Bulletin Board: OK to cheat on chord fingerings?

Original Post By: Guest_Christie Date: 2/28/2005 Dear Ukers, I am a novice uke player (started last Aug. and have never had any previous music experience). I am SLOWLY working my way through a Mel Bay teach yourself book. On some of the songs I find that I am having difficulty with the speed with which I can change chords (yes, I AM practicing) and it seems that I could be faster if I cheated on certain chord patterns, for example F to F# dim. If I reverse my fingers on F, I can slide one finger down a fret and be positioned for the second chord. Is this OK or a bad habit to get into? I would only do that on that chord pair. Another example is: C7 to C9- and C9 (one chord per beat). If I reverse my fingers on C9-, I am all set. Otherwise, I stutter. Since I don't have a teacher, I don't want to develop habits that I will later have to break. So, I'd like your opinions. Thanks. Posted By: Guest_Ukerdan Date: 2/28/2005 No such thing as cheating. Do whatever works for you. Posted By: Guest_Zathras Date: 2/28/2005 Go ahead and do whatever is easiest now to keep playing and playing and playing - eventually you can come back to them and learn them the other way also. It is handy to be comfortable making chords in several different methods. Out of curiosity which book are you using? Posted By: Guest_Pauline Leland Date: 2/28/2005 There often are better fingerings for chords depending on what chord came before and what comes next. Good for you for discovering them. Posted By: Guest_UF Date: 2/28/2005 I'm double jointed, so I do my D (in C tuning) with one finger. My finger bends high enough to clear the first string. Ukerdan said it all. Definitely adjust your patterns according to where you will need to reach next in a song. I think the best thing is to not get stuck on chording a certain chord the same way every time. Play with variations. Posted By: Guest_Dominator Date: 2/28/2005 You have pretty much got your answer already. Just as a side note............you should consider the fingerings in your book as nothing more than suggested fingerings. Some newer books like "A Guide to Ukulele Chords" by Curt Sheller indicate that the fingerings are recommended but not mandatory. Most all books for example show the D7 chord (in GCEA tuning) to be barred with the first or index finger and the note on the first string played with the 2nd or middle finger. Seems like some of the best players I have seen such as Jake Shimabukuro, Lyle Ritz and most recently, Bill Tapia, all barre with the 2nd finger. So by all means experiment and do what allows you to get to and from the chords easily. Posted By: Guest_steve-o-reno Date: 2/28/2005 Here's just one of many things that I learned in the Pops Bayless workshop this past weekend: "the means justifies the end". If it works for you and makes the music you want - then do it. Posted By: Guest_dr. cookie Date: 3/1/2005 I just learned a "Maui D" . . . 2 different Maui-born ukers in our group always make us laugh when the hook their thumb over the top to grab all three strings for D! We useed to call it a "Moki D" after the first older lady that used it, then a new guy joined us (also from Maui it turns out) and he used the same technique. Almost fell over the first time I saw one of them do it . . . now we throw a "Maui D" and grin a lot whenever we can work it in. Posted By: Guest_Bruce E Date: 3/1/2005 I frequently give "cheating" advice to new uke players in workshops. To get around the "dreaded Bb chord" and the two string bar (barre), just finger strings 2, 3 and 4 and block the first string with your first finger or your hand. If you do form the bar correctly it just doubles the note on the first string. Personally, I always "cheat" on the E minor chord. I finger the first three strings and play the fourth string open. If you finger it at the 4th fret like you are "supposed" to, it plays the same note as the first string. If you play it open, it plays the same note as the second string. There aren't too many people who could detect the difference. Re-entrant tuning give you lots of possibilities for cheating on up-the-neck chords, too. Do it! It's not really cheating. Posted By: Guest_StanB Date: 3/1/2005 Don't be afraid to use the 2nd position barre chords. It is often easier to make changes using these. For example, if you bar across the 2nd fret you can easily play G (think F open position moved up the neck), Emi (Dmi open position), D7, D (pick up the D on the 5th fret with the pinky),B, B7, etc. And you don't have to even change hand position. Then, just by sliding up or down the fret board virtually all the others are there for you. There is no such thing as cheating in music(with the exception of Milli Vanilli and Ashley Simpson!). Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones Guitarist played much of their tunes with a "drop D i.e. "simplified" tuning, with the lowest string removed from his guitar! Posted By: Guest_George Harper Date: 3/1/2005 I love cheating as much as the next guy or gal, but I'm thinking it may be time for a cautionary note here ... Suggested fingerings for chords are there for a reason and it has to do with the ease of changing chords, playing inversions/positions and sometimes leaving a finger or two available to alter the next chord. I'm having a devil of a time figuring out how Christi is "reversing (her) fingers on F," but if she uses that fingering as the standard, it may create problems like F to F7 and the inability to play the barre chord positions that StanB just mentioned. There's nothing wrong with letting a raw beginner play a Bb on three strings if that helps the newbie discover the fun and joy of playing the ukulele. But at some point, that person is going to realize that if the first two strings are pressed with the index finger, you can slide everything up one fret for a B, another fret up for a different voicing of C, and so on. All that said, I LOVE the term "Maui D" and sometimes looks can be as cool as chords. Benny Chong likes to create voicings that require his whole left hand to be in front of the fretboard with the thumb pressing strings near the nut and the other fingers 10 or 12 frets up the neck. It's astonishing to see and the chord voicings are gorgeous. So Christi, play your chords any way you want, but just be careful that you don't cheat so much that you wind up cheating yourself of being a better player. Posted By: Guest_Italuke Date: 3/1/2005 All good advice so far. As far as fingerings go, as noted, there's really no one "right" way to always play a chord. It all depends what comes before and after it. Another, perhaps offbeat, thing to keep in mind is that "chords" (or music for that matter) don't just exist in and of themselves at a static point in time. Without being part of a musical phrase (a progression) a "chord" is nothing -- even though we all occasionally fall into the trap of "but it sounds so COOOOL...!" Even though it "sounds cool," what good is it if it's just one chord? So...to bring it back down to earth, that means that there can be many different fingerings, depending on the context. The one thing to watch for that might be "cheating" is when you want to omit certain critical notes from a chord, e.g. say leaving the third out of a triad. But as you get more into playing and learn some theory, you'll get to know which notes you can leave out if necessary and which ones you can't. Posted By: Guest_George Harper Date: 3/1/2005 I agree with everything Italuke says, except for the example of leaving out the third. Playing just the root and fifth creates a power chord and so long as you don't overdo them, power chords, (e.g. "C5) can be very effective. Posted By: Guest_Italuke Date: 3/1/2005 Ah...showing our rock roots, huh? (Wait, I thought it was "roots rock.") Anyway, my perspective on that was coming from my perhaps all-too-extensive classical music brainwashing, errr, I mean education, wherein an open 5th (or root-5th-8va) is just an open 5th, no matter what rock players call it. In those circles, a triad without a third isn't a chord at all, 'cause you need the 3rd (acoustically speaking) to create the inherent harmonies (whereas the 5th is acoustically present in the root, or fundamental, which is why you can leave it out and your ear will still "hear" the full chord.) But of course, I agree this is all just another case of "it depends how you define it" or what angle you're looking at it through. So I can live with power chords...for a song or two anyway! Posted By: Guest_Christie Date: 3/1/2005 Dear Ukers, Thanks so much for your help. You lost me a bit at the end but in the middle the light came on and I realized what those capo things might be used for. Or finger barring. Duh. Now I will explore alternative chord fingerings when I am having real difficulty with a particular chord. Also loved the comment about the dreaded "b-flat". My Mel Bay video (and book "You Can Teach Yourself Uke") had a one liner where he said on introducing B-flat, you might have to work on this a bit. Well, it took me 2 months! I thought I was a spazz. I also have a very tender wrist as a result of repeatedly trying to get it right. Also loved the Maui D. I met a wonderful player in Fiji who once taught uke in Hawaii and he used a Maui E! I am wondering how I will ever achieve an E as I have very long fingers. Can only do it legit with a bent first knuckle. Gimp-E? At any rate, now I realize I can bar the fourth fret. Hooray! Thanks. Thanks for all your help and patience. I'll be back with more newbie questions. Christie Posted By: Guest_Bambi Date: 3/1/2005 yes Posted By: Guest_DavidR Date: 3/1/2005 I still struggle to play an "E". I found playing an E7 works as a replacement in many cases. Not all, but many. Because of the Uke only having four voices I think it buys us a lot of leeway- at least as a solo instrument. If it sounds good in your song play it. Lyle Ritz at the Midwest Ukefest said to just "noodle around" and you may find chord progressions accidently that work well for a song. He calls this the "fruit of the noodle." I have found that to be true. Posted By: Guest_Bruce E Date: 3/2/2005 Christie, the problem I usually find that new ukers (not new yorkers) have with the Bb chord is wrist/hand position. You have to get your wrist under the neck (not behind it) and the ball of your thumb on the back of the neck. See if this imagery helps. Hold the uke out in front of you like it was a dirty diaper. Pinch the first two strings behind the first fret between your thumb and forefinger. That's pretty close to the correct hand position. Now just bring the uke back to playing position and add the other two fingers. If this is just confusing, ignore me. Happens all the time. Doesn't really bother me anymore. (sniff) Posted By: Guest_Sonnybuck Date: 3/2/2005 All very sage advice indeed. However, I am at a loss over the Bb issue....it's the same chord as an F on a guitar...I had no problem whatsoever with Bb, it's one of my favorites as a matter of fact. (Harbor Lights) I'm a new Uke player too, got my Oscar Scmhidt Concert Uke last April in Hawaii and I have been loving it ever since! Posted By: Guest_Dominator Date: 3/2/2005 Sonnybuck, It's not the folks coming to uke from guitar that are having the problem. I could be mistaken but I believe the folks playing uke as a first stringed instrument are finding the partial barring (spell??)to be an initial challenge. Bruce's description (other than the diaper of course) provides a good description of how to fret the chord. Posted By: Guest_Christie Date: 3/2/2005 Dear Ukers, Thanks again. Yup, I think I am doing B-flat properly from your vivid description. I discovered that I could do B-flat when standing but couldn't do it while seated. Investigating this, I realized I was leaning back against the settee and restricting the movement of my left arm etc. and so couldn't get my wrist under the neck properly. Now I sit forward when I play. My current challenge is B7 and Eminor (easy). When I tried to play rapidly between those chords, I realized that I didn't have a proper grasp on the uke--it would wobble. It definitely seems to be another under rather than behind the neck position. Still working at it. I am thinking that I could benefit from a different instructional CD/DVD. I was disappointed for various reasons with my Mel Bay video. The book is good though. Any recommendations? I want to see clearly how to hold the uke for various chords and I would like some education on proper strumming techniques with many variations. The Mel Bay book recommends various strumming patterns but they were rarely used in the video and then the overlays of music on top of the uke playing in the video made it very difficult to hear the strumming patterns (I had to get up close and watch which strings were vibrating to figure out what was happening). Your recommendations would be most appreciated. Thanks. Christie Posted By: Guest_Bruce E Date: 3/3/2005 The only thing I find more difficult than teaching strumming patterns is describing it in words or graphically. See if this helps you though. (No dirty diapers this time, I promise.) Put some music on the CD player that you might want to play along with. Set your uke on your lap with the strings facing down. Now play "the drums" on the back of your uke with your fingertips or your fingers or whatever feels right. Don't try to play loud or fast. Just play a rhythm that you feel goes with music. Let me say that again. Play a rhythm that YOU feel goes with the music. What you feel might be different than what anybody else feels. Listen to the percussion section of the music. Play "the drums" a couple times with the music until you are comfortable with it. Now pick up your uke to the playing position, but just put your fingers over the strings to damp them. Don't play a chord. Now try to copy the rhythms that you were playing on the back onto the strings. In my opinion, you will find this easiest to start with if you use you use your forefinger rather than your thumb, which seems to be most natural for beginners. Put your thumb at the side of the last knuckle of your forefinger and brush the tip of the finger over the strings, trying to reproduce your drumming rhythm. When that feels comfortable, try the same thing with a different style of music. Try to find some Latin rhythms, some swing rhythms, some blues rhythms and a variety of others. What I am trying to get you to be able to do is to play the music the way you feel it, rather than reproducing some pattern in a book. When it comes to strumming, the uke (and guitar and other such string instruments) is a percussion instrument. Your strumming hand is the drummer. Oh, yeah. When you can play the drums on your uke, finger some chords and add that sweet sound to your music. Posted By: Guest_Christie Date: 3/3/2005 Thanks Bruce E, I have just been doing my own thing. The strum patterns as written sometimes look the same for various songs but I found that putting emphasis or slight pause in different places changes each one. I just worked out what seemed to sound best. Some songs, I still haven't worked out how the strum they recommend can possibly work. I was disappointed that they introduced syncopated songs without explaining what that meant. I get the rhythm but couldn't explain the concept. I am using my thumb to strum. The video showed using the forefinger but that seemed very awkward to me. Should I know how to use the forefinger? Thanks. Christie Posted By: Guest_Bruce E Date: 3/4/2005 Some people use their thumb pretty much exclusively. I use my thumb for a strong down strum, but I find up-strumming with my thumb very awkard. That's where I use my forefinger the most. You will eventually want to be able to use all your fingers, or at least the first three. I just remembered that there is a strumming tutorial in the uke section of the EZfolk site. I think it's http://www.ezfolk.com Posted By: Guest_Christie Date: 3/5/2005 Thanks again. Will check it out. Christie

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