How to read and use Ukulele Chord Charts

12 Jan 2014

Ukulele chord charts

Playing chords is a fundamental part of playing the ukulele.  If you have a wide range of chords in your repertoire, you’ll be able to play more songs and jam with other musicians. A ukulele chord chart helps you learn new chords.
A ukulele chord diagram shows you how to play a chord.  It represents the ukulele fretboard showing you which strings to play. The diagram shows you where to place your fingers, and which fingers to press with.

ukulele-chord-diagram
A ukulele chord chart is a collection of chord diagrams, telling you how to play lots of chords.  They are fantastic reference tools to help you learn new ukulele chords as you need them.

Ukulele-Chord-Chart
G chord:
Am7 chord:
C chord:
F chord:
C7 chord:
There are many types of chords that you will encounter as you learn more songs.  The three most common types are major, minor or 7th. Occasionally you will see diminished, augmented and suspended chords or the more jazzy major 7th, minor 7th, or half diminished chords.

There are a number of ways to represent types of chords. Here are the ones we use:

types-of-ukulele-chord

TIPS

  • Try to memorise new chords as you learn them. You’ll then have the chords readily available next time they appear in a new song.
  • Practice moving from one chord to another as smoothly as possible. This will make your playing sound a lot more polished.
  • Imagine your fingers moving from one chord to another before you actually move them. This helps you gain better control over your hand’s movement. Repetition makes the fingers become familiar with the movements. In time, you will be able to effortlessly change between a variety of chords.
  • Download our FREE major and minor ukulele chord chart PDFs. Always keep them to hand when practising for quick reference. Simply fill in the form in the green box for instant access. (You’ll also receive 9 other useful ukulele PDFs!)
RELATED ARTICLES: Basic Ukulele Chords, Ukulele Chord Families, D Chord on the Ukulele, E Chord on the Ukulele

Free major & minor chord chart PDFs

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