Chord Charts for Up-the Neck

johnnysmash

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There seems to be a lot of chord charts for the basic 21 chords for ukuleles. However, is there a chord chart for the same 21 chords up and down an all over the neck of the ukulele?
 
Go to ukebuddy.com, it will show you just about every chord inversion you will ever need. Enjoy
 
Like inversions?
 
You could try the Hal Leonard Ukulele Chord Finder, about 1,000 chords. :)

There are two versions, one for regular gcea tuning, & one for baritone dgbe.
 
Look up moveable chords.

Hal Leonard do a book of (I think) 1000 ukulele chords. I thought I had a copy upstairs but it's their scale finder I have.
 
I find the website below very helpful. Just click on the small arrow to the right of the chord chart to scroll through the various versions and locations of a particular chord.

https://www.ukuleletricks.com/ukulele-chords/
 
I know exactly what you are talking about; if you decide to progress past “first position” chords on the ukulele, you are expected to memorize the entire fretboard and then memorize every chord position up and down the neck. I’ve looked and there isn’t even an agreed upon “second position” or “third position” for chords. Sites like ukebuddy (I use it A LOT) will show you every possible way to play every chord, but some of those chords require a six fingered man (“My name in Anigo Montoya...you killed my father...prepare to die...”) or a finger stretch capacity of Shaq. I think it was Nickie who posted that by the time she got to a 3rd or 4th position on the neck, barre chords were not very useful and her teacher suggested using fingertips at that range.

And there are players, even here on UU, that will simply expect you to make this quantum leap, and may even have unkind words to say about those that don’t. It isn’t surprising that a large number of players are quite happy strumming chords in the first position and just singing along.

As a music educator, with multiple degrees in music education (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) one of the largest challenges with ukulele is getting from “beginner” to “intermediate.” There is a quantum leap that has to occur, as books and methods are not scaled by level. You can enroll in The Ukulele Way, which is definitely scaled, or sign up for Ukulele Underground, or lessons with Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel...and I think these will all help you (and me) get past that “middle ground” which includes playing up the neck. But there are very few resources that will help you get there on your own. Even tablature jumps from Mike Lynch Chord Melody to the insanity of the players on The Ukulele Site.

I have about 15 different ukulele projects in the works right now (not even kidding) and that’s fun because when I get bored or find a “wall” somewhere, I can move to another project for a while. This afternoon I wrote a chord melody, and I might make a play along video later. One of those projects is a video series where I want to learn chords up and down the neck—chord by chord, much like I learned the first position chords on the neck.

I have only done C so far, although I’ve done the prep work for F and G. I also am trying to identify the moveable chord shape, as well as identify the inversion of the chord (which note of the triad is at the bottom of the chord).

For the people that memorize the fretboard and every possible chord after picking up the ukulele the first time (Let’s call them “Rainmen” and also take them to the casino with us...we’ll win big...) these videos aren’t going to be helpful. But for people who learned like I learn the ukulele (which I think is most people), I think this approach has some value. I’m not going to say that my videos have high production quality...I record in my kitchen at night when the rest of the family is in bed, trying to work around a tripod with the camera pointed down...but I think it might be helpful. Eventually I’ll be happy to make a PDF of this resource...but I’m learning as I go, too. Again, the idea is: conquer one chord, then add the next.

On a related note, I’m also following a similar process, note by note, of memorizing the fret board (Not the same as Pismo’s note by note approach on YouTube...a hilarious mockery of YouTube video tutorials).

Anyway...if you want, check this out and see what you think and/or if it is helpful.



One other note: I made a play along for Gilligan’s Island the other day, which, to do the key changes, required the Am and A chord shapes. I’ll be honest...playing the chords and seeing the chords (with title) as you play them really locks those chords into your brain.

 
The Fretboard roadmap is an excellent book, you can learn the theory and it may be easier then memorization.
Roy Sakuma’s chord book is an invaluable resource and standard fo uke players.
 
Choirguy's first video above is a great way to start on all this. In my case, as a guitar player who dabbles with swing, you find the need to be able to play any chord in a "closed" or barre form that allows you to pulse the beat. So when I took up the uke, after learning the open chords, I began to wonder about all the barre versions. What I've found helpful is to start by leaning just one way to play each major, minor, and seventh chord in a closed form, usually in the second or third position. Then when I go to a uke jam (using the Yellow Book) I try to play the entire song using only barre chords - great practice. Being able to play a second or third version of each is a great goal too, but I found getting a firm grasp on one flavor of each to be enough for a start.
 
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