Today we will have a look at a solopiece for the Ukulele

Here are the chords tabbed out:

String  Chord 1   Chord 2    Chord 3   Chord 4  Chord 5  Chord 6

    A          5            3               7             10            8           12

    E          0            0               0              0             0           0

    C          0            0               0              0             0           0

    G          0            0               0              0             0           0

 

               About Chordnotation: The way the chords are represented is similar as tab, if you are not familiar with it please read as follows: The top number is a fretnumber and is played on the high A string, a 0 means open string, play each chord as one movement, one strum if you like. On the Lefthand side are the names of the strings mentioned: They read from top to bottom, High A as First String,G as Fourth String

 

Play Chords as follows:

       Chord1  Chord2     Chord 3  Chord 2  :     Chord 4  Chord 5     Chord 6  Chord 5 :

Count:     1 2     3 4              1 2      3 4                 1 2           3 4               1 2      3 4  

                                                                                                                      finish on chord 2 for full bar

 

As you can see each section contains two bars and is then repeated. The most basic form of strumming is two strums per chord. If strumming and accents are not a problem for you, play sequence with whatever strumpattern you like, but keeping to the 2 beats per chord feel.

 

   Playing Ideas:

~ Change the order of the chords, see what it sounds like.

~ Create a similar chordsequence, but use now fretted notes on the E (=2nd) string, keep the rest of your strings as open strings.

~ Create a melody for the sequence I wrote out, write melody down and sing it along while you play the chords.

 

  What Are Those Chords Called ?

Good question, on purpose I wanted to keep things simple, but yes the chords do have a name of some sort:

Chord 1= C9 with the D (which makes it a 9th chord) at the topstring.  

Chord 2= C   (probably the most familiar chordshape out of the whole sequence).

 Chord 3= an inversion of C with the E (the major 3rd of the chord) at the top. 

Chord 4= Aother inversion of C, this time with the G (the perfect 5th of the chord) at the top.

Chord 5= Csus4 with the F(which makes chord a sus4) at the top.

Chord 6= C6 with the A (which creates the sound of the 6th) at the top.

 

If the explanation why those chords are called that way does not make sense at the moment, please do not worry, in futureblogs I will explain about chordconstruction and the extension of chords. All of this will start to make sense to you if you keep revisiting this blog as it is my intention to unravel the whole “Musictheory Mistery” in clearcut language and examples.

 

Since this is my first Ukulele blog I would suggest to all you Uke players out there that most of the guitarblogs can be applied to the Ukulele as well, certainly the blog about Technique. Try it, experiment and rearrange the guitarideas for Uke.

 

Okay once you can play the sequence and you are hungry for some more try the next two “impossible” chordshapes: 

       String                  C              F

           A                    10            12

           E                    12             8

           C                    12            12

           G                    12            10

 

Happy Playing and See You Next Time

Eddie