An exciting way to take your ukulele playing to the next level is to find new ways to play the same chord on ukulele.

Yes, there are often several different ways to play the same chord on ukulele, and I include many of these chord variations in the Ukulele Tricks Chord Library, but you might be wondering why you’d want to find a different way to play a chord on ukulele.

There are many reasons for why you’d find a new way to play the same chord:

• Make a chord easier to play
• Add variety to the song you’re playing
• Find a new sound
• Blend together with an accompanying ukulele player
• Voice a melody note in a chord to be the highest note in the chord (for example, like in chord melody)

In this lesson, I introduce you to the world of finding chord variations on ukulele by showing you how to play a C major chord on ukulele in five different ways.

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You finally figure out how to play that one ukulele chord that’s giving you all sorts of trouble, but when you strum:

Bzzt!

No matter what you do, playing the chord sounds like fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.

Is this a problem with how you’re strumming? Is it an issue with your fretting hand? Do you just not have the strength yet to play a chord?

Every ukulele player at some point or another has gone to play a ukulele chord just to have the chord sound out with a dead thud. This is such a common challenge every ukulele player has to overcome. Even advanced ukulele players will encounter this problem and have to find a way to fix it.

Fortunately, most buzzing ukulele chords can be fixed with one easy trick.

Watch the video to learn how to fix your buzzing ukulele chords.

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Learning the notes of the ukulele fretboard takes a lot of discipline and effort, but it’s nothing you can’t accomplish!

In this lesson, you learn the fifth and final position of the C major scale on the ukulele fretboard.

So far we’ve looked at C major scale in four other positions:

• C Major Scale Position #1
• C Major Scale Position #2
• C Major Scale Position #3
• C Major Scale Position #4

You’ll want to learn the other positions first before learning this last position.

Upon completing this lesson, you’ll know the natural notes of the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) and where to find them. With this knowledge, you can eventually go on to learning other scales in other keys, playing solos, finding melodies, coming up with riffs, and more. But first, it all starts with learning and memorizing these C major scale positions.

Learn this fifth and final C major scale position now!

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By now you already have C major scale in position #1, position #2, and position #3 under your belt. It’s important you get those positions under your belt before moving forward with the last two positions.

In this lesson, learn how to play C major scale in position #4 on the ukulele.

But first, why all these positions?

Why can’t you just learn one position and call it a day?

For one, by learning the C major scale in all positions across the ukulele fretboard, you learn the natural notes of the fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). If you know where these important notes are, it’s easier to learn other scales later, especially those with sharps and flats.

Secondly, by learning multiple positions of the C major scale, you make it easier to play certain single-note passages in pieces of music (like those in Fingerpicking Tricks) or solos and riffs (more on that later).

Thirdly, learning the notes of the fretboard can help you build chord variations across the fretboard to find a new sound.

Overall, by learning the C major scale in multiple positions across the fretboard you build an important foundation for understanding your instrument and for soloing later.

Let’s look at this fourth position!

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So far we’ve looked at how to play C major scale in position #1 and position #2 on the ukulele fretboard. If you haven’t already completed those lessons, do that before moving forward!

In this lesson, continue to learn C Major Scale Position #3 on ukulele.

By doing this, you learn the natural notes across the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). If you know these notes, it’s easy to fill in the sharps and flats later. In addition, learning these notes is the basis of playing melodies, solos and riffs on the ukulele.

The C major scale is where it all begins!

Learn how to play Position #3 now.

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Last week we looked at how to play a C Major Scale in Position #1 on ukulele. Today we continue on and learn C Major Scale in Position #2 farther up the fretboard (there are a total of five positions).

By learning the notes of C major scale in all positions, you learn all natural notes on the ukulele fretboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), or any note that is not an accidental (sharp or flat). When you learn all the natural notes, it’s easy to figure out where the other notes are later.

Learning the C major scale is the foundation of learning the notes of the ukulele fretboard and opens up future possibilities like:

• How to fingerpick the melody of a song on the fretboard
• How to build chords across the fretboard
• How to riff and improvise solos across the fretboard (like in the blues or jazz)

Let’s learn Position #2 now.

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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.

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