
[SOUND] All right, so F, two, zero, one, zero.
[SOUND] F7 Just adding the ring and
pinky down on the C and the A string on the third fret.
[SOUND]
Now F minor, one, zero, one, three.
[SOUND] Great job.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right,
the G chord.
The G chord is, we talked about this a little bit earlier but
the G chord is gonna look like a little triangle.
Again your finger should be nice and rested on the side there.
Thumb on the side of the neck.
Now, I usually started with putting my ring finger on the E string, third fret.
And my pointer and my middle finger were gonna surround and complete the triangle.
So what I'm doing again, ring finger third fret of the E string.
Then taking my pointer and middle finger we're gonna place them on the strings
surrounding the ring finger and completing that triangle on the second fret there.
So it's gonna be zero, two, three, two.
Again, zero, two, three, two.
[MUSIC] Great.
Now, G7 is actually gonna be an opposite triangle.
Where these two guys, these two frets will stay the same, but
I'm gonna be using different fingers.
Because the triangle would now flips pointed that way.
Okay, so this is G major.
Now for G7 I'm gonna take my pointer finger.
On the E string first fret, then take my middle and ring and
surround it just like I did the G cord, right around the A and the C string.
And now my triangle is point up.
So it's going to be zero, two, one, two.
[MUSIC] Okay, so
let's try that transition one more time.
So we have a G major using ring finger from the third fret of the E
surrounding it by the pointer and middle.
Zero, two, three, two.
[MUSIC] Then I put my pointer finger on
the E string first fret surrounded with my middle and ring.
Triangle pointing up.
[MUSIC] Zero, two, one, two.
G major, triangle [MUSIC].
Flip the triangle and G7 [MUSIC].
Back to the G major [MUSIC].
Flip it to the G7 [MUSIC].
Great. Now G minor.
G minor looks very similar to the G7 but what we are going to do is form
the G7 shape we are going to flip that ring finger form the A string second
fret to the the third fret of the E, just like the G major actually.
And take a pointer and drop it to the A string.
So it's going to be open on the G.
[MUSIC] Two on the C.
[MUSIC] Three on the E.
And one on the A.
[MUSIC] So zero, two, three, one.
Again it should be nice and rested in that notch.
Zero.
Two.
Three, one, and a nice flat top.
All right, so we have G major, triangle pointing down.
[MUSIC] G7, triangle pointed up.
[MUSIC] G minor, zero two three and one.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] All right,
lastly is the A chord.
A chords are fun.
They're nice and easy.
We're going to be doing two, one, zero, zero.
So again, middle finger, second foot on the G string,
pointer finger index on the one on the C string and then open, open.
So two, one, open, open, this is your A major.
[SOUND] Now, A seven.
All you have to do, this is really hard, all right?
So you've gotta really pay attention.
[LAUGH] All you have to do is just take the middle finger off.
[MUSIC] Okay, really easy,
so middle finger back down for A major.
Two, one, zero, zero.
To get to an A7, all you have to do is take the middle finger off.
Zero, one, zero, zero.
Now let's put it back on for A major.
Now if you want to do A minor we're going to take off the other finger.
So pointer finger comes off.
And it's gonna be two, zero, zero, zero.
So that's your A minor.
Two, zero, zero, zero.
All right so let's try and play through this.
A major, two,one, zero, zero.
Let's do two strums.
One, two, good.
A seven, middle finger comes off for zero, one, zero, zero.
Two strums.
[MUSIC] Good.
Now A minor, middle finger stays on, pointer finger comes on.
So it's two, zero, zero, zero.
Two strums.
[MUSIC]
[MUSIC] >> All right, B flat.
So we talked about this a little bit earlier.
But again, B flat is gonna be third fret of the G string, [SOUND] second fret of
the C string, [SOUND] and then we're going to take our second from the C strings,
and then we're going to bar the first frets of the E and the A strings.
So it's going to be three, two, one, one.
Now, if you had an easier time actually barring that entire first fret to
make your B-flat, that's gonna benefit you when you go to the B-flat 7.
All you have to do, if you're barring that entire first fret,
is lift off that ring finger.
So it's gonna be one, two, one, one.
So again, even as I'm playing this chord, I am pulling it back a bunch with my
left hand, and compensating that pull by pushing with my forearm this way.
So again, there's a lot of pressure between my arms.
Now again B flat with the entire bar.
Three, two, one, one.
Then letting go of that ring finger, one,
two, one, one, [SOUND] okay.
Now, the B flat minor looks very similar
to that C minor that we just played earlier.
So C minor was the bar three, with the ring finger on the five.
This B flat minor will be three one one one, so
I'm gonna bar the first fret with the index,
ring finger jumps up to the third fret on the G string.
[SOUND] So you can either bar all four, or you bar the bottom three strings.
[SOUND] So again, we have B flat, three, two, one, one.
You can either bar all the way across or just the bottom two strings.
Let's try four of those, one, two, three, four.
Then ring finger comes off,
making sure I'm barring all the way across with that pointer now, one, two, one, one.
Let's try that four times.
This is the B-flat-7, one,
two, three, four.
Now, we're gonna go to the B-flat minor,
which is bar bottom three strings on the one or all four.
And then ring finger jumps to the G string third fret,
one, two, three, four.
Now, if some of the songs that you've already been trying to fool around
with have the B major chord or B7 or B minor, all you need to do is reference
the B flat, B-flat 7 and B-flat minor, and bring it up one fret.
For example, for the B flat, three, two, one, one.
If you needed a B major chord, all you have to do is take your hand and
drag it up one fret, and that's your B major, [SOUND] okay?
Now, let's go back to B flat.
If you want, going from the B flat 7, [SOUND] if you needed a B7,
you just again, slide that whole shape up one fret.
[SOUND] And that's now your B7.
Same thing with the B-flat minor.
[SOUND] If you needed a B minor take that shape, move everything up.
[SOUND] So that's your B minor.
So B major is actually gonna be four, three, two, two.
B7 two, three, two, two.
And B minor, four,
two, two, two.
[MUSIC]