At the beginning of my musical journey in EDCI306A I was not entirely sure what a chord was. I have heard the term in the past, but it was not one that I could clearly define.

I know now that a chord is a set of musical notes played at the same time harmoniously. Instruments such as the piano and the guitar (and of course the ukulele) are able to play chords as they can play multiple notes at once.

A key part of learning the ukulele is learning the various chords and the hand/finger positions that they require. This has been quite the learning curve for me. Positioning my left hand in a claw-like position while placing my fingers awkwardly on the strings  has been a struggle for sure. I am severely right handed and using my left hand has been a test of my ambidexterity. I can now see how learning an instrument can positively affect a students physical development.

Originally, I had set the goal of learning three chords in the key of D. The chords were: D, A7, and G. Since then I have had to tune my ukulele to the key of C, which changes the chords that I will be learning. At the moment I have been focusing on the chords C, F, and C7.

Looking at the chord chart provided by MusicPlayOnline, I believe that these chords might be the easiest to learn and will provide me with the practice of finger position and transitioning between chords. Once I have mastered these three I will then attempt at experimenting with some of the trickier chords and finger positions.

Below are some images of myself displaying the finger positions for the three chords that I am learning. I learned through taking these images that I am not very quick at my transitions and that it is awkward to take a picture of yourself displaying different chords.

Chord C:

Chord C7:

Chord F:

 

Throughout the upcoming weeks I will be continuing my practice of these chords and my transitions between them. I hope to be able to put them into practice by learning and performing the songs, “Johnny One Hammer” and “Hush Little Baby”.

Next post will be an exciting one! Stay tuned for the (not-so) velvety voice of moi, and the (hopefully) successful performance of “Hush Little Baby”.