Song Help Request Help on tricky chords!

Wassup underground ukesters! I need your help figuring out G#m7-5 and A7-9. If you guys could tell me how you figured out the notes in the chord too, that would be great. Thanks in advance!

Oh, and I'm trying to play this song using these tabs.

When in doubt, I usually do the base chord (i.e. G#m and A or A7 in this case) and see if it sounds ok.

If I use Brian's huge chordlist, I get:

A7-9 = 2-1-3-1


Ukulele chord finder shows:

G#m7-5 = 2-4-2-3


Hope this helps, let me know if it sounds right.

Alright, I'm answering my own question because I did some searching through the interwebz, but that's okay, just in case any of you guys want to know xD

A7-9 has A, C#, E, G, and Bb. It's basically an A7 with a flatted ninth; in this case it's Bb. The uke has only four strings, so you can only pick four notes. A is obviously needed, G is needed to make it an seventh chord, and Bb is needed to make it a flatted ninth. You can choose whether you want a C# or E, and then it's a matter being creative and finding ways to hold all four notes at the same time on the ukulele. I would play 2131 too, but 3430 is also possible.

G#m7-5 has G#, B, F#, and D. The fifth in the key of G# is lowered half a step, so yeah. Now, it's just a matter of finding these notes on the uke and forming the chord. I would hold 1222.

And please, please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't want to sound like a smart***, especially when what I'm saying is wrong xD
And thank you UncleElvis and Sven-Uke for your help :3

Glad to help.
Any special reason you want to play the song...?

Yeah, you are right on about the notes in the chords. As for the voicings, that really depends on the context and the sound you are going for. There is no hard rule about what notes to leave out or double on the uke. However, it is typically best to leave out the root when you have 5 note chords. Unless you can play it on the C string or low G if you have it, it isn't adding the bass effect. Again, this is not a hard rule to follow. Do what sounds/feels best.
Also, the G#m7-5 is the ii chord in the key of F#m in this case. Notice the ii-V-i
G#m7-5 C#7 F#m
This song is in the key of D, so a quick trip to F#m really gets the ears perked up.

I've realized that Korean songs have a lot of interesting chord changes, like far different from today's European songs. That kinda inspired me to play what sounds good to me, instead of just learning music theory.

Oh, and it'll be good if I ever want to serenade a Korean girl hahaha :3

Plus, I just finished watching Shining Inheritance, which was an AMAZING Korean drama. Nuff said.

Maguwa said:

Yeah, you are right on about the notes in the chords. As for the voicings, that really depends on the context and the sound you are going for. There is no hard rule about what notes to leave out or double on the uke. However, it is typically best to leave out the root when you have 5 note chords. Unless you can play it on the C string or low G if you have it, it isn't adding the bass effect. Again, this is not a hard rule to follow. Do what sounds/feels best.
Also, the G#m7-5 is the ii chord in the key of F#m in this case. Notice the ii-V-i
G#m7-5 C#7 F#m
This song is in the key of D, so a quick trip to F#m really gets the ears perked up.

Click to expand...

Not play the root huh? I would have never thought of that. Gonna try that as soon as I get home today.

Maguwa said:

Yeah, you are right on about the notes in the chords. As for the voicings, that really depends on the context and the sound you are going for. There is no hard rule about what notes to leave out or double on the uke. However, it is typically best to leave out the root when you have 5 note chords. Unless you can play it on the C string or low G if you have it, it isn't adding the bass effect. Again, this is not a hard rule to follow. Do what sounds/feels best.
Also, the G#m7-5 is the ii chord in the key of F#m in this case. Notice the ii-V-i
G#m7-5 C#7 F#m
This song is in the key of D, so a quick trip to F#m really gets the ears perked up.

Click to expand...

I envy your skills in art of music theory OTL
haha but seriously, that sounds like an interesting thing to try out. Thanks for the new outlook on chords!

Yeah, there is a lot to say on this topic, and a lot of options when it comes to voicings. In the case of the A7b9, if the A and the Bb are played within the same octave, it will give you a minor 2nd, which is really dissonant. (Dissonance is awesome, when resolved right and used at the right time, there is the art in it, right?) On a guitar or uke with low G, you could voice the chord so that the A is in a lower octave, it will sound really nice, more open then both notes up in the same octave.

the root and also the 5th of a major or minor chord are the first two voices that I would consider dropping when playing uke. If playing an augmented or a diminished (such as the G#m7-5 = half diminished) the fifth is important. 3rds and 7ths are important notes as they add the most color/tension-release and also determine whether the chord is major/minor. Extensions (9th,11th,13th) are purely for color and are often a part of the melody itself. So as Uncle Elvis suggested, it usually is okay to ignore them all together, especially if you are singing or have the melody covered.

But again, this is art, so paint with the colors you like best.