Did you know with just three ukulele chords you can play hundreds of songs?
Glad to have you back for another fun beginner-friendly lesson!
Today you learn three must-know ukulele chords that you use to play a song in this lesson (and other songs later in this course). You also learn how to make smooth chord changes without pausing or hesitating.
In this lesson:
- Learn three must-know ukulele chords (you already know one of them!)
- Explore how to make smooth chord changes with the Hover Technique
- Discover the three steps that make learning a new song easier
- Practice smooth chord changes by learning to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Remember, you're building the foundations you need to make music on the ukulele with ease and confidence!
Let's begin.
Discover Three Must-Know Ukulele Chords
Watch the video to learn how to play C, F and G7 chords.
Remember new chord positions take time for your fingers to get used to. It’s important to take a deep breath, take things slow and enjoy the process of learning ukulele!
For each chord position, strum down across the strings with either the nail-side of your index finger, or the nail-side of a combination of your middle and ring fingers. Both ways are acceptable ways to strum.
As you strum, make sure each note of the chord rings out nice and clear!
C Major
You already know this chord, but give it a review.
To play C major, place the ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string. Let the top three strings ring open.
F Major
To play F major, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the top g-string and index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string. Let the other two strings ring open.
G7
To play G7, place the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the C-string, index finger on the 1st fret of the E-string, and ring finger on the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string.
Practice each of these chords by positioning your fingers for the chord and strumming down across the strings with your strumming hand. Listen to make sure every string and note rings out nice and clear.
Make Smooth Chord Changes With the Hover Technique
One of the biggest challenges for new ukulele players is switching chords without stopping, hesitating or pausing.
For one, learning a new chord is a lot like trying to tie your shoes for the first time. With repetition and practice, your fingers eventually remember where to go. This is known as muscle memory. Be patient as your fingers develop muscle memory.
However, one way to drastically improve your chord changes is to use the Hover Technique.
More often than not, you’re ability to switch to a chord quickly and play that chord cleanly is determined by how well you prepare for the chord before even playing it. That's what the Hover Technique is all about.
Hover Technique: Example #1
Say you're switching from a C to F chord, as shown in the following diagrams.
Play the C chord by placing your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the bottom A-string, as shown in the above chord diagram.
Knowing you will switch from a C chord to F chord, while playing the C chord, take your free index and middle fingers that aren't being used and hover them over the frets and strings that are played in an F chord position.
This means, while playing the C chord, hover your index finger over the 1st fret of the E-string and hover your middle finger over the 2nd fret of the top g-string.
Don’t press down on the strings yet.
When it comes time to switch to the F chord, your index and middle fingers are already in position–all you need to do is press down your fingers on the strings to play the F chord and lift up your ring finger from the bottom A-string.
Hover Technique: Example #2
How would you use the hover technique for a C to G7 chord change?
While playing the C chord, as shown in the chord diagram above, get ready to change to the G7 chord by hovering your middle finger over the 2nd fret of the C-string. In a similar manner, hover your index finger over the 1st fret of the E-string.
When it comes time to switch to the G7 chord, press down the middle finger on the C-string and the index finger on the E-string. Slide your ring finger to the 2nd fret of the bottom A-string.
You're playing a G7 chord!
Takeaway: Always think a chord ahead as you play a song. Setting up chords using the hover technique is an excellent way to anticipate chord changes allowing you to make smoother, faster changes.
Three Steps to Learning a New Song
You take your knowledge of the C, F, and G7 chords to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Consider this song as a perfect exercise to learn to build confidence and smoothness in your chord changes. This song also helps you learn how to tackle learning a new song, which will give you confidence to branch out in the future and learn hundreds of other songs on the ukulele!
First, listen to how the song sounds.
Click here to download the chord chart for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Most likely, you'll want to take the knowledge you're learning in this course and use it to learn to play other songs on ukulele. There are three steps you should always follow whenever learning a new song to make it easier.
Step 1: Learn the Chords
The first step to learning a song is to look over the chord chart and see what chords are in the song. The more comfortable you are with the chords the smoother your chord changes and playing will be.
Click here to download the chord chart for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Step 2: Learn the Rhythm
The second step to learning a song is learning the rhythm of the song.
This means you have to ask questions like:
- How's the song counted?
- How many counts is each chord played?
- What is the strumming pattern?
In this course, each song comes with an easy-to-follow arrangement indicating the song's count and suggested strumming pattern.
In this step, the goal is to learn the strumming pattern and count out loud. Do this to the point where you can play the pattern without a second thought.
Additionally, listening to the performance of the song is a great way to get a strong sense for how the song should sound. As I play, try counting out loud and tapping your foot to the beat.
Step 3: Play Through the Song Without Singing
This is where a lot of new ukulele players get off track and start to get frustrated.
Save yourself a lot of frustration by following this last step!
The last step to learning a song is practice strumming through the song’s entire chord progression while counting out loud – without singing.
This is so important because this allows you to catch any chords of the song that you may have difficulty switching to. Singing a song in and of itself requires a lot of conscious effort which means these chord changes have to be solid before you can even think about singing the song.
Once you can strum through the chord changes at a nice, steady tempo, then, begin to hum the melody of the song under your breath and eventually sing it out nice and strong.
Before you know it, you’re singing and strumming the song!
Alright, now that you know the steps to learning a new song, it's your turn to learn how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! Watch the following video.
Click here to download the chord chart for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
You're well on your way!
Your Lesson 2 Practice Objectives
You've done a great job again taking on this second lesson! We covered a lot today.
Continue to make it your goal to practice at least 15 minutes per day. Just a little bit of practice goes a long way. You can do this!
To recap, practice the following:
- Learn how to play C, F, and G7 chords.
- Practice switching between C, F, and G7 chords and apply the Hover Technique.
- Use the three steps to learn how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Keep up the great work!
P.S. – Need to go back and review? Don't worry. Get Lesson 1 here.
Join the Discussion
How's this lesson going for you? Post your comment or question below.