Okay my ‘ukulele ‘ohana, here is my next installment of bar chords for the uke. This one is using the open position form of the A major chord shape. The diagram shows that you only bar the first and second strings with your first finger, but in practice I bar strings 1, 2 and 3 because that makes it easier to quickly change from for example Bb major to Bb minor. I will share diagrams for some minor chord forms too once I get them completed.
Have you been using bar chords when you play the uke and how is it working for you?
This has been helpful to me, having first played the guitar and being used to using bar chords got me thinking it would be helpful to know how to use and play moveable bar chords on the ukulele. So here is an example of how it works when using the form for a C major chord played in the open position as you move it on down the neck. I will post some other bar chord forms in the future as I create the charts.
Aloha all my cyber ‘ohana! I have been ‘uking around’ lately and thought I’d post some links to some ukulele pages for you. I also recently, after a long delay, finished building my own cigar box ukulele and I will finish up part 3 of my How to Build a Cigar Box Ukulele series of posts.
Below are some links to my other more detailed uke pages.
Henehene Kou ‘Aka is one of my favorite songs to play on ‘ukulele. Everything I have seen so far refers to this as a “traditional” song, so I assume it is in the public domain. Brother IZ did some great covers of it which appear on his Facing Future, IZ in Concert and Alone in IZ World albums. It’s great fun and they lyrics are, I think, better in Hawaiian than in the English translation. I have provided both below. In short, it’s a story of boyfriend and girlfriend going for a date on the streetcar in Honolulu.
I’ve been collecting parts for quite a while now and the Cigar Box ‘ukulele project is just about set to kick off. Below is my parts list that I created after reading some books on DIY cigar box projects and reviewing way too many articles at the cool site, www.cigarboxnation.com. Anyway, stay tuned as I post some pictures of my progress on this in coming days/weeks.
The “XX” in the list are for those items that I have already obtained. Just a couple things left to get!
XX Cigar box
XX Neck and fretboard, concert length
XX Tuning posts
XX Braces, Soundboard, Pine or Spruce, 1/4 x 1/2″ x 4′
XX Braces, Box, Pine or Spruce, 1/4 x 1/4″ x 8′
XX Bridge Plate, Maple, 1/8 x 2 x 6″
XX Thin wood – balsa for pickup sandwich
XX Bridge, Concert
XX Nut and saddle, Bone
XX Piezo pickup, wire and jack
XX Quarter (drill for washer for jack). Use Canada 2$ piece.
Brass bathtub drain strainer for resonator
XX Wood glue
XX Hole saw, 2.0 inches
XX Clamps
XX Strings (Aquila high g Concert)
XX Large rubber bands–Office Depot
XX TiteBond glue
XX Tung oil
XX Fine grit sandpaper
XX Steel wool
Clear Satin spray lacquer
