Help moving from A to c#m.

Hi all,

I am new to the. Ukulele and have been happy with my progress to date but I am having difficulty moving from an A chord to a chord like C#m, where I go from what I think is called and open chord to a barre chord.

I am finding myself having to adjust the uku with my strumming hand to be able to move to the C#m chord, which I know I shouldn't be doing as it effects the strumming pattern.

I have tried pinning the uku better with my strumming arm but that also seems to distrust my strumming.

Is there any tips anyone can offer to help me out I understand it take practice and time and maybe this is the only way.

Cheers
Ben

Hi! Welcome to UU!

The C#m I usually use is the 1104.
A solution could be, if you wish to avoid too much position change on the fretboard, to hold down first fret on both the g and C String with your index finger and then 2nd fret on the g string with your middle finger when you play A.whenever you need to go to c#m from A, you just simply lift the middel finger, keep the index finger on first fret g and c-string and put the pinky on 4th fret, A-string.
A chord would look like this

0----
0----
-1---
-1-2-
Number indicates which finger to use (but also on which fret in the case)

Hope this helps

You can make that move in one finger! Takes a barre though - A is 6454 and C#m is 6444 - you can practice without the barre by doing F (2010) to Am (2000) - just don't use your index finger as you'll need that when going to the barre version

Jim Hanks said:

You can make that move in one finger! Takes a barre though - A is 6454 and C#m is 6444 - you can practice without the barre by doing F (2010) to Am (2000) - just don't use your index finger as you'll need that when going to the barre version

Click to expand...

:agree: and I'll add: chances are if you're using an A chord and a C#m a lot you are probably playing something in the key of E (there are other keys that include those chords but E is probably the most common especially if you're learning the song from a guitar resource). Anyway, if you are in the key of E then that means two other chords that will probably appear frequently are the E major and B major or B7 chords. The barre Jim recommends leaves you in position to play the barre E (4446) and of course you just slide the barre down (toward the headstock) two frets for your B (4322) or B7 (2322). The other chord that might show up is the ii - the F#m - for that you just play the barre Em shape with the barre at the fourth fret instead of the second (6654). You can now play almost any song in E without significantly changing your hand shape and while only moving back and forth over a range of two frets!

You can move the whole pattern down the fret board to play in lower keys and up the fret board to play in higher keys.

John

Do you have a strap? This would free up your right hand from having to abandon strumming.
You might want to try a C#mi6 (3444) or C#mi7 (4444) and see if it fits the sound of the song you're playing. It won't work in a really folkie tune, but it will give a little jazzy feel.