Learning the ukulele fretboard unlocks a whole new way of experiencing the excitement and joy of making music on the ukulele.

When you understand the relationship of notes across the fretboard, you can do things like:

• Figure out where to fingerpick the melody of a song on the fretboard
• Discover how to build chords across the fretboard
• Riff and improvise solos across the fretboard (like in the blues or jazz)

But to do these things, it all starts with learning the C major scale on ukulele.

There comes a point in a ukulele player’s journey where one must face head on, with courage and bravery, that dreaded and difficult-to-play E major chord on ukulele.

By learning the E chord on ukulele, you unlock a whole new world of playing songs on the ukulele with the most notable song using the E chord being Hey Soul Sister by Train.

Don’t worry because together in this lesson we look at three of the best ways to play the E major chord on ukulele. I provide you with three variations of E major and give you the pros and cons of each, so you can learn how to play the E chord and determine which one is easiest for you.

When you’ve learned your first chords on ukulele, it’s time to start strumming!

With strumming, it’s all about keeping a steady, consistent rhythm.

To help ourselves keep a steady rhythm, in this lesson, you count out loud to a count of four: 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, and you learn to strum on the most popular strumming patterns – the calypso strum.

You’re tuned up and ready to play!

It’s time to learn your first ukulele chords.

You might be surprised to know that with just these few ukulele chords you can play hundreds of songs on the ukulele.

These ukulele chords for beginners are where every ukulele player should begin.

Watch the video to discover these chords.

One of the most challenging chords to master for beginner ukulele players is the Bb major chord (said “B flat”).

To play a Bb chord, position your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the top g-string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, and use the index finger to barre or press down on both bottom two strings at the 1st fret.

With notes on all four strings and a challenging barre position, the Bb chord can be problematic, especially if you have arthritis, but it’s a chord you need to know how to play because it gives you the opportunity to learn a whole bunch of new songs in the key of F, Bb, and more.

I’ve written on playing a Bb chord on ukulele before, but in this video lesson, let’s go a bit more into depth and get three tips and tricks for how to confidently play the Bb chord, and after the video at the bottom of this post, get a fantastic bonus tip from a fellow student for how she tackles the Bb chord with arthritic fingers.