Spelling Major Chords

First post, but will not be a one and done-er.

I read the sticky ukulele theory for noobs and am enjoying the theory side of things for the first time. However, I feel pretty lost in the third post- creating major chords. I know what the chords actually are, but I am having trouble figuring out a consistent pattern to figuring out why they are what they are.

I read this section over and over...

now what is a chord? in layman's terms? its a group of notes that, when played togeter, sound nice. we figure this out by looking at the sequence of notes that you have memorized by now... right? so lets take a A Major chord... or just A. the A note is going to be your "root note". your origin of your chord, if you will. now starting from A, go up the sequence 4 "half tones" (ha, if you you forgot what that is, go back a lesson). now you are at the C# note. now from there, add 3 more half tones, and you will have an E.

so recap: you have your root note: A. your middle note: C#. and your last note: E. these are the notes that make up an A chord! now pat yourself on the back for figuring it out.

now, pick up your ukulele and find those notes, one string at a time:
1st string. A. already part of the A chord, right? so dont touch it.
2nd string. E. also part of the A chord. leave it alone.
3rd string. C. need to turn this into either A, C#, or E. so which would be the easiest to do? C#, because it requires the string to be fretted at the 1st fret. keep your finger there!
4th string. G. do the same thing. you will see that two halftones up from the G note will give you an A note. so fret this string on the 2nd fret. keep your other finger there!
now strum your ukulele. you just figured out the fingering for an A chord and played it.

so how do you know which fingers to use on what strings? well, there are suggestions, but it all comes down to you and what you are comfortable doing, as long as you are producing a clean sounding chord.

now try this same method for figuring out how to play a B chord.

take your time...

Here are a couple of my questions I was hoping I could get some guidance on...

Is there a string that I should start on when counting each chord out? The above quote says to count three notes out, the root, the middle, and the last. Where does the 4th string note come from and how do I know which string goes first, second, third, etc. Do the notes just go wherever makes the most sense?

Could someone maybe walk me through another chord or two? Maybe the F and G?

Thanks!

In that example (A) the notes of the chord are A, C# and E. Fretting the chord as described gives you

A
E
C#
A

So as you can see the A note is repeated. As the Uke has four strings and a simple major chord only has three notes there will always be one note duplicated.

Typically the root note is the lowest note in the chord - this arangement is called the first inversion. But the notes *can* be in any order and due to the ukulele being poorly endowed with bass notes this is what generally happens. So yes, the notes do 'go wherever makes the most sense.'

Another chord then, F Major - F G A Bb C D E F
1st, 3rd, 5th notes are F, A, C

So on your uke:
A Open
E 1st fret = F
C Open
G 2nd fret = A

Giving us
A
F
C
A

Note the repeated A note and that the lowest note here is C (unless you have a low G string on your uke in which case it is the A)

G Major - G A B C D E F# A
1st, 3rd, 5th notes are G, B, D

So on your uke:
A 2nd fret = B
E 3rd fret = G
C 2nd fret = D
G open = G

Giving us
B
G
D
G

Thanks a ton for the help Ambient! I have been working out some more this morning and have definitely learned more. I had two that I was stuck on, perhaps you could tell me where I was off base...

Here is what I have for the D# chord.

1st, 3rd, 5th = D#,G, A#

A = 1st fret
E = 3rd fret
C = 3rd fret
G = open

Why is the G string played as an A# rather than simply a G?

Also, I had one string off on the G# chord.

Basically the same question, why is it a D# on the C string- why not just play an open C?

And why on an Em chord do you play the G on the E string instead of leaving it off?

Thanks again for the guidance!!

Ambient Doughnut said:

G Major - G A B C D E F# A
1st, 3rd, 5th notes are G, B, D

So on your uke:
A 2nd fret = B
E 3rd fret = G
C 2nd fret = D
G open = G

Giving us
B
G
D
G

Click to expand...

This is a really good explanation and nicely laid out.

Thanks for doing this.

drakeab said:

Thanks a ton for the help Ambient! I have been working out some more this morning and have definitely learned more. I had two that I was stuck on, perhaps you could tell me where I was off base...

Here is what I have for the D# chord.

1st, 3rd, 5th = D#,G, A#

A = 1st fret
E = 3rd fret
C = 3rd fret
G = open

Why is the G string played as an A# rather than simply a G?

Also, I had one string off on the G# chord.

Basically the same question, why is it a D# on the C string- why not just play an open C?

And why on an Em chord do you play the G on the E string instead of leaving it off?

Thanks again for the guidance!!

Click to expand...

As long as you get the 3 notes in you can play it any way you want to (different voicings or root, 1st, 2nd inversions).

The G string, in re-entrant tuning, is sometimes used as a drone note (it seems to me) so the 3 chord notes may be preferred to be on the lower strings.

seattle said:

recurrent tuning

Click to expand...

It is re-entrant tuning

Louis0815 said:

It is re-entrant tuning

Click to expand...

Haha...yes, thanks...now corrected!

drakeab said:

Thanks a ton for the help Ambient! I have been working out some more this morning and have definitely learned more. I had two that I was stuck on, perhaps you could tell me where I was off base...

Here is what I have for the D# chord.

1st, 3rd, 5th = D#,G, A#

A = 1st fret
E = 3rd fret
C = 3rd fret
G = open

Why is the G string played as an A# rather than simply a G?

Also, I had one string off on the G# chord.

Basically the same question, why is it a D# on the C string- why not just play an open C?

And why on an Em chord do you play the G on the E string instead of leaving it off?

Thanks again for the guidance!!

Click to expand...

This all looks correct, well done!

Why is the G string played as an A#?



A = 1st fret (A#, the 5th)
E = 3rd fret (G, the 3rd)
C = 3rd fret (D#, the root)
G = open (G, another third)

So, playing the chord like that you have a D# chord with an extra third. Fretting the G string at the third fret will give you an A#, an extra 5th. Both chords contain the three notes you need so are equally valid. The first is easier to make though.

I recommend this website for playing with chords and seeing how they work:
http://ukulelehelper.com/

put in G# for example, select M for major and then click through the different inversions to see how they work. I find it very helpful!