Confused about finger positioning for High D and E note

Trill

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Hey guys! I am working my way through Hal Leonard's "Ukulele Method, Book 1". I have enjoyed his guitar beginners series so I thought this would be good too.

I am disappointed that they don't include images of hand fingering positions for each new note, like they do in the my guitar book, as it has caused me to run into some problems.

I can't figure out what to do now that I'm on the part of the book called "High D and High E". The TAB under the sheet music says "5" and "7" respectively, so I do know which fret to go to, but not which fingers to use to play the individual notes.

Do I use my middle finger to play the high d note on on the fifth fret, or do I use my index finger...or something completely different? What finger do I use to play the high E note? I have tried searching online extensively but I can't find an answer to this. Maybe it's too basic a question! <grin>

Help would be appreciated. I'm a bit confused and can't move on in the book until I figure this out.
 
This is a basic question with a basic answer.... use what feels comfortable to you. You will see players use different fingerlings for the same chord. Some of that is personal preference and some of those are to set up for the next chord to be played. With practice and experience you'll find that you'll start to do the same.
 
If you're referring to the D and E chords in this case, I would think that you don't have many choices.

D= 2225 (barre the second fret with the index finger, and hit the fifth fret, 1st string with the pinky)
E= 4447 (barre the fourth fret with the index finger, and hit the seventh fret, 1st string with the pinky)

Mike
 
Do I use my middle finger to play the high d note on on the fifth fret, or do I use my index finger...or something completely different? What finger do I use to play the high E note? I have tried searching online extensively but I can't find an answer to this. Maybe it's too basic a question! <grin>

Help would be appreciated. I'm a bit confused and can't move on in the book until I figure this out.

If the chord you are trying to play is a D-major chord: 2225, then this is a barre chord. You need to play it with your index finger across the 2nd fret, and your pinkie reaching up to to the fifth fret of the A string.

Simply hold this same position and slide up two frets to get the E chord.


The great thing about this chord shape is that it is one of the easiest movable chords.
 
I think the OP is referring to the actual high D and E on the A string, when used in a melodic context.

I've wondered the same thing, actually, when working through the Hal Leonard books. Wanted to ask this question, but OP beat me to it. :D
 
I think the OP is referring to the actual high D and E on the A string, when used in a melodic context.

I've wondered the same thing, actually, when working through the Hal Leonard books. Wanted to ask this question, but OP beat me to it. :D

Yes, this exactly! In the book they have an image of the High D note which looks like a solid black dot, placed on the 1st string on the 5th fret.

The E note is a solid black dot on the 1st string, 7th fret.

The instruction in the book says: "You already know the fingering for low D and E. Higher versions (or octaves) of these notes exist along the A string. Here they are: (and then they show the images I've described above.)


My confusion stems from the fact that in my Hal Leonard guitar book, there would be a number on the dot, telling me what finger to use (1,2,3,4) to play the note. In this book, the dots are solid and don't have this info. The chords they introduce later in the book DO have this info, but not any of the individual notes, which has made learning frustrating.
 
If you're talking about single notes, then there's no "correct" answer. If they give finger numbers for the notes on lower frets, it's because you can assume you're playing a scale in the first position. At the fifth and seventh frets, it really depends on what you're doing. Without context, there's no correct fingering for a single note!
 
You can play the 3rd inversion of the D chord (7655) and 9877 for the E chord. As mentioned previously, if you're fretting single notes, use whatever finger is comfortable as long as you can transition to the next chord easily. That comes with practice.
 
This is a very old thread but I had the same question yesterday with this book's exercise. I am taking lessons and sent an email to my teacher-- he said to use fingers 1 and 3.
 
This is a very old thread but I had the same question yesterday with this book's exercise. I am taking lessons and sent an email to my teacher-- he said to use fingers 1 and 3.

Thanks &#55357;&#56844;&#55357;&#56842;&#55357;&#56844;&#55357;&#56842; . I'm having the same exact problem on the same exact page and you answered it perfectly! -time traveller
 
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