What Position

[mangorockfish]

Can someone tell me which frets are included in first position and what is closed position? Thank you.

 

[Sporky]

Guessing that first is when you're playing a chord near the nut such that at least one of the strings is open (not being fretted), while you can have the exact same chord an octave up by moving 12 frets up the fretboard, in which case it would be a "closed position" because you have to fret all the strings. Someone correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[VegasGeorge]

I figure a 1st position chord is the one where all four strings are active, and your fingers are closest to the nut. The thing to remember is, 1st position chords come in the various inversions, so they don't always sound the way you'd like in a given tune. I'm not familiar with the designation, "closed position," but I have a guess. "Closed" probably refers to a chord shape with no open strings.

 

[Mike $]

The Position refers to which fret your index finger is covering. In first position your index finger is at the first fret, middle is at the 2nd fret, ring is at the 3rd fret and pinky is at the 4th fret. Second position starts at the 2nd fret, third position starts with the index at the 3rd fret and so on and so on until you run out of frets. A closed shape is a chord without any open string notes included in it. I guess you can call it a closed position chord if you want.

 

[rainbow21]

A closed position chord is a useful designation because that means you can move the chord up and down the fretboard and it will change what chord you are playing based on the chromatic scale. So if you are playing a closed C chord as 5433, you can move it up to 6544 to be a C# and up two frets 7655 to become a D chord. Move it down two frets 3211 and you have the familiar Bb chord.

 

[John Colter]

Is the term relevant in ukulele playing? I've always thought it was a violin reference.

 

[Graham Greenbag]

Is the term relevant in ukulele playing? I've always thought it was a violin reference.

Depending upon the music and how a player uses his/her Uke the term might not be relevant to some players. I strum and I finger pick up the neck, I find the position terms very helpful in helping me to ideally position my hand along the neck. It might be a Violin reference too but it was introduced to the term in a Uke tuition book.

Edit.

Mike’s explanation above works for me: “The Position refers to which fret your index finger is covering. In first position your index finger is at the first fret, middle is at the 2nd fret, ring is at the 3rd fret and pinky is at the 4th fret. Second position starts at the 2nd fret, third position starts with the index at the 3rd fret and so on and so on until you run out of frets.”

So a common F chord of 2010 would be played in the first position and a common D7 chord of 2223 would be played in the second position. A 5433 C chord would be played in the third position and is based on the moveable A chord (2100) which we move up the neck to give Bb and B.

 

[John Colter]

"It might be a Violin reference too but it was introduced to the term in a Uke tuition book."

I've heard the term used - first position etc - but don't know what it means to a ukulele player. I gather that violinists use numbers in playing different scales, or sequences of single notes. I'm just a simple strummer. Like the OP, I would appreciate an explanation.

 

[clear]

Lots of answers, but didn't see any directly address your question.

1st position is the frets 1, 2, 3, 4. Closed position is not a common term, but probably means no open strings.

 

[Ed1]

Clear's probably right about a closed position. Usually closed is used with a chord meaning that a closed chord has the notes as close to each other as possible.