B7 Chord ???

freedive135

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 14, 2008
Messages
909
Reaction score
8
Location
The Ranch,CO
So I have a quite a few chord charts and on a couple they show the B7 chord as A0,E2,C3,G4 and the others show it as A2,E2,C3,G2.

My ???? is why are these different.
I know about 1st,2nd,3rd position chords and such and none of those charts show A0,E2,C3,G4. To me they both seem like 1st position.
Looking at a fret map the only notes they share is B and F#/Gb.

Do these 2 different B7's follow the same rule as the Hawaiian D7?????
What ever that rule is......

Help me understand!!!!
 
Been there and use that site alot... but there also no A0,E2,C3,G4 as a B7...
I like the sound of it for some songs much like the "Hawaiian D7".

It's that way in my Hal Lenoard Uke lesson Book and in my Ralph Shaw strumming lessons... Why?????
 
these are known as cord inversions - the same notes played on different strings. they can be used to make subtle differences in the song.

A0 = A A2 = B
E2 = F# E2 = F#
C3 = Eb C3 = Eb
G4 = B G2 = A

Same notes different strings - subtle difference in sound depending on whether A or B is the first note struck in the cord.
 
these are known as cord inversions - the same notes played on different strings. they can be used to make subtle differences in the song.

Just to be a bit picky... technically, it's not an inversion if you're playing the exact same notes at the same pitches.

(It would, as you pointed out, affect the order in which the notes sounded during a strum. I'm not sure I'd be able to notice, but maybe some could.)

Anyway, I say learn both and go with whichever one is easiest to play, based on the preceding and following chords.

- Jeff
 
does anyone know then what these chords are????
F2
F/E
Bb/g

cheers
 
hello freedive135,

your wuestion has been answered already but i found i could give some genearal advise:

i would suggest that you go to a local acoustic guitar - player to get you accustomed to some basic principles of playing and understanding astringed instrument. even though they usually don't know so much about ukes, the basics are pretty similar.
this can be really helpful when dealing with a problem like the one you named.

for your example:
when you strum a stringed instrument the notes don't sound and exactly the same time thus you always play some kind of arpeggio ( a series of notes )
if you play a downstrum on your ukulele the last tone that you played (on the a-string) has a different effect on the chords feel then the note of the topmost string ( the g-string ) simply because you "heard it last".
also you could use emphasize another string in playing it louder then the rest.

now since the different notes in a chord have different "tensions" harmonically it is pretty important what these notes are.
in your case:
if you play A0,E2,C3,G4 on a downstrum, the last note you hear is an "a"
if you play A2,E2,C3,G2 on a downstrum, the last note you hear is a "b"
the "b" is the root of the chord and has no special tension in itself wherease the "a" is the seventh which has a heavy tension in the chord
now if you play your B7 inside a chord-progression this difference in how the strum sounds has a big influence on how the whole progression sounds.
this is usually called "voicing".
try to play F#7 (A4 E2 C4 G3) then your B7 an then a C#7 (A4 E4 C5 G4) and listen to how this sounds (and feels!) different when using your different "voicings" of the B7 Chord.

ok i hope this was not too elaborate...

cheers mate!
 
It's likely that F2 is Fsus2: 0013

F/E is F major over an E bass ... Fmaj7 will do: 2413

Bb/G is Bb major over a G bass ... Bb6 will do: 0211

hmm, only if you use a low G tuning, otherwise the g is not the lowest note...
 
hmm, only if you use a low G tuning, otherwise the g is not the lowest note...

Good point. I always play in hi-G and there are not a lot of bass notes available. So when I see stuff like Bb/G, I just hit a Bb6 or Gm7 in any inversion I can grab.
 
hmm, only if you use a low G tuning, otherwise the g is not the lowest note...

I'm firmly in the "yeah, but so?" camp when it comes to slash chords on the uke.

If the note on the bottom of the slash is in the chord somewhere, then that's just fine and dandy with me. Personally, I see little reason to play some way-high-on-the-neck form (or switch to a low-G) just to ensure that the right note is the lowest in chord.

The uke just doesn't have a wide enough range to make worrying about inversions practical. As I've said before, most of the chords you play on the uke aren't even in the "correct" inversion anyway.

JJ
 
I always play in hi-G and there are not a lot of bass notes available.

Yep, as in none. And on the low G you move right up to... drumroll please... damn few. That's why I'm constantly biting the ol' digital tongue when someone talks about how groovy the "bass notes" are on their particular ukulele.

I'm firmly in the "yeah, but so?" camp when it comes to slash chords on the uke. . .

The uke just doesn't have a wide enough range to make worrying about inversions practical.

Yes indeedy. I'm of the "use the fingering what sounds best" camp myself.

Alas, sometimes in the material I do it's the harder fingerings, but wtf. One of the tunes that Thadd wrote for my band's new CD had a particular chord -- can't remember the name right now and too braindead to search it up -- that sounded punk (and not in the good way) in first position and oh so tasty in second position. First position was a snap to finger, second was freaking pretzel finger time. I just kept growling "shut up!" at the rest of the band until I got it good enough to record. But then, I'm just a grumpy old fart.

It's still a beeyotch when we try to play it live.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom