Pesky chords....what's yours ?

deepeepee

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I have found that I can handle most chords thrown at me from various tabs and songbooks and have improved speed between most of them with practice...but for some reason that pesky Em chord I find fiddly...I can do it. it's not a difficult chord...I love the sound of it but for some reason my brain and fingers don't seem to want to programme that particular chord together. It will come I know, it's not even a fiddly one..... I wonder if anyone else has a chord that they know, can do, but cannot quite get the flow right with it.
 
Bm and Cdim for me.

I know these chords very well and play many songs that use them, but the fingers just don't like moving to those positions and it's difficult to get the note sounding clean. I tuned my uke from 440Hz to 430Hz (loosened the strings a bit) and that has helped me get a more crisp (less buzzy) sound with these chords.

I see some folks playing and their fingers are graceful, elegant, and fluid, not just as they move between chords but also in how they form the chords. They make it look effortless. I am always impressed when I see that.
 
I hate 1st position Em. For whatever reason I don't play it well. No problems when I move the shape up the neck or play other positions.
 
I have started looking at the alternatives, I would'nt mind but it's not even hard to do, My brain just won't get into gear.
 
Mine's B flat. And I've played it thousands of times. I just can't get a good tone. Em -- not too bad. Neither is B. Go figure.
 
B flat - mine sounds totally flat.
 
I used to have trouble playing dim chords. My problem was getting four fingers down quick enough.
Add the fact that a lot of dim chords are passing chords, I was falling behind.
I have started playing them as a barre chord. Hard to type out, but I will try.

ie. 2nd fret 1111 (index finger)
3rd fret 0203 (2nd and 3rd finger)

This would be a Cdim, you can slide the shape wherever you desire.

For me, this is much quicker to get in and out of.
 
I have started looking at the alternatives, I would'nt mind but it's not even hard to do, My brain just won't get into gear.

Agreed! Glad I'm not the only person who doesn't like this chord. :) I should have read your first post more closely!

One thing I sometime do is play an Em7 as a bar chord on the 7th fret. It's way easier but sometimes it's too high so it doesn't sound good.
 
Fm if I've been drinking, hic!
 
The sharp chords - F# needs my two less-precise little and ring fingers to move independently onto strings, which I'm just not used to doing, so sometimes I can miss the strings altogether.

Keep practising though and soon they'll hit the spot.
 
I have only been playing for 5 months or so now and have worked real hard on fretting. The recipe for the chords that give me the most grief are those that require a barre of 23&4 but an open or up-neck 1st string. Examples would be the uber-easy 0222 D or the more challenging 2444 E. With my finger shape and size, it is tough for me to lay down that partial barre and miss the 1st string, but I really like the flexibility of using movable chords. It is also real handy to have a few extra fingers left over for the occasional 7, or hit the octave of the root note 4 frets up on the 1st string.
 
I dispensed with the E chord pretty quickly, much preferring E7. You can't really tell the difference much, it doesn't require any broken fingers and so far no-one has pointed it out during several sessions in pubs. If you can get away with it, then I say go for it.
 
I dispensed with the E chord pretty quickly, much preferring E7. You can't really tell the difference much, it doesn't require any broken fingers and so far no-one has pointed it out during several sessions in pubs. If you can get away with it, then I say go for it.

The only problem with taking this kind of short cut is you never learn the right chord. Some habits are harder to break than learning something right the first time.
Most beginning guitar players struggle with Bb and F. (equiv of E and Bb on ukulele). Hence we tend to avoid them in playing.
If you work a little at a time on these difficult chords soon you will find playing a Bb is no more difficult than an Am7 (0000).
Ukulele Bb is just plain difficult, but once you get it you will find you can slide it easily up the neck and find all kinds of cool inversions.
For E I play it 4447 (D slid 2 frets, one step). Eb is 3336, get the pattern?

It does not always come quick, but it is a fun journey.
 
If it sounded way out then I'd be practising the E chord every day until I was happy with it. The B and Bb chords were easy once I learned to bar them, same with G#.

One of my band members is a picky sod when it comes to chords, and she seemed happy with me playing E7 so it's fine with me. :p :D
 
B flat - mine sounds totally flat.

I sing in B flat. It sounds B awful....

Hardest chord for me so far is Am7. I'm just not sure what fingers to use on what note. I'm trying to do it with the index finger barred across the2nd fret, middle finger bent across bottom 2 strings on 3rd fret and pinky on the c string, 4th fret. Talk about chaos...not pretty at all. Is there an easier way???
 
All chords give me fits. However, after hour upon hour of hard practice, I have been able to master the dreaded Am7 and the beastly C6 chords!

Finally some real progress!!!
 
All chords give me fits. However, after hour upon hour of hard practice, I have been able to master the dreaded Am7 and the beastly C6 chords!

Finally some real progress!!!

Its easier if you strum with your left hand for these.
 
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