chord substitution source

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br8080

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i'm a new uke player and have found some of the chords very difficult to play and transition to and from.....and wondered if there are chord substitutions that may make playing easier for me.

i've looked on line for it, but haven't come up with anything useful....may have just missed it.

thanks for any input, bruce
 
There are variations of chords. I use chordie for most of my stuff, and in the right sidebar you can choose Ukulele tuning and then if there is a chord you can't play, you can click the chord to see different versions. :)
 
Howlin Hobbit said:
This one costs about $14, IIRC, and is Windows-specific (though it works pretty well on Linux under WINE). But it's the best.

chordAlchemy
Click to expand...

I've had chord alchemy for a while now, and I gotta agree that it's great and well worth the purchase price
 
br8080 said:
i'm a new uke player and have found some of the chords very difficult to play and transition to and from.....and wondered if there are chord substitutions that may make playing easier for me.

i've looked on line for it, but haven't come up with anything useful....may have just missed it.

thanks for any input, bruce
Click to expand...


Hey I first started playing the uke a few years ago and have started to practice non stop again now. I think it's worth mentioning that it takes a fair amount of practice to be able to play all the chords and to transition from one to the other smoothly. I've been at the point of throwing my ukulele out the window because I can't do something as well as I want to be able to. After a few weeks suddenly it all fits together and you wonder what the problem was to start with. In my opinion the key is never to give up even if you don't think you're making progress because you will be without knowing it. Very few people are good at something the first few times they try it!


I'd recommend lots of practice in the next few weeks and see if you've improved. If you haven't then I would start changing fingering etc but not before then.

John
 
many thanks to all who have replied so far.....great info and a big assistance.....and i totally agree that practice is the most useful for making chords seem easier.

bruce
 
This may be a little advanced but if you really want to learn about chord substitutions there are 2 concepts I use most:

1st inversions. EX. a C chord has 3 notes CEG Take these notes and invert CEG to EGC to GCE. sometimes the inversion is really close to the next chord EX. A C chord as EGC is really close to E minor EGB. You only have to move your index finger only. Doesn't get any smoother than that!

2nd substituting related chords. EX C chord again has CEG, A minor has ACE and E minor has EGB. So you can play any of these chords instead of the other depending on notes of the melody. Playing the A minor makes a C6 chord and the E minor makes a Cmaj7 chord. This makes it a little jazzier. And if you are playing solo you really can use any of the 3 chords.:music:
 
Last edited:
TokyoUketarist, thanks! i really like what you are talking about and i think that is really what i am looking for.....chord fingering relationships that allow easiest finger transition from one chord to another....great stuff!

how does one find these sorts of relationships among chords and be able to know in advance they will sound good?

obviously, i don't have the music theory knowledge needed to figure it out myself....

do i need to learn the notes of each fret for each string? i know that would be a huge help....guess i've been too lazy to attack such a project:D

bruce
 
TokyoUketarist said:
2nd substituting related chords. EX C chord again has CEG, A minor has ACE and E minor has EGB. So you can play any of these chords instead of the other depending on notes of the melody. Playing the A minor makes a C6 chord and the E minor makes a C7 chord. This makes it a little jazzier. And if you are playing solo you really can use any of the 3 chords.
Click to expand...

Man. I think I must be missing something here. An Em is EGB, OK... but a C7 is CEGBb. So subbing an Em for it would be like a C7 without a root and the wrong 7. Maybe subbing Em for a Cmaj7? That's CEGB.

Help me out here. I feel like I'm close to one of them there epiphanies.

br8080 said:
do i need to learn the notes of each fret for each string? i know that would be a huge help....guess i've been too lazy to attack such a project
Click to expand...

Dude, don't feel like the Lone Ranger on that one.

Hobbit <--- lazy sod
 
Sorry, don't know how to use this computer to provide a link but...

I 'googled' "chord substitution" and the fourth entry down the
first page was 'a chord substitution primer' at a place called
'maximummusician.com.' Very cool, this.

Snooping around, there's a lot of useful theory explanation
on this site. It is intended for guitar players, but that's o.k.
 
Howlin Hobbit said:
Man. I think I must be missing something here. An Em is EGB, OK... but a C7 is CEGBb. So subbing an Em for it would be like a C7 without a root and the wrong 7. Maybe subbing Em for a Cmaj7? That's CEGB.

Help me out here. I feel like I'm close to one of them there epiphanies.



Dude, don't feel like the Lone Ranger on that one.

Hobbit <--- lazy sod
Click to expand...

Sorry Hobbit man I ment Cmaj7.;) You're exactly right an Emin chord is a sub for Cmaj7 without the root. I corrected the chord in my previous post.:nana:
 
br8080 said:
TokyoUketarist, thanks! i really like what you are talking about and i think that is really what i am looking for.....chord fingering relationships that allow easiest finger transition from one chord to another....great stuff!

how does one find these sorts of relationships among chords and be able to know in advance they will sound good?

obviously, i don't have the music theory knowledge needed to figure it out myself....

do i need to learn the notes of each fret for each string? i know that would be a huge help....guess i've been too lazy to attack such a project:D

bruce
Click to expand...

It's more of an art than science but you should know what notes make up the chords you're using.

In 3 note chords your basic major and minor chords you have the root, 3rd and 5th. EX Amin: A root; C 3rd; E 5th.
Take a look at a C chord the root C is is the 3rd, the E is the 5th, and the G adds the 7th of the Amin chord. So a little cooler Ex would be if the starting chord was Amin7 the Cmaj chord is just an Amin7 without the root A.

Another EX the uke tuning gCEA can be either a C6 or Amin7 chord it's just alll relative to what you're playing.:rock:

Check out Mark from jazzukes.com he is the man on chord substitutions!:worship:
 
great additional info about chord substitutions and alternates....and thanks for catching the error and getting it corrected.......

many thanks to all who responded it has been a big help for me!
 
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