Bb and Eb exercise song

salukulady

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Like many beginners I have struggled with these two chord positions for the two years I have been playing. My daughter just found the perfect song for challenging yourself. It a song called "Trouble" by Never Shout Never. Three chords Bb, Eb and F. Here's the vid. Hope it helps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLJdK3grm5w&NR=1&feature=fvwp
 
Here's a song of mine that uses those chords: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_GC5KtcoDw


Another way to get in practice is to think of those chords as the bar shapes they are, moving up and down the neck. The Bb shape moved two frets up is the C, for instance. So next time you play a song with a C in it, rather than play the open C (0003), try (5433), or move that Eb up two to make an F. And think of this: As soon as you learn the Eb, you've also learned an upneck E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B and C (on a 12-fret neck). How cool is that?
 
Good point uke5417.

Actually, Bb, Eb, and F, are your standard "three chord" chords in the key of Bb. They're the I, IV, and V chords. So any other three-chord song using just the one, four, and five--of which there are probably thousands--could be transposed to the key of Bb for a great Bb & Eb workout.

If you wanted to tackle the Ab chord too, then you could put the song in Eb, which would make those three magic chords Eb, Ab, and Bb. Ouch!

Here's a handy chart showing the I, IV, and V chords in those keys and in several common "uke keys":

Code:
I    IV   V

Bb   Eb   F

Eb   Ab   Bb

C    F    G

D    G    A

F    Bb   C

G    C    D

A    D    E

Just find the row that contains the three chords in your song. Substitute the corresponding chords that are in another row to transpose. If your V chord has a 7 after it, feel free to keep that 7 on the new chord too (or not... up to you!).

JJ
 
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