confusing chords... What is what!?!?!?

Ukulele JJ said:

an official Ukulele JJ Long-Winded Explanation...

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ChristianWeeks said:

I was originally going to post this in the "song help" section, but my question has less to do with a particular song.
I hope this hasn't been asked over and over again, and sorry if it has. I wasn't sure what to search for.
Anyways,
I was trying to learn "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train (there is already a thread for this song in the song help section) when I realized that, because of my lack of musical.. umm... savvyness, I was completely confused by seemingly contradictory chord charts.

http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/uke-songs/train/hey-soul-sister-uke-tab-12658.html

According to this link, the E-chord is 4th string 1st fret, 1st string 2nd fret, and 3rd string 4th fret (what does that hollow circle mean above the second string?). Yet the E chord I have learned, the one that is in the first sticky of this forum about learning the dreaded e-chord, and the one on this chart (1st string 2nd fret, 2nd 3rd 4th strings 4th fret), is completely different: http://www.ukulelesongs.com/cmn/images/ukulele_chords_chart_1.jpg

The E shown on the other site is no where to be found on this chart, and, similarly, the E that I have learned is nowhere on this chart of E-chords on the Ukulele Tabs site: http://www.ukulele-tabs.com/chords-chart/chord-E.html

The B and A chords used in the song seem completely normal, as does C#m. So, what is going on with E? What am I missing?

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Ukulele JJ said:

Ritloof is correct. And now here's an official Ukulele JJ Long-Winded Explanation...

An E major chord consists of three notes: E, G#, and B. The order of those notes doesn't really matter too much on a uke. As long as they're all in there somewhere, you've basically got yourself an E chord.

Going from fourth string to first string, the 1402 version in your first link would give you the notes G#, E, E (again), and B.

The 4442 version in your second link gives you B, E, G#, and B (again).



As you can see, the three required notes are in both versions, and both versions repeat one of the notes on two different strings. The only difference is in the note being repeated (E in the first case, B in the second). This is a very, very slight difference, sound-wise, so you can feel confident in using whichever version you like.

Me? I often like to play an E chord as 4447. This gives me the notes B, E, G#, and E. But that last E (on the 1st string) is actually an octave higher than the first E (on the 3rd string). This does make a noticable difference in the "sound" of the chord. It's also a heckuvalot easier to play, if you ask me! You might want to give it a shot and see if you like it too.

JJ

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