In the series so far, we've looked at three chords: C, F and G. All these chords are major chords. You can spice up your playing considerably by adding into that minor chords.
In this and the next in the series, we'll be looking at a couple of minor chords that fit well with the chords and often crop up in songs.
Explaining Minor Chords
You'll be familiar with minor chords as being the 'sad' sounding chords in songs. This contrasts strongly with the major chords we have looked at with their 'happy' sound.
The only change between this happy and sad sound is in the third of the chord.
In a major chord, the third is four frets higher than the root note. So in an F major chord you have the F note and the A note (which is four frets higher than F).
In a minor chord, the third note is one fret lower (i.e. three frets above the root note). That means that in the case of A minor the root is A so the minor third is the note of C.
Fretting the A Minor Chord
The A minor chord is much simpler to play than many of the chords we've looked at since it can be played with just one finger.
When you're playing A minor leave the C, E and A strings all unfretted. Just use your middle finger to play the G string at the second fret.
With the A minor chord it is important that the underside of your ring finger doesn't touch the C string and stop it playing. The C note is very important in the chord - without it the chord would not have its minor flavor. So play that string individually to make sure that it is ringing out clearly.
In chord notation, A minor is usually written as Am.
If you play all the chords we've analyzed so far in this series, you find that they all sound 'right' together. That's because they are all based on the same scale (the C scale). So when you're putting together a chord progression, this would be an excellent set of chords to use. - 20763
In this and the next in the series, we'll be looking at a couple of minor chords that fit well with the chords and often crop up in songs.
Explaining Minor Chords
You'll be familiar with minor chords as being the 'sad' sounding chords in songs. This contrasts strongly with the major chords we have looked at with their 'happy' sound.
The only change between this happy and sad sound is in the third of the chord.
In a major chord, the third is four frets higher than the root note. So in an F major chord you have the F note and the A note (which is four frets higher than F).
In a minor chord, the third note is one fret lower (i.e. three frets above the root note). That means that in the case of A minor the root is A so the minor third is the note of C.
Fretting the A Minor Chord
The A minor chord is much simpler to play than many of the chords we've looked at since it can be played with just one finger.
When you're playing A minor leave the C, E and A strings all unfretted. Just use your middle finger to play the G string at the second fret.
With the A minor chord it is important that the underside of your ring finger doesn't touch the C string and stop it playing. The C note is very important in the chord - without it the chord would not have its minor flavor. So play that string individually to make sure that it is ringing out clearly.
In chord notation, A minor is usually written as Am.
If you play all the chords we've analyzed so far in this series, you find that they all sound 'right' together. That's because they are all based on the same scale (the C scale). So when you're putting together a chord progression, this would be an excellent set of chords to use. - 20763
About the Author:
Al Wood talks about the ukulele at his website where you can learn more in depth know how on ukulele music.
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