You do not need to 'learn music' in order to play a musical instrument. A little music knowledge will however help and give you a better understanding. Lets learn some basic chords and gain a little musical background.
Basic Music Info:
The 'musical alphabet' is made up of seven notes - A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
A chord is made up of 3 or more notes played together.
The most popular chords are called 'Major' chords and 'Minor' chords.
There are 7 major chords and 7 minor chords - A Major and A minor, B Major and B minor etc.
Each major chord is simply known by its letter - so C Major is called C.
Minor chords are written as Am, Bm, Cm etc.
There are many other chords that you will come across - one such group of chords are 'Sevenths'. We can have 'major sevenths' and 'minor sevenths' A7, B7, C7 etc ... and Am7, Bm7, Cm7 etc.
Lets learn to play some major, minor and 7th chords.
Watch the YouTube videos below to see how to play the Major, Minor and Seventh chords.
Learn how to play the 7 Major Chords - Click here
Learn how to play the 7 Minor Chords - Click here
Learn How to play the 7 Seventh Chords - Click here
Here is another YouTube video - 11 Must Know Ukulele Chords For Beginners
Tip: To learn the various chords - draw them out - this will help you visualise the shape of the chord build up your own 'chord library'.
Tip: If you find the D Major chord difficult using 3 fingers at the second fret - try using your thumb to cover the 3 strings.
Tip: If you find the E Major chord difficult - use your thumb covering the 3 stings at the fourth fret and your index finger on the 'A' string at the second fret.
Now here is a song using just 2 of the chords - C and G7. Click on the link for the song ..... 'He's Got the Whole World In His Hands'.
He's Got the Whole World In His Hands
Here is a song ..... 'Amazing Grace' that requires 3 of these chords C, F and G7.
Amazing Grace
If you feel it is time to stretch yourself - try 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. Here you will find a video to take you through the song - below the video window you will find the lyrics and chords.
Now play along to a slow Carlos Santana number called Europa - chord names and shapes are shown as the tune progresses - play the chords - the chord sequence is : Gm, C7, F, Am, Dm and Gm A7 Dm, A7, Dm.
Below is a link to a selection of Beatles songs - sit back and enjoy - rest your fingers.
Ukulele Starter © 2012