Beginner Ukulele Chords Part 5 - How to Play an E Minor Chord

If you've been following our series of articles on beginner ukulele chords you'll already be able to play a number of chords: A minor, G, F and C. In this article we'll be giving you one more to add to your repertoire: E minor.

As you'll remember from our previous article on the A minor chord, all minor chords need to contain a note that is three frets above the chord note (also know as a minor third). With the chord note being E, the chord E minor must contain the note G.

There are two ways you can play the E chord on the ukulele in the first position and we'll be taking a look at how to play both of them.

E Minor: Option One

The first version of the E minor chord we'll look at is the most common one and requires three fingers to play. Third finger - C string - 4th fret. Second finger - E string - 3rd fret. First finger - A string - 2nd fret.

The remaining string (G) should remain open to give you the first way of playing the Em chord.

E Minor Chord: Alternative Version

As you might have noticed, the first way of playing the Em chord has two G notes in it: at the third fret of the E string and the open G string.

For any chord, you only need to hear each note that makes it up once. So you can do away with the one on the E string and let that string ring open too (since the note E is obviously part of the Em chord).

This might string you as being an easier way to play the chord - since it takes one less finger to play - but that is not true.

Taking your finger off the E string will increase its height. This makes it much more likely that you will accidentally mute it with your ring finger. That's why the first inversion we covered is the more popular.

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5 Guitar Playing Tips - Learn to Play Guitar Chords

Many people are aspiring to learn how to play the guitar. The guitar has risen into a certain level of popularity that it has become a symbol of talent, creativity and "coolness."

However, learning how to play the guitar is no joke. Learning to play the instrument requires one to learn how to play the chords. This article tries to give some helpful tips to individuals who would want to learn how to play guitar chords.

1. Get a chord chart

Playing guitar chords is just like playing chords in an organ. If one is learning to play the guitar alone (without a teacher), having a guitar chord book is his best bet. A guitar chord book demonstrates the different finger positions when playing different types of chords. The pressed strings are usually depicted with dots and the strings which are not supposed to be plucked are marked with an "x."

A chord book is a beginner's best friend. Memorizing chords without the help of a guitar teacher will be an impossible task if not for the chord book.

2. One at a time

There are dozens and dozens of different guitar chords which show themselves in different formations. Trying to memorize them in a single blow is close to impossible. Learning how to play guitar chords requires patience and lots of practice. Try practicing three chords that are can be played together (ex. A-E-D) on a single day and try to familiarize oneself with the transition between these chords. Don't try to take every chord in one sitting, it simply can't be done.

3. Be aware of the right hand

An important thing to remember when learning how to play guitar chords is that the movement of the right hand is as important as the movement of the left hand. Most beginners would find themselves taking breaks in strumming until the left hand positions itself properly for the next chord. This is normal during the first few day of practice, but at some point, the right hand should dictate the tempo of the movements of both hands. Strumming or plucking shouldn't be delayed.

4. Listen to guitar-intensive songs whenever possible

One should learn how to play the guitar with some inspiration at the back of his head. Listening to good guitar players will give one some idea of where he would want to go in the future.

5. Learn the different forms of chords

As stated earlier, guitar chords present themselves in various forms. One should be familiar with the different forms so as to bring flexibility in to playing. One popular form of chords which is widely used in rock music is the "power chords" they are simply and heavy-sounding.

Playing guitar chords is not as hard as one would think. Learning to play guitar chords is a basic and essential part of guitar playing, it lays down the foundation of good guitar playing skills. If one has the perseverance and the passion to play the guitar, he will eventually learn how to play the chords and advance into more intricate lessons.

Beginner Ukulele Chords Part 6 - How to Play a B Minor Chord

So far in this series on beginner ukulele chords, we have been looking at chords that have been fairly simple to play. In this part, we are going to step things up a gear.

All beginners start out with the same chords and those chords only require you to fret one note at a time with each finger (e.g. in the F chord, your middle finger only has to hold down the G string and your index finger only has to hold down the E string). Today's chord is more tricky.

Today you will have to hold down more than one string with a single finger. In order to play the B minor chord, you will have to perfect this technique.

How to Play a Barre Chord

Barre chords are those that require you to lay your finger across two or more strings in order to play the chord. B minor chord is such a chord.

In order to create a barre take your index finger (or 'pointer' finger if you prefer) and lay it across all four of the ukulele strings at the third fret. Press it down so that all the strings are firmly held against the neck of the ukulele.

Pluck each string on the ukulele in turn. Doing it this way will mean you can hear which strings are ringing clearly and which are muted. This is a tricky technique to get right, so take some time to make sure you have got the hang of it.

The best way to play it is with your thumb right behind the neck. This will give you extra pressure to hold down the strings.

Playing A B Minor Chord

To play B minor (or Bm for short), recreate your barre across the second fret. Make sure all the notes are sound clearly. Now fret the G string at the 4th fret with your third (ring) finger.

Most people find that when they attempt to add this extra note to the chord for the first time it sends the barre off and the notes aren't ringing clearly again. Try changing your hand around until everything is back again.

Ukulele Chords - Learn To Play Easy Chord Changes

It is very fun and mostly easy to play ukulele chords. Let's take a look at some easy chord changes!

Before we delve to deeply into our ukulele chords let's take a look at the tuning of your ukulele. The resulting names of the chords we play depends on how we tune the ukulele.

In this ukulele lesson I assume that you play a soprano ukulele and that you have tuned it in C.

What does C-tuning mean?

Let's take a look at the piano keyboard to find out how to tune the ukulele.

C-tuning means that the third string on you ukulele is tuned to a C. If you use a piano when you tune your ukulele you will find these notes in the octave in the middle of the keyboard.

The notes in this most commonly used octave on the piano are called C4-B4. The number 4 indicate that the notes are on the fourth octave on an ordinary piano.

The first string on your ukulele will be tuned to an A4 as we call it. The next string will sound like the piano key E4. The third string will be the note C4. The fourth string will be the note G4.

Our first chord is C major. Let's take a look at it:

C: 0/4 0/3 0/2 3/1

What type of notation is this?

This is a type of ukulele tab notation where we use numbers to indicate which fret to press down and on which string.

3/1 for example means: Press down fret 3 on string 1.

We will now proceed with the chord G major:

G: 0/4 2/3 3/2 2/1

As you can see this chord is the same chord as a D major on a guitar. A little bit confusing if you also play guitar but I guess you will get used to it.

The chord F major looks like this on your ukulele:

F: 2/4 0/3 1/2 0/1

Now we have three chords at our disposal and we can create our first ukulele chord progression:

C / / / G / / / F / / / G / / /

What does the slashes mean?

The most basic way to interpret this notation is:

Strum once on a chord name. Continue strumming on the same chord once for every slash!

Let's add one more chord to make this progression a little bit more interesting. Here is G7:

G7: 0/4 2/3 1/2 2/1

Here is the progression:

C / / / G7 / / / F / / / G7 / / /

Before we end this ukulele lesson we will add just one more chord. Here is D minor:

Dm: 2/4 2/3 1/2 0/1

Here is the ukulele chord progression:

C / / / G7 / / / Dm / / / G7 / / /

To really learn to play chords on your ukulele it is important to play them together. The most difficult part is to change from one chord to another smoothly without slowing down the tempo.

Try practising playing two chords at a time. The actual training consists of changing between the chords.

This is a great way to rapidly learn to play the chords of any ukulele song!