Chord question, same note twice in the chord why?

b.r.us546

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I know nothing about music theory, and I can't seem to figure this answer out on my own even with google. Chords are 3 or more notes played together. Why do some chords have the same note at different frets like the E chord (4,4,4,2) with the B note twice on the top and bottom string? Thanks.
 
On a stringed instrument, fretting is about eliminating all notes that don't belong into the required chord (while forming shapes that are manageable for your fingers). Since the G of an open fourth string is not part of the E chord, you need to bring it up to a note that fits into that chord - and that is reachable for your finger with all of the other strings you have to cover.

With the typical reentrant tuning of an ukulele, this will mean that many notes are doubled, since you have that fourth string tuned right in between the second and first string: You'll have a doubled note in F (2-0-1-0), Am (2-0-0-0), A (2-1-0-0), D (2-2-2-0), G (0-2-3-2) and all barre variations of these shapes up the neck, e.g. in avariation of the C chord (5-4-3-3) or D chord (7-6-5-5).

To me, those doubled notes are part of that typical ukulele sound you get from reentrant tuning, just like the mandolin sound comes from all strings doubled. If you use linear tuning (low G), it will set the notes further apart, and instead of a doubled note you'll have octaves, e.g. a low G and a high G in 0-2-3-2, or a low A and a high A in 2-1-0-0.

Many chords can be variated or inversed to give them a different timbre or accentuate different notes. The E chord you mentioned can also be played with a barre of the easy C chord at the fourth fret (4-4-4-7), or a barre of the A chord at the seventh fret (9-8-7-7). Another way of hitting all the notes of an E chord is 1-4-0-2 but this way, you'll have the E note doubled instead of the B note. The E chord might be a bad example though, because - unlike on a guitar - E is among the hardest chords on the ukulele and dreaded by many players.
 
The Ukulele has four strings.
The most common chords have three notes.
Some, like the chords called something with 7, has more notes, but the basic chords have three.

If a chord has three notes, you can either play the same note on two of them, or only strum three of them when playing the chord.

The first gives a nice ukulele sound and is easier when strumming. The latter is sometimes used in chord melody playing to emphasize a particular note.
As Rakelele also wrote, there are several ways to play a chord on the ukulele. The one you mention is just the most common way to play it.
 
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The Ukulele has four strings.
The most common chords have three notes.
Some, like the chords called something with 7, has more notes, but the basic chords have three.

If a chord has three notes, you can either play the same note on two of them, or only strum three of them when playing the chord.

The first gives a nice ukulele sound and is easier when strumming. The latter is sometimes used in chord melody playing to emphasize a particular note.
As Rakelele also wrote, there are several ways to play a chord on the ukulele. The one you mention is just the most common way to play it.

Good explanation.
 
If you didn't include the fourth string in your chord, you would have to miss hitting one string when strumming, & it's easier to hit all four. :)
 
Ukulele is somewhat even more complicated than guitar regarding standard notation reading and chord fingerings. So I happily accept tabs for finger picked stuff, that I seldom play though. Less for melody of course, then I prefer standard notation.

Sometimes you can makes things easier for yourself by leaving the extra note out like in the E chord 1x02 two finger one.
 
I hope I don't come across as if I'm trying to stir up a debate, but I have to confess, when I'm working out a song, I try to avoid having the same two notes in any chord, a good example being the "0232" version of the G chord. That chord in particular (with that fingering) always sounds just ever-so-slightly out of tune to my ear, with the inclusion of two separate identical-sounding notes (on the second and fourth strings). So I will most often opt for the "4230" version, which results in each note being different from the others. I guess my philosophy is that if we only have four strings to work with, let's maximize our efficiency by having our chords consist of four different notes, and avoid having the same note show up more than once in a given chord. I totally realize that there will be differing points of view on this!
 
I hope I don't come across as if I'm trying to stir up a debate, but I have to confess, when I'm working out a song, I try to avoid having the same two notes in any chord, a good example being the "0232" version of the G chord. That chord in particular (with that fingering) always sounds just ever-so-slightly out of tune to my ear, with the inclusion of two separate identical-sounding notes (on the second and fourth strings). So I will most often opt for the "4230" version, which results in each note being different from the others. I guess my philosophy is that if we only have four strings to work with, let's maximize our efficiency by having our chords consist of four different notes, and avoid having the same note show up more than once in a given chord. I totally realize that there will be differing points of view on this!

Not something i consider when strumming, but with arpeggios/travis picking or what it is called, I sometimes try to avoid dublicating the same note. Not a rule to me though. But if the patterns suddenly gives the same note back to back I might change the way I play the chord.
 
A better question is why not. Duplicating a note in a chord is harmless and that "duplicate" string needs to be a note in your chord when strummed...

-- Gary
 
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I hope I don't come across as if I'm trying to stir up a debate, but I have to confess, when I'm working out a song, I try to avoid having the same two notes in any chord, a good example being the "0232" version of the G chord. That chord in particular (with that fingering) always sounds just ever-so-slightly out of tune to my ear, with the inclusion of two separate identical-sounding notes (on the second and fourth strings). So I will most often opt for the "4230" version, which results in each note being different from the others. I guess my philosophy is that if we only have four strings to work with, let's maximize our efficiency by having our chords consist of four different notes, and avoid having the same note show up more than once in a given chord. I totally realize that there will be differing points of view on this!

4230 is not a GMa chord. It is a Gadd9 and will sometimes work in place of a GMa, but not always.
 
If you didn't include the fourth string in your chord, you would have to miss hitting one string when strumming, & it's easier to hit all four. :)

I will often play an E chord as 444X when strumming a passage with all closed chords. It's easy to mute the first string and the B is already covered by the 4th string. In some jazzy swing tunes, you can use an E6 (4444).
 
Ukulele is somewhat even more complicated than guitar regarding standard notation reading and chord fingerings. So I happily accept tabs for finger picked stuff, that I seldom play though. Less for melody of course, then I prefer standard notation.

Sometimes you can makes things easier for yourself by leaving the extra note out like in the E chord 1x02 two finger one.

I'm not sure I understand how you come to the conclusion in the highlighted part of your post @Jarmo
 
I'm not sure I understand how you come to the conclusion in the highlighted part of your post @Jarmo

I realized after posting that I should have used the word someways instead somewhat, but I was too lazy to edit. And also it depends on the point of perspective. If you play a low G "uke" it does not hold of course. And for re-entrant there is that point of view regarding sight reading.
 
4230 is not a GMa chord. It is a Gadd9 and will sometimes work in place of a GMa, but not always.

Point well-taken, Jim. Similarly, many times I'll substitute a G6 chord (0202) in place of the G major chord (0232) that might otherwise be called for. Per your observation, that too doesn't fit for every situation by a long shot, but often it does, and when it does, it can provide a sweet-sounding variation to what our ears might be accustomed to at a given moment in a song. And again, to clarify, this all springs from my personal preference to avoid chords that contain two "unison" notes, because the unison notes seem to be prone to sounding slightly out-of-tune with each other, even when the uke is set up properly and tuned accurately. I have the same concern with the C major chord (0003), where the first and third strings are the same note (although an octave apart), and the risk of a slight "out-of-tune" effect is increased; I'll often use a variation on that chord that is fingered 0203. That works well in many instances, though not always. I guess this all goes back to the realization that stringed instruments aren't absolutely perfect in their intonation, and I enjoy trying to find "workarounds" for this factor by varying certain chords in the manner mentioned above. (I guess a 12-string guitar would drive me crazy!)
 
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A better question is why not. Duplicating a note in a chord is harmless and that "duplicate" string needs to be a note in your chord when strummed...

From a musical standpoint, it is not efficient to duplicate a note, especially if you want a broad spectrum of notes for a fuller sound or for modification with notes beyond the basic triad. Moreover, a doubled note - especially with one string open and the other one fretted - bears a risk of sounding out of tune with each other. Therefore, I think the OP's question is perfectly legit and interesting to discuss.
 
Originally Posted by Bill Sheehan

I have the same concern with the C major chord (0003), where the first and third strings are the same note (although an octave apart), and the risk of a slight "out-of-tune" effect is increased; I'll often use a variation on that chord that is fingered 0203.

Thanks for all the replies Everyone. This brings up another question since Cmaj is C, E, G. Why introduce a fretted A string at the 3rd fret for the duplicate C note, couldn't one just play strum/pluck the open 2, 3, 4 strings in standard tuning for your C chord?
 
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This brings up another question since Cmaj is C, E, G. Why introduce a fretted A string at the 3rd fret for the duplicate C note, couldn't one just play strum/pluck the open 2, 3, 4 strings in standard tuning for your C chord?

Sure, you can just leave out that first string if the high C bothers you. However, the two C notes in this chord are not doubled in a strict sense, but an octave apart, and there will be many times where you want that additional pitch, either for a fuller sound or because the note is needed for the melody. Also, my recommendation would be to fret complete chord shapes as often as possible, because even if you manage to strum or pick a chord without hitting the string in question, it will still resonate to a certain extent, so it's better (in my view) to have a note resonating that actually belongs to the chord than just a random one.
 
From a musical standpoint, it is not efficient to duplicate a note, especially if you want a broad spectrum of notes for a fuller sound or for modification with notes beyond the basic triad. Moreover, a doubled note - especially with one string open and the other one fretted - bears a risk of sounding out of tune with each other. Therefore, I think the OP's question is perfectly legit and interesting to discuss.

Look at the simplest of chords like C and F. They both have duplicated notes so I stand by what I said. Also if are wanting to play a simple chord why in the heck would you tweak one of the duplicated notes to get another chord???? It's simply not the chord you want and won't sound the way you wanted it to. Note, I'm not saying you can't Jazz things up like by playing a 9th instead of a 7th (not the best example for this discussion since there aren't duplicate notes in a 7th) but in doing so you are Jazzing things up and not playing the original tune.

-- Gary
 
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