Chord Memorization/ Reading Music

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idxxoutoftheblue

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I'm wondering if there are any flashcard/memorization apps for memorizing chords. I'm fine with basic chords but when I get into minors and sus chords, I'm having more trouble remember which is which.

Also looking for resources for reading music. I just started using Ukulele Way and I can already read music (played violin and piano), but I'm still don't know how the notes relate to the ukulele fretboard (just to clarify, if I look at sheet music, I know how to read the notes, I just don't know where those notes are on the ukulele yet). Does anybody have advice for that?

Thanks! :D
 
I can't really help you with the chord part other than to say just make some flash cards with the chord diagram on one side and the name on the other. Just doing that will help with memorization. As for the second part, very early on I was taught to say aloud the notes as I played scales. If you take the major scale shape and play it all the way up the neck doing that you will quickly start to think of notes instead of frets. If you have someone who can help you, have them say a note and then find all of them on the uke. So with an A you would have open or 12th fret on the first string, 5th and 17th fret on the second etc. If you don't have someone to help the same thing could be done with a sight reading app in practice mode. Try and find all the places on the fretboard the note shown can be played,if at all, with some apps the range is far beyond the uke but if so just keep going til it's one that can be played. Using the A as an example again if that showed up you could play it open 1st, 5th fret on the 2nd, 9th fret on the 3rd and if using re-enterant the 2nd fret on the 4th.

Hope this helps,
John
 
jelow1966 said:
I can't really help you with the chord part other than to say just make some flash cards with the chord diagram on one side and the name on the other. Just doing that will help with memorization. As for the second part, very early on I was taught to say aloud the notes as I played scales. If you take the major scale shape and play it all the way up the neck doing that you will quickly start to think of notes instead of frets. If you have someone who can help you, have them say a note and then find all of them on the uke. So with an A you would have open or 12th fret on the first string, 5th and 17th fret on the second etc. If you don't have someone to help the same thing could be done with a sight reading app in practice mode. Try and find all the places on the fretboard the note shown can be played,if at all, with some apps the range is far beyond the uke but if so just keep going til it's one that can be played. Using the A as an example again if that showed up you could play it open 1st, 5th fret on the 2nd, 9th fret on the 3rd and if using re-enterant the 2nd fret on the 4th.

Hope this helps,
John
Click to expand...

Thank you! Are there any sight reading apps you would recommend? I think that would be useful for me in general. Although I can read music, I definitely need to practice sight reading.
 
idxxoutoftheblue said:
I'm wondering if there are any flashcard/memorization apps for memorizing chords. I'm fine with basic chords but when I get into minors and sus chords, I'm having more trouble remember which is which.

Also looking for resources for reading music. I just started using Ukulele Way and I can already read music (played violin and piano), but I'm still don't know how the notes relate to the ukulele fretboard (just to clarify, if I look at sheet music, I know how to read the notes, I just don't know where those notes are on the ukulele yet). Does anybody have advice for that?

Thanks! :D
Click to expand...

For any unusual chords I run across I usually look them up and make a pencilled note of the "chord window" (fingering diagram) on the music itself. If I use them often enough I'll remember them by name, eventually, in the meantime I can still play from the music.

Like yourself, I could read music before taking up the ukulele. I simply sat down with a goodly handful of tunes, (Jack Campin's "Nine Note Tunebook"), figured out where the basic "C" scale was on the fretboard (use a published diagram if necessary) and practised. After a couple of weeks I'd learnt a few new tunes and where most of the notes up to the fifth fret are ... anything beyond that I'll learn as needed :)

YMMV, but enjoy the journey :music:
 
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http://ukulelehunt.com/2007/06/16/ukulele-chord-flashcards/ Read the directions. Click on the Uke Chord Flashcards. Print it out, cut them out, and go for it. I haven't done this one, but it is there if you want. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.ukuleleChordsFlashCards

I printed out those ones on ukulele hunt early on with the thought that I would learn a lot of chords, but I didn't use them all that much. I found that I was spending an inordinate amount of practice time learning and trying to remember a lot of chords that I wasn't using. So I quit trying to learn chords just for the sake of learning chords. Give them a try though if you want to.
 
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I can't recommend using flashcards to learn chords, as what you really want to train your muscle memory, not to train your memory of the just the name vs the diagram.
Also, often certain chords tend to follow certain other chords. By practising a wide variety of music you'll learn the common transitions from one chord to another and will learn which chords tend to go well with which other chords.

If, however, you really want to use flashcards and happen to have an iPhone or iPad, I expect the Tinycards app from Duolingo will do the job well (albeit you may need to create your own cards for it) https://tinycards.duolingo.com/
 
idxxoutoftheblue said:
Thank you! Are there any sight reading apps you would recommend? I think that would be useful for me in general. Although I can read music, I definitely need to practice sight reading.
Click to expand...

On android I have both Music Note Reader Free which is pretty good but has no way to shut off the annoying piano sound when you click on the answer as well as 1/4 solfa free which is very limited but great for memorizing the notes in the first position. I think I tried a couple of other ones but didn't like them.

John
 
Once you learn where the notes are on the Uke, playing with written music is easy peasy. And playing scales is the way to find their whereabouts. Stay below the fifth fret at first and start with open C. It would help if you have some violin or piano music to follow, but you should be able to sound out scales by ear. When you pluck a note, name it.

That's the way I learned to play the flute and to fingerpick my Ukes, and now I'm whacking away at scales on my 5 string and Irish Tenor Banjos.

Scales and arpeggios are the way to learn fingerpicking. They just take a little effort and time. Good luck. :eek:ld:
 
I use an app called SmartChord (among others), which I have found to be the most useful of the apps available. It may cost £1 or £2 but it's one of the most definitive apps out there - and it doesn't have any ads or annoying pop-ups.

Although I use it mainly for ukulele, it also covers near enough every other stringed instrument and provides every variation of chord and scale that you could think of. Definitely worth a look if you're wanting an app that you can access anywhere.
 
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